城市竞争、空间溢出与生态效率:高位压力和低位吸力的影响

在推进新型工业化、信息化和城镇化同步发展的过程中,得益于要素资源的有效集聚,部分城市成为新的枢纽城市或者标杆城市,城市间在经济增长和环境规制等方面存在不同程度的竞争,研究城市竞争如何影响生态效率提升对于实现区域可持续发展具有重要的理论和实践意义。本文利用191个地级及以上城市2003—2015年面板数据,测度经济增长和环境规制空间溢出的高位压力和低位吸力,研究城市间经济增长竞争和环境规制竞争对城市生态效率提升的影响。主要发现有:(1)邻近地区经济增长和环境规制空间溢出的高位压力和低位吸力对本市生态效率的作用方向具有显著差异,低位促进,高位抑制,且分别以"破罐子破摔"效应和"污染天堂"效应最突出。(2)邻近阈值为750 km时,经济增长高位压力和低位吸力每增加1个单位,生态效率增长率会分别降低14.5%和提高9.7%。而环境规制低位吸力每增加1个单位,生态效率增长率会提高4.5%。(3)分组比较发现,各组城市经济增长竞争对生态效率提升的影响仍表现为"破罐子破摔"效应。(4)与资源型城市和环境保护非重点城市相比,非资源型城市和环境保护重点城市更易受到环境规制更宽松的邻近城市影响,呈现显著的"污染天堂"效应。实证发现暗示着:在区域可持续发展进程中应积极引导城市间的良性竞争;地方政府应高度重视经济增长和环境规制的正、负向空间溢出,生态效率增长极地区应积极发挥示范效应和溢出效应;对不同城市类型采取差别化约束机制,坚持分类指导、特色发展,以快速有效地提升城市生态效率,实现区域绿色发展。     

长江经济带城市土地利用生态效率空间差异及其与产业结构升级的交互溢出效应北大核心CSCDCSSCI

优化城市产业结构,提升城市土地利用生态效率是城市生态文明建设的紧要任务之一。文章基于城市土地利用生态效率内涵构建其评价指标体系,运用SBM‑Undesirable模型及核密度估计法对2003—2018年长江经济带108个地级及以上城市土地利用生态效率的空间差异性进行定量刻画,并采用空间联立方程模型对该区域的城市土地利用生态效率与城市产业结构升级交互的空间溢出效应进行探究。研究发现:①长江经济带城市土地利用生态效率整体水平低下,呈现扁平的“N”演变特征,其中,下游地区在2003—2012年阶段,城市土地利用生态效率始终位于整个流域前列,而2012—2018年阶段,上游及中游地区城市土地利用生态效率增长幅度显著高于下游地区,上、中、下游地区城市土地利用生态效率呈现区域异质性;②2003—2018年,长江经济带城市土地利用生态效率在地理空间上呈现两极分化格局且区域差异呈逐渐缩小态势,上、中、下游地区城市土地利用生态效率差异则分别呈现先扩大后缩小、先缩小后稳定及逐渐缩小的态势;③长江经济带城市土地利用生态效率与城市产业结构升级存在正向交互效应,互促关系中城市产业结构升级处于相对优势地位,且二者在地理空间上均存在显著的空间溢出效应及空间交互影响效应,上、中、下游地区也均存在互促效应,但两者间的空间交互影响效应则存在区域异质性。因此,中国未来应因地制宜地推进土地“存量管理”,创新城市土地利用模式,提升城市土地利用绿色发展水平,且应进一步统筹区域内及区域间城市土地利用生态效率与城市产业结构升级间的互促及空间交互关系,以促进城市土地利用生态效率与城市产业结构升级交互上升。     

财政分权、环境规制与区域生态效率——基于动态空间杜宾模型的实证研究

本文运用包含非期望产出的超效率SBM模型测算出1998—2013年中国省域生态效率值,并基于动态空间杜宾模型,检验了财政分权、环境规制对生态效率的影响。研究表明,第一,生态效率本身具有"时间惯性"和"空间溢出"效应;第二,在晋升激励体制下,财政分权程度的提升引致生态效率的下降,且这种现象具有"空间溢出"效应,在财政分权度较高的东、西部地区,空间溢出效应尤为显著;第三,不同类型的环境规制对区域生态效率具有不同的影响,"治理投入型"环境规制与生态效率之间存在"U"型关系,"经济激励型"环境规制在全国层面及区域层面对生态效率均没有显著影响;第四,随着环境规制强度的提高,财政分权对生态效率的作用将由"攫取之手"向"援助之手"转变。因此,生态效率高值区应主动发挥其"示范作用"与"溢出效应";中央政府有必要优化财政分权制度,引致其在区域生态发展中发挥积极作用;地方政府应采取治理投入为主、经济激励为辅的环境规制;必须强化环境规制约束,以促使财政分权在经济、环境中发挥"援助之手"作用。     

FDI、市场分割与区域生态效率:直接影响与溢出效应

本文从新经济地理理论与市场经济理论出发,在运用Super-SBM模型测算中国省域生态效率水平的基础上,应用2000—2015年省际面板数据和空间杜宾模型(SDM),深入探讨了外商直接投资(Foreign Direct Investment,FDI)、市场分割对区域生态效率的影响。研究发现,第一,中国区域生态效率在样本期内呈不断恶化的趋势,并表现出较强的空间依赖和空间分异,总体呈东-中-西梯度递减的空间分布格局;第二,FDI对生态效率的直接效应为负,间接效应为正,表明FDI对本地区生态效率的效应为负,但对邻近地区具有较强的正向空间溢出效应;第三,地方保护主义引致的市场分割导致资源扭曲错配,技术进步缓慢,不利于生态效率的提升,并随着市场分割程度的提高,限制内资企业获取FDI技术效应的能力与动力,抑制FDI对生态效率的正向溢出效应。拓展性分析发现,市场分割存在显著的路径依赖特征,短期FDI的流入受地方政府非市场竞争手段的影响,在一定程度上强化了市场分割程度,但长期的累积效应可有效打破市场分割。因此,为实现"资源-环境-经济"的协调发展,东部地区应主动发挥生态效率高值区的"示范作用"与"溢出效应";地方政府应继续加大引资力度,坚持以"以开放促改革",充分利用外资的技术溢出效应和市场整合作用,在区域生态发展中发挥积极作用;中央政府应加快破除"诸侯割据"藩篱,鼓励区域联动和经济合作,充分发挥市场在资源配置中的决定性作用。     

城镇化进程中用水量增长的门槛效应与动态作用机制分析

城镇化是发展中国家21世纪的主要发展趋势,在很大程度上主导着人口、经济和产业结构等各方面的转变,成为拉动用水量增长的关键因素。城镇化进程中城镇居民收入、人口结构、人口密度和人力资本等因素的变化,使得城镇化并非表现为线性发展规律,最终导致用水量也存在相应的门槛效应并呈现阶段性增长特征。本文首先对我国各地区城镇化水平和用水量进行统计分析,从地区层面直观描述我国城镇化水平和用水量的变化特征,然后采用面板门槛模型研究城镇化、城镇居民人均收入、人力资本、城市人口密度和人口年龄结构对于用水量的门槛效应,搜寻在城镇化进程中各人口因素对用水量影响的门槛点并分析阶段性变化特征,最后结合PVAR模型研究城镇化进程中各人口因素对用水量的动态影响和作用机制。门槛回归结果发现:城镇化对用水量的影响具有明显的阶段性特征,分别以城镇化和人均收入为门槛变量,超越门槛点后城镇化对用水量的弹性系数分别呈现先升后降的倒"U"型和先降后升的正"U"型变化趋势;以人力资本为门槛变化量,城镇化对用水量的拉动作用则不断减弱。脉冲响应结果显示:城镇化对用水量具有长期且稳定的正向冲击,而居民收入和人口年龄结构对用水量的正向冲击则逐渐收敛于零,人口密度和人力资本对用水量均具有负向冲击,且人口密度的负效应不断增强,而人力资本的负效应不断减弱。方差分解的结果表明,目前我国用水量的增长受自身的影响较大,除年龄结构外,人口密度、居民收入、人力资本和城镇化也具有小规模的贡献程度。     

中国城市生态效率测定及其时空动态演变

基于2003—2015年间我国285个地级及以上城市的面板数据,运用超效率SBM模型测算我国城市生态效率,在时间对比分析和空间相关性分析的基础上,构建传统和空间马尔可夫链转移概率矩阵,对城市生态效率的时空演变格局进行对比分析,并探讨城市生态效率时空动态演变特性。实证结果显示:(1)在时间演变过程中,城市生态效率整体上呈现逐渐上升走势,城市生态向集约型转变取得一定的成效,中西部生态效率较高的城市的增量多于东部城市,中西部城市生态效率提升显著,而东部城市生态效率整体上出现下降。(2)全局Moran’sⅠ指数值均为正,即我国城市生态效率在空间分布上呈显著的正相关性,并表现出空间集聚特性,近邻效应显著。(3)将城市生态效率划分为4个相邻但不相互交叉的完备区间,传统的马尔可夫链转移概率矩阵显示,城市生态效率向高水平方向转移的趋势显著,城市生态效率的演变具有维持原有状态的稳定性,且较难实现跨越式转移。(4)引入空间滞后的空间马尔可夫链转移概率矩阵显示,地理区位背景对城市生态效率时空演变转移的影响显著,在空间分布上具有波动性的集聚现象,相邻城市之间生态效率的影响是相互的,且在空间上呈现集聚的格局,生态效率较高城市带动邻近城市生态效率向上转移的可能性更大,具有正向溢出效应,呈现出"高者恒高、低者仍低、高带动低、低抑制高"的俱乐部趋同现象。最后,分析当前研究存在的不足及改进的方向,并提出相关启示和建议,包括出台更加严格的资源环境政策、加强城市生态合作与交流、借鉴邻近生态效率高的城市生态环境管理经验等。     

中国城市环境规制对PM2.5污染的影响效应

基于2005～2015年中国城市环境规制与PM2.5污染的面板数据,利用面板灰色关联、空间计量和中介效应模型探究环境规制对PM2.5污染的时空关联影响、直接效应及作用机制.研究发现:(1)环境规制与PM2.5污染具有显著为负的时空关联性,其时序关联强度均值为负,呈"W"型波动变化,且空间关联强度负值城市占比较高.(2)环境规制对PM2.5污染起到明显的抑制作用,而邻近城市环境规制的溢出效应并未发挥促降本地PM2.5污染的积极作用.(3)环境规制促降PM2.5污染的重要中介变量分别是工业生态效率和技术水平,环境规制通过提升工业生态效率降低PM2.5污染的间接效应占比达55.69％,而通过提高技术水平降低PM2.5污染的间接效应占比为4.85％.(4)环境规制对PM2.5污染的影响呈现空间异质性,其并不能有效降低东部、中部和东北地区城市的PM2.5污染,而对西部城市PM2.5污染起到明显的改善作用.     

京津冀城市圈公共服务资源配置与人口城镇化协调效率研究

在论述人口城镇化与公共服务资源配置含义基础上,基于超效率的SBM网络模型,构建评价公共服务与人口城镇化协调效率的指标体系,从分析公共服务资源配置效率、人口城镇化效率以及两个子效率系统组成的系统效率时空分布差异出发,探索各种效率值的变化趋势,并根据超效率SBM模型的分析结果为系统效率的改善提供指导。结果表明:(1)系统协调效率整体呈现"南高北低"的格局,随着时间的推移,区域协调效率逐渐降低;空间自相关分析显示,Moran’sⅠ的数值大小由0.5逐渐降低为0.18,空间上逐渐显现集聚效应。(2)公共服务资源配置效率与人口城镇化效率总体呈现"南北两头高,中部城市低"和"伞状扩散"的格局,随着时间的推移效率都出现逐年递增的趋势,空间溢出效应明显。(3)系统协调效率的改善方向主要有两方面,一是缩减投入冗余要素包括公共服务行业从业人员数量以及人均建成区面积;二是提高产出不足要素包括教育资源以及城镇人口比重。文章最后,根据城市所处的不同发展阶段制定城市群内部的投入产出管控政策:首先,为促进公共资源配置的均等化,除了继续提高效率较低的城市公共服务资金投入的深度和广度外,还应当对于专项资金的流向进行督查和监管,提高公共服务资源配置的纯技术效率。其次,对于强有效的DEA单元区域应当合理控制人口城镇化规模,提高土地利用效率;对于弱有效的DEA单元区域应当适当配置要素投入,调整产业结构,合理推进人口城镇化进程。再次,在效率改进方面,应当精简公共服务岗位,采用竞争上岗机制;对于二三线城市应当严格控制年度新增建设用地规模,提高土地利用效率;放宽一线城市的户籍准入制度,改善非户籍人口的就业环境。     

长三角城市群工业生态效率空间溢出效应及其影响因素

工业生态效率能够反映经济发展、环境保护和资源节约之间的平衡关系，探究工业生态效率对于转变工业发展方式，实现可持续发展具有重要意义。该文测算长三角城市群工业生态效率，并对其时空演变、区域差异、溢出效应及影响因素的空间效应进行探索。研究发现：长三角城市群工业生态效率均值不断上升，绝对差异增加，而相对差异变化不大；具有正的空间相关性，在空间分布上具有一定的集聚性；呈现出“东高西低”的空间特征，具有显著的高-高和低-低集聚的空间俱乐部分布特征；在工业生态效率类型转移过程中存在着趋同的趋势，并且具有显著的空间溢出效应；科技投入和经济发展对本地工业生态效率的提升起显著的推动作用，而工业结构不利于本地工业生态效率的改善；本地城镇化的提升不利于邻近其它城市工业生态效率的提升；而本地科技投入和经济发展有利于邻近其它城市工业生态效率的提升。加强城市之间合作对提升工业生态效率具有重要影响。     

长江中游城市群生态效率的空间关系及其协同提升机制研究

基于2003~2015年长江中游城市群31个城市的面板数据，借助超效率SBM模型，测度了城市群内历年各城市的生态效率，并分析了其时空差异与空间溢出效应。研究结果表明：2003~2015年间长江中游城市群的生态效率得到了一定程度的改善，但整体水平较低；城市群内部四大城市圈（群/带）的生态效率存在不平衡性，武汉城市圈的平均生态效率最高，环鄱阳湖城市群次之，环长株潭城市群再次，襄荆宜城市带最低；长江中游城市群各城市生态效率的发展模式存在较大差异，城市之间的生态效率呈现出空间负相关性，且部分地区存在“污染俱乐部”现象。提升长江中游城市群的生态效率需要城市间的有效合作和协同行动，应该统一长江中游城市群的环境规制，健全城市群统一的生态补偿机制，联手打造优势产业集群，改变以GDP为核心的政绩观，优化城市空间布局等     

WSSD 2002, Latin America and Brazil: Biodiversity and Indigenous People

Latin America comprehends notable variations in terms of natural environment, availability of natural resources, living standards, and demographic patterns. Latin America is a mosaic of cultures, post- and pre-Columbian. The rich variety of life forms discovered and described by chroniclers and traveling naturalists in the Neotropics contributed to the proposal, in mid-XVIIIth century, of a new system of classification and a scientific code of nomenclature for all organisms. Biodiversity was, for many centuries, a source of resources to be exploited in natura. In scientific circles, its inventory became the domain of taxonomists. But modern technology showed how important the miriad of life forms really are as sources of chemical molecules to be engineered as drugs and reassembled as novel manufactured products. We are on the brink of a new agricultural and medical revolution, thanks to the techniques of genetic engineering, which will lead eventually to the elimination of hunger and malnutrition.In this essay, the Brazilian environmental and social heterogeneity will serve as an example to illustrate some key points, which have influenced sustainability policies. The Amazon deforestation and indigenous knowledge (IK), subjects often associated with areas of high biodiversity, are usually the focus of environmental debates. The importance of IK in integrating development, reducing poverty and sustainability are considered together with the intellectual property rights of native populations.In the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) Implementation Plan, a few paragraphs were dedicated to Latin America, because of the pre-existing Action Platform on the Road to Johannesburg 2002, approved in Rio de Janeiro in October 2001. This paper calls attention to the need to draw up specific environmental policies for a region which shows an extremely high cultural and biological diversity, associated with a high availability of forests and water, among other resources.     

Ethnosciences––A step towards the integration of scientific and indigenous forms of knowledge in the management of natural resources for the future

Integration of indigenous knowledge and ethnoscientific approaches into contemporary frameworks for conservation and sustainable management of natural resources will become increasingly important in policies on an international and national level, both in countries that are industrialised and those that have a developing status. We set the scene on how this can be done by exploring the key conditions and dimensions of a dialogue between ȁ8ontologiesȁ9 and the roles, which ethnosciences could play in this process. First, the roles of ethnosciences in the context of sustainable development were analysed, placing emphasis on the implications arising when western sciences aspire to relate to indigenous forms of␣knowledge. Secondly, the contributions of ethnosciences to such an ȁ8inter- ontological dialogueȁ9 were explored, based on an ethnoecological study of the encounter of sciences and indigenous knowledge in the Andes of Bolivia, and reviewed experiences from mangrove systems in Kenya, India and Sri Lanka, and from case-studies in other ecosystems world-wide, incl. Australia, Burkina Faso, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Nepal, Niger, Philippines, Senegal, South-Africa and Tanzania.     

Paradoxical ozone associations could be due to methyl nitrite from combustion of methyl ethers or esters in engine fuels

We review studies of the effects of low ambient ozone concentrations on morbidity that found a negative coefficient for ozone concentration. We call this a Paradoxical Ozone Association (POA). All studies were in regions with methyl ether in gasoline. All but one study carefully controlled for the effects of other criterion pollutants, so the phenomenon cannot be attributed to them. One was in southern California in mid-summer when ozone levels are highest. Because ozone is created by sunlight, the most plausible explanation for a POA would be an ambient pollutant that is rapidly destroyed by sunlight, such as methyl nitrite (MN). A previously published model of engine exhaust chemistry suggested methyl ether in the fuel will create MN in the exhaust. MN is known to be highly toxic, and closely related alkyl nitrites are known to induce respiratory sensitivity in humans. Support for the interpretation comes from many studies, including three linking asthma symptoms to methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) and the observation that a POA has not been seen in regions without ether in gasoline. We also note that studies in southern California show a historical trend from more significant to less significant ozone-health associations. The timing of those changes is consistent with the known timing of the introduction of gasoline oxygenated with MTBE in that region.     

Household water in rural asia: a case study of the construction of a piped water system in Bangui,Ilocos Norte,Philippines

In early 1980 an extension agent was assigned to the rural municipality of Bangui, Ilocos Norte, Philippines to work on development projects – in particular the improvement of the supply of safe water for drinking and sanitation. After many months of visiting spring sites and meeting with community leaders, a small part of the municipality was selected to build a gravity fed piped water system. Although the system took many months to plan, identify funding and construct, the 600 community members were ultimately rewarded with house to house connections that enabled them to achieve per capita water consumption levels above the minimum levels recommended by the World Health Organization. Of course, money was critical to ensure the project’s success, but many other factors played an equally critical role. For instance, without the active participation of the community and the unwavering support of the community leadership the project would not have survived the initial planning stage. Also, the extension agent played a critical role by acting as a conduit between funding agencies, the Bureau of Public Works and the community. The primary lesson to be learned from this experience is that the success of rural development projects is largely driven by the synergy between the community, technical support, financial support, and agents of change such as extension agents. If any of these ingredients had been lacking, the project result would likely have been far different.     

Distributions of personal VOC exposures: a population-based analysis

Information regarding the distribution of volatile organic compound (VOC) concentrations and exposures is scarce, and there have been few, if any, studies using population-based samples from which representative estimates can be derived. This study characterizes distributions of personal exposures to ten different VOCs in the U.S. measured in the 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Personal VOC exposures were collected for 669 individuals over 2-3 days, and measurements were weighted to derive national-level statistics. Four common exposure sources were identified using factor analyses: gasoline vapor and vehicle exhaust, methyl tert-butyl ether (MBTE) as a gasoline additive, tap water disinfection products, and household cleaning products. Benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, xylenes chloroform, and tetrachloroethene were fit to log-normal distributions with reasonably good agreement to observations. 1,4-Dichlorobenzene and trichloroethene were fit to Pareto distributions, and MTBE to Weibull distribution, but agreement was poor. However, distributions that attempt to match all of the VOC exposure data can lead to incorrect conclusions regarding the level and frequency of the higher exposures. Maximum Gumbel distributions gave generally good fits to extrema, however, they could not fully represent the highest exposures of the NHANES measurements. The analysis suggests that complete models for the distribution of VOC exposures require an approach that combines standard and extreme value distributions, and that carefully identifies outliers. This is the first study to provide national-level and representative statistics regarding the VOC exposures, and its results have important implications for risk assessment and probabilistic analyses.     

Long-term increase in climatic dryness in the East-Mediterranean as evidenced for the island of Samos

The Eastern Mediterranean region is among the regions which were predicted to become drier under IPCC climate scenarios. Here, we document a gradual reduction of rainfall and tree growth and the loss of rural springs during the last decades of the twentieth century. Years with severe drought are associated with very low tree growth (dendrochronology) and dry falling of springs as evidenced by interviews with local stakeholders. The paper discusses the consequences of accelerating drought on natural vegetation and agriculture and points at the interaction with fire dynamics and economy, both likely to enhance the drought effect.     

How Do Groups Solve Local Commons Dilemmas? Lessons from Experimental Economics in the Field

The use of experimental settings to observe human behaviour in a controlled environment of incentives, rules and institutions, has been widely used by the behavioural sciences for sometime now, particularly by psychology and economics. In most cases the subjects are college students recruited for one to two hour decision making exercises in which, depending on their choices, they earn cash averaging US$ 20. In such exercises players face a set of feasible actions, rules and incentives (payoffs) involving different forms of social exchange with other people, and that in most cases involve some kind of externalities with incomplete contracts, such as in the case of common-pool resources situations. Depending on the ecological and institutional settings, the resource users face a set of feasible levels of extraction, a set of rules regarding the control or monitoring of individual use, and sometimes ways of imposing material or non-material costs or rewards to those breaking or following the rules. We brought the experimental lab to the field and invited about two hundred users of natural resources in three Colombian rural villages to participate in such decision making exercises and through these and other research instruments we learned about the ways they solve - or fail to - tragedies of the commons with different social institutions. Further, bringing the lab to the field allowed us to explore some of the limitations of existing models about human behaviour and its consequences for designing policies for conserving ecosystems and improving social welfare.     

Comparative analysis of the effect of predator odor on morphological and physiological parameters of adult male Campbell hamsters (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Phodopus campbelli</Emphasis>) and dwarf hamsters (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Phodopus sungorus</Emphasis>)

The effect of long-term exposure to natural excretions of the European polecat on the morphological parameters and hormonal status of adult male Campbell hamsters (Phodopus campbelli) and dwarf hamsters (Ph. sungorus) was studied. Exposure to volatile components of natural excreta of a potential predator did not have any significant effect on hamsters. The combined influence of volatile and nonvolatile components of the polecat’s excretions caused physiological stress in Ph. campbelli, while in Ph. sungorus, on the contrary, an increase in thymus weight and the plasma testosterone level was recorded.     

Human exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), as evidenced by data from a duplicate diet study, indoor air, house dust, and biomonitoring in Germany

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) are used as flame retardants in a wide variety of products. As part of the Integrated Exposure Assessment Survey (INES), this study aimed to characterize the exposure of an adult German population using duplicate diet samples, which were collected daily over seven consecutive days, and indoor air and house dust measurements. Our study population consisted of 27 female and 23 male healthy subjects, aged 14–60 years, all of whom resided in 34 homes in southern Bavaria. In these 34 residences the air was sampled using glass fiber filters and polyurethane foams and the dust was collected from used vacuum cleaner bags.The median (95th percentile) daily dietary intake of six Tetra- to HeptaBDE congeners was 1.2 ng/kg b.w. (3.3 ng/kg b.w.) or 67.8 ng/day (208 ng/day) (calculated from the 7-day median values of each study subject). Concentrations in indoor air and dust (cumulative Tri- to DecaBDE congener readings) ranged from 8.2 to 477 pg/m³ (median: 37.8 pg/m³) and 36.6 to 1580 ng/g (median: 386 ng/g), respectively. For some congeners, we identified a significant correlation between air and dust levels.The median (95th percentile) blood concentration of total Tetra- to HexaBDE congener readings was 5.6 (13.2) ng/g lipid. No significant sex differences were observed, but higher blood concentrations were found in younger participants. Using a simplified toxicokinetic model to predict the body burden from exposure doses led to results that were of the same order of magnitude as the measured blood concentrations.Based on these measurements and given our exposure assumptions, we estimated for the total tetra- to heptabrominated congener count an average (high) comprehensive total daily intake of 1.2 ng/kg b.w. (2.5 ng/kg b.w.). Overall, our results suggest that dietary exposure is the dominant intake pathway at least in our study population, responsible for 97% (average intake) and 95% (high intake) of the total intake of an adult population.