tailieunhanh - THE MUNICIPAL CONTINUUM: RESEARCH ON MARITIME WATER POLLUTION IN HELSINKI IN THE 20TH CENTURY

Unburned hydrocarbons represent another source of air pollution associated with the use of fossil fuels (especially gasoline), even though they are not a result of combustion. Much of the emission of unburned hydrocarbons to the air occurs as a result of evaporation from fuel tanks (remember the smell of gasoline during your last fill-up?) and as a result of leaks or spills. Taken individually, these events seem trivially small. But on any given day millions of vehicles are being refilled with gasoline | ISSN 1239-6095 2004 BOREAL ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH 9 529-541 Helsinki 14 December 2004 The municipal continuum Research on maritime water pollution in Helsinki in the 20th century Sari K. Laurila1 and Simo J. Laakkonen2 1 Department of Social Science History . Box 54 FIN-00014 University of Helsinki Finland e-mail 2 Department of Social Policy Environmental Policy . Box 18 FIN-00014 University of Helsinki Finland e-mail Laurila S. K. Laakkonen S. J. 2004 The municipal continuum Research on maritime water pollution in Helsinki in the 20th century. Boreal Env. Res. 9 529-541. In general the history of environmental research is not known very well. Our study contributes to filling this gap by focusing on the history of the methods that were used during the 20th century to study the state of the urban sea area in Helsinki Finland. From the beginning of the past century the methodological basis of municipal water pollution studies in Helsinki was broad involving the use of physical chemical hygienic and biological methods. Since 1904 municipal laboratories have overseen and conducted most physico-chemical and bacteriological studies of pollution of urban watercourses and they have done regular annual sampling since 1947. In the 1920s and 1930s the municipal laboratories cooperated with the University of Helsinki and secondarily with the Helsinki University of Technology in order to develop the skills and manpower that were required in order to conduct pollution studies. Statutory monitoring was initiated in the mid-1960s and it continues today. Introduction Was marine pollution studied prior to the 1970s This question which was asked by students of hydrobiology during a recent seminar at the University of Helsinki indicates the lack of field-specific historical knowledge in the curricula of environmental studies. At the same time however study of the history of environmental science can provide valuable information