Health and safety implications of alternative energy technologies. III. Fossil energy
This paper reviews both innovative fossil energy sources (tar sands, oil shale, and unconventional natural gas), and more established technologies that are being considered as suppliers of gaseous and liquid fuels (that is, coal gasification and liquefaction). Potential health and safety issues related to the technologies are discussed, although the absence of commercial-scale facilities in the United States restricts the discussion to health effects information derived from related processes. The available epidemiological and carcinogenic studies give cause for concern. The study of the health and environmental impacts of the emerging fossil fuel technologies will be important for quantification of adverse effects and rectification of problems before commitment to large-scale commercialization occurs.
Mutagenic and cytogenetic analyses of organic extracts of simulated runoffs from model coal piles.
The use of coal as a fuel in utility and other industries in the United States is increasing. Typically, these utilities store their coal outdoors in large piles, and rainfall on the piles produces a runoff containing hazardous inorganic and organic materials. Four coals of varying sulfur contents, all used for fuel in the United States, were tested. Organic materials were extracted from simulated runoffs of model coal piles and were tested for mutagenicity with a Salmonella/microsomal assay and for clastogenicity and cytotoxicity in Chinese hamster ovary cells. The extracts of the high-sulfur coals and the lignite were more mutagenic and clastogenic than extracts from the low-sulfur coal.
Main tendencies of religious consciousness development in modern society
The article is devoted to the investigation of the tendencies of religious consciousness development in modern society. At the present stage of development religious consciousness, like any other social and psychological phenomenon, is undergoing significant changes. The development of religious consciousness at the present stage of society evolution leads to the development of common moral norms and requirements. There is a tendency to reduce human ties with the religious community as a translator of religious consciousness. It is possible to speak about the transformation of religious consciousness but not about its disappearance.