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The Sixth International Conference on
Transport, Fate and Effects of Silver in the Environment
»   August 21-25, 1999, Madison, Wisconsin, USA   «

Final Agenda and Registration Information

(*.pdf version for printing)

Contents
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DESCRIPTION OF CONFERENCE

GENERAL INFORMATION Conference Site | Lodging | Registration | Abstracts for Posters | Transportation | Travel Reimbursement for Invited Panelists | Meals & Refreshments | Cancellations/Refunds | Leisure Activities

CONFERENCE STRUCTURE  Advisory Committee | Authors | Reviewers | Moderators | Rapporteurs | Discussants | Other Attendees | Poster Presentations

DISCUSSION GROUPS/QUESTIONS   Overarching Questions for All Groups | Specific Group Questions: (Group A) Environmental Chemistry, (Group B) Biological Effects, (Group C) Biological Processes, (Group D) Risk Analysis, (Group E) Application to Regulations

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE  Saturday Aug. 21 | Sunday Aug. 22 | Monday Aug. 23 | Tuesday Aug. 24 | Wednesday Aug. 25

CONFERENCE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

CONFERENCE SPONSORS

DESCRIPTION OF CONFERENCE

Over the past decade, a considerable amount of new scientific information has been collected on the environmental fate, effects and chemistry of silver. Much of this information has been presented by individual researchers and discussed at Argentum I through V. Argentum VI will offer an opportunity to review all this recent information, synthesize it into a meaningful product, and recommend future directions to researchers, environmental regulators and industries.

Persons who are not invited participants of the work groups may attend the conference as part of the general audience, but may ask questions of or offer comments to the panels only at specified times.

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GENERAL INFORMATION

CONFERENCE SITE — The conference will be held at The Pyle Center, 702 Langdon Street, on the University of Wisconsin campus (clickable map) in Madison, Wisconsin, USA.  Visit the "For Campus Visitors" Web site for more information. Before you leave home, check the Weather Channel for the current weather and five-day forecast for the Madison area.

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LODGING — Each participant is responsible for making his/her own hotel reservation. A block of rooms has been reserved at The Lowell Center (aka The Wisconsin Center Guest House) and the Concourse Hotel. Please mention the Silver in the Environment Conference when making reservations to ensure special conference rates. To guarantee your reservation, a credit card number will be required.

Invited panel participants, please reserve your room by July 9 at the The Lowell Center (aka The Wisconsin Center Guest House and Lowell Hall) — a university-operated, state-owned hotel complex facility where no taxes are levied — located at 610 Langdon Street, Madison, WI 53703, phone (608) 256-2621. If alternative lodging is preferred, reimbursement will be made only to the extent of the cost of the lodging at The Lowell Center ($52.00/single, $62.00/double). Reimbursed participants will be given first choice for The Lowell Center until July 9; after July 9, reservations will be open to all conferees.

For questions regarding lodging, please contact Maureen Sundell by phone (608) 262-5514, fax (608) 262-8516, or email  sundell@ecc.uwex.edu

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REGISTRATION — Please complete the registration form enclosed with the conference brochure (or use a printed version of the last page [page 9] of this online PDF version of the brochure) and mail it, along with payment in U.S. funds, to "Silver in the Environment VI," The Pyle Center, University of Wisconsin, 702 Langdon Street-Room 139, Madison, WI 53706, USA. The registration fee is $450 (if paid by July 21); $550 (if paid after July 21). Registration fees will be waived for workshop members/poster presenters. Registration will be done under the auspices of the University of Wisconsin-Extension, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.

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ABSTRACTS FOR POSTERS — One-page abstracts, 250-300 words, are due by June 1 from persons proposing to present a research poster. Please send your one-page abstract to: Delphine Skinner, University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, Goodnight Hall-Second Floor, 1975 Willow Dr., Madison, WI 53706-1177, USA; by email (dskinner@seagrant.wisc.edu); or by fax (608) 262-0591. These abstracts will be judged for relevance by the scientific committee, and the author(s) will be notified regarding acceptance.

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TRANSPORTATION — Several major airlines serve Madison, including Delta, Northwest, American, United and Midwest Express. (Note for general audience members: airfares in the U.S. are generally much less expensive when you stay over Saturday night at your destination.) Taxi and limousine services to and from the Dane County Regional Airport at Madison are available. Several hotels provide free limousine service, the Concourse among them.  Rental cars are also available at the airport, but parking on campus is   difficult. For details, visit the airport's ground transport Web page.  Travel time from the airport to the university takes about 15 minutes.

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TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENT FOR INVITED PANELISTS — All invited panel members have agreed to be in Madison by Saturday, August 21. Reimbursement will be made after the conference upon submission of proper travel forms along with original copies of receipts.

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MEALS & REFRESHMENTS — A welcome/social mixer will be held Sunday evening, together with a poster session, for all conference attendees. Hors d'oeuvres and refreshments will be served. A social mixer and dinner banquet will be held on Monday evening and a Midwestern barbecue on Tuesday evening. A Continental breakfast will be served on four mornings. Lunches will be served on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. These costs are included in the registration fee. Complimentary beverages and pastries will be provided each morning and afternoon.

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CANCELLATIONS/REFUNDS — Fifty percent of the registration fee will be refunded if notice of cancellation is received by August 6. No refund will be made if notice of cancellation is received after August 6.

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LEISURE ACTIVITIES — Information will be available in The Pyle Center lobby and more will be included in the conference notebook that each participant will receive upon registration. If there is sufficient interest, a car pool may be arranged for Tuesday afternoon to visit a local attraction.

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CONFERENCE STRUCTURE

ADVISORY COMMITTEE — The Argentum VI Program Advisory Committee has been formed and has developed the structure for this workshop. This committee is responsible for the following tasks:

• Definition of the workshop goals
• Selection of topics for the five discussion groups
• Selection of authors for and content of summary background papers
• Selection of a reviewer for each paper
• Selection of invited participants, their assignment to one of the five discussion groups, and allocation of their specific tasks
• Selection of research posters from submitted abstracts

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AUTHORS — Some participants will be asked to write background papers on given topics in which they have special expertise. These papers will be circulated in draft form to all work group participants 4-6 weeks before the conference.

All panel participants are requested to read these papers and to submit questions and comments to the authors before the workshop begins.

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REVIEWERS — Each background paper will be reviewed by a workshop participant before the meeting. This is intended to improve the background papers and to facilitate the editing of the final workshop report.

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MODERATORS  — Each discussion group has one moderator. His/her function is to preside over and to facilitate the running of the discussion, as well as to enable the rapporteur to gather from all members of the group the information necessary for a comprehensive report.

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RAPPORTEURS  — Each discussion group has one rapporteur who is also a contributor to the group deliberations. His/her responsibility during the workshop is to produce, with the assistance of group members, a report of the group's discussions.

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DISCUSSANTS — The discussants' responsibility is to contribute to the content of their group's deliberations and report by virtue of their particular expertise in the discussion. The moderator may ask one or more discussants to assist in the group report by writing a short one- to two-page summary on a specific issue.

Workshop participation is by invitation only. Invited participants agree in writing to attend the entire length of the workshop and will be reimbursed for their travel, lodging and meal expenses according to the attached schedule. Their registration fee is waived.

All reports will be published in the Conference Proceedings.

Breaks and transition times are built into the scheduled time blocks and are at the discretion of the moderator.

A computer and printer will be furnished in each group's meeting room for use by the rapporteur or other designee. However, participants are also encouraged to bring their own laptop computer if they have one.

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OTHER   ATTENDEES — Additional attendees at the conference who are not part of the invited work groups shall be audience members only. They shall be permitted to sit in on the debates of the panels, space permitting, but not participate in the deliberations. Questions they may have can be submitted in writing to a panel member, who will exercise his/her own judgement whether to bring it to his/her group's attention. Special summary sessions will be held where audience members will be allowed to ask verbal questions of the groups.

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POSTER PRESENTATIONS — Posters will be presented during the Sunday night reception, chosen by the scientific committee from among submitted abstracts. Either invited workshop group participants or general attendees may submit abstracts. This will be the sole opportunity at the conference for researchers to describe original work they have done on silver. Posters will remain on display all week and will be published in the formal Conference Proceedings. Persons presenting posters, if not already an invited panel member, will have their registration fees waived but will not be reimbursed for other expenses. Abstracts for consideration by the scientific committee are due in Madison by June 1, and acceptance will be confirmed by June 30.

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DISCUSSION GROUPS/QUESTIONS

  Overarching Questions for All Groups

1. What chemical, biological and biochemical information is available (and needed) to establish the risk and to determine logical regulations for silver?
2. What level of toxicity or environmental risk is associated with environmentally realistic levels and forms of silver in natural waters?
3. What is (free) ionic silver, and how can (free) ionic silver test data be used in the development of regulations and regulatory policy for silver in natural waters?

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Specific Group Questions

Group A: Environmental Chemistry

• In the environment, what are the predominant forms of silver and their concentrations?
• How do these forms and concentrations vary in different media (i.e., marine, freshwater, sediment) and location (i.e., urban, rural, POTW)?
• How does one analyze for these forms in the different media? What analytical techniques should be specified for regulatory use?
• What is the change in bound and complexed silver when an effluent is diluted with receiving water?
• Is oxidation of sediments (silver sulfide) a significant source of dissolved silver?
• Are there sediment biogeochemical processes which would mobilize silver?
• How important is chloride in the speciation of silver in marine waters?

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Group B: Biological Effects

• What are the acute and chronic levels and effects of silver in marine/freshwater aquatic, sediment and aquatic/terrestrial plants and animals?
• What are the more sensitive biological species?
• What are the data distributions from various studies and how do they correlate?
• Do laboratory experiments support and agree with field studies?
• How do these data relate to the chemical and physical species of silver?

Consider among others: (a) background, (b) historic deposition sites, and (c) POTWs.

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Group C: Biological Processes

• What are the routes of Ag exposure for different organisms in the food chain?
• How are the forms (and their concentrations) of silver involved and/or modified in the exposure processes (i.e., enzyme transport, depuration, . . .)?
• What chemical forms of Ag(I) should be used in bioassay studies (i.e., AgNO3, AgCl, AgDOC, etc.)?
• Does bioaccumulation occur, and what is the ultimate fate of silver in these processes?
• Are there biogeochemical processes which would mobilize bound silver?

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Group D: Risk Analysis

• What is the risk process related to silver?
• How widely applicable is the BLM (biotic ligand model) for risk assessment?
• What other models and processes need to be considered? What are the risk aspects of colloidal silver and other silver species?
• What are the pathways to proceed from this risk analysis to regulation scenarios?

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Group E: Application to Regulations

• How can the information generated from these discussions be integrated into practical regulations?
• What are the present and proposed federal, foreign and state regulations?

          Consider water, sediment and sludge.

• What is the best approach to evaluate the large differences in the silver concentration and effects data to obtain optimum regulations?
• How are missing data and data uncertainty handled?
• How should analytical protocols (i.e., "total recoverable" vs. filtered [size] vs. specific species) for silver be specified in the requirements, given the different physical and chemical species that need to be considered?
• Are the present protocols — such as Water Effect Ratios and the use of partition coefficients (size?) — adequate to establish site specific regulations, given the ultra-trace concentrations and different forms of silver?

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CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Saturday Aug. 21

1500-1800    Registration

1600-1800    Meeting of Organizers, Moderators & Rapporteurs

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Sunday Aug. 22

0715-1900    Registration

0730-0800    Continental Breakfast

0800-0840    Opening (plenary)
                        Introduction (plenary); Defining the Process

0840-1200    Groups A, B, C, D and E Meet Separately
                        Selections of and refining the problems/questions for each group
                        Initial discussions

1200-1300    Lunch

1300-1430    Presentation of Group Agendas (plenary) by Moderators
                        and Rapporteurs of Groups A, B, C, D, E (15 minutes each)
                        General audience questions (15 minutes)

                        (Group E "floats," observes and meets:)

1430-1730   Group Discussions (two simultaneous sessions: Groups A & C and Groups B & D;
                         

1800-2200    Reception (hors d'oeuvres and refreshments — spouses and guests welcome)

1900-2200    Poster Session

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Monday Aug. 23

0730-0800    Continental Breakfast

0800-1100    Group Discussions (two simultaneous sessions: Groups A & D and Groups B & C)

1100-1230    Group Discussions (two simultaneous sessions: Groups A & B and Groups C & D)

1230-1330    Lunch

1330-1500    Group Discussions (two simultaneous sessions: Groups A & B and Groups C & D continued)

1500-1800    Individual Group Discussions
                       Each group discusses its own questions

1830-2200    Cocktails and Banquet

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Tuesday Aug. 24

0730-0800    Continental Breakfast

0800-1030    Initial Consolidation and Publication Session
                        Each group (A, B, C, D, E) meets and consolidates its findings
                        Drafts prepared, final individual assignments

1030-1235    Summary of Findings (plenary)

1030-1055    moderator & rapporteur: Group A (25 min.)
1055-1120    moderator & rapporteur: Group B (25 min.)
1120-1145    moderator & rapporteur: Group C (25 min.)
1145-1210    moderator & rapporteur: Group D (25 min.)
1210-1235    moderator & rapporteur: Group E (25 min.)

1235-1730    Break for lunch (on own), private meetings, leisure activities and personal time

1830-2130    Midwestern Barbecue

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Wednesday Aug. 25

0730-0800    Continental Breakfast

800-0930        Publication and Consolidation Session - continued
                         (Moderators, rapporteurs, authors, others finish "writing assignments")
                         Groups A, B, C, D, E meet separately to consolidate reports

0930-1230     Group E Leads Plenary
                         Applications of Findings
                         Opportunity for audience questions

1230-1330      Lunch and Adjourn

1330-1530      Moderators, Rapporteurs and Authors Meet to Finalize the Publication

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CONFERENCE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Prof. Anders W. Andren, Co-Chair, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Mr. Thomas W. Bober, Co-Chair, Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, New York, USA

Prof. James R. Kramer, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Prof. Anders Sodergren, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

Dr. Eric A. Crecelius, Battelle Northwest, Sequim, Washington, USA

Dr. Samuel N. Luoma, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California, USA

Prof. Egil Gjessing, Agder College, Kristiansand, Norway

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CONFERENCE SPONSORS

University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., USA

Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, New York, USA

McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Institute for Ecotoxicology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

Photo Marketing Association International, Jackson, Michigan, USA

Photographic and Imaging Manufacturers Association, Inc., Harrison, New York, USA

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Launched in 1968, Sea Grant is a national network of 30 university-based programs of research, outreach and education dedicated to the protection and sustainable use of the United States' coastal, ocean and Great Lakes resources. The National Sea Grant Network is a partnership of participating coastal states, private industry and the National Sea Grant College Program , National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration , U.S. Department of Commerce .

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created July 1999 by wittman
last  updated 19 March 2001 by wittman
© University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute
music from The Midiarchive-"Maxwell's Silver Hammer" by The Beatles

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