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Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 07/29/2005


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:

  1. Electronic Chemicals. July 2005
  2. Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals Probed as Potential Pathways to Illness. July 2005
  3. 'Green' Publishing: Where Does the Industry Stand? June 2005
  4. Sending Profits Down the Drain: The Importance of Minding the Three Es - Energy, Emissions, and Effluents. July 2005
  5. San Francisco Mayor Signs Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Bill Into Law. July 2005

 


1. Electronic Chemicals

AUTHOR Sim, Peck Hwee

SOURCE Chemical Week, v167 n23, July 13, 2005, pp23-30

ABSTRACT In the last few years, there has been an explosion in demand for electronic devices thin enough to slip into a back pocket or lightweight enough to hang on a wall. What these devices have in common is the use of flat panel display (FPD) technology. Demand for such devices has been growing at more than 30%/year, and was worth more than $40 billion last year, analysts say. Chemicals and materials used in FPD production include adhesives, backlighting components, coatings, color filters, films, glass, liquid crystals, and pastes. The highest-value materials are color filters, with sales of $4 billion in 2004.


2. Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals Probed as Potential Pathways to Illness

AUTHOR Trubo, Richard

SOURCE JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association, v294 n3, July 20, 2005, pp291-293

ABSTRACT For the last 60 years, humans have been exposed to an increasing number of synthetic compounds in the environment. In fact, more than 80 000 chemicals are used commercially in the United States, found in products ranging from toys and detergents to pesticides and food packaging. Accumulating evidence that some of these widely used chemicals may have hormonelike effects on the body is heightening concerns about their potential long-term health risks, particularly when developing fetuses and neonates are exposed. 

 At a day-long symposium at the Endocrine Society meeting in June of 2005, leading investigators shared the latest findings on the effects of these synthetic chemicals—as well as of naturally occurring substances such as phytoestrogens—that have been reported to have hormonelike activity and may be associated with an increased susceptibility to disease and dysfunction. The potential danger is greatest for "the fragile fetus" (a term coined more than a decade ago by University of California at Berkeley endocrinologist Howard Bern, PhD) and the neonate, which are particularly sensitive to perturbations by endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

 But such effects are often not apparent for years. "Exposure to chemicals with endocrine-disrupting activity during critical stages of differentiation may have permanent consequences that may not be expressed or detected until later in life," said Retha R. Newbold, MS, head of developmental endocrinology studies in the Laboratory of Molecular Toxicology at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. There is now greater recognition, she added, that the developing organism may be especially vulnerable to endocrine-disrupting chemicals because of such factors as deficiencies in DNA repair mechanisms, detoxification enzymes that are not completely functional, and a blood-brain barrier that is still being formed.


3. 'Green' Publishing: Where Does the Industry Stand?

SOURCE Book Tech Magazine, May/June 2005, pp38-42

ABSTRACT Pictures may speak a thousand words, but numbers can speak a good amount as well: 60 percent of the 111 publishers who responded to a new survey indicate that their companies use paper with some post-consumer waste (PCW) recycled content. The survey also showed that 17 percent of respondents say their companies don't use PCW recycled paper, but they are interested in exploring it as an option. While few survey respondents say they don't know what PCW recycled paper is, a number of them (23 percent) say they don't know what FSC-certified paper is, and usage of FSC-certified fiber/paper (which is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as meeting the highest sustainability standards) is significantly less (17 percent) than usage of PCW paper. More than one-third are unsure whether their companies use it.


4. Sending Profits Down the Drain: The Importance of Minding the Three Es - Energy, Emissions, and Effluents

AUTHOR Thiry, Maria C.

SOURCE AATCC Review, v5 n7, July 2005, pp8-11

ABSTRACT In today's competitive textile industry, companies can't afford to waste time, resources or raw materials. "Anything that goes up the smokestack or down the drain is a waste of money. Any time raw material goes down the drain, it's a waste of money," says David Bennell of Woodard & Curran. The message is clear -- Waste is a waste. For publicly owned corporations the issues related to energy, resources and waste are even more important, since investors are getting very sophisticated about the issues of sustainability. Waste management and environmental issues are seen as indicators of a company's quality and effectiveness. In addition, controlling, managing and reducing waste can be key to improving the efficiency of manufacturing, and ultimately lead to better product quality.


5. San Francisco Mayor Signs Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Bill Into Law

SOURCE: City of San Francisco

ABSTRACT On June 17, 2005, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom signed environmental legislation into law to ensure the use of safe and health conscious products in San Francisco. This legislation, called the “Precautionary Purchasing Ordinance,” phases out the use of certain products by city government, including some types of paint, cleaning solutions and plant fertilizers. The law is intended to decrease public health risks associated with these products by utilizing safer alternatives. Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, who authored the bill, explained its intent. “The city spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year buying goods and services,” Maxwell explained. “By exercising our economic power, San Francisco can encourage market development of new products which are healthier and more environmentally friendly.” The ordinance is expected to result in the use of safer janitorial products in city buildings and on streets. It will phase out the use of toxic pesticides in parks and buildings, and will replace CCA-wood structures -— which can release arsenic —- in children’s playgrounds. San Francisco is the first city in the country to adopt an ordinance of this kind.


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://greenlist.turi.org/ for greater topic coverage.

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