Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 07/01/2005
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 (usually). 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 them:
- Environmentally responsible public procurement
(ERPP) and its implications for integrated product policy (IPP). June 2005
- Low-VOC PUR Foam Helps Keep Windshields Clean. May 2005
- Chemical Industry Expresses Concerns with EU's New
Research Frame Program. April 2005
- New Technology Creates Minerals, Pigments from
Deinking Residuals. May 2005
- Public Health and Economic Consequences of Methyl
Mercury Toxicity to the Developing Brain. May 2005
- This microbial fuel cell gets a boost of H2. May 2005
- Sustainable Construction Initiative. June 2005
- Fire Extinguisher Nozzle Successfully Demonstrated. Spring 2005
- Sarbanes-Oxley and ISO 9000. March 2005
- Research Project May Boost PET Recycling. May 2005
1. Environmentally responsible public procurement (ERPP) and its implications for integrated product policy (IPP)
AUTHOR Li, Lin; Geiser, Ken
SOURCE Journal of Cleaner Production, v13 n7, June 2005,
pp705-715
ABSTRACT This article presents the development of some
product-related environmental policy instruments such as ecolabeling, extended
producer responsibility, and environmentally responsible public procurement. An
effort of incorporating these policy tools taking an integrated life-cycle
approach is introduced. This research studied governmental computer purchasing
at state level in the
2. Low-VOC PUR Foam Helps Keep Windshields Clean
SOURCE Plastics Engineering, v61 n5, May 2005, p36
ABSTRACT A semirigid polyurethane foam developed by BASF as backing for soft instrument panels and door trim in automobiles is said to be the first to meet automakers' new requirements for reduced-VOC (volatile organic compounds) materials that retain excellent physical properties. The new Elastoflex foam contains less than 100 parts per million of VOCs; typical foams can have upwards to 800 ppm, according to BASF.
3. Chemical Industry Expresses Concerns with EU's New Research Frame Program
AUTHOR Milmo, Sean
SOURCE Chemical Market Reporter, v267 n16, 18-24 April
2005, p11
ABSTRACT The European Union's new research framework program (FP7) could transform chemical innovation in Eurpoe because of its potential to consolidate R & D at the EU, national and local levels. It also offers the prospect of much stronger links between the public and private sectors in chemicals R & D as a result of chemistry being given a more meaningful role in EU policy on research. A greater prominence is being given in FP7 to chemistry as European politicians and governments begin to realize its crucial contribution to a growing and competitive European economy.
4. New Technology Creates Minerals, Pigments from Deinking Residuals
AUTHOR Ginn, Michael W.
SOURCE Pulp & Paper, v79 n5, May 2005, pp51-57
ABSTRACT During recycling of waste paper, environmentally sensitive by-products are created. These are known as deinking residuals (DIR) and generically consist of 40-60 percent water and soluble salts, 20-30 percent organics (wood, fibers, inks, oils, stickies, etc.) and minerals (kaolin, carbonates, titanium dioxide, talc, etc.) There have been many studies to evaluate options for eliminating the negative environmental impact of these residuals, and many paper and mineral companies have pursued research programs that target the potential value of the minerals within the DIR. However, until recently there had been no significant achievement in capturing the total value of these by-products. The Pyroflex system, developed in 2003, is proving to be a sensible and cost-effective DIR management system and pigment supply model. It consists of a series of controlled thermal and chemical reactions that selectively recover minerals and nanomaterials from a specific DIR.
AUTHOR Trasande, Leonardo; Landrigan, Philip J.;
Schechter,
SOURCE Environmental Health Perspectives, v113 n5, May
2005, pp590-596
ABSTRACT Methyl mercury is a developmental neurotoxicant.
Exposure results principally from consumption by pregnant women of seafood
contaminated by mercury from anthropogenic (70%) and natural (30%) sources.
Throughout the 1990s, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made
steady progress in reducing mercury emissions from anthropogenic sources,
especially from power plants, which account for 41% of anthropogenic emissions.
However, the U.S. EPA recently proposed to slow this progress, citing high
costs of pollution abatement. To put into perspective the costs of controlling
emissions from American power plants, we have estimated the economic costs of
methyl mercury toxicity attributable to mercury from these plants. We used an
environmentally attributable fraction model and limited our analysis to the
neurodevelopmental impacts--specifically loss of intelligence. Using national
blood mercury prevalence data from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, we found that between 316,588 and 637,233 children each year have
cord blood mercury levels > 5.8 µg/L, a level associated with loss of IQ.
The resulting loss of intelligence causes diminished economic productivity that
persists over the entire lifetime of these children. This lost productivity is
the major cost of methyl mercury toxicity, and it amounts to $8.7 billion
annually (range, $2.2-43.8 billion; all costs are in 2000 US$). Of this total,
$1.3 billion (range, $0.1-6.5 billion) each year is attributable to mercury
emissions from American power plants. This significant toll threatens the
economic health and security of the
SOURCE Chemical Engineering, v112 n5, May 2005, p19
ABSTRACT Researchers from
ABSTRACT Set up by the
SOURCE FLC Northeast News, Spring 2005, p4
ABSTRACT The Naval Air Warfare Center of Lakehurst, NJ has been actively developing an environmentally benign water nozzle system to replace halon fire extinguishing systems. The nozzle effectively atomizes water into droplets on the order of 10 to 100 micrometers in diameter using water and air pressures on the order of 20 psi (a standard hose operates at around 50 psi). The benefits of this water delivery nozzle include a substantial decrease in hose size and weight and a much more efficient use of water.
AUTHOR Stimson, William
SOURCE Quality Progress, v38 n3, March 2005, pp24-29
ABSTRACT Almost from its inception, critics have denounced ISO 9000 as being strong on form and short on substance. In many comparisons, the international standard trails far behind such robust quality programs as Malcom Baldrige National Quality Award criteria and Six Sigma. Typically, the criticism is aimed at what seems to be ISO 9001's plethora of documentation requirements. From the legal point of view, however, documentation is a major asset of ISO 9001, providing records and internal controls. For example, a test result is a record. A signature is a control. Quality records define a trail from customer expectations to delivery and all steps in between. This trail assumes massive importance when customer disappointment goes to court.
SOURCE Business and the Environment, vXVI n5, May 2005,
p11
ABSTRACT A new research project may provide a major boost
for plastics recycling in the
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