Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 02/10/2006
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.
- EPA Gets an Earful on Plan to Reduce Toxic Reporting
- Meeting Expectations
- A Bathroom That Cleans Itself
- Existing Test Data May Be Usable Under Reach
- Household exposure to pesticides and risk of childhood acute leukaemia
- Made in
- Industry and Government Demand for Soy-Based Products Spurs Development
1. EPA Gets an Earful on Plan to Reduce Toxic Reporting
SOURCE OMB Watch, www.ombwatch.org, January 24, 2006
ABSTRACT More than 70,000 citizens voiced opposition to
the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposals to cut chemical reporting under the Toxics Release Inventory
(TRI), during the agency's public comment period that ended Jan. 13. Those
speaking out against EPA's proposals included state agencies, health
professionals, scientists, environmentalists, labor, Attorneys General, and
even Congress, all of whom raised substantive concerns with the plan. A first
look at the comments submitted on EPA's proposed rule to change the threshold
for detailed reporting shows extensive opposition and little support for the
agency's plans. Now, EPA must compiling and review the comments, and prepare a
set of responses to all the issues they raise. During that time the EPA may
modify its proposals based on the comments or even withdraw the proposals
entirely. Given the volume, not to mention the variety of reasons and sources
of opposition, the agency will likely take several months to prepare a full
response. Officials report that the agency hopes to have a final rule published
by December 2006. In the meantime, EPA has begun gathering stakeholder input on
another proposal to limit the TRI, the possibility of alternate year reporting
under TRI.
2. Meeting Expectations
AUTHOR Makower, Joel
SOURCE Grist, http://www.grist.org/biz/tp/2005/11/29/conferences/index.html, November 29, 2005
ABSTRACT Surely you've attended the Conference from
Eco-Hell. You know the one. It begins with an endless paper trail of
direct-mail advertisements. It's held in some remote suburban locale,
accessible only by car. At registration, you are issued a conference bag filled
with promotional papers and doodads you'll never look at or use (most of which
you'll conveniently "forget" in your hotel room). Meals appear
unappetizingly on disposable plastic dishes, and single-serve bottles of water
and soda are everywhere you look. Then there's that inch-thick pile of wasted
paper known as the conference program. And when it's all over, as people load
up into planes, trains, and automobiles for their trek home, piles of
post-conference detritus get unceremoniously tossed into trash cans and
dumpsters -- an ecologically unfortunate meeting of bottles, dishes, surplus
promotional "literature," and more. You've probably asked,
"Isn't there a better way?" Amy Spatrisano has asked that very
question, and has concluded that there is. Spatrisano, principal and cofounder
of Meeting Strategies Worldwide, is at the forefront of a growing movement
toward greener events, from small get-togethers to mega-conferences. Not long
ago, such thinking was relatively rare, and limited primarily to conferences
and events produced by environmental activist groups or government agencies.
But what started years ago as a handful of small and largely symbolic practices
-- printing on recycled paper and recycling name badges, for example -- has
taken a far more substantive turn. People like Spatrisano are examining every
aspect of event organization and operation to find ways to reduce the
environmental footprint of these happenings. Why the new consciousness? A
variety of things has helped, including new technology, improved products and
services, and greater availability of alternatives. But mostly, it has to do
with a better business case for abandoning conventional thinking.
3. A Bathroom That Cleans Itself
SOURCE
ABSTRACT Cleaning bathrooms may become a thing of the
past with new coatings that will do the job for you. Researchers at the
4. Existing Test Data May Be Usable Under Reach
AUTHOR Scott, Alex
SOURCE Chemical Week, v168 n3, January 25, 2006, p13
ABSTRACT Several leading chemical companies expect that
chemical product safety data gathered under international programs, including
the International Council of Chemical Associations’ High Production Volume
(HPV) testing program and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD; Paris) Screening Information Data Sets (SIDS) testing
system, will most likely satisfy data requirements under the European Union’s
(EU) Reach chemicals legislation. The firms declined to be identified. Use of
existing information would avoid duplication of testing data and could
dramatically reduce the cost burden of Reach associated with certain chemical
products. Chemical data from soaps and detergents industry group AISE’s
(Brussels) Environmental Risk Assessment (HERA) projects for household
chemicals, and chemical-specific data from the European Centre for Toxicology
and Ecotoxicology of Chemicals (ECETOC; Brussels), an EU testing body, may also
automatically satisfy Reach’s testing requirements, companies say.
5. Household exposure to pesticides and risk of childhood acute leukaemia
AUTHOR Menegaux, F.; Baruchel, A.; Bertrand, Y.; Lescoeur, B.; Leverger, G.; Nelken, B.; Sommelet, D.; Hernon, D.; Clavel, J.
SOURCE Occupational and Environmental Medicine, v63 n2, February 2006, pp131-134
ABSTRACT Objectives: To investigate the relation between
childhood acute leukaemia and household exposure to pesticides. Methods: The
study included 280 incident cases of acute leukaemia and 288 controls frequency
matched on gender, age, hospital, and ethnic origin. The data were obtained
from standardised face to face interviews of the mothers with detailed
questions on parental occupational history, home and garden insecticide use,
and insecticidal treatment of pediculosis. Odds ratios were estimated using
unconditional regression models including the stratification variables parental
socioeconomic status and housing characteristics. Results: Acute leukaemia was
observed to be significantly associated with maternal home insecticide use
during pregnancy (OR = 1.8, 95% CI 1.2 to 2.8) and during childhood (OR = 1.7,
95% CI 1.1 to 2.4), with garden insecticide use (OR = 2.4, 95% CI 1.3 to 4.3),
and fungicide use (OR = 2.5, 95% CI 1.0 to 6.2) during childhood. Insecticidal
shampoo treatment of pediculosis was also associated with childhood acute
leukaemia (OR = 1.9, 95% CI 1.2 to 3.3). Conclusion: The results reported
herein support the hypothesis that various types of insecticide exposure may be
a risk factor for childhood acute leukaemia. The observed association with
insecticidal shampoo treatment of pediculosis, which has never been investigated
before, requires further study.
6. Made in
AUTHOR Goldsberry, Claire
SOURCE Modern Plastics, v83 n1, January 2006, p20
ABSTRACT t's tough to find products on store shelves
today that aren't made in
7. Industry and Government Demand for Soy-Based Products Spurs Development
SOURCE United Soybean Board (USB), Biobased Solutions, v7 n1, January 2006, http://www.unitedsoybean.org/f_media.htm
ABSTRACT With new product designations from the Federal
Biobased Products Preferred Procurement Program and more consumers demanding
environmentally safe product alternatives to petroleum, usage of soy-based
products is on the rise. Nineteen new soy-based products in USB’s (United
Soybean Board) priority areas of plastics, lubricants, adhesives, coatings and
specialty products were commercialized in 2005 thanks in part to the soybean
checkoff and continuing research efforts from private industry, universities
and research institutions across the country. Soy-based plastics hold great
potential for soybeans as soy-based polyols tend to be highly versatile. In
2005 four versions of Ashland Specialty Chemical Company’s ENVIREZ, a soy-based
thermoset polyester resin, have been adapted in high-performing applications.
John Deere and Case New Holland used the technology to unveil a low-profile
thermoset sheet molding compound from ENVIREZ for tractor hoods and covers.
Other companies using ENVIREZ include Green Products Inc. for
specialty-filament-wound tanks. Fabri Glass is using the polyol in vacuum bags,
and Permay created a thermoset modified polyester for spray-up application in
large painting and packaging parts.
Compiled by the TURI Library, University of Massachusetts Lowell
This page updated Tuesday February 21 2006