Risks to a Health Environment
Soil contamination referred to the existence of pollutants above the soil thus deteriorating the function of the soil. Contaminants are considered as a manmade chemical that that causes an alteration in the soil environment. Soil contamination is always caused by leakage of the underground storage tank, direct disposal of industrial wastes, and application of pesticides. These are chemical which is mostly used which include pesticides, petroleum hydrocarbon, leads, solvent, and other heavy metals. Most of these chemicals such as pesticides are used to control pests and diseases in crops. It is important to use a natural method to control pests and diseases however it saves time and labor (Rate, 2018).
Contaminants in the soil have got a negative impact on crops, animals, and humans. These soil contaminants are soluble to soil water therefore they are absorbed directly into the crops. They are toxic to crop which could cause physiological stress that affects both the absorption of water and minerals salt and photosynthesis. It also harms animals such that when these contaminants are directly in contact with animal food. It poisons the animals and indirectly human beings. It also causes diseases to human beings starting with nausea, skin rash, fatigue, headaches, and eye irritation. This may be in collaboration with liver and kidney damage and cancer. It is important before carrying other activities in the soil, it should be tested fast to promote safety (Reents,2019)
Methodology for determining the current state of the issue
The methodology consists of the following tasks. Firstly targeted discussion is going to be conducted to analyze the classification and definition of hazardous waste at Basel convention, nation level, and the commonwealth of Australia legislation 2010 and state Jurisdiction level. Examination of the previous hazardous waste date compilations is done together with identification key legislative instruments. This is going to be used to govern site remediation and contamination at national territory levels. The baseline boundary is going to be assessed. Telephone interviews are what will follow to know how the management of Australia operates (Al-khateeb, et al2019)
Secondly, the task includes a compilation of contaminated soil wastes baseline data. The process of data collection is going to be guided by the meta-level project task and semi-structured interviews with the national level. Ten interviews are going to be carried out with territory jurisdictions and staff from states, working with waste tracking, contaminated site, disposal sections of hazardous waste, and illegal dumping.
Analysis of the current state and the past
Most of the states in Australia such as Western Australia, southern Australia, New South Wales, and victoria have a place of the contaminated land audit system. Site auditors are not qualified in every site. There are variations of the quantity of the contaminated soil in victoria which can be discussed under several factors. Redevelopment of the urban had experienced a huge difference in the quantity between 4-5 years ago. The material that was left on the site further decreased. In the past, there were no other factors that could contaminate the soil.
Discussion on why your issue is relevant
Soil contamination was a relevant issue because it discussed Contaminants that are considered as a manmade chemical that that causes an alteration in the soil environment. It also talked about the way it is always caused by leakage of the underground storage tank, direct disposal of industrial wastes, and the application of pesticides. These are chemical which is mostly used which include pesticides, petroleum hydrocarbon, leads, solvent, and other heavy metals. Most of these chemicals such as pesticides are used to control pests and diseases in crops. It is important to use a natural method to control pests and diseases however it saves time and labor. Contaminants in the soil have got a negative impact on crops, animals, and humans. These soil contaminants are soluble to soil water therefore they are absorbed directly into the crops. It poisons the animals and indirectly human beings. It also causes diseases to human beings starting with nausea, skin rash, fatigue, headaches, and eye irritation. This may be in collaboration with liver and kidney damage and cancer. It is important before carrying other activities in the soil, it should be tested fast to promote safety. They are toxic to crop which could cause physiological stress that affects both the absorption of water and minerals salt and photosynthesis. It also harms animals such that when these contaminants are directly in contact with animal food (Sullivan-Wiley et al2017).
Description of the media’s reporting
According to the media report, soil contamination has affected human health, food safety, and agricultural productivity. This report has talked more about the severity and scale of that threat. War, Mining, intensification of Agriculture and industrialization has caused soil contamination all over this planet. This impact has been influenced by the growth of the cities thus creating the damping sites for municipal wastes. The media report illustrates that the food we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the health of our ecosystems are affected by soil contaminants. This report hinders the development of the economies within the states due to the fear of pollution.
Australia concerns device different ways they are going to reduce the soil contamination. For example, some 80,000 sites in Australia are estimated to be affected by soil contamination. Soil contamination causes danger to food and health thus it is hidden with the consequences. In food security, it has the impact of destroying the metabolism of the crop thus causing danger on crop consumption and reducing their yield. Soil contaminants contain dangerous elements which directly harms organisms that are beneficial to crops. According to the media report, soil contamination is caused by industrial activities such as manufacturing, smelting and mining, municipal and livestock wastes, pesticides, fertilizer, and herbicides used in Agriculture. Petroleum fumes produced by moving engines causes’ problem to the environment
Analysis of how this reporting has impacted the perception of risk associated with the issue
Soil contamination is caused by experiments and activities that tend to increase the human living standard. Industrial discharge such as chemicals and harmful gases, agricultural fertilizer, and pesticides are the substances that mostly cause pollution of the soil. There are other practices such as soil management system and another system which could cause soil pollution. Analysis of this reporting has impacted the perception of risk associated with the issue. A tiered approach is urgently needed in ecological risk analysis of contaminated soil. Screening level s of generic soil is required as a first tier. Ecological risk high tier should have a certain kind of site specification analysis. Therefore it is vital to arrange the different studies in a decision support system or framework that is useful and transparent for all stakeholders. These approaches may be an easy choice to analyze these uncertainties. The TRIAD approach is used for categorizing and incorporating data in a triangle (ecology, chemistry, and toxicology). It is considered as the appropriate tool for analyzing conceptual uncertainties. Ecotoxicity regarding direct testing would give ways for major risk estimate improvement.
Identification of the stakeholders
The stakeholders would be identified based on the project that is going to be carried out. These stakeholders will participate in the collection of important data for the analysis. They include regional and local administrations, Ministries of Agriculture, United Nations agencies such as WHO, UNEP and others, commercial pesticide users, universities and other institutions, trade unions, religious and cultural leaders.
Description of their interest in the issue
Soil contamination causes danger to food and health thus it is hidden with the consequences. In food security, it has the impact of destroying the metabolism of the crop thus causing danger on crop consumption and reducing their yield. Soil contaminants contain dangerous elements which directly harms organisms that are beneficial to crops. According to stakeholders, soil contamination is caused by industrial activities such as manufacturing, smelting and mining, municipal and livestock wastes, pesticides, fertilizer, and herbicides used in Agriculture. Petroleum fumes produced by moving engines thus causes’ problem to the environment. The interest of the stakeholders is to reduce the rate of soil contamination by half in the coming years. The stakeholders are concern with people’s health and their well-being.
Methodology for risk communication
Various methodologies can be used to collect data on risk communication. The stakeholders will focus on their importance, strengths, and weaknesses. These methodologies include focus group meetings and the use of the questionnaire. A focus group meeting is important when there is a subject to be discussed. Then the question is subjected to the group of people to give answers. The questions are given by the stakeholders to citizens to give answers. It encourages people to share their opinion out openly with distortion. The use of questionnaires is also important because it gives the stakeholders time to prepare the question in papers and then administer it to the people. The questions are then answered based on risk communication.
Process for determining the effectiveness of the risk communication strategy
There are the processes for determining the effectiveness of the risk communications which include: information provision when science is uncertain, explaining the risk process of assessment, putting different groups in ways of interpreting risk communication strategies, giving an account of a different concept of an acceptable level of risk, giving information that helps in personal decisions and informing opinion on policy.
Reference
Rate, A. W. (2018). Multielement geochemistry identifies the spatial pattern of soil and sediment contamination in urban parkland, Western Australia. Science of the Total Environment, 627, 1106-1120.
Sullivan-Wiley, K. A., & Gianotti, A. G. S. (2017). Risk perception in a multi-hazard environment. World Development, 97, 138-152.
Al-khateeb, S., & Agarwal, N. (2019). Tools and Methodologies for Data Collection, Analysis, and Visualization. In Deviance in Social Media and Social Cyber Forensics (pp. 45-65). Springer, Cham.
Reents, C. (2019). EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATING ABOUT RISKS FROM SOIL CONTAMINATION IN COMMUNITY GARDENS (Doctoral dissertation, Duke University).