Environmental Pollution, Management, and Sustainable Development: Strategies for Vietnam and Other Developing Countries.

This editorial introduces the issue of selected papers that were presented at the third International Conference on Environmental Pollution, Restoration, and Management in Quy Nhon, Vietnam on 6-10 March 2017. While environmental problems caused by diverse municipal, industrial, and other economic development activities continue to increase in many Asian countries, public awareness about environmental management for public health and the environment remain at levels that favor accepting environmental degradation and impacts for tradeoffs with economic values. This special issue resulted from a conference that was organized to bringing scientists from developed and developing countries to Vietnam to share experiences, discuss environmental problems, and enhance future collaborations for research and training in support of better management plans for the environment and health. Papers published in this issue present original results from diverse research on current environmental management challenges in Vietnam and other Asian countries. The research areas include environmental contamination in groundwater and diet that affect human health, waste composting, and effects of wastewater effluent, which is one of the greatest challenges in most Asian countries. In addition, impacts of hazardous chemical emissions and related environmental management efforts, and sustainable development approaches are included.

Drivers and challenges for implementing ISO 14001 environmental management systems in an emerging Gulf Arab country.

Worldwide, ISO 14001 certification for organizations has become the norm, but the Arab world accounts for an insignificant portion of all the certified organizations. There is a dearth of research on environmental management systems (EMS) in Arab and emerging countries and in public organizations. The objectives of this research are to: (1) examine the key drivers and challenges related to implementation of ISO 14001 certified EMS in the United Arab Emirates, an emerging Arab country and (2) compare and contrast these drivers and challenges between private and public organizations. We adopt an explorative, qualitative methodology, using semi-structured interviews with environmental managers in 11 organizations (6 private and 5 public) from different industrial sectors. Drivers of EMS certification were mostly similar between private and public organizations, with some differences. Compliance with regulations and standards, and increasing environmental performance were the main drivers for ISO 14001 certification in both private and public organizations. Commitment to sustainability was more important for public organizations. Cost reduction, competitors, leadership commitment and customers' demands were shared drivers, but more stressed by private organizations. Local community and employees' pressures were reported by private organizations only. The challenges to ISO 14001 implementation were similar for private and public organizations. They were: a lack of qualified human resources, practical challenges associated with implementation, a lack of regulations, a lack of support from management, and high costs. Our findings have implications for managers, academics, consultants, and policy makers in the UAE and other emerging markets.

Chemical and biological assessment of sediments and water of Khalid Khor, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

Water and sediments were collected on March 2013 and April 2014 from Khalid Khor creek area in United Arab Emirates to assess their quality parameters. The pH and alkalinity of the water samples were measured and their values were similar to those of shallow saltwater ecosystems. In addition, elemental analyses and organic compounds were done using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS), respectively. The concentration of heavy and trace metals in the water samples were within the acceptable limits except for lead which showed high values, while the concentrations of metals in the sediment samples were relatively high and ranged from 6517 to 13,768mg/kg. GC-MS analysis showed the presence of polyaromatic heterocyclic (PAHs) compounds in sediments near the shipping area and in amounts classified as highly carcinogenic; however, no polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) were identified. Moreover, fecal bacterial contamination in water was detected in concentrations that range between 300 and 10,140 organisms/100mL.