Please check the CHE-WA website to stay abreast of the latest postings, news and events: http://washington.chenw.org.
To join the Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE) and CHE-Washington, please complete the form at http://www.healthandenvironment.org/roles/register?&phase=registerform. Be sure to mark that you want to join the Washington State Regional Group at the bottom of the application.
Slide presentations from CHE-WA's January 4th quarterly meeting are posted on our website: http://washington.chenw.org/meetings.html. Notes from the meeting will be added to the site soon. If you are interested in joining the newly formed Climate Change and Health Working Group resulting from discussion at this meeting, please contact Elise Miller at emiller@iceh.org.
The fourth annual environmental health lecture series entitled, "Our Health, Our Environment: Making the Link -- Sustainable Solutions" starts this month at Seattle Town Hall. The series, sponsored by the Seattle Biotech Legacy Foundation and organized by the Institute for Children's Environmental Health, will include one lecture each month January through April:
All lectures will be held at Seattle Town Hall from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., preceded by a reception from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. For more information and to purchase admission, please visit http://washington.chenw.org/lectures.html.
January 16, 2007
2:00 - 3:00 p.m. EST
"Reducing Neurotoxicity Exposure: The Dioxin Story", will be presented by Robert Lawrence, MD. Dr. Lawrence is professor of environmental health sciences and professor of health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He is the founding director of the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future and directs the Health and Human Rights Certificate Program. For more information about Dr. Lawrence, please see the website below.
Website: http://www.ehinitiative.org/Projects/tele_con.htm
Contact: Laura Abulafia, labulafia@aamr.org
January 28 - 30, 2007
San Francisco, California
at UCSF Mission Bay Conference Center
This groundbreaking conference will further the efforts of researchers, clinicians, policymakers and community health leaders to understand and mitigate the reproductive and developmental health impacts of exposures to environmental contaminants -- including the periconceptional and fetal origins of adult disorders. The Summit will provide overviews by leading researchers of the science on these topics and will also explore translation of this research to clinical care, medical training, and public health policy; to federal regulatory agency and research institute priorities; and to patient advocate and community health concerns, including health disparity issues. Collaborative working groups and partnerships will form to further explore and take action on these environmental health issues.
Website: http://www.ucsf.edu/coe/prhesummit.html
Contact: Mary Wade, Summit Manager, 415-476-2563 or wadem@obgyn.ucsf.edu
June 7 - 9, 2007
Ann Arbor, Michigan
at the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment
The issues of diversity and environmental justice are very salient in today's society. This two-part conference that will explore research related to 1) diversity in academia (particularly environmental programs) as well as other kinds of environmental institutions and 2) domestic and international environmental justice research. While environmental justice researchers present their findings at numerous venues in any given year, a gathering of this sort is unique in that it offers an opportunity for researchers in the field to gather in one place to assess the past, present and future of the research; map out strategies; initiate collaborative efforts; network; and identify and nurture the future generation of scholars.
We invite presentations from those who have conducted diversity or environmental justice research in the past, have research they are currently conducting or those who preparing to do research in the field. If you are interested in participating in a panel or poster presentation on any of the listed topics (or ones not included on the list), please submit an abstract by February 15, 2007.
Website: http://sitemaker.umich.edu/diversityejresearchsymposium/conference_announcement
Contact: Latonia Payne, paynel@umich.edu
by James Hagengruber, Spokane Spokesman Review
January 9, 2007
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/tools/story_pf.asp?ID=168028
The waters of the Spokane River are some of the most toxic in Washington. Some of the trouble spills out of old mine sites in the river's headwaters in Idaho's Silver Valley. But scientists haven't yet found the source of all the heavy concentrations of flame retardants and long-banned industrial compounds that show up in Spokane River fish. That could change soon. An additional $1 million could be heading toward the Spokane River in coming years to help government experts trace the source of these chemicals. Gov. Chris Gregoire has included the request in her proposed budget.
Article Summary: The funds are part of a $2.6 million Urban Waters Initiative, which intends to focus on cleaning up the Spokane River and two areas of the Puget Sound. According to the Department of Ecology's budget request, the three areas are now in a "crisis" stage. Recent studies have shown the Spokane River has dangerously high levels of PCBs, an industrial compound that's been banned for 30 years but continues to somehow ooze and drip its way into the river. The research also showed sky-high levels of a similar compound, known as PBDEs. These flame-retardant chemicals are not currently banned in the state but have been linked to developmental disorders in laboratory animals. Funding, if approved, will add three people to DOE's staff for at least two years to find the source of the chemicals and find ways of reducing the incoming pollution. The funding would also pay for expanded inspection of businesses where toxic chemicals are used and would pay for technical assistance to other Washington communities that discharge wastewater to the river, including Liberty Lake, according to Ecology's proposal for the Urban Waters Initiative. Laurie Valeriano with the Washington Toxics Coalition said it's important to find out how toxic chemicals continue to wind up in the environment, but she believes more attention should also be paid to sniffing out yet-unknown dangers. Of the estimated 80,000 chemicals in use every day across the nation, less than a quarter have been tested for toxicity.
by Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post
January 9, 2007
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/08/AR2007010801618.html
Federal officials yesterday rejected an industry bid to use a known carcinogen as a preservative in lumber for backyard decks, picnic tables, playgrounds and other household uses. Industry groups had petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency three years ago to use acid copper chromate (ACC), which contains the carcinogen hexavalent chromium, featured in the film "Erin Brockovich," to treat wood sold in hardware and home improvement stores. EPA Assistant Administrator James B. Gulliford said the agency concluded that the dangers associated with the preservative, which include an increased cancer risk for plant workers and skin irritation among consumers, "outweigh the product's minimal benefits."
Article Summary: The cancer rate among workers handling the preservative can vary between 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 100,000. The federally accepted standard is one in a million. Consumers using the product can experience skin irritation that can worsen over time. Even though it might not pose a health risk, the skin irritation would be painful. Four years ago, the EPA banned an arsenic-and-chromium-based wood preservative called chromated copper arsenate (CCA), and wood suppliers now use several different applications to keep wood from deteriorating and to prevent insect infestation. EPA officials defended the decision, saying there are extremely safe and environmentally friendly alternatives such as boric-acid-based preservatives.
by Karen Barrow, Juneau Empire
January 7, 2007
http://juneauempire.healthology.com/main/breast-cancer/breast-cancer-prevention/article4037.htm
Article Summary: A new study suggests that women who begin using makeup at an earlier age and in greater amounts may have an increased risk of developing breast cancer later in life. Dr. Janet Gray, professor at Vassar College has created a new CD that outlines the evidence linking certain products and materials to breast cancer risk. The results of her compilation of previous research indicate a strong association between some common ingredients in cosmetics, but not all. The worst offenders are shampoos and other hair care products marketed to the African American community. Many of these products have placenta extracts which contain adult hormones such as estrogen. Parabens are a group of chemicals used as a preservative in many personal-care products, such as lotions, shampoo, sunscreen, skin foundation and bath gels. They are used to prevent the growth of bacteria and other organisms in the bottle, but they also acts like a weak estrogen. In some studies, exposure to environmental estrogens, like parabens, has been linked to a higher risk of breast cancer. Phthalates can be found in nail and hair products, including gels, mousses and hair sprays, as well as skin creams and lotions. These chemicals are used to help the skin absorb the product, but they have been linked to certain birth defects and cancer. Like parabens, they also seem to disrupt the natural hormones in the body, which in turn, may increase the risk of breast cancer. Estrogens, phthalates and parabens may collect in the tissue over time and slowly alter healthy cells. Gray suggests that this is why teens and adolescents may be the most susceptible to their ill effects as, over years of use, there may be cumulative damage. Some websites, such as http://www.safecosmetics.org, list those companies who have promised to remove harmful chemicals from their products.
by Alex Pulaski, Portland Oregonian
January 7, 2007
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1168059311281390.xml&coll=7
The federal government has been inconsistent and at times intentionally silent on how much perchlorate is safe in drinking water. As a result, environmental groups contend, defense contractors and the government have been indefinitely shielded from cleanup costs while infants and pregnant women are exposed to a chemical that impairs thyroid function and can slow infant brain development. Industry advocates argue that the science on perchlorate is not precise enough to warrant strong -- and extremely costly -- remedies.
Article Summary: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency first placed perchlorate, a component in solid rocket fuel, on a list of potential contaminants in 1998. It required that states monitor drinking water for the chemical's presence the following year. The agency established interim guidance on acceptable exposure levels in 1999 at 4 to 18 parts per billion (ppb). An agency memo indicates that the agency advised managers to consider lowering the range in 2003. A separate draft assessment by the agency concluded that the public safety standard for drinking water should be even lower, at 1 ppb. Under pressure from the U.S. Defense Department and contractors facing potential cleanup costs in the billions of dollars, the Bush administration in early 2003 ordered EPA scientists not to publicly discuss perchlorate pollution. Perchlorate risk analysis was reassigned from the EPA to the National Academy of Sciences. In early 2005, the EPA adopted the academy's conclusions on regarding safe doses for humans: 24.5 ppb in drinking water. In a rare step, the EPA placed the new dosage on its risk-information Web site without allowing public comment. The academy reference dose adopted by the EPA has come under fire from toxicologists in states considering adopting their own perchlorate limits in drinking water. They have questioned the validity of studies supporting the standard and the agency's refusal to accept public comment on it.
by Alex Pulaski, Portland Oregonian
January 7, 2007
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1168059325281390.xml&coll=7
State health officials began asking themselves in 2004 whether a chemical discovered in north-central Oregon's water wells might be creeping into the breadbasket region's produce and dairy milk, threatening its residents' health. The answer they have signaled they will give in a final report in coming months is that, based on the state's limited food sampling, perchlorate doesn't pose a health danger to area residents. A public message to that effect last year came after intense lobbying from agriculture-related industries.
Article Summary: Correspondence among state officials during the review reflects behind-the-scenes strains of a balancing act between protecting the public health and ensuring the economic well-being of farmers and food processors. The federal government has already questioned the validity of the state's work, saying it can't rely on Oregon's tests of milk and produce such as watermelons to assess human health risks stemming from perchlorate. Perchlorate consists of chlorine and oxygen atoms and is used in rocket fuel. It limits the thyroid's uptake of iodine; proper thyroid function is vital for infant brain development and controlling human metabolism. Perchlorate can be found naturally in soil, but has been discovered in highest concentrations where it has been employed in the making or use of munitions and rocket fuel. Perchlorate has found its way into water supplies across the country, and recent investigations have found it in vegetables and milk.
Problems and issues with the Oregon investigation have included how much testing should be done, whether food should be tested at all, which foods to test, a decision not to seek data on whether newborns in north-central Oregon were experiencing thyroid problems potentially attributable to perchlorate, and how to interpret wildly conflicting lab results on the presence of perchlorate in food and milk.
by John Dodge, Olympia Olympian
January 6, 2007
http://www.theolympian.com/101/story/59346.html
Article Summary: Environmental groups are counting on the Democratic majority and alliances with Gov. Chris Gregoire on key issues to advance Puget Sound cleanup; keep the state moving on a clean-energy future; ban toxic flame retardants in televisions, computers and residential upholstered furniture; and double state funding for the purchase of parks and open space. Although a perfect batting record might be a lofty goal, the environmental community has spent months fine-tuning its agenda to resonate with public values while also lining up advance legislative support. Groups expect to pass a bill to ban PBDEs, toxic flame retardants, which accumulates in animal tissue and is linked to learning, memory and behavior problems in people. The bill has 53 sponsors in the House, which is three more than what's needed for a simple majority "yes" vote. The House passed the bill last year, but it failed in the Senate, where the chemical industry put up a stiff fight. Both the governor and the state Department of Ecology support the bill.
Lawmakers will also be asked to fund a multibillion-dollar effort to turn back the tide of pollution, habitat loss and declining species in the face of growth expected to bring 1.4 million more people to the Puget Sound basin in the next 15 years. The 2007 clean air-clean fuels bill is designed to reduce dependence on foreign oil, eliminate greenhouse gas emissions and help keep some of the $30 million a day in gas and oil imports from leaving the state. A final priority is to finance state and local parks, nature preserves, freshwater and saltwater shoreline land, and farm preservation.
by Julie J. Rehmeyer, Science News
January 6, 2007
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20070106/food.asp
The most common male-genital birth defect is undescended testicles, affecting about 3 percent of boys born in the United States. A few risk factors have been identified, but researchers have generally puzzled over the cause of the problem. Now, a new study has revealed an unexpected risk factor. Regular alcohol consumption during pregnancy appears to triple the risk that a woman's son will have the condition, Ida Damgaard and her colleagues report in Environmental Health Perspectives.
Article Summary: The finding suggests an obvious strategy for reducing the incidence of the birth defect: Women should be even more strongly discouraged from drinking during pregnancy. Male fertility has been declining dramatically in developed countries over the past 40 years, with sperm density dropping 1.5 percent per year in the United States and 3 percent per year in Europe and Australia. The rate of undescended testicles in newborn boys has increased steadily over about the same period. The research group is doing numerous studies using data from nearly 5,000 pregnant women in Denmark and Finland and then their children. Early last year, the team identified another risk factor for cryptorchidism: maternal exposure to pesticides, including DDT, that are no longer in regular use but that persist in the environment. Previously known risk factors include premature birth, low birth weight, gestational diabetes, and being a twin. Damgaard's group is searching for even more risk factors for the condition.
by Christine Dell'Amore, United Press International
January 5, 2007
http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20070105-045626-4190r
WASHINGTON -- A preliminary study has found Americans who live near toxic waste sites are hospitalized more for diabetes than those who live in clean communities. The observational study, which tracked hospitalization rates for patients in New York between 1993 and 2000, found an increase in diabetes-related hospital admissions for people who live in ZIP codes containing toxic waste sites. Although just an initial effort, the study does narrow the search for an answer to the U.S. diabetes boom, said study author Lawrence Lessner, an associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University at Albany in New York. The study appeared in the January issue of Environmental Health Perspectives.
Article Summary: Researchers compared hospitalization rates by ZIP code for three types of communities: clean, without hazardous sites; contaminated by persistent organic pollutants, or POPs; and containing other types of waste or pollutants. People who inhabited areas rife with POPs or other waste or pollutants -- such as metals, radiation and volatile organic compounds -- had higher rates of hospitalizations. Such results suggest environmental triggers of diabetes are worthy of more investigation. The study examined whites and blacks between the ages of 25 and 74, correcting for potential factors that could skew the data, such as age, race, sex and average household income. Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs -- a major type of POPs -- are a former industrial ingredient of pesticides, paints, paper and other products. Although banned from U.S. industry in the late 1970s, PCBs still exist in the environment. People are mainly exposed through eating animal fats, although they can also breathe in the pollutants. Possible mechanisms for the association with diabetes are unknown, although some speculate that PCBs may influence the retention of fat in the body; more body fat is a risk factor for diabetes. PCBs may also impair genes from working properly. The study has limitations, and it's too early to draw conclusions about pollutants and diabetes, but there is an important public-health message in the findings.
from BBC News
January 5, 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6233395.stm
Article Summary: Food additives are substances intentionally added to food for a specific function, such as to alter the color, texture of taste of foods, or to preserve them safely. Some reports have suggested that certain food additives can cause behavioral changes in some children, although many experts agree it is difficult to come to firm conclusions from the research carried out so far. The research found that many people underestimate the number of food additives they consume and do not understand which foods are most likely to contain additives. Bridget Aisbitt, a nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation, said the levels of additives in all foods were tightly regulated so that the levels were kept very low, but to avoid them people should prepare their meals from fresh ingredients. She also pointed out that additives are useful in food to keep food safe, for example by preventing mold from forming.
by Mike Stobbe, Associated Press, USA TODAY
January 4, 2007
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-01-04-folates_x.htm
ATLANTA -- Blood levels of folate in young American women are dropping, a disturbing development that could lead to increased birth defects and may be due to low-carb diets or the popularity of unfortified whole-grain breads. Government health officials could only speculate on the reasons but called the backslide in this important B vitamin disturbing. It is not clear how the decline in folate levels has affected newborns, but preliminary data suggest the dramatic declines in neural tube defects seen in the late 1990s may have leveled off by 2004, said officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Article Summary: Folate is a naturally occurring B vitamin. An artificial version, which is more easily metabolized by the body, is folic acid. Years ago, scientists concluded that folate deficiencies contributed to the occurrence of serious birth defects of the spine and brain, known as neural tube defects. So the government has long urged women to eat cereals and breads fortified with folic acid to help prevent birth defects. By the late 1990s, the fortification campaigns were succeeding: Folate levels increased, and neural tube defects dropped by as many as 1,000 a year. But a CDC study released Thursday found an 8% to 16% decline in folate levels in U.S. women of childbearing age, according to large blood-drawing surveys done between 1999 and 2004. The decline was most pronounced in white women, although black women continue to be the racial group with the least folate in their blood, health officials said. It is not clear why blood folate levels dropped in this decade, but there are several possible explanations, including increasing obesity rates and diet trends.
by John Donnelly, Boston Globe
January 4, 2007
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/01/04/states_perilous_mercury_stocks_may_find_a_federal_repository/
WASHINGTON -- Massachusetts and other states may soon find a safe place to retire their stockpiles of dangerous mercury collected from thermometers, school science labs, and automobiles. A Bush administration draft document calls for a strategy to manage all excess mercury stocks outside the federal government, ranging from industrial supplies to those picked up in neighborhood recycling drives.
Article Summary: Mercury has grown into a major health hazard over the years. When mercury vapor is released into the air, rain carries the toxic substance into waterways, where it enters the food chain, moving from aquatic organisms to fish to humans. If ingested, mercury can cause developmental problems in children and neurological damage in adults. Many states, led by those in New England, have tried to safely remove all mercury from houses and businesses. Last month, the US administration decided to keep the Department of Energy's 1,206 tons of mercury in storage for safekeeping, rather than trying to profit from selling it. The decision not to sell the federal government's mercury comes at a critical moment in efforts to reduce the trade of the substance around the world. The decision not to sell the federal government's mercury comes at a critical moment in efforts to reduce the trade of the substance around the world. Next month, the governing board of the United Nations Environmental Program, meeting in Nairobi, will consider plans to reduce the supply and demand of mercury.
by Sea Stachura, Minnesota Public Radio
January 4, 2007
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/01/02/hayesmayo/
A researcher who has studied suspected links between a herbicide widely used in Minnesota and deformities in frogs says the chemical may also cause cancer in humans. Tyrone Hayes, of the University of California-Berkeley, presented his research to a group of doctors at the Mayo Clinic on Wednesday.
Article Summary: Atrazine has been used to kill weeds on crops like corn since 1958. In Minnesota farmers apply just under two million pounds of it each year, and it can run off into streams and groundwater. Scientists with the Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee are concerned that the growth of the ethanol industry will mean more corn and more atrazine in the environment. Its effects on humans and animals have been disputed for years. Hayes' research discovered that atrazine chemically castrates the frog, meaning that it causes a reduction in the male hormone, testosterone, which results in things like decreased sperm count, a decrease in the voice box, controls the male's ability to attract mates. He went on to say that the enzyme that atrazine activates in frogs is the same one found in humans. It converts testosterone into estrogen. "This same enzyme, or machinery if you will, controls estrogen production in humans. And atrazine is associated in laboratory rodents with development of mammary cancer, or breast cancer, and there are epidemiological studies that associate atrazine exposure to breast cancer in humans," Hayes said in an interview with NPR. The Environmental Protection Agency and Syngenta have questioned Hayes' research, which has been published in journals such as Science. "All of the studies we looked at, and there were 17 laboratory and field studies total, were flawed," said EPA's Anne Lindsay in the Office of Pesticides. The EPA expects to update its view of the chemical's safety sometime in 2007. Lindsay says the agency will take into account findings from a study by the National Cancer Institute. That study is looking at whether atrazine has caused any diseases in humans.
by Janet Pelley, Environmental Science & Technology
January 3, 2007
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2007/jan/policy/jp_canada.html
Silent, odorless, and colorless, radon gas in homes waits decades to kill its victims, making it an overlooked public-health risk. Now that improved detection tools and research breakthroughs have proven that low doses of radon cause lung cancer, radon-prevention techniques for homeowners have advanced to the cutting edge. In response, Health Canada and the World Health Organization (WHO) are poised to release new voluntary guidelines to tame the problem, but experts say that mandatory changes in building codes are needed.
Article Summary: Radon is produced by the decay of natural uranium in rocks and soil and, depending on the underlying geology, can build up to high levels indoors when it slips through cracks and openings in foundations. More than 10 million houses are plagued with radon levels that exceed the federal recommendation, yet most new homes in the U.S. are built without radon protection. In the U.S., homeowners are encouraged to reduce radon when it reaches concentrations above 150 becquerels per cubic meter (Bq/m3). A becquerel measures the rate of radioactive decay in a substance. The U.S. Clean Air Act doesn't provide the U.S. EPA with the authority to regulate indoor air, including radon in homes. Instead, Congress directed EPA to conduct outreach and education efforts that would eventually lead to the attainment of outdoor levels of radon inside all homes. More than 21,000 people die each year in the U.S. and tens of thousands perish worldwide from radon-induced lung cancer, according to EPA. About 10% of lung-cancer deaths in Canada are due to radon. WHO's International Radon Project is planning to release final guidelines for testing, action, and mitigation by June 2007.
by Nikhil Swaminathan, Scientific American
January 3, 2007
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=EA19F960-E7F2-99DF-32460084B295C9EA
Researchers have discovered dangerous levels of the neurotoxin mercury (Hg) in the muscle tissue of perch and in the blood and eggs of the common loon in aquatic ecosystems of the northeastern U.S. and southern Canada. The finding led them to identify five "hot spots" of mercury contamination that pose serious health risks to animals as well as humans. In addition, elevated concentrations of the neurotoxin were found in nine other regions labeled as "areas of concern" in the report published in the January issue of Bioscience. High concentrations of mercury, which accumulate in the food chain, can cause brain and nerve damage in developing fetuses and young children.
Article Summary: The northeastern hot spots, which include the western Adirondacks and the middle and lower Merrimack River, share several characteristics: most can track much of their mercury deposition to local sources such as waste incinerators and coal-fired electricity plants. Each area contains landscape components, like tree canopies that suck up airborne mercury particles or wetlands that facilitate the methylation of mercury to the toxic compound methylmercury, that concentrate the pollutant in aquatic environments, sometimes up to one million times greater than its ambient levels. Water manipulation, such as reservoirs, can also ratchet up methylmercury levels, causing a decrease in the viability of wildlife offspring. In addition, soil contamination from legacy mercury use is another major indicator of a hot spot. In addition, the western U.S. and Rockies appear to have major legacy mercury problems that are causing reproductive impairments to birds. These findings could impact the cap-and-trade regulations implemented by the EPA in 2005 to nudge coal-fired power plants to take steps to reduce their emissions.
by Kris Christen, Environmental Science & Technology
January 3, 2007
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2007/jan/policy/kc_epa.html
A washing machine made by Samsung Electronics is one of a rapidly growing number of consumer products that advertisements say are embedded with nanoscale silver particles that can kill bacteria. In a major reversal, the U.S. EPA has determined that clothes washing machines that use silver ions as a disinfectant will have to be registered as a pesticide. Until now, the agency has not regulated nanomaterials, including silver ions, made of a bioaccumulating, persistent, and toxic metal. Yet EPA's decision may be meaningless, critics point out, because if the company deletes from its advertising the assertion that silver can kill bacteria, it won't have to register the washer.
Article Summary: In an assessment updated in November, the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars found that the number of consumer products made with nanotechnologies has increased by 70% since March 2006. The most prevalent nanomaterial being used is silver, now found in 47 products. Among other possible effects, widespread use of household products that release silver ions into sanitary sewer systems could greatly increase silver concentrations in treatment-plant discharges, leading to adverse effects, such as bioaccumulation in fish and killing of aquatic life. The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) does not regulate antibacterial products unless they claim they can kill bacteria. The Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group that relayed its concerns in a November letter to EPA, wrote: "Failure to identify nanoscale pesticide ingredients should not be an excuse to circumvent the FIFRA registration requirements. Because of the significant potential for serious environmental harm, EPA must conduct a comprehensive assessment of all products that use nanosilver as a pesticide."
by Martin Hickman, London Independent
January 3, 2007
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article2121674.ece
Britain's 2-billion-pound-a-year thirst for bottled water is not only financially and environmentally foolish, it may even harm the drinkers' health, campaigners say. Possible problems associated with shop-bought water include excess sodium, the leaching of toxins and benzene contamination, according to a report published yesterday by the sustainable food and farming group Sustain.
Article Summary: The report Have You Bottled It? found that Tap water was good quality and environmentally friendly, while the bottled version generated pollution and was associated with health fears. The last annual figures from the Drinking Water Inspectorate showed 99.96 per cent of tap water met stringent standards in 2005. The tiny proportion of water that did not meet all testing criteria was still safe to drink. The French Senate advises people who drink bottled mineral water to change brands frequently, because the minerals in particular brands may be harmful in high doses if consumed over a long period. Among other health concerns, the report recalled that a potential carcinogen, benzene, was found in Perrier in 1989 and bromate -- another carcinogen -- in Coca-Cola's Dasani in 2004. Water from bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) also contain low levels of the heavy metal antimony. On leaching, the report warned: "It is possible that some potentially toxic chemicals may migrate out of the plastic product and into whatever it is in contact with." This happened in October 2005 when the BBC found unopened bottles of Volvic that had been contaminated with napthalene. The British Soft Drinks Association dismissed any health concerns. "Bottled water is safe," it said. And the products conformed to the highest standards of "hygiene, provenance and sustainability". Marketing of bottled water, which is 1,000 times more expensive than tap water, plays heavily on notions of purity, peace, silence, nature -- an antidote to our busy urban lifestyles.
by Fred Ortega, San Gabriel Valley [California] Tribune
January 3, 2007
http://www.sgvtribune.com/search/ci_4939987
The federal government's attitude toward perchlorate contamination, sharply contrasted in recent years by California's efforts to deal with the potentially dangerous chemical, could be about to change. Tens of millions of dollars have been spent throughout the state to remove perchlorate -- an ingredient in rocket fuel and dry-cleaning solvent -- from drinking water supplies. State officials are close to establishing a mandatory limit on the amount of the chemical allowed. At the same time, the federal government has set a non-mandatory limit for perchlorate contamination that is four times higher than what California is considering, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently nixed a requirement to even test for the chemical in drinking water.
Article Summary: Studies have suggested that perchlorate can harm thyroid function and is particularly dangerous to pregnant women and their unborn children. Even at 6 parts per billion -- the mandatory limit being considered in California -- thousands of pregnant women may still have to be treated because of perchlorate contamination in drinking water in California alone, said Sujatha Jahagirdar of Los Angeles-based Environment California. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-San Francisco. has said that changing the seemingly lackadaisical approach taken by the federal government toward perchlorate will be among the top priorities of the new Democratic Congress. Even as a committee chairwoman, Boxer cannot simply force the EPA to change policy, said Jack Pitney, politics professor at Claremont McKenna College. "But she can use publicity to bring pressure to bear." Boxer also said she hopes to steer more federal money toward environmental causes.
See related articles at http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_H_perc05.39df021.html and http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_H_perc05.39df021.html.
by Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel
January 3, 2007
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_5252800,00.html
OAK RIDGE -- Before closing its Oak Ridge incinerator for good, the U.S. Department of Energy plans to burn more than 10 million pounds of toxic waste in the next three years. State environmental officers have given their preliminary blessing to the plan, which would bring wastes to Oak Ridge from at least 11 facilities outside Tennessee.
Article Summary: The Department of Energy intends to close the incinerator by September 30, 2009. During the almost three years until then, out-of-state loads will include toxic waste from a former uranium-enrichment facility in Ohio and apparently would include tons of oils contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls. Lesser amounts of waste would arrive from around the nation, including sites in Colorado, New Mexico, New York, Idaho and Washington state. The Oak Ridge incinerator is considered a unique facility within the Department of Energy. It is capable of burning a range of mixed wastes containing both radioactive materials and hazardous chemicals, including hard-to-destroy PCBs. As part of continuing operations, the contractor that operates the incinerator conducted a risk assessment earlier this year and concluded that the incinerator did not pose a health threat to humans, and state overseers agreed with that conclusion. The incinerator has burned about 31 million pounds of waste during its 20 years of operation.
by Michael Hawthorne, Chicago Tribune
January 2, 2007
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-070102mercury,1,4555629.story
One of the nation's largest stockpiles of toxic mercury will remain locked up instead of oozing into the world market. After mulling a potential sale for several months, the U.S. Department of Energy confirmed Tuesday that it will keep nearly 1,300 tons of mercury in storage, increasing pressure on private companies to follow the same policy. The Tribune reported in November that federal officials were considering selling off the Energy Department's surplus, prompted in part by legislation introduced by U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) that would ban American exports of the silvery metal.
Article Summary: The government's mercury has been in storage since alternative methods were developed to process material for hydrogen bombs in the early 1960s. Some of it has been sold, and most sold today is funneled to loosely regulated industries in developing countries, where it can end up being released into the atmosphere and contaminating lakes and rivers around the world. Gold mines churn about 1,000 tons of mercury into the atmosphere every year, second only to coal-fired power plants, which release 3,000 tons, according to the UN. Mercury pollution that falls into waterways becomes more dangerous as it moves up the food chain from small aquatic organisms to fish to people. The metal can build up in the body, causing developmental problems in children and neurological damage in adults. Most American industries that once used mercury to make batteries, thermometers, electrical switches and chlorine have switched to less harmful technologies. Many states have taken steps to discourage mercury-laden garbage from being disposed of in landfills.
Government officials and corporate executives have increasingly faced pressure to keep it out of the environment. Despite the federal government's decision to store its surplus, American mercury may still flood the world market from another source. Two chemical plants that use large amounts of mercury to make chlorine are shutting down, and Obama is pushing another bill that would require six other chlorine plants to close or switch to mercury-free technology by 2012.
press release from the American Institute of Architects
October 31, 2006
http://www.aia.org/release_103106_greenschool
Washington, D.C., October 31, 2006 -- A new national report, Greening America's Schools, reveals that building energy-efficient schools results in lower operating costs, improved test scores and enhanced student health. The report, produced by Capital E and co-sponsored by The American Institute of Architects (AIA), concluded that schools that are designed to be environmentally friendly would save an average of $100,000 each year -- enough to hire two additional full-time teachers.
Article Summary: The report includes a detailed analysis of 30 green schools built in 10 states between 2001 and 2006. It demonstrates that the total financial benefits of green schools are 20 times greater than the initial cost, including energy and water savings, as well as improved student health and test scores. For the full report, please see http://www.cap-e.com/ewebeditpro/items/O59F9819.pdf.