Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 06/01/2007
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:
- Health, safety, and ecological implications of using biobased floor-stripping products
- New EU rules on chemicals industry enter into force; environmentalists say not enough
- UMass Amherst scientists create fire-safe plastic
- Current commentary: Energy Economics 101
- Exposure of engineered nanoparticles to human lung epithelial cells: influence of chemical composition and catalytic activity on oxidative stress
- Rohm & Haas boosts green R&D spending
- Self-regulatory institutions for solving environmental problems: perspectives and contributions from the management literature
- Keeping it green
- State energy profiles: Massachusetts
- Clean water, clean conscience
1. Health, safety, and ecological implications of using biobased floor-stripping products
Authors: Massawe, Ephraim; Geiser, Ken; Ellenbecker, Michael; Marshall, Jason
Source: Journal of Environmental Health, May 2007, pp45-52
Abstract: The main objective of the study reported here was to investigate the ecological, health, and safety (EHS) implications of using biobased floor strippers as alternatives to solvent-based products. The authors applied a quick EHS-scoring technique developed by the Surface Solutions Laboratory (SSL) of the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) to some alternative, biobased products that had previously performed as well or close to as well as the currently used product. The quick technique is considered an important step in EHS assessment, particularly for toxics use reduction planners and advocates who may not have the resources to subject many alternative products of processes at once to detailed EHS analysis. The cost of switching to biobased floor strippers was assessed and compared with the cost of using the traditional product, both at full strength and at the dilution ratios recommended by the respective manufacturers. All eight biobased, or green, products evaluated in the study had better EHS-screening scores than did the solvent-based product. These results indicate that biobased cleaning products capable of floor stripping are potentially better than traditional products with respect to the five EHS parameters used.
2. New EU rules on chemicals industry enter into force; environmentalists say not enough
Source: International Herald Tribune/Associated Press, June 1, 2007
Abstract: Far-reaching rules governing the multibillion-euro chemicals industry entered into force Friday, but environmentalists and consumer groups complained the legislation does not go far enough to protect human health.
The law bans some of the most dangerous chemicals from use in the 27-nation European Union. Some 30,000 other substances used in products ranging from detergents to toys will have to be registered in an EU database.
The law — known as REACH, for Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals — is a compromise balancing health and environmental concerns against fears that excessive red tape would stifle business. It puts the burden of proof on companies to show that industrial chemicals and substances used in everyday products are safe. Businesses are critical of the law, arguing the registration of products they make will cost up to €5.2 billion (US$7 billion) and involve excessive bureaucracy.
Environmentalists and consumers, on the other hand, are concerned that not enough chemicals will get tested, and that many high-concern chemicals may be allowed onto the market if producers can prove they can adequately control them.
Link: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/01/europe/EU-GEN-EU-Chemicals.php
3. UMass Amherst scientists create fire-safe plastic
Source: UMass Amherst Office of News & Information, May 30, 2007
Abstract: Scientists from the University of Massachusetts Amherst have created a synthetic polymer—a building block of plastics—that doesn’t burn, making it an attractive alternative to traditional plastics, many of which are so flammable they are sometimes referred to as “solid gasoline.”
The new polymer wouldn’t need the flame-retardant chemicals that are added to many plastics before they can be used in bus seats, airplanes, textiles and countless household items. Some of these additives have been showing up in dust in homes and offices, fish, fat cells and breast milk, raising concern that they pose a risk to human health and the environment. (Last month the state of Washington banned a class of flame-retardants from use in household items from mattresses to computers—the first state to do so.) When something burns, it decomposes thermally; some of it becomes a gas—that’s what burns as flame—and what doesn’t burn becomes what polymer scientists refer to as “char”—that’s the solid that is left behind. The goal when creating flame-resistant plastics is to have a very high char yield—more char means less fire and fewer volatile chemicals being released. Most common plastics burn readily (polypropylene has a char yield of zero), so fire-retardant additives are mixed in—these often are halogenated molecules that contain reactive chemicals such as chlorine, bromine or phosphorous. These additives have been particularly effective at reducing the flammability of plastics, but have come under increased scrutiny for being potentially damaging to human health and the environment.
The polymer that the UMass Amherst team synthesized has a naturally high char yield (70 percent) and doesn’t contain any halogens. It uses bishydroxydeoxybenzoin or BHDB as a building block, which releases water vapor when it breaks down in a fire, rather than hazardous gasses. The synthetic polymer seems to have all the desired qualities of a flame resistant plastic: it is clear, flexible, durable and much cheaper to make than the high-temperature and heat-resistant plastics in current use, which tend to be brittle and dark in color.
Link: http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/newsreleases/articles/53157.php
4. Current commentary: Energy Economics 101
Author: Kubu, Miles
Source: Northwest Energy News + Analysis, May 30, 2007
Abstract: While many facility managers fully support energy conservation measures, trying to convince their company’s CFO to invest in energy efficiency can be an uphill battle. Making the business case for energy efficiency is the first step to any energy-efficient upgrade — and it’s easier than many might expect.
The increasing cost of energy is catching business customers by surprise. While our region’s demand for more power appears to be ever-increasing, millions of dollars are wasted on inefficient building systems that use more electricity than needed. By using energy conservation as the framework for capital improvement decisions, businesses can often gain operational and financial benefits beyond their expectations.
Energy conservation measures should be viewed as unrealized cash streams waiting to be tapped. When measured in financial terms, energy conservation measures can generate significant returns (20 to 60 percent) on capital improvement costs. Such numbers will make any CFO sit up and take notice.
So, why aren’t all businesses doing more to save money? Often the costs of implementing the energy conservation measures are greater than the company’s allowance for annual capital improvements. Therefore, the conundrum is “How does one benefit from energy saving measures if one cannot afford them?”
Link: http://www.nwcurrent.com/commentary/guest/7691532.html
5. Exposure of engineered nanoparticles to human lung epithelial cells: influence of chemical composition and catalytic activity on oxidative stress
Authors: Limbach, Ludwig K.; Wick, Peter; Manser, Pius; Grass, Robert N.; Bruinink, Arie; Stark, Wendelin J.
Source: Environmental Science & Technology, June 1, 2007, pp4158-4163
Abstract: The chemical and catalytic activity of nanoparticles has strongly contributed to the current tremendous interest in engineered nanomaterials and often serves as a guiding principle for the design of functional materials. Since it has most recently become evident that such active materials can enter into cells or organisms, the present study investigates the level of intracellular oxidations after exposure to iron-, cobalt-, manganese-, and titania-containing silica nanoparticles and the corresponding pure oxides in vitro. The resulting oxidative stress was quantitatively measured as the release of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The use of thoroughly characterized nanoparticles of the same morphology, comparable size, shape, and degree of agglomeration allowed separation of physical (rate of particle uptake, agglomeration, sedimentation) and chemical effects (oxidations). Three sets of control experiments elucidated the role of nanoparticles as carriers for heavy metal uptake and excluded a potential interference of the biological assay with the nanomaterial. The present results indicate that the particles could efficiently enter the cells by a Trojan-horse type mechanism which provoked an up to eight times higher oxidative stress in the case of cobalt or manganese if compared to reference cultures exposed to aqueous solutions of the same metals. A systematic investigation on iron-containing nanoparticles as used in industrial fine chemical synthesis demonstrated that the presence of catalytic activity could strongly alter the damaging action of a nanomaterial. This indicates that a proactive development of nanomaterials and their risk assessment should consider chemical and catalytic properties of nanomaterials beyond a mere focus on physical properties such as size, shape, and degree of agglomeration.
6. Rohm & Haas boosts green R&D spending
Source: Processing Magazine, May 28, 2007
Abstract: Specialty materials company Rohm and Haas Co. said it will devote half of its $300 million research and development budget in 2007 to environmentally advanced technologies, its largest percentage yet, according to the Associated Press. The Philadelphia-based company is investing in new products to help make industrial paints more environmentally friendly, reduce the formaldehyde content in household items and reduce chemical gas emissions from coatings for bridges. Rohm and Haas has been steadily boosting the percentage of its R&D budget going to environmentally advanced technologies over the past several years, up from about 20 percent in 2002. Among the investments are products to help make water-based acrylic paints more effective for painting highway lane markers. Governments already use mostly water-based acrylic paints, rather than solvent-based paints, but the acrylics aren't as effective when the air temperature falls. With new technology, industrial paint makers are able to improve acrylic paints, allowing them to be used later in the year. New technology, such as water-based resins, is also allowing more fiberglass insulation to be made without formaldehyde, high amounts of which can be toxic.
Link: http://www.processingmagazine.com/news.asp?NewsID=448
7. Self-regulatory institutions for solving environmental problems: perspectives and contributions from the management literature
Authors: King, Andrew; Toffel, Michael W.
Source: Harvard Business School, May 2007
Abstract: What role can business managers play in protecting the natural environment? Academic research on when it might "pay to be green" has advanced understanding of how and when firms achieve sustained competitive advantage. The focus of such research, however, has begun to change in light of limits to available "win-win" opportunities and to gaps in regulation. This paper, intended as a book chapter, reviews current literature and explores the potential of self-regulatory institutions to solve environmental problems. Key concepts include:
* Firms have created self-regulatory institutions to mitigate the risk of common sanctions and to address information asymmetries regarding production and employment practices.
* Some self-regulatory institutions appear to reduce asymmetries in information, others to facilitate coordinated investment in solutions to common problems.
* Future research needs to identify the factors that lead some, but not all, self-regulatory institutions to be effective routes to solving environmental problems.
* The literature reviewed here is proving valuable to scholars who study the self-regulation of standards, knowledge sharing, and open-source software development.
Link: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5690.html
8. Keeping it green
Author: Van Noorden, Richard
Source: Chemistry World, May 25, 2007
Abstract: Some chemistry enthusiastically labelled as green may be nothing of the kind, warn researchers who worry that mediocre - if well-meaning - science is damaging their subject.
Supporting green chemistry sounds like a no-brainer. Who wouldn't want to promote sustainable, cleaner chemical processes and products, less hazardous to humans and the environment, and providing economic benefits to industry? Indeed, since growing pains in the 1990s, when the subject was sometimes dismissed as a 'soft' buzzword, green chemistry has flourished. The field is now helpfully focused on 12 principles invented by Paul Anastas, at Yale University, US, and John Warner, of the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, US. Its research is published in dedicated journals such as Green Chemistry and Clean -- with another, Green Chemistry Letters & Reviews, launching this year.
International green chemistry prizes are awarded to academic and industrial researchers for developing new processes, solvents and catalysts, and, in the UK, the Engineering and Physical Sciences research council has directly targeted £2 million this year at green and sustainable chemistry.
Unfortunately, this welcome bandwagon of support has attracted research which trots out green claims without sufficient thought. 'Often new chemistry technology labelled as green is, on closer analysis, not so environmentally friendly,' sums up Andrew Wells, head of green chemistry R&D at AstraZeneca. Wells recently co-authored a paper in Angewandte Chemie pointing out that water - apparently a safe and environmentally friendly solvent - is not always so green: in reactions catalysed by small organic molecules, the final waste-stream of water contaminated with organics may be difficult and costly to clean up. Similarly, says Walter Leitner, editor of Green Chemistry, using a renewable feedstock may not make a reaction greener, if the new process turns out to be inefficient, hazardous, or hard to clean up.
Link: http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2007/May/25050701.asp
9. State energy profiles: Massachusetts
Source: Energy Information Administration (EIA), May 31, 2007
Abstract: Massachusetts has no fossil fuel reserves but does possess substantial renewable energy resources. The State’s Atlantic coast in the east and the Berkshire Mountains in the west offer considerable wind power potential, and much of the State is covered in dense forest, offering potential fuelwood resources. Massachusetts is the most densely populated State in New England. Per capita energy consumption is low and the Massachusetts economy is one of the least energy intensive in the Nation. The residential and transportation sectors lead State energy consumption.
Before 1990, petroleum-fired power plants led electricity production in Massachusetts. However, electricity generation from petroleum-fired power plants has declined steadily since 1990, as State power producers have reduced use of the fuel in favor of cleaner-burning natural gas. As in other New England States, the switch from petroleum to natural gas has been driven by the benefits of the lower emission levels of natural gas compared with other fossil fuels and the ease of siting new natural gas-fired power plants. Today, natural gas-fired power plants are the State’s leading power producers, accounting for more than two-fifths of net generation. Coal delivered from Colorado and West Virginia is the State’s second leading generation fuel, typically accounting for one-fourth of net electricity production. The Pilgrim nuclear power plant located in Plymouth on Cape Cod Bay also contributes to the Massachusetts grid.
Although renewable energy contributes only minimally to net generation, Massachusetts has several small hydroelectric facilities and is one of the Nation’s leading producers of electricity from landfill gas and municipal solid waste. If a proposed 420-megawatt wind power project in Nantucket Sound is built, it could become the Nation’s first offshore wind farm. However, the high-profile project faces significant opposition from area landowners.
Residential electricity use is lower in Massachusetts than the national average, in part because demand for air-conditioning is minimal during mild summer months, and because few households use electricity as their primary energy source for home heating.
Link: http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/state/state_energy_profiles.cfm?sid=MA#
10. Clean water, clear conscience
Author: Zandonella, Catherine
Source: The Green Guide 119, March/April 2007
Abstract: Clean and abundant water is something we take for granted in America, even as we persist in polluting waterways with yard-care pesticides, agricultural wastes and other contaminants. But new studies showing that young children, whose bodies are still developing, face the greatest risk from these pollutants ought to make us reconsider how we treat our most essential natural resource. As spring approaches, keep in mind that the chemicals that seem to make life easier can present problems to your family's health and that of the environment.
Pesticides and herbicides must be handled cautiously, yet homeowners often fail to read directions, neglect to wear protective clothing, track chemicals into the home and allow kids and pets to play on freshly treated grass. "People assume that because they see a product in the store, it is perfectly safe," says Jane Nogaki, pesticide program coordinator for the New Jersey Environmental Federation, "and that simply is not the case."
Another threat to water supplies comes from high-density poultry and hog farms known as concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs. In the last 30 years, more animals have been concentrated on fewer farms and as a result more waste has been dumped in nearby "lagoons" that may overflow during heavy rains. These wastes are thick with nitrogen and phosphorous, two nutrients that in high quantities can contribute to nitrate pollution as well as bacterial and algal blooms in nearby waterways used for recreation or drinking.
Not all drinking water contaminants come from human activity. Arsenic occurs naturally in some groundwater throughout North America. A study published last spring shows that exposure in utero and in early childhood increases the risk of lung disease and lung cancer in adulthood. "This is the first study to report increased young adult mortality following early life exposure to arsenic in water," said Allan H. Smith, M.D., Ph.D., an epidemiologist at the University of California, Berkeley's School of Public Health.
Link: http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/119/healthnews
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://slk060.liberty3.net/turi/ for greater topic coverage.
This page updated Friday June 01 2007