title: Meeting report: threats to human health and environmental sustainability in the pacific basin.
abstract: The coastal zone of the Pacific Rim is home for about one-third of the world's population. Disproportionate growth of Far Eastern economies has produced a disproportionate share of related environmental difficulties. As the region searches for acceptable compromises between growth and environmental quality, its influence on global environmental health is certain to increase. Consequences of global environmental change such as habitat alteration, storms, and sea level rise will be particularly acute among Pacific Rim nations. Adverse health effects from arsenic exposure in Pacific Rim nations have been used to justify drinking water standards in the United States and elsewhere. As global manufacturing in the Pacific Rim increases, the centroid of global air quality and waste management issues will shift further toward Far Eastern nations. The Eleventh International Conference of the Pacific Basin Consortium (PBC) was held in September 2005 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The purpose of the conference was to bring together individuals to discuss regional challenges to sustainable growth. The historic emphasis of the conference on hazardous wastes in relation to human health makes the PBC an ideal forum for discussing technical aspects of sustainable economic growth in the Pacific region. That role is reflected in the 2005 PBC conference themes, which included management of arsenic in potable waters, air quality, climate change, pesticides, mercury, and electronics industry waste-each with emphasis on relationships to human health. Arsenic management exemplifies the manner in which the PBC can focus interdisciplinary discussion in a single technical area. The conference program provided talks on arsenic toxicology, treatment technologies, management of arsenic-bearing residuals from water treatment, and the probable societal costs and benefits of arsenic management.
authors: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA. rga@engr.arizona.edu
authors: Robert G
authors: RG
authors: Arnold
authors: David O
authors: DO
authors: Carpenter
authors: Donald
authors: D
authors: Kirk
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Koh
authors: Margaret-Ann
authors: MA
authors: Armour
authors: Mariano
authors: M
authors: Cebrian
authors: Luis
authors: L
authors: Cifuentes
authors: Mahmood
authors: M
authors: Khwaja
authors: Bo
authors: B
authors: Ling
authors: Irma
authors: I
authors: Makalinao
authors: César
authors: C
authors: Paz-Y-Miño
authors: Genandrialine
authors: G
authors: Peralta
authors: Rajendra
authors: R
authors: Prasad
authors: Kirpal
authors: K
authors: Singh
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Sly
authors: Chiharu
authors: C
authors: Tohyama
authors: Alistair
authors: A
authors: Woodward
authors: Baoshan
authors: B
authors: Zheng
authors: Todd
authors: T
authors: Maiden
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004777:Environment; D006262:Health; D006801:Humans; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D010140:Pacific Ocean; D014714:Vertebrates / Q000378:metabolism; D014881:Water Supply
chemical_list: D001151:Arsenic