Fourth International Conference on the Impact of Environmental Factors on Health

 Overview

 Opening Address

Professor Carlos Brebbia, Director of Wessex Institute of Technology (WIT), opened the Meeting and welcomed the delegates to the beautiful island of Malta, recommending that they visit the many historical and archaeological sites for which Malta is renowned.  

Professor Brebbia also mentioned the different research and training activities that are taking place at the Institute, particularly those related to the topic of this conference.  Of special interest are the EU projects dealing with research into the reasons for the drop in the fecundity rate in Europe; the tracking of food facilities to trace possible outbreaks of contamination, and to monitor their state in general.  Other interesting projects relate to the effects of electromagnetic radiation on the human body.  

WIT has developed a unique computational technique called Boundary Elements, which allows for the representation of the human body in greater detail than other numerical methods.  Applications of Boundary Elements allow for a more realistic representation of the human body, including the main organs and very detailed descriptions of particular parts such as eyes and the head, which are of particular interest in many cases.  

Professor Brebbia also referred to the success of the conference papers, which are now published in hard cover book form and distributed all over the world. The electronic version of the same volumes are archived in the electronic library of the Institute.  

The success of these proceedings can be judged by the fact that the eLibrary now attracts nearly a quarter of a million downloads of abstracts and papers per year. Recent developments will increase this number even further as work continues to link the Library to major research engines and abstracting services.  This service, Professor Brebbia said, will ensure that the papers presented at WIT conferences continue to be consulted by the international scientific community.

 Conference Sessions

The papers presented at the Meeting were grouped into several sessions, as follows:

• Air pollution
• The built environment and health
• Water quality issues
• Risk prevention and monitoring
• Social and economic issues

 Invited Presentations

A series of invited speakers helped to enhance the Meeting:  

• “Climate change, migratory species and pandemic influenza”, by K Duncan, University of Toronto, Canada
• “Health risk related to radon in a thermal spa utilizing waters from Guarani aquifer”, by D M Bonotto, University of Sao Paolo, Brazil
• “Evaluating safety of drinking water using animal cell bioassays”, by GK Luk, Ryerson University, Canada
• “The case of atmospheric pollution using production waste in a building materials factory: an applied industrial case”, by F Patania, University of Catania, Italy
• “Indoor exposure associated risk for eczema in early childhood”, by O Herbarth, Centre for Environmental Research, Germany
  

 Conference Dinner

The Conference banquet took the shape of a sailing tour from Port St Julian to the Grand Harbour on board an old-fashioned sailing ship, where the delegates had dinner and were entertained by a Maltese music group. The boat then docked in the oldest part of the harbour and they were taken on a walking tour of that part of town, including the fort built by the Knights of St John.  From there they proceeded to the quarter where the Knights had their hostels or living quarters, after leaving behind the home of the Inquisition, an institution run by the Dominican order, whose Church is still in use.  After visiting the old main square, they returned to the boat.  The perfect weather, the full moon and the well-lit historical buildings added to the enjoyment of the event.

 ISAC Meeting

The meeting of the International Scientific Advisory Committee (ISAC) took place in a restaurant famous for its wine cellar.  The excellent dinner contributed to the success of the meeting, during which a series of enhancements to Environmental Health Risk were suggested.  There was general agreement to the proposal to reconvene the Conference in 2009, the date and location of which will be decided shortly.

 Publication of Papers

Papers from the conference will also be hosted online at the WIT eLibrary as Volume 11 of WIT Transactions on Biomedicine and Health (ISSN: 1743-3525). For more details visit the WITeLibrary at www.witpress.com.  

Patagonia a forgotten land – from Magellan to Peron, by C.A. Brebbia,  384 pp (ISBN 978-1-84564-061-3) is available in hard back from WIT Press, priced at £33/US$59/€49.50.  Orders can be placed as above.  

The New Forest: A Personal View, by C.A. Brebbia, 112pp (ISBN 1-85312-504-0) is available in hard back from WIT Press, priced at £22.50/US$35.10/€37.50.  Orders can be placed as above.