Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 10/07/2005
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. You are
welcome to send a message to jan@turi.org if you would like more
information on any of the articles listed here.
- Lead Contamination in
- Significance of intermediate production processes in life
cycle assessment of electronic products assessed using a generic compact model. November 2005
- Socma Replaces Responsible Care. September 2005
- Seeking Citizens' Views on GM Crops: Experiences from the
- Rating System for Pilot Demonstration of LEED(r) for
Homes Program. September 2005
- Most Hospitals Eliminating Mercury, National Survey Finds. September 2005
- Association between occupational exposure to mineral oil
and rheumatoid arthritis: results from the Swedish EIRA case–control study. September 2005
- Three Keys to Optimizing Solvent Blends. September 2005
- Relative Risk Analysis of Several Manufactured
Nanomaterials: An Insurance Industry Context. October 2005
- Precision Bonding Makes Tiny High Performance Actuators
Possible. October 2005
1. Lead Contamination in
AUTHOR Rankin,Charley W. ; Nriagu, Jerome O.; Aggarwal,
Jugdeep K.; Arowolo, Toyin A.; Adebayo,
Kola; Flegal, A. Russell
DATE 2005
SOURCE Environmental Health Perspectives, v113 n10,
October 2005, pp1344-1348
ABSTRACT In this article we present lead concentrations
and isotopic compositions from analyses of cocoa beans, their shells, and soils
from six Nigerian cocoa farms, and analyses of manufactured cocoa and chocolate
products. The average lead concentration of cocoa beans was = 0.5 ng/g, which
is one of the lowest reported values for a natural food. In contrast, lead
concentrations of manufactured cocoa and chocolate products were as high as 230
and 70 ng/g, respectively, which are consistent with market-basket surveys that
have repeatedly listed lead concentrations in chocolate products among the
highest reported for all foods. One source of contamination of the finished
products is tentatively attributed to atmospheric emissions of leaded gasoline,
which is still being used in
2. Significance of intermediate production processes in life
cycle assessment of electronic products assessed using a generic compact model
AUTHOR Andrae, Anders S.g.; Andersson, Dag R.; Liu, Johan
SOURCE Journal of Cleaner Production, v13 n13-14,
November-December 2005, pp1269-1279
ABSTRACT In this paper a generic model for life cycle
inventory (LCI) data collection is presented and applied to a product system of
a Digital System Telephone (DST). It is shown that the intermediate unit
processes (IUPs) are of global warming importance. Compared to earlier efforts
in the field of environmental life cycle assessment of electronic products,
this model enables a more partitioned LCA result, with respect to both
components and processes. In our model the components are first divided into
main groups and then into sub-groups. This division results in process modules
for unit processes, some of which are similar to the ongoing components, thus,
reducing the computational effort. The model is demonstrated for a
‘‘cradle-to-gate’’ calculation focusing on greenhouse gas emissions. Using
scenario analysis for integrated circuits and printed wiring boards, the
possible contribution from IUPs was analysed.
3. Socma Replaces Responsible Care
AUTHOR Kamalick, Joe
SOURCE Chemical Market Reporter, v268 n9, 19-25
September, 2005, p8
ABSTRACT The Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association (Socma) said last week that it is replacing the Responsible Care environmental and safety program with a program of its own called ChemStewards. Socma president Joseph Acker said Socma will end its licence agreement for Responsible Care at the end of this month. Responsible Care is owned by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and is licensed to other industry groups. Acker said Socma developed ChemStewards over the last year in response to member company demands for an environmental, health, safety and security (EHS&S) program that “is more flexible and not a one-size-fits-all approach.”
4. Seeking Citizens' Views on GM Crops: Experiences from the
AUTHOR Walls, John; Rogers-Hayden, Tee; Mohr, Alison; O'Riordan, Timothy
SOURCE Environment, v47 n7, September 2005, pp22-36
ABSTRACT Over the
past decade or so, there have been intense public discussions about whether to
permit the commercial planting of genetically modified (GM) crops in a number
of developed and to a lesser extent, developing countries. In the European
Union (EU) this debate led to a five-year moratorium (voluntarily agreed to by
industry and government) on the introduction of commercial GM crops from 1999
to 2004. Even at the end of this period, regulations are extraordinarily tight,
and GM companies have yet to fully enter the EU market. In the
5. Rating System for Pilot Demonstration of LEED(r) for
Homes Program
DATE 2005
SOURCE
ABSTRACT USGBC has established Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) as a recognized national green building rating
system in the
6. Most Hospitals Eliminating Mercury, National Survey Finds
DATE 2005
SOURCE GreenBiz.com, accessed
ABSTRACT Hospitals have significantly reduced the amount
of mercury found in facilities and are demonstrating a clear preference for safer
alternatives, according to a recent national survey by the American Hospital
Association (AHA) and Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E). Survey
highlights:* 97% of hospital respondents across the country were aware of the
problem with mercury and had taken steps to address the issue, including
labeling mercury-containing devices and phasing out their purchase in favor of
safer, equally effective alternatives;* 80% of respondents had completely
eliminated the use of mercury fever thermometers;* 73% had removed all mercury
sphygmomanometers from their facilities, more than 81% currently purchase
mercury-free cleaning chemicals, and 64% purchase mercury-free pharmaceuticals;*
60% of respondents had implemented a mercury management policy, and more than
54% had established a policy to virtually eliminate mercury facility-wide.
"More than 1,000 hospitals across the
7. Association between occupational exposure to mineral oil
and rheumatoid arthritis: results from the Swedish EIRA case–control study
AUTHOR Sverdrup, Berit; Kallberg, Henrik; Bengtsson,
Camilla; Lundberg, Ingvar; Padyukov, Leonid; et al.
SOURCE Arthritis Research & Therapy, 7:R1296-R1303,
September 2005
ABSTRACT The aim of the present study was to investigate
the association between exposure to mineral oil and the risk of developing
rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and in addition to perform a separate analysis on
the major subphenotypes for the disease; namely, rheumatoid factor
(RF)-positive RA, RF-negative RA, anticitrulline-positive RA and
anticitrulline-negative RA, respectively. A population-based case–control study
of incident cases of RA was performed among the population aged 18–70 years in
a defined area of
8. Three Keys to Optimizing Solvent Blends
AUTHOR Anderson, Ranae
SOURCE PCI Paint & Coatings Industry, v21 n9,
September 2005, pp92-94
ABSTRACT A variety of coating technologies exist in the marketplace today, with solventborne technologies still preferred for many high-performance applications. As government regulations affecting the coatings industry have become more stringent and complex, today’s formulators have become more aware of the importance of optimizing their solvent blend to achieve the desired balance between regulatory compliance and film properties. This article discusses three solvent properties that are critical to developing or reformulating a solvent blend — solubility parameters, evaporation rate and escape coefficients.
9. Relative Risk Analysis of Several Manufactured
Nanomaterials: An Insurance Industry Context
AUTHOR Robichaud, Christine Ogilvie; Tanzil, Dicksen;
Weilenmann, Ulrich; Wiesner, Mark
SOURCE Environmental Science & Technology, online
pre-print,
ABSTRACT A relative risk assessment is presented for the
industrial fabrication of several nanomaterials. The production processes for
five nanomaterials were selected for this analysis, based on their current or
near-term potential for large-scale production and commercialization:
singlewalled carbon nanotubes, bucky balls (C60), one variety of quantum dots,
alumoxane nanoparticles, and nanotitanium dioxide. The assessment focused on
the activities surrounding the fabrication of nanomaterials, exclusive of any
impacts or risks with the nanomaterials themselves. A representative synthesis
method was selected for each nanomaterial based on its potential for scaleup. A
list of input materials, output materials, and waste streams for each step of
fabrication was developed and entered into a database that included key process
characteristics such as temperature and pressure. The physicalchemical
properties and quantities of the inventoried materials were used to assess
relative risk based on factors such as volatility, carcinogenicity,
flammability, toxicity, and persistence. These factors were first used to
qualitatively rank risk, then combined using an actuarial protocol developed by
the insurance industry for the purpose of calculating insurance premiums for
chemical manufacturers. This protocol ranks three categories of risk relative
to a 100 point scale (where 100 represents maximum risk): incident risk, normal
operations risk, and latent contamination risk. Results from this analysis
determined that relative environmental risk from manufacturing each of these
five materials was comparatively low in relation to other common industrial
manufacturing processes.
10. Precision Bonding Makes Tiny High Performance Actuators
Possible
DATE 2005
ABSTRACT Using a new precision bonding process they
developed, Penn State researchers have designed and fabricated tiny new
piezoelectric microactuators – the largest only a hair’s breadth wide -- based
on coupling commercially available materials with existing micromachining
technology. The new actuators promise to be low cost and capable of providing
controlled force, high resolution and large displacements appropriate for
applications in RF switches for cell phones, for example, or optical switches
for wide screen TVs. Other potential applications include microfluidic pumps
and valves, micromanipulators for nanoscale handling and atomic force
microscope drives. Dr. Srinivas A. Tadigadapa, associate professor of
electrical engineering and a developer of the bonding process and
microactuator, says, "These new piezoelectric microactuators are the first
realized using microfabrication methods, a mature technology used to make
computer chips and micromachines from silicon-based materials. Our new low
temperature wafer bonding techniques, which make the actuators possible, can
also be used for precision integration of dissimilar materials in other
micro-electro-mechanical systems." The new actuators are made from flat
strips of bulk PZT, a commercially available piezoelectric material that
shrinks slightly when a voltage is applied to it, and a precision micromachined
silicon beam. Bonding the silicon beam to the PZT amplifies and converts the
PZT shape change into a convex deflection when the silicon beam buckles as the
PZT shrinks.
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