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Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 10/08/04

Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 10/8/04

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)

Titles here, abstracts below them:

1. Biotechnology Sparks an Industrial Revolution, October 2004
   
2. How Bugs Bag Plastic: Electron Microscopy Studies Suggest New Model for How Bacteria Package Polyesters, September 2004
   
3. Lead-Free Heat Stabilizers Especially Tailored for Wire, Cable Market, September 2004
   
4. EPA Proposes Methyl Bromide Amendment, September 2004
   
5. UV/EB is Future Force to Reckoned With: New Raw Materials and Equipment Stimulate Growth Opportunities for Coatings, July 2004
   
6. The Bush Regulatory Record: A Pattern of Failure, 2004
   
7. Dow Chemical: Risks for Investors - Uncovering Hidden Value Potential for Strategic Investors, 2004
   
8. Beat the Heat, March 2004
   
9. The Effect of Disinfection By-Products and Mutagenic Activity on Birth Weight and Gestational Duration, June 2004
   
10. Think Small: Nanotechnology's Small Changes May Produce a Big Impact in the Textile Industry, May 2004

1. TITLE Biotechnology Sparks an Industrial Revolution
SOURCE Solutions! for People, Processes and Paper, October 2004, pp. 40-41
ABSTRACT In June 2004, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) issued a report "New Biotech Tools for a Cleaner Environment" which shows industrial biotechnology is facilitating a new industrial revolution that can bring a cleaner future with better products at lower cost. This report presents national data projections for the environmental and energy saving impacts resulting from this "third wave" in biotechnology. The report, prepared by BIO and independent consultants, highlights benefits already being realized in several major industrial sectors, including pulp and paper production, textiles, and transportation fuel. For instance, if an industrial biotechnology process is used to bleach paper pulp it can reduce the amount of chlorine chemicals used during production by 10 to 14%, and, if used industry-wide, it can reduce bleaching-related energy uses by 40%.

2. TITLE How Bugs Bag Plastic: Electron Microscopy Studies Suggest New Model for How Bacteria Package Polyesters
AUTHOR Yarnell, Amanda
SOURCE Chemical & Engineering News, September 27, 2004, vol. 82, no. 39, p. 27
ABSTRACT Commercial interest in polyhydroxyalkanoates - a diverse family of environmentally friendly, biodegradable polyesters harvested from bacteria - is booming as firms look for an alternative to petroleum-based plastics. But how bacteria fill their cells with sacks of these water-insoluble polymers is still not well understood. At the American Chemical Society national meeting last month, chemistry professor JoAnne Stubbe of Massachusetts Institute of Technology revealed a few of the bacteria's tricks.

3. TITLE Lead-Free Heat Stabilizers Especially Tailored for Wire, Cable Market
SOURCE Modern Plastics, September 2004, vol. 81, no. 9, p. 109
ABSTRACT Making its debut at the show are three grades of Therm-Chek calcium-zinc heat stabilizers made specifically for processors of wire \and cable in Europe. These mixed-metal-based formulations are also globallyavailable. Grade 7206P is a powder, suitable for energy and telecommunications, primarily insulation and jacketing. For compounders, 7209P provides low moisture absorption. Grade 7710P is for 125 degree C automotive insulation and has moisture-absorption properties similar to lead, but superior to most competitive calcium zinc stabilizers. Ferro (Belgium) SPRL, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; www.ferro.com.

4. TITLE EPA Proposes Methyl Bromide Amendment
SOURCE Chemical Market Reporter, Vol. 266, No. 8, September 13, 2004, p. 19
ABSTRACT EPA is proposing a rule to amend existing regulations that call for the phaseout of methyl bromide by January 1, 2005. The agency's action seeks to create a critical use exemption for the soil fumigant. EPA says the exemptions for continued production and import of methyl bromide would continue to honor the US commitment to obtain for American farmers the methyl bromide they need in a manner consistent with the 1987 Montreal Protocol while protecting the ozone layer.

5. TITLE UV/EB is Future Force to Reckoned With: New Raw Materials and Equipment Stimulate Growth Opportunities for Coatings
AUTHOR Valero, Greg
SOURCE Chemical Week, July 21/28, 2004, vol. 166, no. 24, pp. 31-32
ABSTRACT Since its inception in the 1970s, radiation-cured coatings have been suitable for various niche markets, but promises of being a cost effective alternative for many industrial applications have been elusive. But formulators, raw material suppliers and equipment manufacturers declare that the future is now and the market is on the verge of taking off. Rad-cured coatings use ultraviolet (UV) light or electron beam (EB) energy to initiate the crosslinking of the coating with a substrate. UV coatings require a photoinitiator to polymerize the coating directly on the substrate. EB coatings are exposed to a stream of electrons that activate the chemistry. both coatings use a combination of monomers and oligomers.

6. TITLE The Bush Regulatory Record: A Pattern of Failure
AUTHOR Shull, Robert; Smith, Genevieve
'CORP AU OR PUBLISHER' OMB Watch
DATE 2004
ABSTRACT Even though overwhelming majorities of the public believe that the government has an important role in protecting the public interest, the Bush administration is continuing to shape regulatory policy in ways that are hostile to the public interest. This administration is failing to give the public the protections we deserve. It continues to abandon work on documented public health, safety, and environmental problems. Instead of identifying other priorities for serving the public, this administration is doing nothing. It cannot meet even short-term benchmarks for action, and it is allowing proposals for addressing long-identified needs to languish on its regulatory agenda. Finally, what little this administration has accomplished is not strong enough to meet the public's needs but, instead, is weakened at the behest of industry interests.

In this analysis, we looked at four agencies that are particularly important to the public interest: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). We looked at the agencies' record from the last year, and we built on that analysis to get a comprehensive picture of the Bush administration's regulatory record to date.

7. TITLE Dow Chemical: Risks for Investors - Uncovering Hidden Value Potential for Strategic Investors
AUTHOR Brammer, Marc
'CORP AU OR PUBLISHER' Innovest Strategic Value Advisors
DATE 2004
ABSTRACT Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, a financial services firm analyzed overall environmentally related risks for the Dow Chemical company. In nearly every industry sector, companies with above average environmental scores, taken as a group, outperformed below average firms by 300-3000 basis points per year in the stock market. Dow has, over the years, consistently rated highly in Innovest's rankings of the chemical sector, rating AA (8 out of 30 competitor firms) in a recent industry survey.

8. TITLE Beat the Heat
SOURCE Plastics Engineering, March 2004, vol. 60, no. 3, p. 14
ABSTRACT All vinyl compounds contain heat stabilizers to prevent degradation of the PVC polymer during processing, shipment, or storage. However, compounders have been unable to make use of the best available heat stabilizers in medical-grade vinyl formulations because of regulatory restrictions on ingredients in medical products, says Teknor Apex. One of the most efficient families of heat stabilizers, for example, is the barium-zincs, but such heavy metal-containing stabilizers are more highly regulated than the calcium-zinc formulations typically used in conventional medical-grade vinyl compounds. Calcium-zincs, on the other hand, exhibit substantially less capability than barium-zincs for retarding heat degradation when PVC encounter "hang-up," "dead spots," or high shear during processing or is stored under high-heat conditions. The Apex line of medical compounds, from the Vinyl Division of Teknor Apex, is free of heavy metals, the company reports. And, the enhanced-stability series in the Apex product line incorporates stabilizers that are said to be more efficient than those used in conventional medical grades of vinyl. The compounds use a new stabilizer formulation to provide early color and long-term heat stability similar to that obtainable with the most efficient nonmedical stabilizers. Because medical devices can undergo high-heat conditions at many points in their post- production lifetimes, the new Apex formulations are expected to further extend shelf life.

9. TITLE The Effect of Disinfection By-Products and Mutagenic Activity on Birth Weight and Gestational Duration
AUTHOR Wright, J. Michael; Schwartz, Joel; Dockery, Douglas W.
SOURCE Environmental Health Perspectives, June 2004, vol. 112, no. 8, pp. 920-925
ABSTRACT Epidemiologic studies of disinfection by-products have traditionally focused on total trihalomethane (TTHM) concentration as a surrogate for maternal exposure during pregnancy. We used birth certificate data on 196,000 infants to examine the effect of third-trimester exposures on various indices of fetal development. We examined the effect of town-average concentrations of TTHM and additional exposure metrics in relation to mean birth weight, mean gestational age, small for gestational age (SGA) infancy, and preterm delivery. Trihalomethane data (TTHM, chloroform, and bromodichloromethane) from 1995-1998 were available for 109 towns in Massachusetts. Data from 1997-1998 on haloacetic acid (total haloacetic acids, dichloroacetic acid, and trichloroacetic acid), 3-chloro-4-(dichloromethyl)-5-hydroxy-2(5H)-furanone (MX), and mutagenicity were available for a limited number of towns. We observed reductions in mean birth weight (12-18 g) for maternal trihalomethane exposures > the 90th percentile compared with those < the 50th percentile. Birth weight reductions were detected for chloroform exposures > 20 ug/L and TTHM exposures > 40 ug/L. Elevated trihalomethanes were associated with increases in gestational duration and a reduced risk of preterm delivery. We found evidence of an exposure-response effect of trihalomethanes on risk of SGA, with odds ratios (ORs) ranging from 1.09 to 1.23 for bromodichloromethane exposures > 5 ug/L. Elevated mutagenic activity was associated with SGA [OR=1.25; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.04 to 1.51] and mean birth weight (-27 g; 95% CI, -54 to -1). Although smaller in magnitude, our findings are consistent with previous studies reporting associations between trihalomethanes and SGA. These data also suggest a relationship between fetal development induces and mutagenic activity independent of exposure to trihalomethanes, haloacetic acids, and MX.

10. TITLE Think Small: Nanotechnology's Small Changes May Produce a Big Impact in the Textile Industry
AUTHOR Thiry, Maria C.
SOURCE AATCC Review, May 2004, vol. 4, no. 5, pp. 9-13
ABSTRACT Sometimes called "the science of the small," nanotechnology, while known for a number of years, is more recently becoming a buzzword as the science gradually moves from pure research and produces more and more useful applications. Textiles are a very small part of the huge research world of nanotechnology, yet textile science has been one of the first areas that has developed actual products based on a nanotechnology that can be purchased and used by everyday consumers. Textiles face the impact of nanotechnology all the way form fibers to end products. Fibers, finishes, dyeing and coloration systems, and textile composites either have current applications or are in research to develop applications.

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