Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 07/11/2008
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:
- CDC releases reports on formaldehyde tests of trailers
- Large question faces science of the small
- ECHA consults on REACH SVHCs
- Cleaning process integration of cleaning material with cleaning equipment
- Most overwhelmed by green marketing, new studies find
- Decabromodiphenyl ether (Deca-BDE): 2008 legislative fact sheet
- Research yields pricey chemicals from biodiesel waste
- Designing "green" plasticizers
- Along with beauty, fireworks create a beastly mix of pollutants
- Soil fumigant pesticides subject to new safety measures
1. CDC releases reports on formaldehyde tests of trailers
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2008
Abstract: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) posted on Wednesday two reports from its work related to assessing the levels of formaldehyde in the indoor air of travel trailers used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for emergency housing of Gulf Coast residents. One report, the results of which have been previously reported, assessed indoor formaldehyde levels. The other looked at emissions from specific travel trailer components and construction materials.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, FEMA provided travel trailers, park models and mobile homes to Gulf Coast residents who had lost their homes in the hurricane. CDC has been working with FEMA and other agencies to investigate the levels of formaldehyde in the trailers and mobile homes.
“These two studies provide much helpful information,” said Michael McGeehin, director of the Division of Environmental Health Hazards at CDC. “But the findings are only applicable to those trailers distributed by FEMA in the Gulf Coast Region; they do not apply to other trailers in use elsewhere in the country. However, taken together, the two studies indicate that manufacturers of travel trailers and the government agencies that influence their design, should consider using construction materials that emit lower levels of formaldehyde as well as designs that increase outside air ventilation.”
McGeehin noted that, as CDC previously recommended, families that include children, the elderly, and those with chronic diseases such as asthma should make relocating to permanent housing a priority.
The results of both studies are available at http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehhe/trailerstudy/.
http://www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/2008/r080702.htm
2. Large question faces science of the small
Author: Kozubek, Jim
Source: Manchester Union Leader, July 7, 2008
Abstract: Engineers, since the inception of nanotechnology, have suspected tubular-shaped carbon nanotubes used to build threads to make ultra-strong, lightweight fabrics could have the same properties as asbestos, causing inflammation and lesions in the tissue surrounding the lungs upon inhalation, leading to cancers.
In May, two independent studies, one in Nature Nanotechnology and another in the Journal of Toxicological Study, confirmed those suspicions, showing multi-walled nanotubes swabbed onto lung tissue in mice incites cancer-causing inflammation and lesions. The study in the Journal showed tumors growing.
Nanotubes shorter than 15 micrometers long, and also very long nanotubes, did not cause those symptoms, purportedly because immune cells or macrophages as large as 20 micrometers can dispose of smaller nanotubes, while it is not in the nature of longer nanotubes to cause irritation.
Michael Ellenbecker, an environmental-health scientist at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, is looking into the health effects of nano-manufacturing.
At UNH, the Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing dedicates 5 to 10 percent of its budget to independent health and safety research, supporting Ellenbecker and a post-doctoral student, who have screened conditions at 12 university labs and at least one private company, NanoComp.
"Very good conditions," Ellenbecker said. "Nanocomp knows what it's doing, but (we) just don't know if it's enough or not. There is so much uncertainty now, and without regulations, companies are in the dark." Ellenbecker, who owns a super-strong tennis racket made with nanostructures, said he is most concerned with manufacturing conditions and studies showing carbon nanotubes are causing cancer symptoms.
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=
Large+question+faces+science+of+the+small&articleId=
2a8f1d01-ab98-4543-8843-95b67a8dc6ed
3. ECHA consults on REACH SVHCs
Author: Nevison, Gary
Source: Electronics Weekly Directive Decoder, July 8, 2008
Abstract: The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has published a first draft of substances that could eventually lead to tough authorisation requirements that will potentially prohibit their use unless industry can indicate there is a compelling reason to allow them.
Each entry on the so called "candidate list" of substances of very high concern (SVHCs) has been put forward by a government in the European Union. The list includes three phthalates and the brominated flame retardant HBCDD.
The ECHA has opened a public consultation on the list - the first to be held around the operation and implementation of the REACH Regulations - in which stakeholders will be encouraged to submit information on use and exposure as well as on safer alternative substances. Comments should be confined to technical issues.
After the consultation closes on 14 August 2008, the ECHA Member State Committee will review the dossiers on which comments have been received and propose substances to be placed on the candidates list. The agency hopes to publish a final list by the end of October. It will be updated on a regular basis as more information on other substances accumulates under the REACH registration process.
The draft list of substances can be found at http://echa.europa.eu/consultations/authorisation/svhc/svhc_cons_en.asp.
http://www.electronicsweekly.com/
blogs/electronics-legislation/2008/07/echa-consults-on-reach-svhcs.html#more
4. Cleaning process integration of cleaning material with cleaning equipment
Authors: Bixeman, Mike; Stach, Steve
Source: Global SMT & Packaging, April 2008, pp12-18
Abstract: Innovative electronic assembly designs strive to increase functionality over smaller surface areas. Highly dense circuit assembly designs increase the cleaning challenge. Understanding the balance between static chemical and mechanical driving forces is fundamental to predicting and optimizing process variables.
The objective of this research is to improve the science of cleaning under low standoff components. The research will encompass three designed experiments to study nozzle designs, test simulations and verification in industry standard cleaning equipment. This research studies nozzle design cleaning effects for penetrating and removing flux residue under low standoff components. The nozzle cleaning effects were studied using a cleaning analyzer recording lab that provides video evidence of six different nozzle types.
In this study, two industry suppliers with the cooperation of industry experts at Lockheed Martin seek to understand impingement and fluid flow effects for penetrating and removing flux residue under low standoff components. The testing was done on glass substrates that were bumped using anisotropic epoxy. Glass slides were placed over the die. High solids flux residue was dispensed and reflowed using a ramp to spike Pb-free profile. The test simulations were videoed to learn the fluid flow characteristics required to penetrate and remove flux residue under low standoff components.
http://www.globalsmt.net/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=3969
5. Most overwhelmed by green marketing, new studies find
Source: GreenBiz.com, June 25, 2008
Abstract: Marketers aiming to shift their audiences toward making greener purchasing decisions are coming up short for the vast majority of the population, although a small subset is green enough to help spread the environmental awareness on their own.
Those are the findings of two new studies released this week, one by the Tennessee-based advertising agency Shelton Group, and the other by communications firm Porter Novelli.
The Shelton Group's "Eco Pulse" study asked consumers nationwide to identify products, services or certifications that were required in order to have a green home. With no prompting, nearly half of all respondents were essentially unable to name one feature of a green home, and small portions of the remaining sample cited examples like solar power, CFL light bulbs, home recycling or Energy Star products.
When given a list of options to choose from, however, the survey found individuals were likely to swing in the opposite direction: of 17 possible green features, respondents chose an average of 10.4 as being "required" for a green home.
"Consumers seem to think green homes are an all-or-nothing proposition -- and because of the real and perceived costs, many are throwing their hands up and saying 'I just can’t do all of this'," said Shelton Group CEO Suzanne Shelton.
http://greenbiz.com/news/2008/06/25/overwhelmed-by-green-marketing
6. Decabromodiphenyl ether (Deca-BDE): 2008 legislative fact sheet
Source: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, 2008
Abstract: Legislation in the 2007 session directed the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to report to the2008 Legislature on Decabromodiphenyl Ether (Deca-BDE). Deca-BDE is a high use bromine-based flame retardant that is added to a variety of consumer and commercial products to improve fire resistance. Deca-BDE’s high rate of use around the world and its potential effects on human health and the environment has led several states to consider banning or limiting its use. This fact sheet summarizes highlights from the report submitted to the Legislature on January 15, 2008.
http://www.pca.state.mn.us/publications/leg-pbde.pdf
7. Research yields pricey chemicals from biodiesel waste
Source: Rice University, 2008
Abstract: In a move that promises to change the economics of biodiesel refining, chemical engineers at Rice University have unveiled a set of techniques for cleanly converting problematic biofuels waste into chemicals that fetch a profit.
The latest research is available online in the journal Metabolic Engineering. The new paper and others published earlier this year describe a new fermentation process that allows E. coli and other enteric bacteria to convert glycerin -- the major waste byproduct of biodiesel production -- into formate, succinate and other valuable organic acids.
"Biodiesel producers used to sell their leftover glycerin, but the rapid increase in biodiesel production has left them paying to get rid of it," said lead researcher Ramon Gonzalez, Rice's William W. Akers Assistant Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. "The new metabolic pathways we have uncovered paved the way for the development of new technologies for converting this waste product into high-value chemicals."
About one pound of glycerin, also known as glycerol, is created for every 10 pounds of biodiesel produced. According to the National Biodiesel Board, U.S. companies produced about 450 million gallons of biodiesel in 2007, and about 60 new plants with a production capacity of 1.2 billion gallons are slated to open by 2010.
http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=11182&SnID=380429501
8. Designing "green" plasticizers
Author: Pelley, Janet
Source: Environmental Science & Technology ASAP, July 8, 2008
Abstract: Recent events, such as the listing of the plastic bisphenol A (BPA) as a toxic substance by the Canadian government, have led to consumer worries over the safety of plastics. Yet alternatives for many plastics abound, and researchers are hot on the trail of a “green” substitute for the most widely used phthalate plasticizer, di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP).
Because of DEHP’s versatility, high performance, and low cost, 90% of it is used in flexible polyvinyl chloride (PVC) products, from wall coverings and shower curtains to wire-cable coatings and medical devices. PVC accounts for 95% of plastic consumption, says Mark Rossi of Clean Production Action, an advocacy organization. Designed to lubricate the long chains of PVC polymers, DEHP is not chemically bound to the plastic and readily migrates out of PVC products. Human exposure to DEHP, estimated to be an average of 1−30 ìg per kilogram of body weight per day, has been increasing over the past few decades, according to the U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP). In a draft report released in April, NTP noted that it has “some concern” over the safety of BPA. Rodent studies have pegged DEHP and its metabolites as reproductive toxicants and carcinogenic compounds, but information on the human-health impacts is still limited.
“The more progressive suppliers of health care products are developing alternatives to DEHP and PVC,” says Pam Eliason, a chemical engineer at the Massachusetts Toxic Use Reduction Institute, a nonprofit research organization. David Yopak, with Teknor Apex Co., a plastics manufacturer, says that many nonphthalate plasticizer alternatives are on the market, but none has achieved the high quality of the phthalate esters, such as DEHP.
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/esthag/asap/abs/es801828p.html
9. Along with beauty, fireworks create a beastly mix of pollutants
Author: Cone, Marla
Source: Los Angeles Times, July 4, 2008
Abstract: When the rockets and the bombs burst in the air tonight, spectators will experience more than a spectacular show celebrating America's birthday. When their blends of black powder, metals, oxidizers, fuels and other toxic ingredients are ignited, traces wind up in the environment, often spreading long distances and lasting for days, even months.
Although pyrotechnic experts are developing environmentally friendly fireworks, Fourth of July revelers this year will be watching essentially the same high-polluting technology that their grandparents experienced decades ago. Throughout the Los Angeles region, concentrations of fine particles, or carbon soot, skyrocket for up to 24 hours after the Independence Day shows, reaching levels as high as those from wildfires. Public health officials warn that people with heart problems or respiratory diseases, such as asthma, should avoid the smoky celebrations, staying upwind or indoors.
Also, traces of poisonous metals, which give fireworks their bright colors, and perchlorate, a hormone-altering substance used as an oxidizer, trickle to the ground, contaminating waterways. One Environmental Protection Agency study found that perchlorate levels in an Oklahoma lake rose 1,000-fold after a fireworks display, and they stayed high in some areas for up to 80 days.
Scientists have made significant advances in low-smoke and perchlorate-free technologies, prompted by the military, which uses flares and other pyrotechnics, and by Walt Disney Co., which stages about 2,000 fireworks displays a year. In the late 1990s, Disney approached the Los Alamos National Laboratory with a request to develop cleaner fireworks to reduce smoke at Disneyland, which was prompting complaints to the AQMD from neighbors in Anaheim.
Instead of carbon-based materials, scientists there experimented with nitrogen atoms, which produced far less soot and smoke. "In addition, because the high-nitrogen materials burn more cleanly, you could use less coloring agents. We were able to get much nicer colors with . . . less metals," said David Chavez, a materials chemist at Los Alamos. Based on those experiments, Los Alamos chemists Michael Hiskey and Darren Naud took an entrepreneurial leave and founded DMD Systems.
Their fireworks use nitrocellulose, which is inexpensive and plentiful, and they emit water, nitrogen and carbon dioxide instead of smoke and perchlorate, Hiskey said. The metal content has been reduced by about 90%, he said.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fireworks4-2008jul04,0,4886525.story?track=rss
10. Soil fumigant pesticides subject to new safety measures
Source: EPA Newsroom, July 10, 2008
Abstract: New safety measures for soil fumigant pesticides will increase protections for agricultural workers and bystanders - people who live, work, or otherwise spend time near fields that are fumigated. For the soil fumigants methyl bromide, chloropicrin, dazomet, metam sodium, and metam potassium, EPA will require a suite of new mitigation measures that will work together to protect human health.
"The new restrictions protect workers and bystanders against inadvertent exposure to soil fumigants and are practical to implement," said Jim Gulliford, EPA's Assistant Administrator for the Office of Pesticides, Prevention, and Toxic Substances.
When fumigants dissipate from the soil, workers or bystanders who are exposed to these pesticides may experience eye or respiratory irritation, or more severe and irreversible effects, depending on the fumigant and level of exposure. The following mitigation measures are designed to work together to protect bystanders and workers:
*To help ensure safe fumigation practices, users must complete written, site-specific fumigant management plans before fumigations begin.
*Buffer zones around treated fields will reduce the chances of immediate harmful effects to bystanders from fumigant concentrations in air. Buffers can be adjusted based on the use of other good management practices that also reduce risks to bystanders.
*Posting requirements will inform bystanders and field workers about the location and timing of fumigations and associated buffer zones so people do not enter these areas.
*To ensure emergency preparedness, registrants must provide first responders with fumigant-specific safety information and training. Fumigant applicators must monitor buffer zone perimeters or provide emergency response information directly to neighbors.
*Fumigant registrants must conduct outreach programs to educate community members about fumigants, buffer zones, how to recognize early signs of fumigant exposure, and how to respond appropriately in case of an incident.
*Fumigant registrants must adopt more stringent worker protection measures, and develop training for fumigation handlers and workers to enhance their knowledge and skills and to promote product stewardship.
*All soil fumigant products will be classified as restricted-use pesticides, to ensure that only specially trained individuals can apply and oversee fumigant operations.
EPA's decision will also halt the use of methyl bromide on sites where alternatives are available. The newly registered fumigant iodomethane will be reexamined later this year to determine what new mitigation or restrictions are necessary. The soil fumigant 1,3-dichloropropene, which was evaluated previously, may be subject to similar provisions when the soil fumigants are evaluated together again in 2013.
Soil fumigants are pesticides that, when injected or incorporated into soil, form a gas that permeates the soil and kills a wide array of soil-borne pests, providing an important tool for American agriculture. Fumigants are used on a wide range of crops, primarily potatoes, tomatoes, strawberries, carrots, and peppers. EPA is providing 60 days for public comments on implementation of these measures and will refine the measures as needed.
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/
bd4379a92ceceeac8525735900400c27/e57c36fc0df8f7238525748200510254!
OpenDocument
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This page updated Friday July 11 2008