Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 8/13/04
THE GREENLIST(tm) BULLETIN 8/13/04
This is the weekly bulletin of the TURI Library, reporting a selection of recently published titles we have acquired. Our pledge to you is to keep the bulletin relevant to your work and brief -- no more than 10 titles. (usually)
Titles here, abstracts below them:
- Demonstrating Value Through the Use of Environmental Management Accounting, Spring 2004
- Technology Management for Corporate Social Responsibility, Spring 2004
- Unexpectedly, Ancient Molecule Tied to Asthma, June 2004
- Good Stuff? A Behind-the-Scenes Guide to the Things We Buy, 2004
- Serving Today's Non-Lead, PVC Needs of the Wire and Cable Industry, July 2004
- Unraveling the Secrets of Silk, May 2004
- This Polymerization Occurs in Water Instead of Organic Solvents, January 2004
- Sony Debuts Biodegradable DVD Player Housing, April 2004
- Desirable Features of a Non-Chromate Conversion Coating Process, March 2004
- Cleaners for Military Parts - Is There a Green Alternative?, 2004
1. TITLE Demonstrating Value Through the Use of Environmental Management Accounting
AUTHOR Gibson, Kathleen C.; Martin, Bruce A.
SOURCE Environmental Quality Management, Spring 2004, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 45-52
ABSTRACT Environmental management systems (EMSs) assist entities and individuals to identify, categorize, and manage environmental effects. Environmental management accounting (EMA) focuses on operating costs and involves identifying, quantifying, analyzing, managing, and reducing them in a way that can allow the organization to control its environment-related costs and improve its environmental performance.
2. TITLE Technology Management for Corporate Social Responsibility
AUTHOR Brennan, Linda L.; Johnson, Victoria E.
SOURCE IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, Spring 2004, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 40-48
ABSTRACT Expectations of corporations are higher than ever. Investors and other stakeholders consider companies in terms of the "triple bottom line," reflecting financial performance, environmental practices, and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Given the role of top managers insetting the ethical tone and strategic agenda of their corporations - and the role of technology in strategy - can technology management achieve both competitive performance and social responsibility, i.e., "strategic responsibility"? This potential integration is considered in the technology management of eight Internet-oriented companies, specifically for practices integrating the fulfillment of corporate social responsibilities with technology-driven strategies for keeping products competitive, providing the basis for new products, and changing operational conventions.
3. TITLE Unexpectedly, Ancient Molecule Tied to Asthma
AUTHOR Couzin, Jennifer
SOURCE Science, June 11, 2004, vol. 304, no. 5677, p. 1577
ABSTRACT A surprise discovery in mice has linked a mysterious, largely unexplored class of molecules to asthma and may bolster the theory that the respiratory disease is a misplaced reaction to parasites. The molecules, called chitinases, were long considered a primordial response to certain parasites and insects; chitinase breaks down the compound chitin, which is produced in the shells and outer surfaces of these animals. Because humans don't produce chitin, their half-dozen or so chitinase genes have often been dismissed as relics of evolution, although one has been linked to an inherited disease. Now, Yale University School of Medicine pulmonary specialist Jack Elias and his colleagues have tied a second chitinase, an enzyme called acidic mammalian chitinase, to a classic inflammatory response in asthma.
4. TITLE Good Stuff? A Behind-the-Scenes Guide to the Things We Buy
'CORP AU OR PUBLISHER' Worldwatch Institute
DATE 2004
ABSTRACT Have you ever wondered where chocolate comes from, if antibacterial soap is good for your family, or how to recycle an old computer? If you've had these or other questions about the environmental and social impacts of the products you buy and use, Good Stuff is for you. It contains many of the tips, facts, and links you'll need to start making more informed purchases that benefit your health and the environment.
5. TITLE Serving Today's Non-Lead, PVC Needs of the Wire and Cable Industry
AUTHOR Garretson, Mark; Drummond, Al; Sofer, Nate
SOURCE Wire Journal International, Vol. 37, No. 7, July, 2004, pp. 75 - 77
ABSTRACT There is little doubt that the pressure to remove lead from PVC and other applications will not subside. Non-lead requirements have been imposed in Europe from the European Union, in Asia from the Kyota Accords, and in the U.S. in California from Proposition 65, with other states having various reporting requirements. Articles and reports relating to lead continue to highlight concerns about its use as there is substantial evidence that suggests its removal will reduce associated health concerns. Certainly applications involving regular human contact are initially the highest priority. The reporting requirements and handling concerns have made the use of lead stabilizers less attractive and has inspired a significant effort to develop and implement non-lead stabilizers that will offer the necessary performance properties at a reasonable cost. With such momentum, there are valid reasons to develop, manufacture and market non-lead PVC compounds and cables.
6. TITLE Unraveling the Secrets of Silk
AUTHOR Halford, Bethany
SOURCE Chemical & Engineering News, Vol. 82, No. 18, May 3, 2004, p. 32
ABSTRACT When it comes to making strong fibers, scientists like David L. Kaplan say that we still have a lot to learn from the humble silkworm and spider. Kaplan, chairman of the biomedical engineering department at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., the best way to mimic those super-strong silk fibers is to figure out how the spider and silkworm make them and then try to duplicate the entire process. This marriage of polymer design and processing environment, he argues, will help scientists emulate nature in the lab and lead to new materials. So how do spiders and silkworms process silk? The crucial element is water, Kaplan said during his talk last month at the symposium "Inspired by Nature: From Biosynthesis to Advanced Renewable Materials" at the American Chemical Society's national meeting in Anaheim, Calif. Even though silk is one of the most hydrophobic proteins ever designed, he explained, spiders and silkworms use a system by which they produce - and store in their glands - a solution of 30% by weight of the protein in water and spin it without the protein ever crystallizing prematurely into its characteristic b-sheet structure.
7. TITLE This Polymerization Occurs in Water Instead of Organic Solvents
SOURCE Chemical Engineering, January 2004, vol. 111, no. 1, p. 15
ABSTRACT Researchers at the department of applied chemistry, Waseda University (Tokyo) are developing a way to polymerize 2,3-dimethyl phenol (DMP) into polyphenylene oxide (PPO) in water instead of using organic solvents. Normally PPO is produced in toluene or benzene using a copper-pyridine complex as the catalyst. Because the reaction is performed under an oxygen atmosphere, special explosion-proof reactors are required. Such special precautions are not required for the new oxidative polymerization of DMP, because the reaction is carried out in an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide in air.
8. TITLE Sony Debuts Biodegradable DVD Player Housing
SOURCE Modern Plastics, Vol. 81, No. 4, April, 2004, p. 10
ABSTRACT Sony Corp. and Mitsubishi Plastics Inc. (both Tokyo) have teamed up to develop a flame-retardant polylactic acid (PLA) biodegradable resin claimed to be as strong as ABS. The new material will be used in the front panels of Sony stand-alone DVD players. The first application will be a DVD player due to be launched in Q3 of this year. The resin employs an aluminum hydroxide flame retardant, is rated UL94 V-2, and complies with the EU's Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Equipment (RoHS) directive. A key to successful deployment of the PLA is the ability to process the PLA with a cycle time on par with ABS. Previously, extended cycle times were required in order to crystallize the PLA and impart sufficient heat resistance. Sony says the use of additives and modifications to molding parameters lets it process PLA compound on conventional injection presses in commercially viable cycle times. (full text)
9. TITLE Desirable Features of a Non-Chromate Conversion Coating Process
AUTHOR Rudy, Stephen F.
SOURCE Plating & Surface Finishing, March 2004, vol. 91, no. 3, pp. 38-44
ABSTRACT An innovative constraints-based modeling approach was used to identify desirable features of a low-cost replacement to chromate conversion coating process for aluminum alloys. Identified features included use of a coating bath containing appropriate cations relative to the position of the aluminum substrate in the EMF series and with ionic radii and coordination numbers comparable to those of Al(III), Cr(III) and Cr(VI) ions, availability of cations in multiple valence states, decreasing solubility of reaction products with increasing pH and their ability to form waters of hydration. Limited experiments showed that a coating bath containing Mn(VI) ions provided conversion coatings with adequate promise, thereby validating the utility of this novel modeling approach.
10. TITLE Cleaners for Military Parts - Is There a Green Alternative?
AUTHOR Trivedi, Hitesh K.; Massey, Maurice L.; Bhattacharya, Rabi S.; Strahl, Gerald A.; Collum, David
SOURCE Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 12, no. 7, 2004, pp. 771-780
ABSTRACT Solvents are widely used in the DOD for maintenance cleaning and degreasing of parts, such as weapon systems, bomb ejector racks, aircraft engines, etc. Currently used solvents such as P-D-680 Type II, MEK, stoddart solvent and highly refined aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds are hazardous, flammable, and toxic chemicals. A number of alternative cleaners were evaluated using subscale tests. The green cleaners were selected based on weapon system cleaning requirements. The cleaners were evaluated for cleaning effectiveness factor (CEF), material compatibility and gunfire residue removal. A large number of alternative cleaners showed similar or superior cleaning performance compared to current gun cleaners P-D-680 Type II and Breakfree. The alternative cleaners have the potential to provide a much better environmentally friendly cleaning performance than current cleaners do. further pilot-scale testing using weapons is needed before field applications.
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