SIA

Grenfell Firefighters – Serious Health Disorders Resulting From Smoke Inhalation Both Inside & Outside The Tower. Does Anybody Care ?!?!?

Posted by CJ Walsh

2025-01-10:  DOES Anybody Care ?  AHJ’s ?  Fire Service Administrations ?  Civil Society ?

Frontline Firefighters (and their long-term Health) are severely ill-treated as a disposable asset in far too many societies around the world … a shameful reality … completely and utterly unacceptable !!

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Sustainable Fire Engineering (SFE) facilitates the realization of a Safe, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment for ALL

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Resilience: The ability to function reliably during normal conditions, to withstand, adapt to or absorb unusual disturbance, disruption or damage, and thereafter to quickly return to an enhanced state of function.

Does it not make the utmost sense, therefore … if there is a Fire in a #Building or #Facility … that healthy, disciplined, expertly trained … and properly equipped, protected and resourced (under competent leadership and management) … #Firefighters would arrive quickly at the #FireScene and effectively extinguish the #Fire before it causes too much damage to property and harm to people … thus enabling the rapid and economically-efficient re-commencement of that building’s / facility’s functioning ??

Firefighters are an Invaluable Social Asset in a Resilient Built Environment !

Firefighter Safety Must Urgently be Included as a Functional Requirement in ALL Building Fire Codes

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THE GRENFELL TOWER FRONTLINE FIREFIGHTERS

In its January 2025 issue, the Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine (JOEM) published the following Paper :

Grenfell Tower Fire – Toxic Effluents and Assessment of Firefighters’ Health Impacts

by Anna A. Stec, PhD ; David A. Purser, PhD ; and T. Richard Hull, PhD.

[ Click Title Above – PDF File, 175 Kb ]

Objective: This study assesses the health symptoms and longer-term health outcomes of Firefighters who attended the Grenfell Tower Fire in June 2017.

Methods: All available data sources were analysed, including databases published by the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry, the Firefighter Cancer and Disease Registry, incident logs, and sickness reports up to 3 years post-fire.

Results: More than three times as many firefighters who reported exposure to smoke during the fire also reported digestive and respiratory diseases following the fire, compared with those not reporting exposure to smoke.  Other more complex relationships are reported among smoke exposure, immediate health symptoms, and longer-term health outcomes.

Conclusions: The incident’s urgency led many professional firefighters to operate without Respiratory Protection Equipment (RPE), resulting in debilitating health effects.

Paper Introduction …

Recently, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer ( https://www.iarc.who.int ) classified the firefighting occupation as Carcinogenic to Humans – Group 1.  Studies show that the incidence and mortality of cancers and other diseases among firefighters are higher compared with the population they serve.  Recent data from UK Studies revealed that more than 4% of surveyed firefighters have received a cancer diagnosis.

Furthermore, the age-specific cancer rate was up to 323% higher for firefighters aged 35 to 39 years, when compared with the general population.

Firefighter exposure to fire effluents occurs through different phases of fire intervention (e.g. attack, knockdown) and in firefighters’ work environments, such as fire stations, vehicles, and firefighter turnout gear.  These residues may be inhaled or ingested via hand-to-mouth contact, depending on hygiene practices after firefighting.  Moreover, they have been detected on firefighters’ skin due to gear penetration, contact with contaminated gear, or contact with exposed skin areas such as the face and neck.

With the exception of the Fire Department of New York World Trade Centre Health Programme ( https://www.fdnywtcprogram.org ), there is no data on firefighters’ health symptoms from major building fires.  In this investigation, relationships have been identified between various long-term exposures to toxicants from fire and different health disorders.  For instance, exposure to fire effluents such as benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, 1,3-butadiene, ethylene oxide, and formaldehyde has been linked to myeloid leukaemia.  Similarly, prostate cancer has been associated with exposure to benzene and styrene.

Inhaling fire effluents such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide results in hypoxic stress, forcing the heart to exert extra effort during firefighters’ physical stress.  Also, inhalation and absorption into the bloodstream of ultra-fine soot particles enhance atherosclerosis and thrombosis.  Both effects can lead to cardiovascular diseases.  Exposure to asbestos, silica, and inorganic dust through inhalation is also believed to contribute to firefighters’ heightened risk of pulmonary diseases.

There is mounting evidence from both human and animal studies indicating that inhalation of air pollutants (carbon monoxide, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, etc.) can also increase the risk of neurological diseases including neurodegenerative health and cognitive impairment.  Furthermore, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter have been linked to adverse respiratory outcomes.  The combined effects of frequent dehydration and chronic exposure to fire effluents may also synergistically damage the kidneys.  Certain metals such as cadmium, chromium, copper, and lead can adversely affect multiple bodily systems, including the gastrointestinal tract; haematopoietic, cardiovascular, central and peripheral nervous systems; kidneys; and immune and reproductive systems, potentially leading to cancers.

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry ( https://www.grenfelltowerinquiry.org.uk ) was instructed to examine evidence relating to the circumstances in which 72 Victims lost their lives.  It was not instructed to consider any short and long-term health effects of the firefighters / other emergency responders, survivors of the fire who escaped from the Tower … or residents who lived, or still live, within the vicinity of the Tower.  The aim of this study was to collect and evaluate all available data from the Grenfell Fire, assessing firefighters’ self-reported exposure to fire smoke and heat, and physiological and toxicological health symptoms and outcomes related to their activities and the use of respiratory protective equipment (RPE) during the first 20 hours of the Fire.

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POST-FIRE CONTAMINATED SOIL AROUND GRENFELL TOWER

Part-Map of London, in colour, showing the location of Grenfell Tower between Notting Hill, Shepherd's Bush and Ladbroke Grove ... and a very lightly shaded area, in red, within a deep red circle approximately 1 Km from the Tower ... which indicates where soil has been found to be contaminated by toxic effluents from the Fire back in 2017. At the bottom of this map, on the right, can be found a scale for distance: 0.5 Km relative to 0.5 Mile ... and, on the left, a thumbnail map of the whole city showing the area of concern.
Click to enlarge.

For Local Residents, especially Vulnerable Residents – What are the Short and Long-Term Adverse Health Effects Resulting from the Fire in June 2017 ?   It is now 2025 !

Does Anybody Care ?!?!?

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‘Forever Chemicals’ … PFAS CONTAMINATION – HIGH PRIORITY JOINT PRESENTATION

Large portions of this joint Presentation are concerned with Firefighter #Safety, Firefighter #PPE, and Firefighting #Foams …

U.S.A. National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health – 21 April 2023

Overview of Per and PolyFluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Activities and Considerations

by Miriam Calkins, PhD, MS, Research Industrial Hygienist – CDC / NIOSH / DFSE / FRB

and

NIOSH Research, Technical Support & Strategies

by Susan Moore, PhD, Associate Director for Science, Co-Coordinator Public Safety Sector, Co-Coordinator Personal Protective Technology – CDC / NIOSH / NPPTL

[ Click Either Title Above – PDF File, 7.03 Mb ]

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OTHER INFORMATION SOURCES

  • New York City WTC 9-11 Health Registry.  Established in 2002 to monitor the health (physical, mental, psychological) of any person directly exposed to the WTC 9-11 Fires & Building Collapses … https://www.nyc.gov/site/911health/index.page

 

  • World Health Organization / International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).  Monograph Volume 132 – Occupational Exposure As A Firefighter … https://publications.iarc.fr/615
Click to enlarge.

WHO / IARC Monograph Volume 132 – Occupational Exposure As A Firefighter

 

Click to enlarge.

NIOSH (USA) Graphic Breakdown of Firefighter Safety

AND … Better Design of Buildings & Facilities for Firefighter Safety ?!?!?

In Addition to ‘Access’ … Firefighter Safety Must Urgently be Included as a Functional Requirement in ALL Building #FireCodes

 

  • Findings from a 2010-2015 NIOSH (USA) Study of Cancer among nearly 30,000 Firefighters active between 1950 and 2009.  Published July 2016.  Download PDF File (118 Kb).

 

  • Lancet Oncology Editorial: ‘Fire and Their Smouldering Health Effects’.  February 2025.  Includes many important Links.  Download PDF File (153 Kb).

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#SFE #SustainableFireEngineering #Reality #Reliability #Redundancy #Resilience #Safety #FFsafety #Health #FFhealth #Welfare #FFwelfare #GrenfellTowerFire #GrenfellTowerInquiry #SmokeInhalation #RPE #SCBA #ToxicEffluents #WHO #IARC #WTC911 #FDNY #WTChealthProgram #LocalResidents #VulnerablePeople #FireSafety4ALL #HarmfulHealthImpacts #PFAS #ForeverChemicals #Cancer #FirefighterTurnoutGear #FirefightingFoams #JOEM #TheLancet #Oncology #AHJ #FireServiceAdministrations #CivilSociety #Sustainability #SIA #SustainabilityImpactAssessment #SocialWellbeing4ALL

Legal Consequences For All Other U.N. Member States Arising From Israel’s Policies And Practices & From The Illegality Of Israel’s Continued Presence In The Occupied Palestinian Territory

Posted by CJ Walsh

2024-09-06:  The International Court of Justice (ICJ) published an Advisory Legal Opinion / Avis Juridique Consultatif on 19 July 2024.

Following is an Extract from that Document … Section VII B … Paragraphs 278 & 279 … which set out, very clearly, the legal consequences for ALL OTHER MEMBER STATES of the United Nations (#UN) concerning their dealings with the State of Israel …

ALL OTHER MEMBER STATES of the United Nations are OBLIGED to comply, and without undue delay … in stark view of the State of Israel’s criminal political and military environment.

  1. Taking note of the resolutions of the U.N. Security Council and General Assembly, the International Court of Justice is of the view that Member States are under an obligation not to recognize any changes in the physical character or demographic composition, institutional structure or status of the territory occupied by Israel on 5 June 1967, including East Jerusalem, except as agreed by the parties through negotiations, and to distinguish in their dealings with Israel between the territory of the State of Israel and the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.  The Court considers that the duty of distinguishing dealings with Israel between its own territory and the Occupied Palestinian Territory encompasses, inter alia, the obligation to abstain from treaty relations with Israel in all cases in which it purports to act on behalf of the Occupied Palestinian Territory or a part thereof on matters concerning the Occupied Palestinian Territory or a part of its territory ;  to abstain from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel concerning the Occupied Palestinian Territory or parts thereof which may entrench its unlawful presence in the territory ;  to abstain, in the establishment and maintenance of diplomatic missions in Israel, from any recognition of its illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory ;  and to take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (see Legal Consequences for States of the Continued Presence of South Africa in Namibia (South West Africa) notwithstanding Security Council Resolution 276 (1970), Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 1971, pp. 55-56, paras. 122, 125-127).
  1. Moreover, the Court considers that, in view of the character and importance of the rights and obligations involved, all States are under an obligation not to recognize as legal the situation arising from the unlawful presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  They are also under an obligation not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  It is for all States, while respecting the Charter of the United Nations and International Law, to ensure that any impediment resulting from the illegal presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to the exercise of the Palestinian people of its right to self-determination is brought to an end.  In addition, all the States Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention have the obligation, while respecting the Charter of the United Nations and International Law, to ensure compliance by Israel with international humanitarian law as embodied in that Convention.

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Israel’s Expanding Colonial Occupation of Palestine …

Graphic Image, in colour, showing a sequence of Maps – at years: 1917; 1946; 1947; 1967; Present Day – of a Shrinking Palestine with the corresponding Expanding Colonial Occupation by Israel.  Not shown are the post-1967 occupied Golan Heights in Syria and Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.  Click to enlarge.

Notes …

1882 – The first Zionist Colony (Hebrew: ‘Aliyah’, the act of going up towards the holy city of Jerusalem) … Rishon LeZion … established in Ottoman Palestine by Jewish immigrants from what was then the Russian Empire (today’s Kharkiv in #Ukraine).

1916 – Long before World War I ended in 1918 … the British & French (Sykes-Picot) Agreement to carve up the Ottoman Middle East between them.  Russia was excluded.

1917 – The Balfour Declaration … British Government statement of support for (‘view with favour’) the establishment of a ‘national home for the Jewish people’ … ‘it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine’.

1948 – #Nakba (Arabic: ‘catastrophe’) … Ethnic Cleansing / Expulsion of 750,000+ Palestinians … mass killings and violent displacement, with expropriation of lands, property and belongings … no right of return.

1967 – Arab-Israeli War (5-10 June), fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab States, primarily Egypt, Syria, Jordan … after which Israel illegally occupied: the Golan Heights in #Syria ;  the West Bank including East Jerusalem in #Jordan ;  the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza in #Egypt.

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#UNcharter #InternationalLaw #UDHR #ICJ #ICC #HumanRights – #USA #UK #Germany #France #EU #Israel #CriminalState #Nakba #Apartheid #IOF #IsraelOccupationForces #WarCrimes #Genocide #Gaza #WestBank #EastJerusalem – #IndependentPalestine #BDS #SupportBDS – #LastingPeace #Sustainability #SIA #SustainabilityImpactAssessment

USA ‘Rules-Based Order’ Is Purposefully Intended To Damage International Law … So Reinforcing USA’s Global Dominance

Posted by CJ Walsh

2024-08-27:  Have you – Yes YOU – ever noticed increasing references, over the past few years, to the International Rules-Based Order (RBO) in mainstream media … heavily promoted by USA and certain European political cliques ?

Are You Curious WHY ?

What is this #RBO ?   Where are these Rules written down ??   Are they enforceable … and if yes, by what internationally agreed mechanism ???

How does the RBO relate, if at all, to the United Nations (#UN) Charter, International Law, the International Court of Justice (#ICJ), or the International Criminal Court (#ICC) ?

How were the #USA / #UK / #NATO able to justify the use of their illegal ‘shock and awe’ force against, for example, #Iraq (2003) … followed by #Libya (2011) and #Syria (2014) ?

How and why is the USA able to prop up and shield the Criminal Apartheid Racist State of #Israel – a Twisted Zionist Polity – and its political and military leaders from international accountability before the UN Security Council, the ICJ and the ICC … for War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide ?

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Read & Weep … Pay Attention & Be Warned …

A very interesting Editorial by John Dugard SC was published in 2023.  He is a former Member of the UN International Law Commission, Judge ad hoc of the International Court of Justice, and UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories …

Leiden Journal of International Law

John Dugard: ‘The Choice Before Us – International Law or a Rules Based International Order’ (2023)

(Link Above – Download PDF File, 169 Kb – 10 Pages)

‘ The RBO is something other than International Law.  It is an alternative regime outside the discipline of International Law which inevitably challenges and threatens International Law.  Charitably it may be seen as an order comprising values of a liberal order.  Less charitably, it may be seen as a competing order advocated by some Western states, particularly the United States of America, which seeks to impose the interpretation of International Law that best advances the interests of the West, particularly those of the United States of America.  Unlike International Law, it does not seem to be a universal order.  Instead, it is an order employed by the West, again particularly the United States of America, to ensure its dominance.’

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Robust International Law & Lasting Peace

are Fundamental Prerequisites for

Sustainable Human & Social Development

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#UNcharter #RobustInternationalLaw #LastingPeace #HumanRights #UNsecurityCouncil #Humanity #Sustainability #IndependentPalestine #BDS #USA #RulesBasedOrder #JohnDugardSC #UNspecialRapporteur #LeidenJournal #West #BRICS #China #Russia #SouthAfrica #Ukraine #Iran #GlobalSouth #PRC #SupportBDS #OccupiedPalestinianTerritories #Palestine #Gaza #Genocide #WarCrimes

Shocking Uncontrolled e-Waste Generation & Disposal To Landfill !

Posted by CJ Walsh

2024-03-22:  The United Nation’s 4th Global e-Waste Monitor (#GEM) Report has revealed that the world’s generation of Electronic Waste is rising five times faster than documented e-Waste Recycling.

The 62 Million Tonnes of e-Waste generated in 2022 would fill 1.55 million 40-tonne trucks, roughly enough trucks to form a bumper-to-bumper chain encircling the equator.

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Colour Photograph showing various types of e-Waste … a typical scene at a Recycling Centre.  Not every Centre is properly managed.  And there are many parts of the world where there are no Centres at all, and e-Waste goes straight to landfill causing serious health and environmental problems for local communities.  Click to enlarge.

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Less than one quarter (22.3%) of the year’s e-Waste Mass was documented as having been properly collected and recycled in 2022, leaving over Euro €57 Billion worth of recoverable natural resources unaccounted for, and increasing pollution risks to local communities.  Worldwide, the annual generation of e-Waste is rising by 2.6 Million Tonnes annually, on track to reach 82 Million Tonnes by 2030, a further 33% increase from the 2022 figure.

E-waste, any discarded product with a plug or battery, is a health and environmental hazard, containing toxic additives or hazardous substances such as mercury, which can damage the human brain and co-ordination system.

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Colour Image showing the Title Page of the United Nation’s 4th Global e-Waste Monitor (GEM) Report.  Click to enlarge.

2024 UNITAR / ITU Global e-Waste Monitor (GEM) Report

[ Download PDF File, 15.06 MB ]

The Report foresees a drop in the documented collection and recycling rate from 22.3% in 2022 to 20% by 2030 due to the widening difference in recycling efforts relative to the staggering growth of e-Waste generation worldwide.  Challenges contributing to the widening gap include technological progress, higher consumption, limited repair options, shorter product life cycles, society’s growing ‘smartness’, design shortcomings, and inadequate e-Waste management infrastructure.

The Report also notes that the world ‘remains stunningly dependent’ on a few countries for rare earth elements, despite their unique properties crucial for future technologies, including renewable energy generation and e-Mobility.

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Colour Image showing the e-Waste Status of Africa in 2022.  Click to enlarge.

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31 Million Tonnes … Estimated weight of metals embedded in e-Waste in 2022, along with 17 Million Tonnes of plastics and 14 Million Tonnes of other materials (minerals, glass, composite materials, etc.)

17.6 Kg … Per Capita e-Waste generation in Europe, followed by Oceania (16.1 kg) and the Americas (14.1 kg)

5.1 Million Tonnes (8.2% of Global Total) … e-Waste shipped across borders in 2022, of which approximately 3.3 Million Tonnes (65%) was shipped from high-income to middle/low-income countries through uncontrolled, undocumented movements

NOTE:  Cross national border ‘exporting’ of e-Waste – ANY Waste – Is NOT Recycling !

33% (20.4 Million Tonnes) … Proportion of e-waste made up of small devices (e.g. toys, microwave ovens, vacuum cleaners, e-cigarettes), of which 12% are recycled

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#UN #UNITAR #ITU #eWaste #WEEE #PVpanels #SmartSociety #IoT #AI #SmartPhones #SmartTV #Recycling #RenewableEnergy #e-Mobility #EV #ElectricVehicles #Landfill #LithiumIonBatteries #ScarceNaturalResources #RareEarthMetals #HealthHazard #ClimateDisruption #Cobalt #HumanRights #EnvironmentalHarm #VirtualEnvironment #MilitaryEwaste #SpaceEwaste #Africa #Sustainability #SustainabilityImpactAssessment

Sustainability Impact Assessment (#SIA):  A continual evaluation and optimization process – informing initial decision-making, design, shaping activity / product / service realization, useful life, and termination or final disposal – of the interrelated positive and negative social, environmental, economic, institutional, political and legal impacts on balanced and equitable implementation of Sustainable Human & Social Development.

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The International Fraud of Plastics Recycling & E.U. Statistical Reliability ?!?

Posted by CJ Walsh

2024-02-17:  A very recent Report: The Fraud of Plastic Recycling – How Big Oil and the Plastics Industry Deceived the Public for Decades and Caused the Plastic Waste Crisis … published by the Centre for Climate Integrity ( www.climateintegrity,org ), in Washington D.C., #USA … raises serious issues about whether Any Plastic Recycling is technically or economically viable at scale … and serious questions, by implication, about Statistical Reliability in the European Union (#EU) concerning Recycling generally, and Plastics Recycling in particular.

Could this also be the Reason why the Global North is so busy dumping Un-Recyclable Plastics in the previously colonized territories of the Global South ???

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Short Extract From This Report’s Introduction …

Plastic Pollution is one of the most serious Environmental Crises facing the world today.  Between 1950 and 2015, over 90% of plastics were landfilled, incinerated, or leaked into the environment.  Plastic Waste is ubiquitous – from our rivers, lakes, and oceans to roadways and coastlines.  It is in ‘the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink’.  One study estimates that humans ingest up to five grams, or the equivalent of one credit card worth of plastic per week.  Some of the largest Oil and Gas Companies are among the 20 petrochemical companies responsible for more than half of all single-use plastics generated globally.  #ExxonMobil, for example, is the world’s top producer of single-use plastic polymers.

Underpinning this Plastic Waste Crisis is a decades-long campaign of #Fraud and #Deception about the #Recyclability of #Plastics.  Despite their long-standing knowledge that recycling plastic is neither technically nor economically viable, petrochemical companies – independently and through their industry trade associations and front groups – have engaged in fraudulent marketing and public education campaigns designed to mislead the public about the viability of plastic recycling as a solution to Plastic Waste.

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February 2024

The Fraud of Plastic Recycling – How Big Oil and the Plastics Industry Deceived the Public for Decades and Caused the Plastic Waste Crisis

[ Download PDF File, 2.82 MB ]

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This Report’s Conclusion …

By deceiving consumers, policymakers, and regulators about the viability of Plastic Recycling, petrochemical companies have ensured the continued expansion of plastic production, which has led to a Plastic Waste and Pollution Crisis for communities across the country.  The costs of managing and cleaning up Plastic Waste are largely borne by municipal and state governments – and those costs are projected to increase exponentially in the coming decades, given that Plastic Waste generation in the United States of America is expected to increase from 73 million metric tonnes in 2019 to more than 140 million metric tonnes by 2060.

If not for the Big Oil and the plastic industry’s lies and deception, municipalities and states would not have invested in plastic recycling programmes and facilities – many of which have been shut down due to foreseeable economic losses.  The industry not only misled municipal and state agencies to believe that Plastic Recycling was a viable solution to Plastic Waste but also discouraged them from pursuing other, more Sustainable Waste Management Strategies (e.g., waste reduction, reuse, bans, alternative materials) in favour of plastic recycling.

Fossil fuel and other petrochemical companies should now be held accountable for their deliberate campaign of deception and the resulting harms, much like tobacco and opioid companies that employed a similar playbook.  Based on the growing body of evidence, municipalities and states are likely to pursue litigation, which could put an end to the industry’s deception, make the companies pay for the devastating harms they have caused to communities, and open the door to real solutions that are currently out of reach.

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February 2024

Link To … Excerpts of Key Documents Cited in ‘The Fraud of Plastic Recycling’

(PDF File, Warning 30.53 MB)

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#Sustainability #InternationalFraud #Plastics #PlasticsRecycling #EUstatisticalReliability #GlobalNorth #GlobalSouth #PlasticPollution #EnvironmentalCrisis #PlasticWaste #OilCompanies #GasCompanies #TechnicalViability #EconomicViability #PlasticsIndustry #BigOil #ClimateIntegrity #Reliability #Resilience #SustainableWasteManagementStrategies #SIA #SustainabilityImpactAssessment

Sustainable Fire Engineering – Road Map To A Safe, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment For ALL

Posted by CJ Walsh

2022-12-19:  Following on, directly, from the 2016 Dublin Code of Ethics …

[ A personal Code of Ethics – is / must be – the basis for Effective Sustainability Implementation ]

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Multi-Disciplinary Input  > Trans-Disciplinary Output

Sustainable Fire Engineering (SFE) is a Facilitator – no more than Architecture, Structural Engineering, or Spatial Planning – in the task of realizing a Safe, Resilient and Sustainable Built Environment for All.  However, SFE has an essential role to fill throughout the difficult journey towards that target.  In close collaboration with other design disciplines, many iterations … twists and turns along the road … will be necessary.

Beware Greenwashing !

Sustainability is NOT a graft-on, or an optional extra, to Conventional Fire Engineering.  This intricate, open, dynamic and continuously evolving Concept must cut right to the core of everyday design practice, and must positively impact all areas of that practice.

Ethical Transformation

In this third decade of the 21st Century … the Safety Objectives in current Fire Codes / Regulations are limited, inadequate, and lagging far behind today’s creative moulding and re-shaping of the Built Environment ;  they are almost, but not entirely, irrelevant in the context of the urgently required transformation of conventional fire engineering.  For anybody who cannot see the broad, beautiful landscape beyond codes and regulations … this SFE Road Map is definitely not for you.  For those who can see, your constant companion … your compass … will be a Personal Code of Ethics.

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Essential Considerations Before Starting Out On The Road …

1.  World Trade Centre Attacks in New York City, on 11 September 2001.  Two sets of important Recommendations were issued by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2005 and 2008.  Not only is the implementation of these still incomplete, but the solid progress which has been made e.g. on Firefighter Safety, is continuously under threat from vested interests.  Other jurisdictions have tended to ignore the Recommendations.  SFE takes full account of this Extreme Man-Made Event.

2.  Grenfell Tower Fire in London, on 14 June 2017.  Evidence at the Official Inquiry continues to shock and horrify ;  the entire fire safety regulatory edifice in England is dysfunctional, and it poses a real and serious danger to Public Health and Safety.  Inquiry Phase 1 Recommendations were issued in 2019.  Already, the Recommendation concerning Evacuation for Vulnerable Building Users & PEEP’s (#33.22 e and f) has been discarded by AHJ’s … and it has also been stated (#34.14) that as everything about the single narrow staircase in the Tower appeared to be OK, it will not be investigated in Inquiry Phase 2 … a sure sign of dysfunctional dysfunction !  SFE sees beyond these major flaws.

3.  Sustainable Buildings   Il Bosco Verticale Towers in Milano … this exciting Project, designed by Stefano Boeri and completed in October 2014, has become the International Icon for innovative / environment-friendly construction.  These new approaches to building design are posing enormous fire safety challenges.   [ Remember back … was it 15 years before fire codes were able to ‘solve’ the Atrium in buildings ? ]   SFE, however, must cope with this extraordinary level of architectural creativity ;  and Fire Engineering Practitioners must be capable of active participation, collaboratively, within Project Design/Construction Teams.

Looking past the Milan Project … it is important for the reader to experience a more rounded flavour of where the exciting synergy between Creative Design and the Inclusive Language of Sustainability is at present, and where it is tending to go …

UN HABITAT ~ World Cities Report 2022 ~ ‘Envisaging the Future of Cities’ … https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2022/06/wcr_2022.pdf

Ar. Vincent Callebaut, France … https://www.vincent.callebaut.org/

Ar. Stefano Boeri, Italy … https://www.stefanoboeriarchitetti.net/en/

Ar. Olando DeUrrutia, Spain … https://deurrutia.com/

4.  Building Energy Performance Rating Schemes   Under enormous environmental and political pressures, the headlong rush to conserve energy in buildings, and to make them more energy efficient … especially after the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine … is proceeding in blissful ignorance of fire safety and necessary independent technical controls.  Measurement of real building performance, after energy refurbishment has been completed, is generally avoided.

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The Road Ahead … From Gro Harlem Brundtland To Reliable Fire Statistics …

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Sustainable Fire Engineering Road Map

Realizing a Safe, Resilient and Sustainable Built Environment for All

(Download PDF File, 36 Overheads, 2.94 Mb)

This SFE Road Map takes account of feedback received after it was first presented on the LinkedIn Group … Sustainable Fire Engineering (#SFE) Network ~ #EthicalDesign #BeyondCodes #DefenceInDepth #SIA … from July to October 2022.  Further updated and revised in May 2023.

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#Twitter (#X) … @sfe2016dublin …

#SFE #RoadMap #SustainableFireEngineering #Reality #Reliability #FireInducedProgressiveDamage #WTC911 #SustainableDevelopment #SustainableBuildings #GrenfellTowerFire #ClimateDisruption #ClimateSynergies #UNFCCC #ClimateAdaptation #IPCC #Cities #FireCodes #Architecture #FireEngineering #SpatialPlanning #DesignTools #BIM #BeyondCodes #Ethics #CodeOfEthics #EthicalDesign #CJWalsh #DefenceInDepth #FireSafety4ALL #VulnerablePeople #Firefighters #FFsafety #Creativity #Wildfires #Bushfires #IncendiBoschivi #IncendiosForestales #OrmanYangınları #IncêndiosFlorestais #FeuxDeForêt #Resilience #Sustainability #SustainabilityImplementation #SustainableDesignInternational #Redundancy #SIA #ClimateTippingPoints #SustainabilityImpactAssessment #SocialTransformation #SocialWellbeing4ALL

BREXIT & EU Construction Products Regulation 305/2011 ~ Woeful Implications for Britain’s Fire Industry

Posted by CJ Walsh

2020-09-08:  Ignoring Britain’s silly sabre-rattling, toothless threats and boorish blackmail attempts reported in the Media during this past weekend, yesterday and today … the actual state of play in the tortuous Brexit Negotiations can best be judged from the following sources …

Michel Barnier’s Presentation to the Institute for International and European Affairs (IIEA), on 2 September 2020 … View it Here on YouTube

Britain’s National Audit Office Report: ‘Learning for Government from EU Exit Preparations’, dated 4 September 2020   (Download PDF File, 197 Kb)

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Map of Europe, in colour, showing the current extent of the European Union.  Points to Note:  a) Europe, as a continent, extends as far as the Ural Mountains in Russia;  b) From 1 January 2021, after an implementation period of one year, Great Britain will be entirely outside the EU and the Single Market;  c) The EU is not a Christian organization and as soon the political classes in certain countries (e.g. France and The Netherlands) get over their hysterical hatreds, Turkey will enter the EU as a full Member State;  d) furthermore and eventually, an Independent Scotland will re-join the EU.  Click map to enlarge.

This is the European Union (EU), a Single Market of approximately 450 Million consumers.  The EU operates under the freedoms and protections of Codified / Written Law, i.e. EU Treaties ratified by all of the EU Member States, EU Secondary Legislation (Regulations and Directives), and EU Administrative Provisions.

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A suite of EU Regulations and Directives covers Industrial Products.  While there is some flexibility with regard to how Directives are implemented at national level in the Member States, no such flexibility exists with Regulations.  Construction Products can only be placed on the EU Single Market if they can be shown to comply with the requirements of the EU’s Construction Products Regulation (CPR) Framework, or in other words, be shown to be ‘fit for their intended use’ in the European Union …

REGULATION (EU) No 305/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council, dated 9 March 2011, laying down harmonised conditions for the marketing of construction products and repealing Council Directive 89/106/EEC   (Download PDF File, 998 Kb)

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EU Regulation 305/2011.  Article 13(2) Before placing a Construction Product on the market, Importers shall ensure that the assessment and the verification of constancy of performance has been carried out by the Manufacturer.  They shall ensure that the Manufacturer has drawn up the Technical Documentation referred to in the second sub-paragraph of Article 11(1) and the Declaration of Performance in accordance with Articles 4 and 6.  They shall also ensure that the Product, where required, bears the CE Marking, that the Product is accompanied by the required documents and that the Manufacturer has complied with the requirements set out in Article 11(4) and (5).

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BREXIT ~ IMPLICATIONS FOR THE BRITISH FIRE INDUSTRY

Trade ‘No Deal’ or ‘Minimal Deal’ … from 1 January 2021, Great Britain will be completely outside the European Single Market, and the EU’s Construction Products Regulation Framework.  The designation ‘Notified Body’ under that Framework will fall away from British Organizations.  Construction Products/Systems manufactured in, or supplied from, Britain will then have to undergo an entirely new EU Testing and Approvals Programme in order to access the European Single Market.  Fire Safety related Construction Products will have to be tested, and assessed or appraised, against all 7 Basic Requirements for Buildings together, during the same period of time (see Annex I, EU Regulation 305/2011) …

      1.  Mechanical Resistance and Stability
      2.  Safety in Case of Fire
      3.  Hygiene, Health and the Environment
      4.  Safety and Accessibility in Use
      5.  Protection against Noise
      6.  Energy Economy and Heat Retention
      7.  Sustainable Use of Natural Resources

… a process which will be very interesting to observe, since the Fire Industry (particularly England’s Fire Establishment, AHJ’s, etc) dislikes, with intensity, the whole idea of ‘environmental impact’ … the concept of ‘sustainable development’ is hardly understood … and no consideration is given to the reasonable fire safety and accessibility needs of ‘vulnerable building users’ (including people with activity limitations, refugees, migrants, etc).

The tragic 2017 Grenfell Tower Fire, and its sad aftermath, have demonstrated how dysfunctional, and rotten to the core, is the whole national system of Building Fire Safety in England.  More than 3 years later … on the evidence to date of an ongoing, incompetent Inquiry and a series of shoddy responses from Government … will survivors and the victims’ families ever receive Justice, and find Peace ?   cf. The 1981 Stardust Discotheque Fire in Dublin.  Survivors and victims’ families are still waiting for the truth to be revealed.

In parallel, mutual recognition of British Professional Building Designers, e.g. Architects, Structural Engineers, Fire Engineers, etc., within the European Union will cease.

In parallel, British Fire Research involvement in EU Research Networks will also cease … unless a heavy price is paid to be involved as a 3rd Country.  British Institutions should forget any notions they might have about Network Leadership.

In parallel, Information and Data Flows between Britain and the EU will be disrupted or cease altogether … unless Britain complies fully with the requirements of EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2016/679.  As a vassal state of the USA, this compliance may prove difficult for Britain !

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EU Fire Safety Related Product/System Manufacturers ~ A Word of Caution !

Many EU Construction Product/System Manufacturers continue to use the services provided by British Fire Test Laboratories and/or Fire Consultancy Organizations located in Great Britain … some of which have already established EU-based dummy companies and letterheads.  These British organizations must be avoided altogether.  For example, the practice of fire testing in England and later adding a title page of a Full Test Report with an EU location address is entirely unacceptable !

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SDI’s 2020 Unified Terminology – Concepts, Terms & Definitions

Posted by CJ Walsh

Update 2020-09-01:  Although the term ‘Vulnerable People’ remains unaltered, I considered it wise, and very necessary bearing in mind the obvious myopia in the mainstream health, safety and design worlds … clearly demonstrated by the 2017 Grenfell Tower Fire in England, and this current CoronaVirus / CoVID-19 Global Pandemic … to include references to specific social groups …

Vulnerable People:  Those people – in a community, society or culture – who are most at risk of being physically, psychologically or sociologically wounded, hurt, damaged, injured, or killed … and include, for example, people with disabilities, young children, people with health conditions, frail older people, women in late pregnancy, refugees, migrants, prisoners, the poor, and homeless.

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2020-07-20:  So many diverse design disciplines and interested groups are involved in the realization, operation and maintenance of a Safe, Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable Human Environment (built, social, economic, virtual, and institutional) … that the use of simple, easily assimilated language and precise, harmonized technical terminology must be widely exercised.  For the effective application of Building Information Modelling (BIM), this is particularly important.

And concerning Fire Engineering, it is not clear when the practice began, but defining a concept simply in terms of performance in a ‘standard test fire’ is entirely inadequate, and fails to explain the actual meaning of the concept.

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SDI’s 2020 Unified Terminology – Concepts, Terms & Definitions   (Download PDF File, 156 Kb)

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This Terminology … a body of particular terms, each explaining and defining a single concept, covering inter-related building requirements, e.g. human health, accessibility and fire safety for all, firefighting, social rights, design, performance monitoring, and facility management … takes account of:

  1. Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA)
  2. WHO International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)
  3. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
  4. U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
  5. Environmental Impact.

Fire Engineering Terms … take account of the ‘realistic’ end condition, i.e. a real fire in a real building which is occupied or used by real people with varying behaviour and abilities in relation to self-protection, independent evacuation to an external place of safety remote from a fire building, and active participation in a building’s Fire Emergency Management Plan.

General Terms … are also included in order to facilitate a better understanding of:

  • the complexity of human behaviour and perception (visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile and proprioceptive) ;
  • the wide range of health conditions ;   and, more specifically
  • mental, cognitive and psychological impairments.

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2004 Rio de Janeiro Declaration on Sustainable Social Development, Disability & Ageing

Posted by CJ Walsh

2020-04-28:  A look back at a Benchmark Document, and an Introduction written nearly 16 years ago.  So many years, so much valuable time has been wasted …

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2004 Rio de Janeiro Declaration on Sustainable Social Development, Disability & Ageing  (Download PDF File, 306 Kb)

The words ‘green’, ‘environmental’, ‘ecological’ and ‘sustainable’ are becoming part of everyday language in the Developed World, but are frequently interchanged without understanding.  To date, however, the concept of Sustainable Development has been hijacked by Environmentalists.  For example, no connection at all may be seen between a ‘sustainable’ building and ensuring that it can be safely and conveniently entered and used by ordinary people.

In other parts of the World, the ambiguous WCED / Brundtland Definition of Sustainable Development is being systematically rejected ;  the concept is viewed as an unaffordable luxury and/or as a means of continued domination and control by the ‘North’.  Yet, sustainability must be a global compact.

In this intolerant and more fundamentalist 21st Century, the United Nations System, International Law, and Social Justice continue to come under sustained attack.  And the Beslan School Tragedy* demonstrates that it is far more hazardous for disadvantaged, vulnerable and indigenous peoples in every society.

[ * The 2004 Beslan School Massacre … https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beslan_school_siege … and its commemoration 10 years later … https://www.rt.com/news/183964-beslan-school-hostage-crisis/ ]

Some specific objectives for the 2004 Rio Declaration were as follows …

  • To present a 2nd Generation Definition of Sustainable Development which is more acceptable to the Developing World ;
  • To restore primacy to the Social Aspects of Sustainable Development … and particularly the ethical values of Social Justice, Solidarity and Inclusion-for-All ;
  • To embed the concept of the ‘Person’ in Sustainable Development … rather than the fleeting reference to ‘People’ which too often results in Disadvantaged, Vulnerable and Indigenous Groups being left behind ;
  • To signal one of the main challenges of Sustainable Development ahead – which will be to establish a framework of horizontal co-ordination at the many institutional levels … and between the many actors and end users … in the human environment.

Adopted in December 2004, at the Brazil Designing for the 21st Century III Conference, the Rio Declaration consists of a Preamble, 10 Principles and 5 Appendices ;  its central concern involves People with Activity Limitations (2001 WHO ICF).

This Declaration extols implementation, and the targeting and monitoring of ‘real’ performance – as opposed to ‘imagined’ or ‘paper’ performance.

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