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SEGH Newsletters

Dear Members,

I bring you the slightly delayed first issue of INTERFACE for 2002. It seemed appropriate to wait until after the recent Executive Board meeting in San Diego, July 2002 in order that important news about the Society could be communicated to you as soon as possible. This is expressed in the message from the new President of SEGH, Dr. John G. Farmer, University of Edinburgh, Scotland. An updated list of the Board members can be found on the final page.

Since the time of preparation of the last issue, the main SEGH conference was the 5th International Conference on Arsenic Exposure and Health Effects held in San Diego, USA, on 14th-18th July, 2002. Having attended, I can tell you that this was indeed another successful conference in the series and I have included a short report on the meeting along with the abstracts of the two prize-winning posters.

There are also reports from two other subsidiary meetings held in the UK – an Iodine Workshop: the environmental iodine cycle and its impact on human health, held in Liverpool on 23rd April, 2002, and the 9th Annual ‘Cutting Edge’, a specialist meeting on organic contaminants research, held at the University of Reading on 2nd May 2002.

Further details of the 6th International Symposium on Environmental Geochemistry to be held in Edinburgh from 7th-11th September 2003, can be found in the Forthcoming Conferences section.

Finally, I am pleased to tell you that I will now be responsible for overseeing the SEGH website and ensuring that it is updated at regular intervals throughout the year. In addition, INTERFACE will be placed on the SEGH website at the same time that it is sent to the publishers. To enable me to promote conferences and provide members with the latest about SEGH events/news, please send me information for INTERFACE at the e-mail address below (by mid-November for the next issue).
Margaret Graham
(Margaret.Graham@ed.ac.uk)

University of Edinburgh
August 2002

 

Dear Colleagues,

It is an honour to become President of SEGH for the period mid-2002 to mid-2004. Along with the other office-bearers and the rest of the Executive Board (see Page 8), I shall continue to strive to promote the activities and well-being of the Society.

We can point to many recent successes, such as the continuing internationalisation of the Society, reflected in the highly successful International Conferences organised in the USA by the SEGH Arsenic Task Force, the growing Europeanisation of the European (formerly UK) branch and the dynamic start made by the Asia-Pacific branch. But we recognise that there have also been problems, some of which have concerned the journal Environmental Geochemistry and Health. As a result, the new Board and the Membership Secretaries of the various branches, in cooperation with both the outgoing and incoming Editor of EGAH and the publishers Kluwer, are making strenuous efforts to resolve various issues, including those connected with irregular and late delivery of the journal to members. The deadline for payment of annual dues will now be 30 November to ensure that up-to-date membership and distribution lists can be supplied to the publishers by early in the New Year. To improve communication with members, the newsletter Interface will also be posted directly on the SEGH website (www.SEGH.net).

The basic strength and vitality of any Society lies in its members and their willingness and enthusiasm to become involved, inject fresh thinking and, eventually, assume leadership positions within the Society. To this end, the new Board is especially keen that the Society strengthens its activities in North America, where membership has been falling in recent years. Suggestions from existing members about how to reverse this trend, for example through stimulation of regional activities in the USA, will be most welcome. Further afield, the Society will also look to expand its activities, and possibly consider the creation of new international branches, in South America and Africa. Interested parties should contact me directly. And so should any members who feel that they have good ideas for the creation of future SEGH Task Forces to follow on from those that have carried out such sterling work on lead and arsenic.

Finally, I hope that as many SEGH members as possible will be able to take part in the 6th International Symposium on Environmental Geochemistry, to be held in Edinburgh in September 2003 (see page 6). This is not merely because it is on my own home patch and because SEGH will be a leading participant, but because it will also afford an opportunity to speak and exchange ideas with members of other related Societies. In an ever-changing world, we should not be afraid to discuss and clarify the relative merits of distinctive diversity and the common ground.

Yours sincerely,

John Farmer
President SEGH
(J.G.Farmer@ed.ac.uk)

5th International Conference on Arsenic Exposure and Health Effects,
San Diego, California, USA, 14-18 July, 2002


About 200 delegates attended the 5th International Conference on Arsenic Exposure and Effects on Human Health held in San Diego, USA, on 14th-18th July, 2002. There were 45 oral and 120 poster presentations grouped according to the main sub-themes of the meeting: Occurrence and Exposure, Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Animal Models, Mode of Action and Risk Estimation, Intervention and Medical Treatment, Water Treatment and Remediation, and Overviews of US EPA and NIEHS Programs on Arsenic. Two students were given a Delbert Hemphill award for the best student presentation and the abstracts of their posters appear in full below.

1st PRIZE

Health Effects of Chronic Exposure to Arsenic via Drinking Water in Inner Mongolia: VI. Developmental Effects
Richard K. Kwok, Judy L. Mumford, Pauline Mendola (Epidemiology and Biomarkers Branch, NHEERL, US Environmental Protection Agency), Yajuan Xia, He Ling Ling and Zhiyi Liu (Inner Mongolia Center for Endemic Disease Control and Research)

 

 

 

International Conference on Contaminated Soils

Location : Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
Dates: 21-24 October 24, 2002
Website: www.UMassSoils.com
Contact: Denise Leonard (dleonard@schoolph.umass.edu)
N344 Morrill Science Center, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA

European Meeting on Environmental Chemistry

Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Dates: 11-14 December , 2002
Website: www.unige.ch/emec3
Contact: Montserrat Filella (montserrat.filella@cabe.unige.ch)
Departement de Chimie Minerale, Analytical et Appiquee, Univeristy of Geneva, Quai Ernest-Ansermet 30, CH-1211 Geneve 4, Switzerland

Heavy Metals in the Environment

Location: Grenoble, France
Dates: 26-30 May, 2003
Contact: Christophe Ferrari
Maître de conférences à l'Université Joseph Fourier Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de l'Environnement du CNRS

7th International Conference on the Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements (ICOBTE)

Location: Uppsala, Sweden
Dates: 15-19 June, 2003
Contact: SLU Conference,
(7thICOBTE@slu.se)
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7059, Uppsala, Sweden (The meeting will include a session on Medical Geology)

6th International Symposium on Environmental Geochemistry (ISEG)

Location: Edinburgh, UK
Dates: 7-11 September, 2003
Website: www.iseg2003.com
Contact: Dr. John G. Farmer
(J.G.Farmer@ed.ac.uk)
Department of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JJ, UK

7th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant (ICMGP)

Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia
Dates: 27 June- 2 July, 2004
Contact: Dr. Milena Horvat
(milena.horvat@ijs.si)
Department of Environmental Sciences, Jozef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, SI-1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Acid Rain 2005 (7th International Conference on Acid Deposition)

Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Dates: June 2005
Contact: acid2005@chmi.cz
Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, Santroch Jaroslav, Na Sabatce 17, CZ-143 06 Prague 4, Czech Republic

 

 

Update on the 6th International Symposium on Environmental Geochemistry, Edinburgh, Scotland, 7-11 September, 2003

By the time you read this, in the last quarter of 2002, you should already have received your copy of the Call for Papers for the 6th International Symposium on Environmental Geochemistry, to be held in Edinburgh from 7-11 September 2003. If not, please contact the ISEG 2003 Organisers, c/o In Conference Ltd, at info@in-conference.org.uk, and/or log on to the Symposium website, www.ISEG2003.com, for full details.

The deadline for receipt of abstracts is 13 December 2002 and the full lecture/poster programme should be known by February 2003. Confirmed Plenary Speakers already include Jane Plant, Bill Shotyk, Bob Finkelman, Clemens Reimann and Kevin Jones. The Scientific Programme will be organised around six major themes:

· Archives of Environmental Contamination
· Geochemical Surveys
· Mining
· Contamination and Cleanup
· Geochemistry and Health
· Analytical Geochemistry

The 3rd Conference on Environmental Geochemical Baseline Mapping in Europe will also be held as part of the Symposium. Publication output will be via appropriate scientific journals, some of which (like Environmental Geochemistry and Health) are closely associated with those Societies (like SEGH) participating in the Symposium.

Attractive Field Trips in Scotland have been arranged for before, during and after the Symposium and there will of course be traditional Scottish entertainment, featuring bagpipes, whisky-tasting and a ceilidh, at various stages of the Symposium. Please don’t miss this outstanding opportunity to take part in a leading international event in Environmental Geochemistry and to visit Edinburgh, the breathtakingly beautiful and historic capital of Scotland.

John Farmer
ISEG 2003 Chairman
University of Edinburgh

 

Reports from SEGH supported meetings – European Branch 2002

Iodine Workshop: the environmental iodine cycle and its impact on human health, Liverpool, UK, 23rd April 2002

The iodine deficiency disorders [e.g. cretinism, infertility, child mortality before, during and after birth, goitre] are one of the greatest yet preventable global public health problems. The 130 countries affected cover every continent with over ¼ of the world living in environments that put them potentially at risk. The environmental risk has been counterbalanced by protective measures, usually iodised salt, which, it is calculated, is currently consumed by 68% of households worldwide. However, many questions remain.

 

President John G. Farmer
University of Edinburgh,
Scotland (J.G.Farmer@ed.ac.uk)

Vice-President Andrew Hunt
SUNY Upstate Medical
University, Syracuse, NY,
USA (hunta@upstate.edu)

Secretary Bobby G. Wixson
(Past-Pres.)
Springfield, MO, USA
(DRBGWIXSON@aol.com)

Treasurer Nord L. Gale (Past-Pres.)
University of MO-Rolla, Rolla,
MO, USA (nlgale@umr.edu)

Councillors Malcolm J. Brown
British Geological Survey,
England (mjbro@bgs.ac.uk)

John Carter
The Doe Run Company,
Viburnum, MO, USA
(jcarter@doerun.com)

Joy Carter (Chair, Europe)
University of Derby,
England (j.carter@derby.ac.uk)

Xiangdong Li
(Chair, Asia/Pacific)
Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
(cexdli@polyu.edu.hk)

Aradhana Mehra
University of Derby, England
(A.Mehra@derby.ac.uk)

Howard Mielke
Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans, LA, USA (hmielke@xula.edu)

Joyce Tsuji
EXPONENT, Bellevue, WA, USA
(tsujij@exponent.com)

Ron T. Watkins
Curtin University of
Technology, Perth, Australia
(iwatkins@info.curtin.edu.au)

Past Presidents Richard Cothern
Chevy Chase, MD, USA
(rcothern@nova.umuc.edu)

Jim Fricke
Resource Management
Consultants, Midvale, Utah,
USA (jfricke@xmission.com)

Ron Fuge
University of Wales, Aberystwyth,
Wales (rrf@aber.ac.uk)

Betsy T. Kagey
Cumberland, MD, USA
(bkagey@mail.frostburg.edu)

Iain Thornton
Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, England (i.thornton@ic.ac.uk)

Task Force Willard Chappell
Chair University of Colo-Denver,
Denver, CO, USA
(wchappel@carbon.cudenver.edu)

Journal Editor Brian E. Davies (Past Pres.)
Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA (bdavies@clemson.edu)

Interface Editor Margaret C. Graham
University of Edinburgh,
Scotland (Margaret.Graham@ed.ac.uk)