Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 06/20/2008
This is the weekly bulletin of the TURI Library, reporting a selection of recently published titles we have acquired. Our pledge is to keep the bulletin relevant to your work and brief -- no more than 10 titles. You are welcome to send a message to jan@turi.org if you would like more information on any of the articles listed here.
Titles here, abstracts below:
- Chemical law has global impact
- McLean Thermal conserves water, saves money
- NanoRisk: what can you do about it?
- Environmental benefits of 2007 EPEAT computer purchasing: green IT procuring system's success drives major environmental benefits
- Canada considers ban of cyclic siloxanes
- Lean, green design: a key resource for small business
- Potential exposure to lead in artificial turf: public health issues, actions, and recommendations
- Unwelcome guest: PBDEs in indoor dust
- Overview of energy efficiency techniques and resources for Massachusetts industries
- Poisoned for pennies: the economics of toxics and precaution
1. Chemical law has global impact
Author: Layton, Lyndsey
Source: The Washington Post, June 12, 2008
Abstract: Europe this month rolled out new restrictions on makers of chemicals linked to cancer and other health problems, changes that are forcing U.S. industries to find new ways to produce a wide range of everyday products.
The new laws in the European Union require companies to demonstrate that a chemical is safe before it enters commerce -- the opposite of policies in the United States, where regulators must prove that a chemical is harmful before it can be restricted or removed from the market. Manufacturers say that complying with the European laws will add billions to their costs, possibly driving up prices of some products.
The changes come at a time when consumers are increasingly worried about the long-term consequences of chemical exposure and are agitating for more aggressive regulation. In the United States, these pressures have spurred efforts in Congress and some state legislatures to pass laws that would circumvent the laborious federal regulatory process.
Adamantly opposed by the U.S. chemical industry and the Bush administration, the E.U. laws will be phased in over the next decade. It is difficult to know exactly how the changes will affect products sold in the United States. But American manufacturers are already searching for safer alternatives to chemicals used to make thousands of consumer goods, from bike helmets to shower curtains.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/11/
AR2008061103569.html
2. McLean Thermal conserves water, saves money
Source: MnTAP Source, 2008 Issue 1
Abstract: McLean Thermal of Champlin, Minnesota, designs and manufactures cooling systems for electronic enclosures. In 2006, the company was given the opportunity to avoid one-time charges of $23,500 if they reduced water usage by at least 700,000 gallons per year. The company also was facing increased chemical and labor costs associated with the frequent replacement of their cleaning chemicals. McLean determined that the costs of not reducing water and chemical usage were too great and contacted MnTAP for assistance.
To increase corrosion resistance and provide a foundation for painting, McLean operates two multi-staged iron phosphatizing pretreatment systems. As the parts pass through each of the stages, the solutions in the tanks are sprayed through nozzles onto the parts. Drainage from the parts is directed back into the tank from which it was sprayed.
In 2007, a MnTAP intern at McLean researched ways to better use the rinse water to reduce water and sewer costs. The paint pretreatment rinse stages previously consumed 3.5 million gallons of city water per year in the form of continuous overflows. An additional 140,000 gallons of city water were used per year for the weekly cleaning and refilling of the rinse stages.
A recommendation was made for McLean to discontinue the addition of city water to each of the stage 4 rinse tanks. Instead, waste drainage from the deionized halo spray was directed to stage 4 rinse tanks to maintain an overflow of water. Not only did this reduce the amount of city water being used, but also provided stage 4 with purer water. McLean also began to reuse the relatively clean water from the stage 4 overflows for stage 2 rinse water. When compared with the fresh city water being used in stage 2, the stage 4 overflows were as clean or cleaner. As a result, the stage 4 overflows are now used as the stage 2 supply without degradation in product quality. This change has also resulted in less scaling buildup on the stage 2 tank and spray nozzles. Making this change required the installation of two flow meters, a flow regulator valve, and a new water pipe for each of the lines.
While monitoring the conductivity/TDS of the rinse tanks, it was determined that the frequency of rinse tank cleanings could be reduced. Instead of scheduling a rinse tank change each week, operators were instructed to perform weekly tests of the rinse stages and use the results of those tests to determine the proper time for dumping the rinse tanks. Operators have reduced the tank cleaning frequency from weekly to monthly, which is saving water and labor with no loss in rinse quality.
By implementing the recommendations from the MnTAP intern project, McLean Thermal anticipates an annual reduction of 1,380 gallons of chemicals, nearly 1.9 million gallons of water, and 2,600 therms of natural gas. Additionally, the company will avoid one-time SAC charges of nearly $25,000 and will continue to realize an annual cost savings of $20,000.
http://www.mntap.umn.edu/source/2008-1/McLean.html
3. NanoRisk: what can you do about it?
Author: Teeguarden, Justin; Gupta, Amit; Clark, Mark Sr.
Source: Environmental Protection, May 8, 2008
Abstract: If you work in the electronic, biomedical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, energy, catalytic, and materials industries and your employer uses nanoparticles or materials that contain nanoparticles, you may be at risk for exposure.
The American Industrial Hygiene Association estimates that 4 million people in the United States are expected to be exposed to nanometer-diameter particles on a regular basis as these industries grow. Because of their size, nanoparticles (between 1 and 100 nanometers) can penetrate deep into the body, even crossing the blood-brain barrier. They often exhibit different characteristics as the same materials at larger scales.. In fact, nanoparticles tend to be more chemically reactive, potentially making normally harmless materials toxic in tiny amounts (Bass 2008.)
Scientists do not know all of the problems related to exposure, but the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has determined the following:
• Nanomaterials have the greatest potential to enter the body if they are in the form of nanoparticles, agglomerates of nanoparticles, and particles from nanostructured materials that become airborne or come into contact with the skin.
• Nanoparticles can be inhaled and deposited in the respiratory tract. Airborne nanomaterials can enter the bloodstream and move to other organs.
• Insoluble ultrafine particles, smaller than 100 nanometers, are more potent than large particles of similar composition in causing pulmonary inflammation and lung tumors in laboratory animals. However, changes in the chemical composition, structure of the molecules, or surfaces properties of certain nanomaterials can influence their potential toxicity.
Given the limited information available and evolving guidance, companies and universities have relied on conventional chemical management practices to deal with nanomaterial safety. As nanomaterial issues have broadened to include corporate liability and reputation, more organizations are looking into worker exposure and how to better reduce it.
http://www.eponline.com/articles/62508/
4. Environmental benefits of 2007 EPEAT computer purchasing: green IT procuring system's success drives major environmental benefits
Source: Green Electronics Council, 2008
Abstract: The Green Electronics Council today released annual benefits figures for the environmental improvements resulting from worldwide 2007 purchase of EPEAT registered products. EPEAT is the environmental rating system for computers developed in a multi-year stakeholder process supported by US EPA (www.epeat.net ). With unit sales figures reflecting a 150% increase in the annualized purchase of EPEAT products over 2006, when the EPEAT system was first introduced, the total environmental and cost benefits due to 2007 EPEAT purchasing are significant.
Sales of EPEAT-registered products worldwide in 2007 totaled more than 109 million individual units. Growth of EPEAT qualified products’ market share has been rapid – for example, EPEAT desktop and laptop sales constituted more than 22 percent of total worldwide units shipped in 2007, compared with ~10% in 2006.
Compared with products that do not meet the system’s criteria, 2007 purchases of EPEAT registered laptops, desktops, and monitors will:
• Reduce use of primary materials by 75.5 million metric tons, equivalent to the weight of more than 585 million refrigerators
• Reduce use of toxic materials, including mercury, by 3,220 metric tons, equivalent to the weight of 1.6 million bricks
• Eliminate use of enough mercury to fill 482,381 household fever thermometers
• Avoid the disposal of 124,000 metric tons of hazardous waste, equivalent to the weight of 62 million bricks.
In addition, EPEAT’s requirement that all registered products meet ENERGY STAR’s energy efficiency specifications, means that these products will consume less energy throughout their life, resulting in:
• Savings of 42.2 billion kWh of electricity -- enough to power 3.7 million U.S. homes for a year
• Elimination of 174 million metric tons of air emissions (including greenhouse gas emissions) and almost 365 thousand metric tons of water pollutant emissions
• Reduction of 3.31 million metric tons of carbon equivalent (MTCE) greenhouse gas emissions -- equivalent to removing more than 2.6 million U.S. cars from the road for a year.
Remarkably, these benefits will not come at a cost premium – in fact, manufacturers and purchasers will actually save almost 4 billion dollars (US $3,660,553,851) over the life of the EPEAT products sold in 2007, primarily from reductions in energy use.
http://www.epeat.net/docs/EnvironmentalBenefits2007.pdf
5. Canada considers ban of cyclic siloxanes
Author: Murphy, Ian P.
Source: American Drycleaner, June 16, 2008
Abstract: The Canadian government published a preliminary assessment last month proposing the elimination of three silicon-based chemicals including D5, the main ingredient in GreenEarth solvent.
The assessment identified octoamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4), decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) and dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6) silicones and a phenol derivative as meeting toxicity criteria sufficient to require elimination under Canadian law.
“Our initial assessment shows that four of these chemicals should be kept out of our environment,” said Environment Minister John Baird in a statement. “As a result, we will be working with stakeholders to stop the release of these substances at the source.”
http://www.americandrycleaner.com/article.cfm?articleID=17708
6. Lean, green design: a key resource for small business
Author: Bhanti, Chhaya
Source: GreenerDesign, June 11, 2008
Abstract: Of all disciplines charged with the goal of sustainability, design offers the most compelling methodology. As an inherently multi-disciplinary practice, design can modify isolated parts of a system to influence the behavior of the whole, and as a result provide the critical intervention mechanism needed to shift any complex system towards sustainability.
Traditionally, business has viewed design as a product-driven process, investing in it only when it yields positive ROI. But it is when design has been applied as a framework to create systems-based solutions that it has led to substantive returns for business.
One such framework, known as lean design, shifted businesses toward less waste and higher productivity. As an early precursor of "green design," lean emphasized energy and resource efficiencies. Lean design actually proved to be such a forceful new paradigm that the federal government created not-for-profit programs like Manufacturing Extensions Programs (MEP) to assist businesses looking to capitalize upon its principles. Small businesses eager to gain competitive advantage in today's green economy can benefit from these programs by implementing lean and green design solutions across their operations.
There are currently 59 MEP centers around the country, all dedicated to revitalizing local businesses through whole-systems design. Susie Zimmerman, a consultant for the program, explained that MEPs work on a not-for-profit basis and collaborate with academic institutions, economic development authorities, private consultants, state and federal agencies to design customized solutions for businesses.
http://www.greenerdesign.com/column/2008/06/11/lean-green-design-a-key-resource
7. Potential exposure to lead in artificial turf: public health issues, actions, and recommendations
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), June 18, 2008
Abstract: Recent tests by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (NJDHSS) of artificial turf playing fields in that state have found these fields contain potentially unhealthy levels of lead dust. The initial tests were conducted on a limited number of playing fields. NJDHSS sampling of additional athletic fields and other related commercial products indicates that artificial turf made of nylon or nylon/polyethylene blend fibers contains levels of lead that pose a potential public health concern. Tests of artificial turf fields made with only polyethylene fibers showed that these fields contained very low levels of lead.
Information provided by NJDHSS to CDC and ATSDR indicates that some of the fields with elevated lead in either dust and/or turf fiber samples were weathered and visibly dusty. Fields that are old, that are used frequently, and that are exposed to the weather break down into dust as the turf fibers are worn or demonstrate progressive signs of weathering, including fibers that are abraded, faded or broken. These factors should be considered when evaluating the potential for harmful lead exposures from a given field.
The risk for harmful lead exposure is low from new fields with elevated lead levels in their turf fibers because the turf fibers are still intact and the lead is unlikely to be available for harmful exposures to occur. As the turf ages and weathers, lead is released in dust that could then be ingested or inhaled, and the risk for harmful exposure increases. If exposures do occur, CDC currently does not know how much lead the body will absorb; however, if enough lead is absorbed, it can cause neurological development symptoms (e.g. deficits in IQ). Additional tests are being performed by NJDHSS to help us better understand the absorption of lead from these products.
http://www2a.cdc.gov/HAN/ArchiveSys/ViewMsgV.asp?AlertNum=00275
8. Unwelcome guest: PBDEs in indoor dust
Author: Betts, Kellyn S.
Source: Environmental Health Perspectives, May 2008, ppA202-208
Abstract: Researchers have known for years that house dust is a major exposure route for lead and certain pesticides. Now attention is turning to another class of dustborne chemicals—polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants. A growing body of research documents that PBDEs and other brominated flame retardants (BFRs) released from many different consumer products can accumulate in people's homes, cars, and workplaces. Moreover, certain segments of the population have extremely high concentrations of these substances in their bodies. However, hard data on the human health impact of these exposures are only just beginning to emerge, with many studies focusing on thyroid effects.
PBDEs have been used extensively in the highly flammable plastic components of consumer goods including couches, mattresses, carpet padding, televisions, computers, cushions, car stereos, navigation systems, car seats, and padded dashboards. By 2001, a sufficient volume of data documenting PBDEs' persistence, toxicity, and tendency to bioaccumulate had emerged that Europeans were calling for two PBDE formulations—pentaBDE and octaBDE—to be banned. Both formulations are mixtures of individual PBDE compounds, or congeners; they are named on the basis of the average number of bromine atoms making up the majority of each mixture. PentaBDE was used in cushioning material whereas octaBDE was used primarily in electronics including televisions, computers, and cell phones.Europe went on to ban both PBDEs in August 2004, and the bromine and flame retardant industries also voluntarily ceased production in North America by the end of that year. PentaBDE and octaBDE are now candidates for inclusion in the United Nation's Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), which globally bans chemical substances that bioaccumulate through the food web and pose a risk to humans and the environment.
A third PBDE, an additive known as decaBDE, is used in electronic devices and textile backing. It remains in use today in North America, but was banned on 1 April 2008 by the European Court of Justice. The Bromine Science and Environmental Forum (BSEF), an industry group, is contesting that ruling, and writes on its website: "After 10 years of scientific research and more than 588 studies conducted and/or reviewed, both the environment and human risk assessment reports concluded that there is no significant risk [for decaBDE]." However, animal research suggests the compound may be carcinogenic and links it with developmental toxicity.
http://www.ehponline.org/members/2008/116-5/focus.html
9. Overview of energy efficiency techniques and resources for Massachusetts industries
Source: Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA), Office of Technical Assistance (OTA), 2008
Abstract: As energy costs rise, more companies are searching for ways to reduce their energy consumption in order to decrease their dependence on fossil fuels and stay competitive. This fact sheet will assist facility energy managers in developing energy management strategies for their companies and identifying techniques and funding sources for increasing the energy efficiency of their manufacturing operations. It also includes a wide variety of resources and tools to assist in these efforts.
http://www.mass.gov/envir/ota/publications/pdf/energy_efficiency_final.pdf
10. Poisoned for pennies: the economics of toxics and precaution
Author: Ackerman, Frank
Imprint: Island Press, 2008
Abstract: “Cost-benefit analysis” is a term that is used so frequently we rarely stop to think about it. But relying on it can lead to some dubious conclusions, as Frank Ackerman points out in this eye-opening book. For example, some economists have argued that states should encourage—and even subsidize—cigarette smoking by citizens because smoking will shorten life spans and therefore reduce the need and expense of caring for the elderly. How did the economists reach that conclusion? The answer is cost-benefit analysis, Ackerman explains.
Then in clear, understandable language, he describes an alternative, precautionary approach to making decisions under uncertainty. Once a mere theory, the precautionary principle has now been applied in practice through the European Union’s REACH protocol. Citing major studies, many of which he has directed, he shows that the precautionary approach has not only worked, but has been relatively cheap.
Poisoned for Pennies shows how the misuse of cost-benefit analysis is impeding efforts to clean up and protect our environment, especially in the case of toxic chemicals. According to Ackerman, conservatives—in elected office, in state and federal regulatory agencies, and in businesses of every size—have been able to successfully argue that environmental clean-up and protection are simply too expensive. But he proves, that is untrue in case after case.
http://www.islandpress.org/bookstore/details.php?prod_id=1262
You are welcome to send a message to jan@turi.org if you would like more information on any of these resources. Also, please tell us what topics you are particularly interested in monitoring, and who else should see Greenlist. An online search of the TURI Library catalog can be done at http://library.turi.org for greater topic coverage.
This page updated Friday June 20 2008