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.
1) The fourth annual environmental health lecture series entitled, "Our Health, Our Environment: Making the Link -- Seeking 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. Admission is also available at the door.
2) 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.
January 25, 2007
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Seattle, Washington
at Antioch University Seattle, 2326 Sixth Avenue in Belltown, between Bell and Battery, near the Pink Elephant Car Wash
Come and find out how the Center's programs can help you to facilitate positive and sustainable change in organizations, communities and the environment. We'll be talking about our Masters' degrees in Environment & Community, Whole Systems Design, Strategic Communications, Organizational Psychology, and Management. We'll also be talking about our Graduate Certificates. Faculty and students will be on-hand to describe the programs and answer questions.
Website: http://www.antiochsea.edu/about/creativechange/index.html
Contact: Wendy Olson, 206-268-4208 or wolsen@antiochseattle.edu
January 26, 2007
7:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Seattle, Washington
at Seattle University, 12th and Marion
Phillip White and Rita Schenck, two globally recognized leaders in product design, provide both a forum and in-depth workshop on the application of ecological design strategies in developing ecologically intelligent products and systems. Philip White, Arizona State University, specializes in applying ecodesign strategies and advanced environmental impact assessment methods. He chairs the Ecodesign Section of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA). He organized the development of the Okala Ecological Design Curriculum that is used by more than 40 schools of product design in North America. Rita Schenck, Executive Director of the Institute for Environmental Research & Education (IERE), represented the US in negotiating life cycle standards under the ISO 14000 standards (Environmental Management Systems). The American Center for Life Cycle Assessment, the professional society for LCA in the USA, is a program of IERE. IERE obtains and helps others obtain the knowledge and skills they need to make better environmental decisions. Join us for the breakfast Forum only; or register for the Forum and Workshop combination. Registration prices include student and NBIS member discounts.
Website: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/9389
Contact: info@nbis.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
February 8, 2007
9:00 a.m. Pacific / Noon Eastern
Jointly hosted by CHE, Health Care Without Harm, and Physicians for Social Responsibility, this call will feature special guest Cindy Parker, MD, MPH, of the Center for Public Health Preparedness at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. For this call Dr. Parker's presentation will first review the latest scientific consensus on climate change and human contributions to it, and then explore the broad array of human health impacts expected or suspected -- these include not only infectious disease risks, but also increased human risks from extreme weather events, from drought and water shortages, and from changes to agriculture and food systems. To join this call and receive dial-in information, please RSVP as described below. A copy of the presentation will be made available to registered participants prior to the call.
Contact: Julia Varshavsky, Julia@HealthandEnvironment.org
The National Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is hiring a coordinator who will be housed with our steering committee member the Breast Cancer Fund in their San Francisco office. The coordinator will manage the national Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, providing leadership to coalition partners -- and harmonizing -- working group efforts focused on grassroots organizing, state and federal legislative advocacy, corporate targeting, communications/media advocacy and technical support to compact-signing companies. The coordinator will also oversee campaign governance structure and strategic development. For more information about the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, please visit http://www.safecosmetics.org/. This is a full-time, nonexempt position. Salary is dependent on experience, and benefits include medical, dental and vision insurance; paid vacation, sick and personal time; and long-term disability insurance.
Qualifications and Skills:
To apply, email a cover letter and resume to hr_csc@breastcancerfund.org, fax 415-346-2975 or mail to 1388 Sutter Street, suite 400, San Francisco, CA 94109, Attention: CSC Coordinator. Please include contact information for two professional references. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, with interviews beginning approximately February 5th.
editorial by John Peterson Myers, San Francisco Chronicle
January 23, 2007
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/01/23/EDGC7N75IE1.DTL
When parents first hear that some plastics may be a threat to their children's health, their initial reaction is often disbelief. "Surely the government tests these materials thoroughly for safety."
No, it doesn't.
Then, when they learn that a common component of plastic toys and food containers, bisphenol A, has been shown by many studies to cause harmful effects, some respond, "Surely those impacts are because of high doses, not what my child would encounter."
No, they're not high. The doses used were in the range of common human exposure.
More than 40 independent studies of bisphenol A exposures at daily exposure levels below what the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says is safe cause adverse effects in rodents when exposed in the womb.
Bisphenol A is used to make polycarbonate plastic, a common component of children's toys, most baby bottles, and some wildly popular water bottles. It's also used to make an epoxy lining for food and beverage cans. While superficially it appears to be stable, the plastic readily degrades and age and heat accelerate the degradation. Thus, use virtually guarantees exposure.
Fifteen years ago, toxicologists would have scoffed because the resulting exposures are low. That was before many scientists began to understand that some chemicals, such as bisphenol A, mimic the sex hormone estrogen. Now thousands of scientists around the world are studying the impact of exposure to these man-made sex hormones that leach out of everyday household products and toys. The results are disquieting. Contaminants such as bisphenol A can cause effects at extremely low levels, below 1 part per billion, which is within the range of common human exposures.
Sex hormones aren't just about sex and teenagers. Sex hormones are vital signals the body uses to guide how a fetus develops. The wrong amount of hormone, or hormone-like chemical, at the wrong time can have a disastrous impact on a developing fetus or child. The last 10 years of research has provided extensive evidence that this is true for bisphenol A.
In animal experiments, university scientists have now linked early bisphenol A exposure to prostate cancer and breast cancer in adulthood, attention disorders, changes in behavior, elimination of brain differences between males and females, disruption of insulin regulation (which leads to diabetes) and an increase in body weight, chromosomal damage in the eggs of female babies (which usually means their embryos are miscarried), reduced sperm count and infertility. Scientific bodies in the federal government have concluded that animal studies are a vital guide to identifying health risks for humans, because the molecular mechanisms causing the response to bisphenol A are fundamentally the same.
This substantial scientific literature has yielded important lessons. Most important, these effects are seen at levels to which people are commonly exposed by using consumer products made out of bisphenol A.
A big surprise has been that the high dose experiments that we have depended upon to tell us what is safe simply don't work with hormone mimics such as bisphenol A. High doses of hormones can cause very different effects than low doses. The standard tests used in toxicology to set health standards have ignored those low-dose impacts, instead assuming that the dose makes the poison. This new generation of science directly challenges that assumption. Another key finding has been that early-life exposure can have catastrophic consequences for later adult health.
One other lesson has emerged. More than 90 percent of publicly funded studies show bisphenol A causes adverse effects at low levels. Not one study funded by the chemical industry finds harm.
So far, only a handful of human studies have been guided by these lessons. As the studies continue to mount, what are our choices? In the interest of protecting its youngest citizens, the City of San Francisco has taken an important first step by proposing a ban on products for infants that contain bisphenol A. San Francisco's leaders should stay the course. There are replacements for bisphenol A. The same can't be said for children's health.
by Robert McClure, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
January 22, 2007
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/300615_epalibraries22.html
A national controversy over cutbacks and outright closings of Environmental Protection Agency libraries came to Seattle over the weekend as librarians from around the country told EPA officials the agency is undercutting its own workers, its scientists and the public. Across vast stretches of the heartland, EPA scientists, university researchers and others have scrambled to locate documents once easily found by librarians in the agency's regional headquarters, said participants in the America Library Association annual conference.
Article Summary: The EPA libraries were well used. Internal EPA documents obtained by the Seattle P-I show that more than 20,000 requests for quick reference and another 20,000-plus requests for extended research were filled by EPA librarians in fiscal year 2005, the latest statistics available. The figure for database and literature searches exceeded 85,000. EPA libraries have been closed in Chicago, Kansas City, Dallas and Washington, DC, as well as the EPA's headquarters library. Hours have been reduced in Boston, New York, San Francisco and Seattle. With a congressional investigation pending, agency officials responded that they are merely trying to move the EPA libraries' contents onto the Internet, where people worldwide can use them more readily. However, nearly all the documents not actually written by the EPA would not be put online because of copyright restrictions, according to EPA officials.
by Thomas Frank, USA TODAY
January 21, 2007
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-01-21-rail-cargo_x.htm
WASHINGTON -- The government for the first time will monitor rail shipments of potentially deadly cargo passing through cities to make sure cars vulnerable to attack don't sit unguarded for too long. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will start a nationwide tracking system in about a month to determine how long rail cars filled with lethal materials are stopped on tracks or sit in unsecured storage yards in urban areas. Unguarded rail cars filled with toxic chemicals such as chlorine in cities are the single biggest terrorist threat related to the nation's railroads, the TSA says.
Article Summary: Railroads carry 105,000 carloads of toxic chemicals a year, and 1.6 million carloads of other hazardous materials such as explosives and radioactive items, the government says. The U.S. Naval Research Lab has said an attack on such a rail car could kill 100,000 people. The new tracking system lets the TSA enforce an agreement that aims to reduce by 25% this year the number of hours hazardous rail shipments sit unguarded in each of 46 major urban areas. The tracking comes as cities consider banning or restricting hazardous rail shipments. Local officials fear attacks and accidents like the fiery train derailment Tuesday near Louisville that spewed toxic smoke and forced people from homes, businesses and a school. Rail companies fear such laws would force them to send hazardous cargo hundreds of miles around cities. CSX Transportation blocked a Washington, DC, ordinance with a lawsuit that is pending. TSA chief Kip Hawley said barring hazardous rail cargo from cities could force it onto trucks, which are more easily attacked and accident-prone.
by Frank D. Roylance, Baltimore Sun
January 21, 2007
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.germs21jan21,0,3573665.story
Article Summary: Americans are taken with antimicrobial soaps, alcohol-based hand sanitizers and other antibacterial products, spending more than $200 million a year on antimicrobial wipes alone. Yet Rolf Halden, an environmental scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, contends that the introduction of the hundreds of antimicrobial products has had no discernible impact on the rates of infectious disease in the United States. "Not a blip on the radar screen," he said. A panel of experts and industry representatives convened in 2005 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said plain soap and water -- when used properly -- are the preferred tools to rid germs from human hands. Next are the alcohol-based gels and wipes, which they describe as adequate alternatives when vigorous hand-washing at a faucet isn't possible. Studies have found that most hand sanitizers can reduce gastrointestinal illnesses in households, classrooms and dormitories. Last are antibacterial soaps and related applications, which, some research suggests, could generate problems for the environment and human health. Timing matters. Wash before eating. Wash after using the bathroom, sneezing or coughing into your hands, handling raw meats or caring for someone who has an infection. If people don't or can't wash at the sink, experts say it's safe to use alcohol-based gels and wipes, which kill most viruses and bacteria. They degrade rapidly in the environment and have "a pretty good safety profile," although they have shortcomings, according to Rolf Halden, an environmental scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. There's concern that overuse of antibacterial soaps might encourage the evolution of bacteria that could resist clinically important antibiotics. While laboratory evidence suggests that it could happen, there's been no proof yet that it has. Two of the ingredients in antibacterial soaps -- triclosan and triclocarban -- have been found in fish, breast milk and wastewater. The chemicals might kill beneficial organisms in the soil and waterways. There's no scientific evidence that they're harming humans, but that's because no one has done the research yet. A spokesman for the Soap and Detergent Association, said: "We believe that antibacterial soaps are effective at eliminating or reducing germs on the skin that make us sick. In those cases where people aren't washing their hands enough, at least there's that extra ingredient that we think can make a difference."
by Shelley Page, Ottawa Citizen
January 21, 2007
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/arts/story.html?id=c4bcc538-b9a2-49fc-a835-7455c213dc64&k=15476
Article Summary: It's can't be just advanced age that's affecting fertility. Women under 25 make up the fastest-growing segment of U.S. women with impaired fertility, according to a December 2005 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. That same National Survey on Family Growth found that in 2002 approximately 12 per cent of couples in the U.S. experienced impaired fecundity (the capacity to conceive and carry a child to term). This was up 20 per cent from 6.1 million couples in 1995. In Canada, infertility affects at least half a million couples. The president of the American Infertility Association recently said he fears toxins are behind the infertility. Environmental Health Perspectives recently devoted an issue to the role pollutants play in fertility. The cover story noted that environmental exposure assessments, plus studies of wildlife, animals and humans, suggest factors besides increased age and obesity may be subtly undermining our ability to reproduce, including exposure to low-level environmental contaminants such as phthalates, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, pesticides and other chemicals.
The links between environmental pollutants and infertility are more clear cut in animals. Fish, amphibians and reptiles have all experienced impaired fertility after exposure to endocrine disruptors, substances in the environment believed to alter hormone function. Polar bears and seals have been affected. So, too, have alligators. The Study for Future Families, funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, recently recorded significant reductions in sperm concentration, motility and total motile sperm in men from Columbia, Missouri, compared with men in New York City, Minneapolis and Los Angeles. The men from Missouri had residue of pesticides in their urine: alachlor, atrazine, metolachlor and diazinon. Turns out they also had higher exposure levels to agricultural pesticides. Other studies have looked at sperm counts in Danish men, the effects of eating sport fish and reproductive rates among Inuit of North America. The association's Children's Environmental Health Project advocates for policies that will identify and eliminate hormonally active agents in the environment.
by Julie Wheldon, UK Daily Mail
January 20, 2007
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=430111&in_page_id=1774
Article Summary: Trans fats used in thousands of processed foods can harm a woman's chance of having a baby, scientists said yesterday. They can increase the risk of fertility problems by 70 per cent or more. Eating as little as one doughnut or a portion of chips a day can have a damaging effect. The fats are found naturally in some red meat and dairy products, but most are produced artificially in a high-temperature process called hydrogenation which turns liquid oil into solid fat. The fats have no nutritional value but are included simply to extend the shelf life of food. Nutrition campaigners said the research provided 'considerable new weight and urgency' for trans fats to be banned.
Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston found that women who took two per cent of their energy intake from trans fats, instead of carbohydrates or polyunsaturated fats such as sunflower oil, had a 70 per cent greater risk of infertility through lack of ovulation. The amount of trans fats needed to reach the two per cent levels was just four grams a day in a 2,000-calorie diet. People could easily eat that much in a meal of pie and chips or just one doughnut. It is not clear how the fats affect ovulation, but they may affect sensitivity to insulin, which is already known to play a role in fertility problems. Lead researcher Dr Jorge Chavarro said his findings, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, suggested that women wanting to conceive should watch their trans fat consumption, as well as giving up smoking and maintaining a healthy weight.
by Philip Webster, Helen Rumbelow and Alice Miles, London Times
January 20, 2007
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2556768,00.html
Article Summary A mass study of the long-term impact of mobile phones is to be undertaken amid fears that people who have used them for more than ten years are at greater risk from brain cancer. More than 200,000 volunteers, including long-term users, are to be monitored for at least five years to plot mobile phone use against any serious diseases they develop, including cancer and Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. Professor Lawrie Challis said that research has shown that mobiles are very safe in the short term but that there is a "hint of something" for people using them longer. He said that the study was necessary because all the important breakthroughs in what caused cancers had shown that the effects often took more than ten years to show. "You find absolutely nothing for ten years and then after that it starts to grow dramatically." Andrew Lansley, the Shadow Health Secretary, said: "It's not scare-mongering to ask these questions for future generations. At the moment there is little evidence to suggest that use of mobile phones has any impact on health, but it is vital that there is continuing research to establish if long-term use is a danger."
by Janet Raloff, Science News Online
January 20, 2007
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20070120/bob8.asp
For decades, researchers largely assumed that a poison's effects increase as the dose rises and diminish as it falls. However, scientists are increasingly documenting unexpected effects -- sometimes disproportionately adverse, sometimes beneficial -- at extremely low doses of radiation and toxic chemicals.
Article Summary: For example, A German team recently found that in newborn male rats, the lowest di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) doses tested suppressed the brain activity of an enzyme critical for male development. This was a surprise because higher DEHP doses stimulated that enzyme's action. Other toxic agents have unexpectedly beneficial effects. X-rays and gamma radiation are well-recognized carcinogens. However, a growing body of animal data now indicates that lower radiation exposures can defend against cancer-inducing biological changes. Many such effects have been overlooked because researchers prematurely stopped probing for biological impacts as soon as they identified dosage levels of a poison that appear benign, says toxicologist Edward J. Calabrese of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. In a related class of nonlinear effects, called hormesis, a compound at high doses has an inhibitory -- and generally toxic -- effect on some biological process but the opposite effect at certain low doses. Recent work by Calabrese shows measurable biological effects at low doses appear to be more the norm than an anomaly. Although most toxicologists today agree that hormesis occurs, some argue that Calabrese and his team greatly overstate its frequency. Knowledge about low-dose effects has important implications in both medicine and chemical regulation.
by Jim Kozubek, Manchester [New Hampshire] Union Leader
January 19, 2007
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Study+to+test+arsenic+in+wells&articleId=0c782473-2145-45d4-b2fe-0548dce4b2bb
Article Summary: The University of New Hampshire and Columbia University began project SPARK -- Strategic Plan for Arsenic Research in Kids -- in 2000. SPARK, funded by the National Institutes of Health, will test private well water in four New Hampshire school districts to determine whether there is a correlation between arsenic levels in the drinking water and a child's ability to learn. Arsenic is a naturally occurring element in the ground. The research team plans to find 500 students who typically drink from private wells and ask them to answer questionnaires. The team will also talk to parents, analyze the components of private well water and perform intelligence tests on the children. Although past studies have shown arsenic impairs motor functioning, researchers are still unsure how much arsenic it takes to hinder intellectual development or how significant arsenic is to development when compared with nutrition and health care and how often a parent reads to their child. The study will take about 18 months.
by Pam Belluck, New York Times
January 19, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/19/us/19smoking.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1
Article Summary: Bangor is banning smoking in cars if children are present in an ordinance that allows police to stop cars if an adult is smoking while a child under 18 is a passenger. The smoker can be fined $50. While some people liken the situation to "smoke police" or the Gestapo, some smokers conceded that smoking is not good for children. Bangor's ban is part of a much larger movement toward outlawing smoking near children, even in private areas. Arkansas, Louisiana and Puerto Rico recently enacted similar bans, and at least three other states are considering them: California, Connecticut and Maine. At least seven states, including several with large numbers of smokers like Texas, Oklahoma and Alaska, prohibit or sharply restrict smoking around foster children in homes, cars or both. Some require homes or cars to be smoke-free for 12 hours before a foster child enters. Judges determining parental custody and visitation have, in more than a dozen states, ordered a parent not to smoke around a child. An Ohio court last year gave custody of a 6-year-old boy to his father solely because the boy's mother and her fiance smoked. A recent ruling in a New York case said landlords who allow tenants to be exposed to secondhand smoke could be violating obligations to make apartments habitable. The efforts have gained steam from a 2006 surgeon general's report that strongly indicted secondhand smoke, especially for harming children.
[See a related article at http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/16516367.htm.]
by Bruce Henderson, Charlotte Observer
January 18, 2007
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/16485974.htm
Installing pollution-control devices on N.C. school buses could keep students from breathing harmful diesel fumes, environmentalists say after testing new technology in Charlotte and Gaston County. Diesel exhaust carries fine particles and chemicals linked to cardiovascular disease, lung cancer and respiratory disease, including asthma attacks. Children are especially vulnerable.
Article Summary: Fumes seeping inside buses' passenger compartments can reach concentrations three to five times higher than in outside air, according to tests in Charlotte and four other cities. Pollution-control devices attached to the tailpipe and engine can reduce those emissions by 90 percent, the tests found, according to June Blotnick of Charlotte's Carolinas Clean Air Coalition. The devices aren't cheap: one type of filter that fits on a tailpipe costs close to $5,000.
from Reuters
January 18, 2007
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2007-01-19T031455Z_01_N18199289_RTRUKOC_0_US-REFINERY-OPERATIONS-CANCER.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsHome-C3-healthNews-3
A University of Texas study found a possible link between childhood leukemia and living close to the city's refinery row along the Houston Ship Channel, one of the study's co-authors said on Thursday. The study found that living within two miles of elevated levels of 1,3-butadiene around the ship channel's petrochemical complex was associated with a 56 percent increased incidence of childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia compared with those living more than 10 miles away, according to a statement from the city of Houston, which financed the study.
Article Summary: The substance 1,3-butadiene is used to make petrochemicals like ethylene. Houston Mayor Bill White said the city would use the study to support efforts to reduce pollution from petrochemical plants.
by Stephen Leahy, Toronto Mail & Guardian
January 18, 2007
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=295893&area=/insight/insight__international/
Cellphones that contain toxic chemicals are still being sold in Latin America and other developing regions. But thanks to strict European regulations, there are progressively fewer phones being made with cadmium, lead and other dangerous materials. The new, stricter standards -- adopted by the European Union in 2006 -- forced the world's five leading cellphone manufacturers to eliminate toxic metals and other materials from their products.
Article Summary: A cellphone can contain between 500 and 1 000 components. Many of these contain toxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium and beryllium, and hazardous chemicals such as brominated flame retardants (BFRs). Polluting PVC plastic is also frequently used to make the case and keypad, and the batteries contain cadmium, nickel and lithium. The EU's Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive entered into force at mid-year, banning the use of a number of hazardous substances such as lead, mercury and BFRs in electrical and electronic equipment. In the EU, all cellphone companies are also obligated to set up take-back and recycle programs for batteries and phones under the bloc's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive that entered into force in 2005. Reuse of discarded phones is gaining attention. Potentially, tens of millions of old cellphones will be collected and sent to a company in Michigan called ReCellular, which sorts the phones, erases all data contained in their electronic chips, and cleans, tests and resells them. It would be too complicated to manufacture cellphones to meet different standards, so the big companies are making all their cellphones meet European regulations, which are the toughest in the world, according to Zeina Alhajj, a toxics expert with the environmental watchdog Greenpeace International.
by Prachi Patel-Predd, Environmental Science & Technology
January 17, 2007
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2007/jan/tech/pp_bioproduct.html
The debate over whether plant-derived products are better for the environment than their petroleum-based counterparts has centered on the amount of energy that goes into growing the crops and making the products as well as the greenhouse gases that result from burning fuels. New research published today is the first to quantify the environmental impacts of the fertilizers, pesticides, and equipment that are used in soybean and corn agriculture. The work suggests that policy makers should rethink the benefits of bio-based fuels and plastics.
Article Summary: Compared with petroleum-based products, ethanol and biodiesel are considered "green" because they emit fewer greenhouse gases and they come from plant sources, even though studies have shown that their production may require more fossil fuels. But the environmental impacts of these products are not limited to global warming, says Amy Landis, a civil engineering graduate student at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a coauthor of the paper. Chemicals and heavy machinery used in soybean and corn farming could adversely affect soil, groundwater and air quality. Landis and her colleagues compiled an expanded data inventory for use in bioproduct life-cycle assessments (LCAs) by including the flows of nitrogen, phosphorus, pesticides, and U.S. EPA criteria air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxides, and volatile organic compounds. Most inventories have overlooked these compounds. Biofuels have environmental benefits at the global scale and in urban areas, where they reduce smog precursors, according to Thomas Seager, a civil engineer at Purdue University, but "environmental costs may be felt in the [crop] production states."
[Editor's note: A lecture on March 21st at Seattle's Town Hall will further discuss this topic. Please see http://washington.chenw.org/lectures.html for more information.]
by Catherine M. Cooney, Environmental Science & Technology
January 17, 2007
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2007/jan/tech/cc_hg_control.html
The cost of controlling mercury from coal-fired power plants can be up to 50% less than the 1999 baseline estimates, according to an economic analysis from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The new report focuses on a well-known technology, activated carbon injection (ACI), and has sparked interest from electric utilities and environmental advocates who sparred over EPA's Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR) when it was released in 2005.
Article Summary: The economic analysis shows that the costs of controlling mercury with ACI are as much as 50% less, plus or minus 30%, than what was predicted in 1999. Pilot tests showed very good results even with western coals once the researchers impregnated powdered activated carbon with bromine. "The paper clearly illustrates what technology vendors and environmental groups have been saying all along, that this technology is relatively inexpensive and it's very efficient," says Martha Keating, associate in research with the Children's Environmental Health Initiative at Duke University School of the Environment and Earth Sciences. One electric utility officer, who did not want to be named and who works for a large U.S. company, stressed that the cost estimates have a wide range; are very plant-specific; and depend on a variety of inputs, including the amount of carbon that is injected, the type of coal that is burned, the efficiency and size of the plant, and the electricity demand. "It's very hard to make a general statement of how much this will cost" at every plant, the utility representative says.
Coal-fired plants are the largest single source of mercury emissions nationally and emit 48 tons (t) of mercury annually, according to DOE. The CAMR requires power plants to control mercury emissions to achieve a nationwide reduction of 38 t beginning in 2010 and an additional cut of 15 t by 2018. The final CAMR includes a controversial cap-and-trade system, which allows power plants that reach emissions levels that are below their targets to sell emissions credits to other plants. Plants that purchase credits can use them to meet their emissions caps without reducing mercury. Sixteen states have sued EPA over CAMR, charging among other things that because some plants won't control mercury, hotspots with high levels of mercury will develop or be exacerbated. Fifteen states have already finalized mercury control rules that are stricter than EPA's, and eight more states have tough mercury programs in the works, according to the National Association of Clean Air Agencies.
by Naomi Lubick, Environmental Science & Technology
January 17, 2007
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2007/jan/science/nl_dioxins.html
Several decades ago, industrial sites in the U.S., such as waste incinerators and paper pulp plants, spewed dioxins and related compounds into the atmosphere, polluting rural and urban areas alike. Years after regulations resulted in reduced emissions from those sources, cities have stepped in to become the latest suppliers of the toxic contaminants in rural air, according to new research published today.
Article Summary: Scientists predicted that levels of dioxins and PCBs would drop significantly following Clean Air Act requirements to control the releases of these contaminants from industrial sites. Levels did drop initially, by 1998, the contaminants leveled out in the atmosphere. David Cleverly of the U.S. EPA and his colleagues measured polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dioxin-like polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and coplanar PCBs for four and a half years beginning in 1998. Dioxins appear to be spreading outward relatively quickly from urban centers. Previous research suggests that during cooler weather, humans burn more fossil fuels and engage in other activities that increase ambient levels of potentially cancer-causing chemicals which are eventually sequestered in animal fats. The EPPA team confirmed a slight increase in dioxins in winter and a decrease in summer, particularly in northern latitudes. Cleverly and co-workers, however, suggest that winter conditions dampen the atmospheric chemical reactions of hydroxyl radicals with dioxin and photolysis of the dioxins, leaving more of the compounds intact in winter air. The yearly stability of dioxin and PCB concentrations shows that the U.S. may have reached the limits of emissions controls on industrial plants and sites. "EPA has been very good at reducing emissions from big plants, and they are now much more diffuse: general traffic, household burning of waste and wood," and other "not very strong point sources," according to Rainer Lohmann of the University of Rhode Island.
by Kellyn S. Betts, Environmental Science & Technology
January 17, 2007
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2007/jan/science/kb_pbde.html
Scientists have long suspected that dust can play a major role in people's uptake of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants.
Article Summary: New research published today is the first to definitively link the PBDE concentrations found in people with the quantities of the persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) contaminants in dust from their homes. A team from Boston University's School of Public Health led the international study, which involved collecting breast milk samples from 46 first-time mothers in the Boston area. Although the researchers obtained dust samples from only 11 homes, they found statistically significant correlations between the levels of PBDEs in the dust from women's homes and the concentrations of the contaminants in their milk. When considered in tandem with the U.S. EPA's new assessments of PBDEs and data on the high concentrations of the contaminants in the dust of some U.S. homes, the findings suggest that children could be exposed to levels that put them at risk of developing neurological problems. The EPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) draft assessments for PBDEs were released last month, based on research showing neurotoxic effects on developing animals. Heather Stapleton of Duke University, calculates that children living in homes with high levels could be getting PBDE levels higher than the IRIS estimates. The new research does not pinpoint the source of the PBDEs found in the dust. The study questionnaire included detailed questions about potential sources of PBDEs, such as electronics, and furniture likely to contain foam-padding. No relationship was found based on is known about how PBDEs are used in household products. The paper also raises questions about how much dust people take up. The public comment period for the PBDE IRIS documents ends on February 5.
news release from the American Chemistry Council
January 16, 2007
http://www.americanchemistry.com/s_acc/sec_news_article.asp?CID=206&DID=4674
Article Summary: The American Chemistry Council (ACC) today announced a significant rebranding of the organization, completing the merger with the American Plastics Council (APC) and further integrating many functions within the ACC. Among the many changes at ACC, effective January 16, 2007, APC becomes the Plastics Division of the American Chemistry Council, and the Chlorine Chemistry Council becomes the Chlorine Chemistry Division of the American Chemistry Council. Other specific product panels, including CHEMSTAR, American Solvents Council, Polycarbonate Business Unit, Polystyrene Packaging Council and Rigid Plastic Packaging Institute will come under the American Chemistry brand.
by Katherine Bouma, Birmingham News
January 15, 2007
http://www.al.com/healthfit/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/living/1168856523292470.xml&coll=2
Article Summary: Experts warn that many people are fooled by nostalgia into exposing themselves to smoke that can cause cancer, lung disease, heart disease and other illnesses. All smoke is composed of a mix of gases and particles that can be microscopic and penetrate deep into the lungs. From there, they can irritate the lungs, enter the bloodstream or cause cell mutations. Healthy people generally are not at risk from short-term exposure to smoke, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. However, dozens of studies have found that wood smoke can become a serious pollutant, both indoors and outdoors. Particle pollution, both indoors and outdoors, is particularly dangerous for children, whose lung development can be stunted. Any smoke can trigger asthma, and studies are being performed to determine whether smoke can cause the onset of asthma. Wood smoke also can cause increases in respiratory infections and can increase the risk of heart disease. Combustion of wood produces nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide, gases that can reduce the oxygen in the bloodstream and lower the immune response. Chemicals in wood smoke also have been found to cause cancer. Wood smoke contains dioxin, benzene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, some of the same chemicals blamed for cancer from cigarette smoke.