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This paper reviews a workshop discussion postulated on the notion that social, economic and behavioural factors are responsible for the creation of environmental hazards and benefits that, in turn, can affect human health, with concomitant effects on future social well-being. The workshop case study centred on environmental health investigations, public engagement and partnership work undertaken following the death of two neighbouring children in Cheshire. Discussion included questions of causality and generalisability. It revealed how the attribution of responsibility for environmental damage to health is fraught with difficulties. It may often militate against an informed and open debate among interested parties, with concomitant implications for reducing the danger from environmental hazards. To improve communication, vocabulary needs to be free from jargon and acronyms, and differences in conceptual approach between different disciplines need to be better understood. The definition of the 'community' is itself far from clear-cut, yet questions of how to involve this community in intervention processes are important ones. The workshop identified a clear need for better, more considered forms of communication with communities and the public if fears are to be allayed, but recognised the additional costs that this would incur.

A sediment core was retrieved from an area adjacent to a Pulp and Paper Mill in Howe Sound, British Columbia, in order to examine the accumulation dioxins (PCDDs) and furans (PCDFs). Downcore distribution of TOC in the bulk samples is relatively uniform (0.5–1.7 wt. %). Bulk PCDD/F concentration shows selective enrichment and depletion at specific sediment horizons, and a low to moderate correlation with surface area (r2 = 0.23–0.54). TOC in size fractionated sediments ranges from 0.3–11 wt. % and shows a moderate correlation with surface area (r2 = 0.51). The relationship between PCDD/Fs and surface area is congener specific, ranging from no significant correlation (TCDD; r2 = 0.05), to a good correlation (i.e., OCDF; r2 = 0.74). Results indicate that both dioxin and furan concentrations are related to organic matter concentration, molecular chlorination and sediment surface area.

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