Dissemination of results
Dissemination has been very active through out the RAMAS Project. The fact that data transfer is the most efficient risk management tool has been the leading idea. This is also the field which has been observed to be very challenging. There are many kinds of problems and improvements are needed at all levels. The data sources are scattered, the quality or the scale of the information is not corresponding the needs and there are also difficulties due to the different educational backgrounds of the people involved in the environmental management. Briefly, the available information does not easily reach the end users.
The RAMAS Project published 11 technical reports covering all the disciplines of the project. These reports do not only describe the work carried out and the methods applied, but they also provide the primary, unpublished data collected from different sources and the new data produced by the project. All reports, except for two, are in English. The Final Report, however, was written in Finnish, because it was considered beneficial in order to reach the attention of the authorities in municipalities, regional environmental centres and licensing agencies. The international audience was addressed by 13 presentations in conferences. In addition, more than 40 presentations were given in national forums. The dissemination continues despite of the closing of the RAMAS project.
Research reports
Publications and articles
| The target groups and the means of informing have been: |
|---|
| Local people: personal contacts, public meetings, articles in local and national newspapers |
| Public licensing and monitoring authorities (health, land use, environment, construction) at the local and regional levels: training and information workshops, distribution of maps and reports, booklets addressing the various aspects of the As problem |
| Industry and SME: contacts to the environmental units/persons, distribution of maps and booklets, main emphasis on the preventive/remediation actions and treatment methods. |
| Agriculture (farmers, authorities, plant nutrient industry): dissemination through the agricultural information networks on the recommendations of cultivation practises in areas with elevated As levels |
| Scientific and technical community: papers published in international journals and conferences. |
RAMAS Dissemination
Research reports
1. Backman, B., Luoma, S., Ruskeeniemi, T., Karttunen, V., Talikka, M. & Kaija, J. 2006. Natural Occurrence of Arsenic in the Pirkanmaa region of Finland. Geological Survey of Finland, Miscellaneous Publications, 88 pp, 34 figures and 20 tables.
2. Parviainen, A., Vaajasaari, K., Loukola-Ruskeeniemi, K., Kauppila, T., Bilaletdin, Ä., Kaipainen, H., Tammenmaa,J. & Hokkanen, T. 2006. Anthropogenic Arsenic Sources in the Pirkanmaa Region in Finland. Geological Survey of Finland, Miscellaneous Publications, 72 pp, 23 figures and 8 tables.
3. Lehtinen, H. & Sorvari, J. 2006. Management of arsenic in the Pirkanmaa region - Survey on available risk management instruments and tools. Geological Survey of Finland, Miscellaneous Publications, 88 pp, 1 figure, 17 tables and 3 appendices. (in Finnish)
4. Mäkelä-Kurtto, R., Eurola, M., Justén, A., Backman, B., Luoma, S., Karttunen, V. & Ruskeeniemi, T. 2006. Arsenic and other elements in agro-ecosystems in Finland and particularly in the Pirkanmaa region. Geological Survey of Finland, Miscellaneous Publications, 116 pp, 24 figures, 73 tables and 2 appendices.
5. Bilaletdin, Ä., Kaipainen, H., Parviainen, A., Kauppila, T. & Ruskeeniemi, T. 2007. A transport model of arsenic for surface waters - An application in Finland. Geological Survey of Finland, Miscellaneous Publications, 33 pp, 18 figures and 6 tables.
6. Schultz, E. & Joutti, A. 2007. Arsenic ecotoxicity in soils. Geological Survey of Finland, Miscellaneous Publications,, 53 pp, 13 figures and 10 tables.
7. Backman, B., Kettunen, V., Ruskeeniemi, T., Luoma, S. & Karttunen, V. 2007a. Arsenic removal from groundwater and surface water - Field tests in the Pirkanmaa Region, Finland. Geological Survey of Finland, Miscellaneous Publications, 44 p, 16 figures and 7 tales.
8. Sorvari, J., Schultz, E., Rossi, E., Lehtinen, H., Joutti, A., Vaajasaari, K. & Kauppila, T. 2007. Risk Assessment of Natural and Anthropogenic Arsenic in Pirkanmaa Region, Finland. Geological Survey of Finland, Miscellaneous Publications, 96 pp, 13 figures 35 tables and 4 appendices.
9. Lehtinen, H., Sorvari, J. & Pyy, O. 2007. Arsenic risk management suitable for Finnish conditions - Case Pirkanmaa region. Geological Survey of Finland, Miscellaneous Publications, 66 pp, 18 figures, 13 tables and 1 appendix.
10. Backman, B., Eklund, M., Luoma, S., Pullinen, A., & Karttunen, V., 2007b. Natural and anthropogenic arsenic contents in the Pirkanmaa region. Arsenic contents in different soil horizons, in tailing sand and dust, in water at quarries, at CCA wood preservative plants, and at landfills and in natural berries, mushrooms and birch sap. Geological Survey of Finland, Miscellaneous Publications, 33 pages, 16 figures, and 9 tables (in Finnish).
11. Loukola-Ruskeeniemi, K., Ruskeeniemi, T., Parviainen, A. & Backman, B. (eds.) 2007. Arsenic in the Pirkanmaa region in Finland - Occurrence in the Environment, Risk Assessment and Risk Management. Helsinki University of Technology. Geoenvironmental Technology. Special Publications, 156 pp, 64 figures and 37 tables.
Publications and articles
1. Backman, B. & Loukola-Ruskeeniemi, K. 2005. Mobilisation of arsenic to well waters from the bedrock. Ympäristö ja terveys 10/2005 (Environment and Health Magazine, in Finnish).
2. Backman, B., Luoma, S., Ruskeeniemi, T., Karttunen, V., Kettunen, V. & Loukola-Ruskeeniemi, K. 2007. Natural Occurrence of Arsenic in bedrock groundwater in South Finland, Scandinavia. 2007 NGWA Naturally Occurring Contaminants Conference: Arsenic, radium, radon and uranium, 22-23 March 2007. Charleston, USA.
3. Bilaletdin, Ä., Kaipainen, H., Ruskeeniemi, T. & Parviainen, A. 2007. Modelling arsenic transport in a river basin: a case study in Finland. In: Tiezzi, E., Marques, J.C., Brebbia, C.A., & Jorgensen, S.E. (eds.): Ecosystems and sustainable development VI. WIT Press, Southampton, Boston, 91-100.
4. Lehtinen, H., Parviainen, A., Sorvari, J., Backman, B., Bilaletdin, Ä., Kettunen, V., Loukola-Ruskeeniemi, K., Mäkelä-Kurtto, R., Rossi, E., Ruskeeniemi, T. & Schultz, E. 2006. Regional risk management of anthropogenic and natural arsenic in Pirkanmaa, Finland. Difpolmine Conference: What the future holds for large metal-polluted sites? 12-14 of December 2006, Montpellier, France.
5. Lehtinen, H., Sorvari, J. & Assmuth, T. 2007. Multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary approach for the regional risk management of arsenic in Pirkanmaa, Finland. In: 15th Meeting of the Association of European Geological Societies. Georesources and public policy: research, management, environment, 16-20 September 2007, Tallinn, Estonia : abstracts. Tallinn: Geological Society of Estonia, 28-30.
6. Loukola-Ruskeeniemi, K., Backman, B., Lahermo, P. & Ruskeeniemi, T. 2005. Arsenic in groundwater in Finland - Risk assessment begins in Pirkanmaa. National seminar of Geological research, 14.3.2005, University of Turku. (In Finnish)
7. Loukola-Ruskeeniemi, K., Ruskeeniemi, T., Backman, B., Rossi, E., Lehtinen, H., Schultz, E., Sorvari, J., Mäkelä-Kurtto, R., Parviainen, A., Vaajasaari, K. and Bilaletdin, Ä. 2007. Arsenic in the Tampere region in Finland: occurrence in the environment, risk assessment and risk management - final results of the RAMAS project. Abstract: 28th Nordic Geological Winter Meeting, Aalborg, Denmark, 7-10.1.2008.
8. Mäkelä-Kurtto, R. & Ruskeeniemi, T. 2005. Scientists interested in arsenic. ProAgria Pirkanmaa www.agronet.fi /mkl/06/sajan06.html.
9. Mäkelä-Kurtto, R., Backman, B., Luoma, S., Ruskeeniemi, T. 2007. Arsenic in soil horizons of arable and forestland in the Tampere region, Finland. In: 2nd International Symposium on Trace Elements and Health, 18.-20.6.2007, Helsinki, Finland: programme & abstracts. Helsinki: University of Helsinki, 91.
10. Mäkelä-Kurtto, R., Sorvari, J. & Ruskeeniemi, T. 2006. Arsenic research in Pirkanmaa - Clean arable lands. Koelypsy Nr 3, 2006, 4-5. (In Finnish)
11. Parviainen, A. 2007. Environmental impacts of Haveri tailings - research plan and preliminary results. Annual Nation-wide Meeting of Geological Research (Geologian tutkijapäivät), 6-8.3.2007, Helsinki.
12. Parviainen, A. & Eklund, M. 2007. Tailings oxidation and mineralogy of Haveri Au-Cu mine, SW Finland - preliminary results. Goldschmidt Conference 19-24 of August 2007, Cologne, Germany. Conference Abstracts 2007, A761.
13. Placencia, E., Parviainen, A., Tammenmaa, J., Hokkanen, T., Kaukolinna, J. & Loukola-Ruskeeniemi, K. 2007. Electrical resistivity and refraction seismic investigations at the Haveri Au-Cu mine tailings area, SW Finland. XVI Meeting of Applied Geophysics, Oulu 2007. Helsinki 2007, Vuorimiesyhdistys.
14. Rossi, E., Sorvari, J., Backman, B., Mäkelä-Kurtto, R., Loukola-Ruskeeniemi, K., Ruskeeniemi, T. & Vaajasaari, K. 2007. Regional health risk assessment of natural and anthropogenic arsenic; Case study in Pirkanmaa, Finland. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology (CEST2007), Cos island, Greece 5-7 September 2007. Vol A, 1253-1260.
15. Ruskeeniemi, T. 2005. Risk assessment and risk management, example of arsenic in the Tampere region. New remediation methods for soils and groundwater. Finnish Environment Institute, Helsinki, 11.1.2005. http://www.ymparisto.fi /default.asp?contentid=132407&lan=FI. (In Finnish)
16. Ruskeeniemi, T., Backman, B., Kauppila, T., Pullinen, A., Carlson, L., Bilaletdin, Ä., Vaajasaari, K., Loukola-Ruskeeniemi, K., Parviainen, A., Schultz, E., Sorvari, J. & Rossi, E. 2007. Migration of arsenic from Cu-W-As mine tailings area, Ylöjärvi, Finland. In: 23rd International Applied Geochemistry Symposium (IAGS): Exploring Our Environment, Oviedo, Spain, 14-19 June 2007. Program & abstracts. Oviedo: University of Oviedo, 75.
17. Ruskeeniemi, T., Kärkkäinen, N., Backman, B., Talikka, M., Vuori, S., Loukola-Ruskeeniemi, K. & Parviainen, A. 2007. Arsenic concentrations in groundwater as a potential exploration tool for gold in the Pirkanmaa region, Finland. In: Digging deeper: proceedings of the Ninth Biennial Meeting of the Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits, Dublin, Ireland 20th-23rd August 2007. Dublin: Irish Association for Economic Geology, 501-504.
18. Ruskeeniemi, T., Loukola-Ruskeeniemi, K., Sorvari, J., Backman, B., Rossi, E., Lehtinen, H., Schultz, E., Bilaletdin, Ä. & Mäkelä-Kurtto, R. 2007. Use of geochemical data in land use planning and exploitation of georesources - experience from the RAMAS project, Finland. In: 15th Meeting of the Association of European Geological Societies. Georesources and public policy: research, management, environment, 16-20 September 2007, Tallinn, Estonia : abstracts. Tallinn: Geological Society of Estonia, 57-59.
19. Schultz, E., Björklöf, K., Sorvari, J., Rita, H. & Backman, B. 2007. Phytotoxic effects of arsenic in contaminated soil and mine tailings. SOWETOX 2007 Soil and Wetland Ecotoxicology, 26-27 November 2007. Barcelona, Spain.
20. Schultz, E., Sorvari, J., Backman, B. & Vaajasaari, K. 2007. Assessment of ecological risks of natural and anthropogenic soil arsenic on the basis of earthworm tests. 5th International Congress of the European Society of Soil Conservation, 25-30 June 2007. Palermo, Italy. Book of Abstracts, 363.
21. Sorvari, J., Rossi, E., Lehtinen, H., Schultz, E., Backman, B., Ruskeeniemi, T., Vaajasaari, K., Mäkelä-Kurtto, R., Loukola-Ruskeeniemi, K. & Parviainen, A. 2007. RAMAS -project: Assessment and management of risks associated with arsenic on the regional scale. 8th Symposium of Finnish Geochemists, 13-14 February 2007. Helsinki, Finland. Vuorimiesyhdistys. Series B 86. Espoo: Vuorimiesyhdistys, 77-82.
