Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 10/06/2006 / Greenlist Bulletin Archives: 2006 Issues / Greenlist(tm) Bulletin / Library / TURI - TURI

Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 10/06/2006

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.

Titles here, abstracts below them:

Three Members Of EPA Chemicals Advisory Panel Resign
Making Pure Hydrogen from Biomass
Pesticide Exposure Could Increase Risk of Early Onset of Parkinson's Disease
PBT with nano-additive earns eco-efficiency label
Chain of Contamination: The Food Link
Expanded Expert Judgment Assessment of the Concentration-Response Relationship Between PM2.5 Exposure and Mortality
Environmental Test Facility Improves Indoor Air
Anion effects on the cytotoxicity of ionic liquids
Factors affecting consumer assessment of eco-labeled vehicles
Benzene Concern Froths in Beverages

1. Three Members Of EPA Chemicals Advisory Panel Resign

AUTHOR Hogue, Cheryl

SOURCE Chemical & Engineering News, October 5, 2006

ABSTRACT Three members of a panel that advises EPA on the management of commercial chemicals resigned as a bloc effective Oct. 4. The National Pollution Prevention & Toxics Advisory Committee "has been unable or unwilling to consider systematic, structural problems" with EPA's assessment and management of chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act, they said in an Oct. 2 resignation letter to the agency. Leaving the 15-member panel are Richard A. Denison, senior scientist for Environmental Defense; Joseph H. Guth, executive director of the California League for Environmental Enforcement Now; and Joel Tickner, assistant professor in the Department of Community Health & Sustainability at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

WEB LINK http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/84/i41/8441EPA.html

2. Making Pure Hydrogen from Biomass

SOURCE Chemical Engineering, v113 n7, July 2006, p18

ABSTRACT Professor emeritus Kiyoshi Ohtsuka and his colleagues at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Tokyo, Japan have discovered a new process that produces pure H2 from cellulose. The process not only has nearly a 100% yield, but produces no CO or CO2, so the H2 product is suitable for operating fuel cells. In the new process, a mixture of cellulose, aqueous NaOH solution and a catalyst is heated at 2 degrees Celsius/min with steam to gradually increase the temperature from 100 to 600 degrees Celsius.

3. Pesticide Exposure Could Increase Risk of Early Onset of Parkinson's Disease

SOURCE American Chemical Society, September 14, 2006

ABSTRACT Low-level exposure to a banned but lingering pesticide appears to accelerate changes in the brain that can potentially lead to the onset of Parkinson’s disease symptoms years or even decades before they might naturally develop. The concept of an accelerated disease process is a new twist in the investigation of the long-suspected link between the use of pesticides and Parkinson’s disease, according to the researchers. "Our current study clearly shows that pesticides such as dieldrin appear to accelerate or exacerbate the already underlying disease," said Gary Miller, Ph.D., an associate professor of environmental and occupational health at Emory University. "Pesticides aren’t necessarily the causative agents, but they do promote Parkinson’s. So it appears the more you are exposed to pesticides, the greater your risk of developing the disease earlier in life." In their pilot study, Miller and his co-researchers — Emory graduate student Jaime Hatcher and Georgia Tech Professor Kurt Pennell, Ph.D. — found that levels of dieldrin, an organochlorine pesticide developed in the 1940s as an alternative to DDT, were three times higher in the brains of 14 people who had Parkinson’s disease than in the brains of 12 people who didn’t. Based on this finding, the researchers estimated the lifetime exposure levels of these people and extrapolated these levels to mice. They then exposed laboratory mice to low, but "environmentally relevant" dosages of dieldrin - about 1 to 3 milligrams per kilogram. After one month, although none of the mice showed symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, the researchers did detect increased levels of oxidative stress in the brain and significantly reduced uptake of dopamine, the neurotransmitter that plays a key role in the development of Parkinson’s. This latest work adds more evidence establishing a link between pesticides and Parkinson’s. Earlier this year, a Harvard School of Public Health study of more than 140,000 adults found that those exposed to long-term, low levels of pesticides had a 70 percent higher incidence of Parkinson’s disease. Another recent study, by the same Emory/Georgia Tech team, found that fetal rodents exposed to dieldrin had brain alterations that made them more susceptible to Parkinson’s-inducing toxins.

WEB LINK http://www.pestlaw.com/x/press/2006/ACS-20060914A.html

4. PBT with nano-additive earns eco-efficiency label

AUTHOR Molinaro, Hope (ed.)

SOURCE Plastics Engineering, v62 n4, April 2006, p6

ABSTRACT Ultradur High Speed PBT (polybutylene terephthalate) is the first engineering plastic from BASF (Ludwigshafen, Germany) to earn the German Technical Control Board- (TUV)-certified eco-efficiency label. The label signifies that a product performs better from an environmental and economic standpoint than comparable ones. The new PBT is said to offer flowability that lowers the cost of injection molding products while saving energy. The flowability of Ultradur High Speed has been "markedly" improved by the incorporation of a nanoadditive, says BASF, which allows for lower processing temperatures and pressures. According to BASF, energy savings of up to 20% can be realized; alternatively, cycle time can be reduced by up to 30%. Moreover, less material is required, as parts can be made with thinner walls.

5. Chain of Contamination: The Food Link

DATE 2006

SOURCE WWF European Policy Office

ABSTRACT This report is the culmination of WWF’s 10 years of work on the toxics issue. WWF has published numerous reports on the nature and extent of chemical contamination of wildlife and humans. Following on from those studies we present here new data on the chemical contamination of food, the most important route of human exposure for many persistent, bioaccumulative and endocrine disrupting chemicals. The results are placed in a broader context – that of a global chain of contamination where industrial chemicals and those designed for use in everyday products find their way into the environment, food, wildlife and humans. This global chain of contamination is the perfect illustration of why REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals), the currently debated European chemicals legislation, needs to be strengthened to effectively protect humans and wildlife.

WEB LINK http://www.wwf-uk.org/filelibrary/pdf/contamination.pdf

6. Expanded Expert Judgment Assessment of the Concentration-Response Relationship Between PM2.5 Exposure and Mortality

AUTHOR Industrial Economics, Incorporated

SOURCE Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, September 21, 2006

ABSTRACT In 2002, the National Research Council (NRC) report, Estimating the Public Health Benefits of Proposed Air Pollution Regulations, presented the results of an NRC review of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) benefits assessment methods for evaluating proposed regulations of air pollutants. The NRC committee approved of EPA's benefits analysis framework but provided a number of recommendations for improving EPA’s characterization of uncertainty in benefit analysis. The NRC report recommended that probability distributions for key sources of uncertainty be developed using available empirical data or through formal elicitation of expert judgments in situations where scientific data are limited or conflicting. The effect of changes in ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels on mortality constitutes a key component of the EPA's approach for assessing potential health benefits associated with air quality regulations targeting emissions of PM2.5 and its precursors. Avoided premature deaths constitute, on a dollars basis, between 85 and 95 percent of the monetized benefits reported in EPA’s retrospective and prospective Section 812A benefit-cost analyses of the Clean Air Act (U.S. EPA, 1997 and 1999) and in Regulatory Impact Analyses (RIAs) for rules such as the Heavy Duty Diesel Engine/Fuel Rule (U.S. EPA, 2000) and the Non-road Diesel Engine Rule (EPA, 2004). Because it is such a large component of benefits, obtaining a good characterization of uncertainties regarding the mortality effects of changes in PM2.5 exposure could capture the largest portion of uncertainty characterization of an entire benefit analysis (aside from unquantified or unmeasurable benefit endpoints). In response to the 2002 NRC report, EPA has taken steps to incorporate the formal elicitation of expert judgments into uncertainty analyses for the benefits of air pollution rules affecting PM2.5. Since 2003, Industrial Economics (IEc) has worked with a team of EPA and OMB analysts (collectively, the Project Team)1 to conduct two expert judgment studies of the mortality impacts of PM2.5 for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation (OAR). The first was a pilot study of five experts conducted in 2003 and 2004 aimed at exploring and refining the application of expert elicitation methods in the context of air pollution policy, and the second, which began in late 2004, was a full-scale study of 12 experts that built on the experience gained from the pilot and incorporated numerous refinements. This report documents the full-scale study of expert judgments concerning the impact of a one µg/m3 change in ambient, annual average PM2.5 on annual, adult, all-cause mortality in the U.S. The 12 experts participating in the study were selected through a two-part peer nomination process and included eight experts in epidemiology, three in toxicology, and one in medicine. The peer nomination process was designed to obtain a balanced set of views and serves to minimize the influence of the analysts and sponsors on expert selection.

WEB LINK http://www.epa.gov/ttn/ecas/regdata/Uncertainty/pm_ee_report.pdf

7. Environmental Test Facility Improves Indoor Air

SOURCE Georgia Institute of Technology, March 10, 2006

ABSTRACT As scientists learn more about the potentially harmful effects of indoor air pollution, nations around the world are imposing increasingly strict regulations on chemical emissions from furnishings, paints and building materials. Using a new room-sized environmental test chamber, more than a dozen smaller chambers and a mass spectrometric center able to measure ultra-trace concentrations of airborne chemicals being emitted from products, scientists at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) are helping manufacturers meet those international standards to minimize emissions. “We can help manufacturers address regulatory issues,” said Charlene Bayer, principal research scientist in GTRI’s Health and Environmental Systems Laboratory. “Because U.S. manufacturers sell their products worldwide, they must meet emission regulations imposed by nations in Europe and Asia. We make the measurements companies need to improve their products.” For example, the testing helps manufacturers of indoor furnishings select components that have lower emissions. It also helps textile and apparel companies choose fabric finishes that both survive cleaning and minimize emissions. And it helps makers of paints and other wall coverings select biocides and other chemical constituents with the least impact on the indoor environment. Large enough to accommodate humans or animals, the new 27.5 cubic meter environmental chamber will also allow researchers to study broader concerns – including the impact of low-level indoor air pollutants on productivity and human health. Beyond helping manufacturers improve their products, the new facility may lead to a better understanding of what compounds cause problems and how indoor pollutants form. There is evidence, Bayer said, that the chemistry inside buildings is more complex than previously thought. It’s known, for instance, that ozone produced outdoors during summer months enters buildings in significant amounts. There, the powerful oxidant may react with volatile organic compounds emitted from indoor furnishings to create a chemical soup that includes compounds not originally present in the furnishings.

WEB LINK http://www.gatech.edu/news-room/release.php?id=886

8. Anion effects on the cytotoxicity of ionic liquids

AUTHOR Stolte, Stefan; Arning, Jurgen; Bottin-Weber, Ulrike; et al.

SOURCE Green Chemistry, v8 n7, July 2006, pp621-629

ABSTRACT Most recent investigations concerning the toxicological and ecotoxicological risk potentials of ionic liquids are predominantly focusing on the cation moieties. In this study we elucidate, whether the anion species commonly used in ionic liquids are exhibiting intrinsic cytotoxic effects and if these effects can be rationalised by thinking in terms of structure–activity relationships (T-SAR). As test system to measure the cell viability as toxicologically relevant endpoint the IPC-81 rat leukemia cell line and the WST-1 assay were employed. Our results show an anion effect in ionic liquids on cytotoxicity for 10 of 27 tested anions. For the remaining 17 anions from our test kit no significant effect was found. With respect to structure–activity relationships, lipophilicity and/or vulnerability to hydrolytic cleavage seem to be the key structural features leading to the observed anion cytotoxicity. We also conclude that the model of concentration addition may be useful to estimate the EC50 values of ionic liquids that have not been tested or even synthesised yet. This can help to design not only task specific but also inherently safer ionic liquids.

9. Factors affecting consumer assessment of eco-labeled vehicles

AUTHOR Noblet, Caroline Lundquist; Teisl, Mario F.; Rubin, Jonathan

SOURCE Transportation Research Part D, Article-in-Press, available online 29 September 2006

ABSTRACT A statewide sample of Maine registered vehicle owners is used to examine factors that affect their assessments of ecolabeled conventionally fueled passenger vehicles. The study focuses on developing an empirical and theoretical framework with which to model vehicle choice decisions under eco-labeled conditions. Particular attention is paid to how eco-information may affect the two-stage vehicle purchase process. The study builds upon environmental economic and psychology literature in examining the role of personal characteristics such as perceived effectiveness of consumer purchase decisions and perceptions of the eco-labeled products as factors in the vehicle purchase decision. It was found that environmental attributes of an eco-labeled passenger vehicle are significant in the purchase decision. The eco-information is considered in the vehicle purchase decision, but is generally not considered at the class-level decision.

10. Benzene Concern Froths in Beverages

AUTHOR de Guzman, Doris

SOURCE Chemical Market Reporter, v269 n22, 5-11 June 2006, p24

ABSTRACT Ongoing allegations regarding benzene formation in several soft drinks and other beverages have stirred the beverage industry and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to recommend reformulation in several beverage products. The FDA uses the Environmental Protection Agency's maximum contaminant level of 5 parts per billion for drinking water as a standard since the FDA currently has no regulatory limits for benzene in beverages. The survey focused on soft drinks that contain both benzoate salts and ascorbic or erythorbic acid. Manufacturers are reformulating products to ensure benzene levels are minimized or eliminated.

You are welcome to send a message to jan@turi.org if you would like more information on any of these resources. Also, please tell us what topics you are particularly interested in monitoring, and who else should see GREENLIST. An online search of the TURI Library catalog can be done at http://greenlist.turi.org/ for greater topic coverage.

Compiled by the TURI Library, University of Massachusetts Lowell

This page updated Friday October 13 2006

TURI - Toxics Use Reduction Institute

Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 10/06/2006