Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 10/15/04
Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 10/15/04
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:- Nanotechnology: Looking As We Leap, September 2004
- EH&S Clinic, September 2004
- Europe Approves Cultivation of Monsanto's GM Corn, September 2004
- United Nations Ministers Add 14 Chemicals to Hazardous List, September 2004
- Automotive Exteriors - Evolving to No-Spray Paint?, September 2004
- Power From Moving Water, October 2004
- After Chemicals Go Down the Drain: Finding Household Drugs in U.S. Drinking Water Has Raised Complex Issues of Toxicity, Removal, October 2004
- Cosmetic Ingredients Criticized, September/October 2004
- Next Generation ISO 14001, August 2004
- Slow Burn, March 2004
1. TITLE Nanotechnology: Looking As We Leap
AUTHOR Hood, Ernie
SOURCE Environmental Health Perspectives, September 2004, vol. 112, no. 13, pp. A741-A749
ABSTRACT Nanomaterials are defined as having at least one dimension of 100 nanometers or less. Nanotechnology - the creation, manipulation, and application of materials at the nanoscale - involves the ability to engineer, control, and exploit the unique chemical, physical, and electrical properties that emerge from the infinitesimally tiny man-made particles. In terms of the environment and human health, nanotechnology presents the same conundrum as past major technological advances: there may be enormous benefits in terms of benign applications, but there are inherent risks as well. What will happen when nanomaterials and nanoparticles get into our soil, water , and air, as they most assuredly will, whether deliberately or accidentally? What will happen when they inevitable get into our bodies, whether through environmental exposures or targeted applications? The answers to those vital questions remain largely unanswered, although some early findings are less than reassuring, as evidenced by a recent study implicating fullerenes in oxidative stress in the brains of large-mouth bass.
Questions of another sort also need to be answered. Is anyone looking at these health and safety issues? And can enough solid, reliable risk assessment knowledge be gained in time to ensure that the public will - or even that it should - be comfortable with the proliferation of the technology? Will the paradigm shift smoothly into the nano world, or will issues of safety and trust surround nanotechnology with controversy that may hinder its potential, as has happened in the past with such achievements as genetically modified organisms?
Note: The National Science Foundation has awarded a $12.4 million grant to researchers at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, in partnership with colleagues at Northeastern University and the University of New Hampshire, to examine how to do nanomanufacturing on a large scale. (See Lowell Sun article http://www.uml.edu/newsroom/ViewArticle.asp?articleid=372) The Toxics Use Reduction Institute's role in this effort is to consider environmental and human health effects of the technology.
2. TITLE EH&S Clinic, September 2004
AUTHOR Schulte, Stephen R.
SOURCE Products Finishing, September 2004, vol. 68, no. 12, pp. 36-43
ABSTRACT This column answers the following questions. 1) We are a small generator of hazardous waste and are well within the limits for discharge to the city, and our tanks are about 1,200 gallons. My problem is what to do once chromate conversion coating bath "turns." If we ship it out in a liquid form, it costs us about $500.00 a barrel at 20 barrels each time and puts us at a large generator status. The solution we have in the tanks right now has been in there for about four years, and my titrations of hexavelent to trivalent chrome indicated that we are getting close to dumping the tank. I know I can drop the chrome chemically but what is next, filter-press or evaporate? 2) We currently have a five-stage zinc phosphate washer and are powder coating various metal parts for original equipment manufacturers. We are seeing more requests from these customers for electrocoat finishes. What would be the environmental impact on our operation if we added an e-coat operation?
3. TITLE Europe Approves Cultivation of Monsanto's GM Corn
SOURCE Chemical Week, September 15, 2004, vol. 166, no. 30, p. 7
ABSTRACT The European Commission has approved the cultivation of 17 varieties of Monsanto's genetically modified (GM) corn varieties in the European Union (EU), effectively ending a moratorium on GM crop cultivation that has been in place since 1998. "The corn has been thoroughly assessed to be safe for human health and environment," says David Byrne, European commissioner for health and consumer protection.
4. TITLE United Nations Ministers Add 14 Chemicals to Hazardous List
AUTHOR Hess, Glenn
SOURCE Chemical Market Reporter, September 27, 2004, vol. 266, no. 10, pp. 1, 23
ABSTRACT Ministers to a United Nations treaty agreed last week to add 14 more pesticides and chemicals to a growing list of hazardous substances that cannot be exported to developing nations without their knowledge and consent. The new chemicals, which include tetraethyl and tetramethyl lead, and several toxic pesticides, will be added to the 27 substances already on the list, such as DDT, lindane and mercury compounds.
5. TITLE Automotive Exteriors - Evolving to No-Spray Paint?
AUTHOR Hilgendorf, John S.
SOURCE Plastics Engineering, September 2004, vol. 60, no. 9, pp. 34, 37
ABSTRACT Ten years ago the industry was sure that in-mold decorating with paint films for exterior applications was going to take hold, but it fell flat. Automakers cautiously began implementing the technology for applications including exterior mirror housings, body moldings, and bumper fascias. Apart from a few such programs throughout the 1990s, there was little interest in the technology. Reasons for the lack of interest were excessive scrap, development costs, and high paint-film costs. These issues still exist, but there has been improvement in each, and there is renewed optimism about the technology.
6. TITLE Power From Moving Water
AUTHOR Johnson, Jeff
SOURCE Chemical & Engineering News, October 4, 2004, vol. 82, no. 40, pp. 23-30
ABSTRACT Capturing and using the ocean's power to generate electricity is exploiting nature at its most basic. Covering 70% of Earth, the oceans holds immense energy through moon-driven tides and wind-powered waves, and they contain thermal energy from the heat of the sun. For decades, scientists and engineers have tried to channel this potential into electricity with small success. They've found that containing and converting this potent power to electricity is far from simple or cost-effective. But over the past few years, ocean energy advocates around the world have been claiming that technology is improving and that they are onto something big.
7. TITLE After Chemicals Go Down the Drain: Finding Household Drugs in U.S. Drinking Water Has Raised Complex Issues of Toxicity, Removal
AUTHOR Dalton, Louisa Wray
SOURCE Chemical & Engineering News, October 4, 2004, vol. 82, no. 40, pp. 44-45
ABSTRACT Tests conducted at a large drinking water treatment plant indicate that some household chemicals widely found in trace amounts in US bodies of water can enter US drinking water. The results, reported by the US Geological Survey (USGS), weren't unexpected. Other studies, mostly in Europe, have made similar findings. Figuring out which of those chemicals ought to be removed and how to remove them are extraordinarily complex tasks, scientists agree.
8. TITLE Cosmetic Ingredients Criticized
SOURCE Chemical Week, September 29/October 6, 2004, vol. 166, no. 32, p. 64
ABSTRACT The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has asked major cosmetics companies to "come clean" about whether they plan to remove certain substances from cosmetics, including some phthalates, which will be banned in the EU beginning in May 2005. The campaign is asking companies to commit to removing dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and di (1-ethyl-hexyl) phthalate (DEHP) from their products.
9. TITLE Next Generation ISO 14001
AUTHOR Briggs, Susan L.K.
SOURCE Quality Progress, August 2004, vol. 37, no. 8, pp. 75-77
ABSTRACT ISO 14001, the international standard on environmental management systems (EMS) requirements, has been undergoing review and revision for five years. The revision is focused on two goals: 1. Increased compatibility with the latest version of ISO 9001. 2. Improved clarification to assist users in understanding the requirements, thereby easing implementation and enhancing environmental protection without additional or diminished requirements.
10. TITLE Slow Burn
SOURCE Plastics Engineering, March 2004, vol. 60, no. 3, pp. 6-7
ABSTRACT Clariant's new Exolit OP 1311 (TP) and 1312 (TP), described as non-halogenated flame retardants and intended for use in glass fiber-reinforced polyamides, are based on metal phosphinates. A high Comparative Tracking Index of 600 V and low compound density characterize both products. In contrast to the usual halogenated flame retardants, Exolit OP is said to have little effect on the mechanical properties of compounds. Only small amounts are needed to achieve a flame-retardant classification of UL94 V-0 or a Glow Wire Flammability Index of 960 degrees C, amounts well below those required by other systems, with the exception of red phosphorus, according to the company. Additionally, they are easily dispersible, have good rheological properties, and can be easily colored, reports Clariant. The injection molding of complex shapes often requires high temperatures and high injection speeds. Exolit OP 1312 offers a specially stabilized system for polyamide 6/6 that withstands the highest stresses, says the company. This additive is intended primarily for flame-retarding injection molded components for the electrical and electronics industries.
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