Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 12/02/2005
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.
- Trade Imbalance Shifts U.S. Carbon Emissions to China, Boosts Global Total. December 2005
- Endotoxins in House Dust Pose a Significant Risk for
Asthma. December 2005
- Green Roofs In Winter: Hot Design for A Cold Climate. November 2005
- A "Periodic Table" of Natural Products. November 2005
- UN Says REACH Isn't a Good Plan. September 2005
- Examining the Water at the Eco Office. November 2005
- NJIT Study Shows Nanoparticles Could Damage Plant Life. November 2005
1. Trade Imbalance Shifts U.S. Carbon Emissions to China, Boosts Global Total
SOURCE The National Center for Atmospheric Research & UCAR Office of Programs, December 2005
DATE 2005
ABSTRACT The growth of Chinese imports in the U.S.
economy boosted the total emissions of carbon dioxide (a primary greenhouse
gas) from the two countries by over 700 million metric tons between 1997 and
2003, according to a study published online in the journal Energy Policy. The
analysis, prepared by two scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric
Research, suggests that American emissions of carbon dioxide in 2003 would have
been 6% higher if the United States had manufactured the products that it
imported from China. Meanwhile, China's 2003 emissions would have been 14% lower
had it not produced goods for the United States. "These results show the
importance of world trade in accounting for the emissions that drive climate
change," says Shui Bin, an environmental policy analyst who authored the
Energy Policy paper with geochemist Robert Harriss. Their research was
supported by the National Science Foundation, NCAR’s primary sponsor. The
world’s two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases are the United States (about
25% of the global total) and China (about 15%). The Shui and Harriss study
implies that the United States is indirectly responsible for even more carbon
dioxide than widely perceived. Because Chinese manufacturing relies heavily on
coal and less-efficient technologies, it produces more greenhouse-gas emissions
on average than the United States for a given product. Emissions in 2002 and
2003 rose at 8-9% a year in China and about 1% a year in the United States. If
all of the U.S. imports from China had been produced domestically, then U.S.
greenhouse emissions would have risen at 1.5% to 2% per year.
2. Endotoxins in House Dust Pose a Significant Risk for Asthma
SOURCE Science Daily, www.sciencedaily.com, December 2005
DATE 2005
ABSTRACT Exposure
to household endotoxin levels poses a significant risk for asthma, according to
the first nationwide sampling of house dust. The study appears in the first
issue for December 2005 of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical
Care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society. Endotoxins are toxic
substances associated with the outer membrane of certain gram-negative
bacteria. These molecules are bound to the bacterial cell wall and are released
when the bacterium ruptures or disintegrates. According to the authors,
inhalation exposure to endotoxins is common in homes. Indoor sources include:
dust, pets, humidifiers, pests, and outdoor air. Past studies have shown that
exposure can cause lung inflammation. Peter S. Thorne, Ph.D., of the
Environmental Health Sciences Research Center at the University of Iowa, Iowa
City, and five associates, evaluated 2,456 residents in 831 homes selected to
represent the demographic characteristics of the U.S. population. The
investigators took 2,552 house dust samples from five locations within the
homes, including bedroom floors, bedding, family room floors, sofa surfaces,
and kitchen floors. "This study clearly demonstrates significant
relationships between household endotoxin and diagnosed asthma, recent asthma
symptoms, current use of asthma medications, and wheezing," said Dr.
Thorne. "No effect was observed of allergy status on the relationship
between endotoxin and asthma outcomes. This suggests that current endotoxin
exposure may have little impact on allergy status and that airway inflammation
is the most significant effect of endotoxin exposure in a cross-section of the
population."
3. Green Roofs In Winter: Hot Design for A Cold Climate
AUTHOR L'Abbe, Sonnet
SOURCE University of Toronto, News@UofT, November, 2005
ABSTRACT A University of Toronto researcher has delivered
the first-ever analysis of green roofs' ability to keep buildings warm in
winter. "Everyone studies how green roofs operate in warm
conditions," says Brad Bass of the U of T Center for Environment. “No one
else has looked at winter design.” Bass analyzed a test roof built in Ottawa by
Karen Liu of the National Research Council’s Institute for Research in
Construction, to offer the first conclusive data that winter green roofs can
help reduce heat loss and energy consumption during cold months. The winter green
roof uses evergreens -- juniper shrubs -- and a thicker soil base than typical
leafy green roofs, which generally provide passive benefits to the environment
by reducing the need for air conditioning on hot days. The winter roof was
installed on both a standard test house and an energy-efficient winterized
house. Bass used environmental systems performance software to chart the indoor
temperature fluctuations in both buildings. “The results for the winterized
house were good, and the results for the regular house were dramatic,” says
Bass. “The assessment opens up designers to considering winter roofs as part of
a year-round energy efficiency strategy.”
4. A "Periodic Table" of Natural Products
SOURCE Max Planck Society, www.mpg.de, November 2005
ABSTRACT Natural products have always been an important
source for the development of chemical tool compounds or drugs respectively in
chemical biology and pharmaceutical research. Researchers frequently build up
what are known as "combinatorial libraries" based on the structural
characteristics of natural products. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute
of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund, Germany have now described the structural
interrelationships between natural products by analyzing some 200,000 of them
in co-operation with scientists from the pharmaceutical company Novartis in
Basel, Switzerland. This analysis led to a new classification of natural
products based on their structure, called SCONP (Structural Classification Of
Natural Products). Guided by SCONP, the researchers developed a new structural
class of inhibitors of 11b-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1. Inhibition of
this enzyme is being discussed as a promising approach for the treatment of
obesity, the metabolic syndrome, diabetes type 2, and cognitive dysfunction.
5. UN Says REACH Isn't a Good Plan
AUTHOR Kamalick, Joel
SOURCE Chemical Market Reporter, v268 n7, 5-11 September, 2005, p8
ABSTRACT The European Union’s “Reach” program for
chemicals control is not a good model for developing a UN plan for a global
chemicals management system, according to a top UN environmental official. John
Buccini, chemicals director for the UN Environmental Program (UNEP), told
chemical industry officials recently that the EU’s Reach (registration, evaluation
and authorization of chemicals) is too closely tailored to the EU for global
application. The UN is advancing development of its Strategic Approach to
International Chemicals Management (SAICM), a plan designed to provide what
Buccini describes as a “strong global response” to the proliferation of
chemicals and globalization of the chemicals industry.
6. Examining the Water at the Eco Office
AUTHOR Nicholow, Jim; Sami, Vikram
SOURCE Environmental Design + Construction, November 2005
ABSTRACT By itself, one green building won’t do much to
help Atlanta’s air quality, limited water supply, overfilling landfills or
growing energy needs. But when that building teaches hundreds of design,
construction and development professionals about environmentally friendly
building techniques and materials, it will make a huge difference in the
region’s quality of life. Construction is underway on a new high-performance
commercial green building facility for the Southface Energy Institute in
Atlanta. The building — to be called the Eco Office — is a 10,000-square-foot
addition to Southface’s existing residential green building demonstration
facility. It will be a thriving, active meeting place for a number of
government, industry and nonprofit groups with a diverse range of missions. The
Eco Office will house classroom, conference and event space, and office space
for Southface and the Urban Land Institute’s Atlanta district. The Eco Office
will also feature a unique technology observation deck and other interpretive
elements to allow visitors an up-close view of the facility’s sustainable
design strategies and technologies. The goal of the Eco Office is to serve as a
showcase of the readily-achievable benefits that “building green” can provide
building owners and occupants. The creation of this world-class green building
will show how an integrated design approach and “off-the-shelf” products can
create an optimized, resource-efficient facility. Specific targets for the Eco
Office include using one-quarter of the water and 40 percent of the energy of
conventional design and construction practices. This article outlines the
process undertaken by the project team to reduce the facility’s dependence on
water and some of the key strategies, technologies and products used in the
creation of the Eco Office.
7. NJIT Study Shows Nanoparticles Could Damage Plant Life
SOURCE New Jersey Institute of Technology, November 2005
ABSTRACT A nanoparticle commonly used in industry could have a damaging effect on plant life, according to a report by an environmental scientist at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). The report, published in a recent issue of “Toxicology Letters,” shows that nanoparticles of alumina (aluminum oxide) slowed the growth of roots in five species of plants -- corn, cucumber, cabbage, carrot and soybean. Alumina nanoparticles are commonly used in scratch-resistant transparent coatings, sunscreen lotions that provide transparent-UV protection and environmental catalysts that reduce pollution, said Daniel J. Watts, PhD, the lead author of the study. “Before this study there was an assumption that nanoparticles had no effect on plants,” said Watts, executive director of the York Center for Environmental Engineering and Science and Panasonic Chair in Sustainability at NJIT. “This study makes the observation that seedlings can interact with nanoparticles such as alumina, which can have a harmful effect on seedlings and perhaps stunt the growth of plants. “Other nanoparticles included in the study, such as silica, did not show this effect,” Watts added.
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