Toxicity and Environmental Health Hazards of Petroleum Products in Wells Used for Drinking Water in the Intermountain West

Introduction: Groundwater is aprimary source of drinking water for about 50 percent of the population in the U.S. This source of drinking water has been generally regarded as safe from contamination. Several papers indicate that numerous underground storage tanks containing petroleum products may be leaking and contaminating public water supply wells across the U.S. (Matis, 1971; Ferguson, 1979; Woodhull, 1981; Burmaster and Harris, 1982; Lehman, 1984; Dowd, 1984; OTA, 1984). A study conducted by the Utah Cureau of Solid and Hazardous Wastes in 1985 concluded that there are at least 2,314 underground steel tanks, most of which are used to store gasoline and diesel fuel, in Utah which are more than 20 years old and may be leaking. Contamination of well water by petrolium products from leaking underground storage tanks (LUST) is a matter of increasing concern. LUST pose a serious threat to the groundwater and public health. Leaks of petroleum products from LUST at industrial plants, commercial establishments (e.g., automobile service stations), and other operations could be expected to increase the types and concentrations of petroleum products in groundwater used for drinking and exposure of humans to the toxic effects of these chemical compounds. Petroleum products are persistent and highly mobile contaminatns which are difficult to remove from groundwater. In addition, many of these chemicals are known or suspected carcinogens or mutagens which can pose undesireable human health risks (e.g., cancer, birth defects, and other chronic conditions) at 10 ppb and below (Council on Environmental Quality, 1980). There is a need for more research on the types and concentrations of petroleum products (e.g., benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene) found in public water supply wells used for drinking water and the immunotoxic and neurotoxic effects of these organic compounds. The objectives of this research project were: 1. To characterize petroleum products in raw water from wells used for drinking water in selected areas (industrial, commercial, and other) of Utah. 2. To evaluate the toxicity of selected petroleum products in experimental animals, with emphasis on the following: a. Immunotoxic and hypersensitivity effects. b. Neurotoxic and behavioral effects

Latent variables and route choice behavior

In the last decade, a broad array of disciplines has shown a general interest in enhancing discrete choice models by considering the incorporation of psychological factors affecting decision making. This paper provides insight into the comprehension of the determinants of route choice behavior by proposing and estimating a hybrid model that integrates latent variable and route choice models. Data contain information about latent variable indicators and chosen routes of travelers driving regularly from home to work in an urban network. Choice sets include alternative routes generated with a branch and bound algorithm. A hybrid model consists of measurement equations, which relate latent variables to measurement indicators and utilities to choice indicators, and structural equations, which link travelers' observable characteristics to latent variables and explanatory variables to utilities. Estimation results illustrate that considering latent variables (i.e., memory, habit, familiarity, spatial ability, time saving skills) alongside traditional variables (e.g., travel time, distance, congestion level) enriches the comprehension of route choice behavior

Number preferences in lotteries

We explore people's preferences for numbers in large proprietary data sets from two different lottery games. We find that choice is far from uniform, and exhibits some familiar and some new tendencies and biases. Players favor personally meaningful and situationally available numbers, and are attracted towards numbers in the center of the choice form. Frequent players avoid winning numbers from recent draws, whereas infrequent players chase these. Combinations of numbers are formed with an eye for aesthetics, and players tend to spread their numbers relatively evenly across the possible range

Non-Conscious Influences on Consumer Choice

While consumer choice research has dedicated considerable research attention to aspects of choice that are deliberative and conscious, only limited attention has been paid to aspects of choice that occur outside of conscious awareness. We review relevant research that suggests that consumer choice is a mix of conscious and nonconscious influences, and argue that the degree to which nonconscious influences affect choice is much greater than many choice researchers believe. Across a series of research domains, these influences are found to include stimulus that are not consciously perceived by the consumer, nonconscious downstream effects of a consciously perceived stimuli or thought process, and decision processes that occur entirely outside of awareness

Synthesis, anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity evaluation of some 2-(9-acridinylamino )pyridines and 2-(9-acridinylamino/imino)thiazolines

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ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF HOUSEHOLD FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT IN BRAZILIAN LOWER-MIDDLE-CLASS

Through two complementary and exploratory studies – one qualitative and one quantitative – this research aims to understand the ways in which lower-middle-class families in Brazil manage their household finances. The study proposes an integrated framework that brings together various previously disconnected theoretical fragments. Based on a survey with a sample of 165 lower-middle-class female consumers of a retail company in São Paulo, we explored and tested, via a quantitative study, how antecedents such as personal characteristics affect the financial management process, as well as its consequences, either negatively as defaults or positively as savings. The model calibration and analysis were derived from a series of regression analyses. The results revealed the mediator role that financial management plays in the relationship between personal characteristics and defaults and savings. Compared to previous studies with consumers of more affluent countries, we identified peculiar findings among Brazilian lower-middle-class consumers: inadequate attention to control, weak or no focus on short- or long-range planning, widespread absence of budget surplus, and influence of critical events on episodes of default

The Long and Short of It: Why Are Stocks with Shorter Runs Preferred?

This article examines how consumers process graphical financial information to estimate risk. We propose that consumers sample the local maxima and minima of a graph to infer the variation around a trend line, which is used to estimate risk. The local maxima and minima are more extreme the higher the run length of the stocks (the consecutive number of upward or downward movements of a price series with identical mean, variance, skewness, and kurtosis). Three experiments show that this leads to stocks with higher run lengths being perceived as riskier: the run-length effect. Importantly, the run-length effect is greater for investors who are more educated, are employed full time, trade more frequently, have had longer experience trading, and trade a wider range of financial instruments. Implications for the communication of financial products, public policy, and consumer welfare are discussed, as are theoretical implications for the processing of visual and financial information and behavioral finance. (c) 2009 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

Remaining creep life study of Cr---Mo---V main steam pipe lines

Identification and quantification of accumulated creep damage to estimate the remaining life of high temperature pipe lines has attracted world wide attention for the past several years. This paper briefly presents NML's experience in this field acquired in the course of the execution of an on-going national project “Component Integrity Evaluation Programme”. This paper mainly deals with the remaining life assessment of a main steam pipe line of a 100 MW coal fired power plant. The steel for the pipe line was 1 Cr-0·3 Mo-0·25 V (Russian grade 12 Kh 1 MΦ) steel which had widely been used in the older plants. The microstructural evolution occurred in this steel after 10-year and 15-year service exposure has been extensively analysed and discussed. These samples were provided for investigation by the same plant. Contrary to general expectation, damage in the form of creep cavitation was not observed even after 15 years service, indeed, some structural/morphological changes in the carbides had occurred. Also, any conclusive evidence of Mo-depletion as earlier suggested by some workers in similar steels, was not found. Interestingly, the 15-year sample showed only 0·3% diametrical expansion and a marginal drop in hardness of about 12 HV. The ‘threshold stress model’ earlier proposed by one of the authors based on the creep data on the 10-year sample is also now validated with reference to the 15-year service exposed samples. An important feature of this model is that below the threshold stress the creep rate is practically independent of microstructure. And, a unique relationship exists between the minimum creep rate and the applied stress, regardless of the initial microstructure; the relationship can be used for the remaining life prediction