Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 04/13/2007
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:
- New chemistry improves flame retardant materials
- Evaluation of genetic damage in Brazilian footwear-workers: biomarkers of exposure, effect and susceptibility
- Researcher examines polymers created with poultry feathers
- A world without waste
- Certain chemicals come under fire for harming human health
- Cells selectively absorb short nanotubes
- Are bugs the pests, or humans? Organic lawns take hold
- Export of toxic chemicals – A review of the case of uncontrolled electronic-waste recycling
- Pesticide maker sees profit when others see risks
- Living in a green world
1. New chemistry improves flame retardant materials
Source: University of Massachusetts Lowell, March 28, 2007
Abstract: Flame retardant materials save lives, but producing and living with them can be harmful to health and environment, and some formulations have been banned in the European Union. A new method of synthesizing such materials, developed by Professor Emeritus Arthur Watterson of the University of Massachusetts Lowell, aims to change the balance of benefit to risk. Watterson has been awarded a $40,000 Investigation Award in the latest round of funding by the Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center. These awards are intended to support the commercialization of innovative technology. The grant will support scale up of the new materials in order to test them.
The process uses a form of enzyme synthesis, sometimes referred to as “new chemistry” because it replaces the traditional use of heat and pressure to synthesize materials.
“The old method required 300° F. and 10 days for just a 20 percent yield,” says Watterson. “Now we are synthesizing in four to six hours at 90° F. and with no side products, such as halogens or phosphorus.” Halogens, which have been banned in Europe, are hard to get rid of in the environment; they are small molecules that show up in breast milk.
The new retardants use polysiloxanes, often used in medical applications; these are inert in the body and degrade to a sand-like material. As polymers, they don’t leach out of materials into the environment and, when combusted, the combustion products are non-toxic.
Link: http://www.uml.edu/Media/eNews/
Watterson%20MTTC%20grant,%203%207%2007,%20seitz.html
2. Evaluation of genetic damage in Brazilian footwear-workers: biomarkers of exposure, effect and susceptibility
Authors: Heuser, Vanina Dahlstrom; Erdtmann, Bernardo; Kvitko, Katia; Rohr, Paula; da Silva, Juliana
Source: Toxicology, April 2007, pp235-247
Abstract: Employees in the footwear manufacturing industry are routinely exposed to complex mixtures of solvents used in cleaning and as diluents in glues, primers, and degreasers. The objective of this study was to determine the genotoxic effects in a group of footwear-workers occupationally exposed to solvent-based adhesive and solutions containing organic solvents, mainly toluene. Peripheral blood and buccal cells samples were collected from 39 footwear-workers (31 males and 8 females) and 55 controls (44 males and 11 females). As biomarker of exposure, we obtained data on hippuric acid (HA), the main metabolite of toluene in urine, and DNA damage detected by the Comet assay in blood cells. Micronucleus frequencies in binucleated lymphocytes (BNMN) and in epithelial buccal cells (EBCMN) were analyzed as biomarkers of effect, while polymorphisms in genes GSTT1, GSTM1, GSTP1, CYP1A1, and CYP2E1 were used as susceptibility biomarkers. Results of HA and Comet assay showed statistical increased values amongst footwear-workers relative to controls (P ¡Ü 0.001). No differences were observed in BNMN and EBCMN frequencies between the groups, but a correlation test revealed that age was significantly associated with BNMN frequency in both control (rs = 0.290; P ¡Ü 0.05) and exposed groups (rs = 0.674; P ¡Ü 0.001). Regarding the results on genetic polymorphisms, GSTM1 null subjects from the control group showed a significant increase in EBCMN frequency relative to GSTM1 non-null subjects (P ¡Ü 0.05). A significant increase in DNA damage detected by Comet assay in leukocytes was obtained for GSTP1 Ile/Val or Val/Val individuals from the exposed group relative to those with GSTP1 Ile/Ile (P ¡Ü 0.05), especially in younger subjects (P ¡Ü 0.01), and a suggestion of interaction with CYP2E1 polymorphism was found. In confirmation of these data, stepwise multiple regression analyses for selecting between the different independent variables showed that about 25 of levels of the DNA damage in footwear-worker can be associated with genetic polymorphisms in GSTP1 and CYP2E1 (P = 0.006, F = 5.876).
3. Researcher examines polymers created with poultry feathers
Source: Virginia Tech Office of University Relations, April 3, 2007
Abstract: Justin Barone, associate professor of biological systems engineering at Virginia Tech, is investigating ways to create biodegradable plastics from agricultural byproducts such as poultry feathers and eggs that would be comparable to petroleum-based plastics. Biodegradable polymers created from such byproducts may add value to the poultry industry and help solve the growing environmental problem of plastic waste, according Barone. According to Barone, the technology to create biodegradable plastics from biomass, such as corn and soybeans, has been around for more than 70 years. However the recent push to increase energy production from these feedstocks has increased the value of these agricultural commodities, making products made from them more expensive.
Barone has turned his focus to the agricultural waste stream and is concentrating on developing ways to use under-utilized byproducts or agricultural waste, such as poultry feathers or eggs that don’t pass inspection. These agricultural wastes currently find uses in low-value animal feed or are simply disposed. Both come at a cost to the poultry industry that is passed onto consumers. Barone has found that altering the amino acid structure of keratin can improve the strength and longevity of the polymer. In addition, the viscosity can be improved with reducing agents such as sodium sulfite and lubricants such as poultry fat. The solid-state properties can also be modified using divalent transition metal ions to affect stiffness and smell. These will help the keratin polymer be processed faster, be more aesthetically pleasing, and become water resistant and stronger for increased longevity.
Link: http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/story.php?relyear=2007&itemno=205
4. A world without waste
Author: Winter, Jessica
Source: Boston Globe, March 11, 2007
Abstract: Imagine an industrial system in which nothing ever really dies or gets discarded. The highly "unnatural" processes of chemical engineering, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, and disposal would all aspire to a state of nature, where anything and everything is a renewable resource. The familiar three R's of "reduce, reuse, recycle" would apply not just to products at the end of their life span, but to the materials and methods that created them.
In this perfect system, each unit of energy consumed would be somehow offset. Every industrial byproduct would reassemble into something useful and benign. Every beam of sunlight, scrap of garbage, and flush of the toilet would be pressed into service. No exceptions. Humankind would make obsolete the very concept of "waste."
This is the environmental philosophy of "zero waste," a total vision of sustainability for our eco-panicked age. "Zero waste looks at what nature has given us as a model," says Larry Chalfan, executive director of the nonprofit Zero Waste Alliance in Portland, Ore. "Everything at the end of its life, whether it's a flower or a dead body, is recycled; there are no toxic substances or 'waste' built up anywhere to cause harm to future generations. Everything is a resource to be used again."
Zero waste may seem more of a Platonic ideal than a realistic objective. But a growing number of communities and businesses worldwide are adopting its principles, drawn to both its environmental and economic advantages. Corporations such as Wal-Mart, Nike, Toyota, and Ford have all set zero-waste targets for their operations, and so have the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and Seattle, among others. Outside the United States, New Zealand and regions of Australia and Canada have committed themselves to the zero-waste challenge, and Great Britain is touting the 2012 Olympics in London as the first "zero-waste games."
With its faint ring of the incredible, zero waste is in some ways still more of a buzz phrase, a branding concept for a big idea, than a reality. "We see it as an educational tool to get businesses thinking about what's in their trash," says Adam Mitchell, a partner in Save That Stuff, a waste management company in Charlestown.
But the idea it's selling is a vital one, challenging businesses not only to think about what is in their trash but also to rethink their definition of what trash is. As William McDonough and Michael Braungart wrote in their eco-design manifesto, "Cradle to Cradle" (2002), that stuff we throw away "is just the tip of a material iceberg . . . contain[ing] on average only 5 percent of the raw materials involved in the process of making and delivering it." As Chalfan puts it, "Recycling doesn't change what's already there. We have to rethink how products are made in the first place."
"The whole concept of zero waste may be unattainable -- it may be a mythical goal," says John Warner, director of the Center for Green Chemistry at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. "That doesn't mean it's not worth working toward the goal."
Link: http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2007/03/11/
a_world_without_waste/
5. Certain chemicals come under fire for harming human health
Author: Phillips, Kate
Source: Chemical Week, February 28, 2007, p33
Abstract: Certain chemicals found in personal care products have recently come under fire by several groups. More than two dozen shampoos, bubble baths, and body washes were tested by the independent testing lab West Coast Analytical Service (Santa Fe Springs, CA), and 18 products tested between 2005-2007 were found to contain 1,4-dioxane, a petroleum-derived contaminant that can potentially cause cancer, says The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (CSC; San Francisco), a coalition of health and environmental groups, along with David Steinman, founder of the environmental publishing firm Freedom Press (Topanga, CA). EPA classifies 1,4-dioxane as a probable human carcinogen. Approximately 15 of the tested products exceed the FDA’s recommended 1,4-dioxane level limits of less than 10 parts per million (ppm) in products, CSC says. The highest concentrations were found in two adult shampoos, with levels of 23 ppm, it says. Fifteen tested products posted levels at or under 10 ppm, with the lowest amount at 1.5 ppm, it adds.
The Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association (CTFA; Washington) says that products such as shampoos and bubble baths do not result in significant 1,4-dioxane exposure, however, because they are quickly rinsed off after use. The presence of 1,4-dioxane is “easily controlled,” CTFA says. “The low levels reported in these products are proof that the cosmetic industry is effectively keeping the levels far below any level that might be of concern,” it says.
6. Cells selectively absorb short nanotubes
Source: NIST Tech Beat, March 30, 2007
Abstract: DNA-wrapped single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) shorter than about 200 nanometers readily enter into human lung cells and so may pose an increased risk to health, according to scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Eyed for uses ranging from electronic displays to fuel cells to water filtration, SWCNTs are tiny cylinders—essentially single-sheet rolls of carbon atoms. They are many times stronger than steel and possess superlative thermal, optical and electronic properties, but safety and biocompatibility remain an open question. “Published data citing in vitro (outside the body) toxicity are particularly inconsistent and widely disputed,” writes biomaterials scientist Matthew Becker and his NIST colleagues. Public concerns surrounding the environmental, health and safety impacts of SWCNTs could derail efforts to fast track the development of nanotubes for advanced technology applications. A significant hurdle in outlining the parameters contributing to nanotube toxicity is to prepare well-defined and characterized nanotube samples, as they typically contain a distribution of lengths, diameters, twists and impurities.
The team chose to isolate the effects of nanotube length. They first adsorbed short DNA molecules onto the nanotubes because this renders them soluble in water and allows them to be sorted and separated by length. The researchers then exposed human lung fibroblasts to solutions containing unsorted nanotubes. Regardless of the concentration levels, the cells did not absorb between about one-fourth and one-third of the SWCNTs in the solutions. Further examination of the results revealed that only short nanotubes made it into the cellular interior.
In the next phase of the research, the team exposed the cells to sorted nanotubes of controlled length. They found that tubes longer than about 200 nanometers were excluded from the cells and remained in solution. Cells exposed to the longer nanotube solutions did not undergo a decrease in metabolic activity, but cells exposed to nanotubes below that threshold absorbed them and, depending on the concentration level, died or showed other signs of toxicity. “Our results demonstrate that cellular uptake in these lung cells depends significantly on the length of the nanotubes,” Becker explains. “This is the first of many steps in the critical goal of reducing health risk by de novo engineering of the nanotubes themselves.”
Link: http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/techbeat/tb2007_0330.htm#nanotubes
7. Are bugs the pests, or humans? Organic lawns take hold
Author: Land, Leslie
Source: New York Times, April 12, 2007
Abstract: For most Americans the ideal yard is a weedless lawn. Garden writers may extol alternatives like ground covers and wildflower meadows, but a picture-perfect green velvet rug has remained the goal, even though attaining it seemed to require an arsenal of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.
But that is beginning to change as organic lawn care companies and organic lawn care products enter the mainstream. It’s part of the same wave that has people buying organic food and hybrid cars, said Bruce Butterfield, research director at the National Gardening Association. “Ten years ago the only people who bought organic fertilizers were wearing Birkenstocks,” he said. “Now it’s soccer moms with minivans.”
The association’s most recent survey of environmental lawn and garden buying — conducted online by Harris Interactive from June 29 to July 1, 2004, and covering 2,498 adults nationwide — found only 5 percent of consumers buying all-organic products, spending about $450 million of the roughly $8.5 billion total for the year. But 10 percent said they planned to buy all-organic in the future. “My sense is that the market will double in the next five years, ” Mr. Butterfield said.
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/garden/12lawn.html
8. Export of toxic chemicals – A review of the case of uncontrolled electronic-waste recycling
Authors: Wong, M.H.; Wu, S.C.; Deng, W.J.; Yu, X.Z.; Luo, Q.; Leung, A.O.W.; Wong, C.S.C.; Luksemburg, W.J.; Wong, A.S.
Source: Environmental Pollution, Article-in-Press, available online April 6, 2007
Abstract: This paper reviews the concentrations of persistent organic pollutants such as flame retardants (PBDEs), dioxins/furans (PCDD/Fs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and heavy metals/metalloid concentrations of different environmental media at Guiyu, a traditional rice-growing village located in southeastern Guangdong Province (PR China), which has turned into an intensive electronic-waste (e-waste) recycling site. Incomplete combustion of e-waste in open air and dumping of processed materials are the major sources of various previous toxic chemicals. By comparing with existing data available in other areas and also guidelines adopted in different countries, it is obvious that the environment is highly contaminated by these previous toxic chemicals derived from the recycling processes. For example, the monthly concentration of the sum of 22 PBDE congeners contained in PM2.5 (16.8 ng m−3) of air samples at Guiyu was 100 times higher than published data. In order to safeguard the environment and human health, detailed investigations are urgently needed, especially on tracking the exposure pathways of different previous termtoxic chemicals which may affect the workers and local residents especially mothers, infants and children.
9. Pesticide maker sees profit when others see risks
Author: Miller, T. Christian
Source: Los Angeles Times, April 8, 2007
Abstract: From its factory on a lonely strip in Los Angeles' industrial sprawl, Amvac Chemical Corp. does a booming business selling some of the world's most dangerous pesticides. Amvac has fueled double-digit revenue growth through an unusual business practice: It has bought from larger companies the rights to older pesticides, many of them at risk of being banned or restricted because of safety concerns. The company has fought hard to keep those chemicals on the market as long as possible, hiring scientists and lawyers to do battle with regulatory agencies.
While profitable, Amvac's focus on older pesticides has come at a cost to human health and the environment, according to EPA and state records, regulatory investigations and a string of lawsuits. Accidents involving the company's pesticides have led to the evacuation of neighborhoods and the poisoning of scores of field workers in California and elsewhere.
Amvac is a leading maker of organophosphates, a class of older, highly toxic pesticides that has been under regulatory scrutiny since the late 1980s. As larger firms have stopped manufacturing some of their organophosphates, Amvac has bought the rights to make or sell 10 of them since 1989, according to company records and interviews.
One of them, mevinphos, was banned in the U.S. in 1994 after a study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that it was responsible for poisoning more field workers in California than any other agricultural chemical. Amvac continues selling the product overseas, according to company officials.
Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-amvac8apr08,1,2328216.story?track=rss
10. Living in a green world
Author: Chang, Joseph
Source: ICIS Chemical Business Americas, March 19-25, 2007, pp22-23
Abstract: With the national spotlight on the environment and global climate change, how can the industry maintain its global competitiveness? NRPA [National Petrochemical and Refiners Association] aims to fight back. Plans for broad, sweeping environmental legislation, ranging from caps on emissions to changes in the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to the revival of the Superfund tax, are all issues on the table in the 110th Congress.
NRPA will be involved in all the environmental discussions, highlighting the consequences of certain actions that will be detrimental to industry competitiveness and the US economy.
“Fighting back means being at the table, and NPRA is at the table when policymakers are having discussions on global climate change and any regulations that may emanate from those discussions” says Charles Drevna of NPRA. “NPRA’s position is that climate change policy has to be based upon cost-effective regulatory approaches that maintain the competitiveness of US refiners and petrochemical producers.”
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This page updated Friday April 13 2007