Browsing by Author "Jones, Kevin C."

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Chemical pollution: a growing peril and potential catastrophic risk to humanity
    (Elsevier, 2021-05-12) Naidu, Ravi; Biswas, Bhabananda; Willett, Ian R.; Cribb, Julian; Singh, Brajesh Kumar; Nathanail, C. Paul; Coulon, Frederic; Semple, Kirk T.; Jones, Kevin C.; Barclay, Adam; Aitken, Robert John
    Anthropogenic chemical pollution has the potential to pose one of the largest environmental threats to humanity, but global understanding of the issue remains fragmented. This article presents a comprehensive perspective of the threat of chemical pollution to humanity, emphasising male fertility, cognitive health and food security. There are serious gaps in our understanding of the scale of the threat and the risks posed by the dispersal, mixture and recombination of chemicals in the wider environment. Although some pollution control measures exist they are often not being adopted at the rate needed to avoid chronic and acute effects on human health now and in coming decades. There is an urgent need for enhanced global awareness and scientific scrutiny of the overall scale of risk posed by chemical usage, dispersal and disposal.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Redevelopment of urban brownfield sites in China: motivation, history, policies and improved management
    (Elsevier, 2022-07-06) Sun, Yiming; Li, Hong; Lei, Shuo; Semple, Kirk T.; Coulon, Frederic; Hu, Qing; Gao, Jingyang; Guo, Guanlin; Gu, Qingbao; Jones, Kevin C.
    Rapid urbanisation in China has resulted in an increased demand for land in towns and cities. To upgrade and modernise, China has also moved many major industries from urban centres to less populated areas. With the high economic value of urban land, the transformation and utilisation of brownfield areas have become important economically and socially. The Chinese government has recognised the need for strong frameworks to safeguard soil and groundwater quality, with brownfield sites a key category for management. Strong scientific, regulatory and decision-making frameworks are needed and being adopted to ensure practical, careful and wise use of central and localised government resources, to manage the reuse and regeneration of these brownfield sites. This paper reviews the context, policies and management procedures of developing brownfield sites in countries with a history of brownfield management and discusses China’s current situation and priorities for brownfield governance and redevelopment. These include (1) clarification of brownfield site soil contamination risk control standards and risk assessment procedures, (2) the responsibilities of different national and local agencies, (3) the establishment of a national expert committee to advise on best practices, policy and process, (4) the use of registered brownfield databases at national, provincial, municipal and county levels, and (5) the set up of soil pollution prevention fund at the provincial level.