Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 11/30/2007
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:
- Greening buildings, one step at a time
- MIT's 'electronic nose' could detect hazards
- Cereplast boosts PLA performance with nanotechnology
- The "six sins of greenwashing(tm)" : a study of environmental claims in North American consumer markets
- New data on a widely used flame retardant
- BSI to launch standards for nanotechnologies
- Trouble in Toyland: the 22nd annual survey of toy safety
- Massachusetts Chemical Fact Sheet : Lead
- Real vs. fake: which tree is greener?
- Comparing waterborne and solvent-borne paints for protecting steel in atmospheric exposures
1. Greening buildings, one step at a time
Author: Gale, Sarah Fister
Source: Greener Buildings, 2007
Abstract: The Doubletree Hotel in Portland, Ore., reduced its water usage last year by 308,000 gallons. And since July, the University of Maine has cut its water consumption by 20,000 gallons each day.
These organizations didn't achieve these results from dramatic architectural improvements or expensive new plumbing systems. The savings are instead the result of small changes in the ways the facilities are managed, such as the university composting more food instead of washing it through a garbage disposal. The hotel slashed water usage by replacing 300 toilets with 1.6 gallon-per-flush models.
Small moves toward daily sustainability are a part of a growing trend toward sustainable facilities management that goes beyond high-profile green initiatives, such as installing a solar power system or achieving LEED certification. This trend instead focuses on the daily minutiae of how a building is operated.
Link: http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=36319
2. MIT's 'electronic nose' could detect hazards
Author: Trafton, Anne
Source: MIT News
Reference: October 30, 2007
Abstract: A tiny "electronic nose" that MIT researchers have engineered with a novel inkjet printing method could be used to detect hazards including carbon monoxide, harmful industrial solvents and explosives.
Led by MIT professor Harry Tuller, the researchers have devised a way to print thin sensor films onto a microchip, a process that could eventually allow for mass production of highly sensitive gas detectors. The prototype sensor, created by Tuller, postdoctoral fellow Kathy Sahner and graduate student Woo Chul Jung, members of MIT's Electroceramics Group in MSE, consists of thin layers of hollow spheres made of the ceramic material barium carbonate, which can detect a range of gases. Using a specialized inkjet print head, tiny droplets of barium carbonate or other gas-sensitive materials can be rapidly deposited onto a surface, in any pattern the researchers design.
The miniature, low-cost detector could be used in a variety of settings, from an industrial workplace to an air-conditioning system to a car's exhaust system, according to Tuller. "There are many reasons why it's important to monitor our chemical environment," he said.
Link: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/printer-1030.html
3. Cereplast boosts PLA performance with nanotechnology
Author: Deligio, Tony
Source: Modern Plastics, November 16, 2007
Abstract: Cereplast has launched a bioresin based on NatureWorks polylactic acid (PLA) that it says can be used as a compostable high-temperature-resistant thermoforming plastic. CP-TH-6000 joins 15 grades of compostable resin, and it has a high-temperature limit of up to 155°F, up from a temperature resistance of 105°F for unmodified PLA. To increase the temperature resistance, Cereplast applied nanotechnology and a patented process technology.
Link: http://www.modplas.com/inc/
mparticle.php?section=eweekly&thefilename=eweekly11012007_40
4. The "six sins of greenwashing(tm)" : a study of environmental claims in North American consumer markets
Source: Terrachoice Environmental Marketing, 2007
Abstract: The recent surge of environmental awareness in North America is unmistakable. It has been documented by many researchers and widely reported in the popular press. The rise in “green” marketing claims has also been well documented. Less studied is the apparent increase in “greenwashing” – false or misleading green marketing claims.
In an effort to describe, understand, and quantify the growth of greenwashing, TerraChoice Environmental Marketing Inc. conducted a survey of six category-leading big box stores. Through these surveys, we identified 1,018 consumer products bearing 1,753 environmental claims. Of the 1,018 products examined, all but one made claims that are demonstrably false or that risk misleading intended audiences.
Based on the survey results, we identified six patterns in the greenwashing, which we now recognize as the “Six Sins of GreenwashingTM”.
Link: http://www.terrachoice.com/files/6_sins.pdf
5. New data on a widely used flame retardant
Source: ES & T Online News, November 21, 2007
Abstract: New research suggests that the flame retardant Dechlorane Plus (DP) is ubiquitous in the environment and may break down into more bioaccumulative compounds. DP is manufactured by OxyChem, and the U.S. EPA lists it as a high-production-volume (HPV) chemical.
Although DP has been used for more than 40 years, little toxicity data is available on it. Its structure is similar to that of banned organochlorine pesticides such as heptachlor, chlordane, and mirex, but its large molecular size is thought to hinder its bioavailability.
Xinghua Qiu and Ron Hites of Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs used tree bark samples to provide the first data on DP's prevalence in the atmosphere outside the Great Lakes region.
Tree bark is an effective passive sampler for airborne pollutants, Hites says. In addition to being highly porous, bark contains relatively high concentrations of lipids, "so it soaks up [the lipophilic compounds] we want to measure," he explains. Hites helped pioneer the technique of using bark from trees such as oaks, maples, and pines for this purpose 20 years ago.
The new research shows that atmospheric concentrations of DP near its only known manufacturing site, in Niagara Falls, N.Y., are 1–3 orders of magnitude higher than elsewhere in the U.S. The researchers found relatively high DP concentrations in bark samples from Korea and China, suggesting that the compound may also be manufactured in Asia, Hites says. Hites and Qiu document that the compound is found at low levels in European trees, but they did not find it in northern Canada.
Link: http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2007/nov/science/kb_treebark.html
6. BSI to launch standards for nanotechnologies
Author: Arminas, David
Source: PRW.com, November 23, 2007
Abstract: BSI British Standards is set to launch a series of standards and guides explaining nanoscience, the study of materials that are nano in size, meaning one-billionth of a metre.
BSI British Standards said that standards must be implemented at an early stage so that knowledge transfer is efficiently done while maintaining public awareness and consumer confidence.
The first guidance is to come out in January with the publication of six standards that will deal with nanotechnologies terminology. Three guides will also be published. These along with the existing PAS 71 – Vocabulary for Nanoparticles – will support safety testing, legislation and regulation as well as worker, public and environmental safety.
They will also cover commercialisation and procurement, patenting and intellectual property rights. The nine documents have been developed by a wide range of experts from industry, academia, government and professional organisations, brought together by BSI.
Link: http://www.prw.com/homePBP_NADetail_UP.aspx?
ID_Site=818&ID_Article=23986&mode=1&curpage=3
7. Trouble in Toyland: the 22nd annual survey of toy safety
Imprint: U.S. PIRG Education Fund, November 2007
Abstract: The 2007 Trouble in Toyland report is the 22nd annual Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) survey of toy safety. This report provides safety guidelines for parents when purchasing toys for small children and provides examples of toys currently on store shelves that may pose potential safety hazards. We visited numerous toy stores and other retailers to find potentially dangerous toys and identify trends in toy safety. This year, we focused on four categories of toys: toys that may pose choking hazards, magnetic toys, toys that are excessively loud, and toys that contain lead and other potentially toxic chemicals.
Link: http://www.uspirg.org/issues/toy-safety/trouble-in-toyland-report
8. Massachusetts Chemical Fact Sheet : Lead
Imprint: Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI), 2007
Abstract: This fact sheet is part of a series of chemical fact sheets developed by TURI to help Massachusetts companies, community organizations and residents understand the chemical’s health and environmental effects, how it is used and the availability of safer alternatives. Since companies report usage under the Toxics Use Reduction Act, readers will learn what Massachusetts companies are using the chemical and where.
Link: http://www.turi.org/content/view/full/4878
9. Real vs. fake: which tree is greener?
Author: Fornoff, Susan
Source: San Francisco Chronicle, November 28, 2007
Abstract: The question resembles the grocery store's "paper or plastic," except that we won't decorate our homes with those bags. We certainly won't admire them, plan parties around them and cozy up to them for a whiff of their fragrance.
The bags don't stir up memories of our idyllic (or deprived) childhoods, make us nostalgic for shopping sprees past or play any role in our shopping spirit. We're talking today about Christmas trees, tenderly cherished holiday traditions in homes all across the globe for hundreds of years, and wondering if we're doing more damage to the Earth by yanking a tree out of it every winter or by erecting the same, questionably manufactured and non-recyclable plastic-and-metal imitation for the next 10 winters.
If at first glance the choice seems like a no-brainer, think again. Then ask your local tree retailer where those real trees were shipped from, or how much petroleum went into the plastic for those fake trees. Go ahead and try to figure out how much gas you use shopping for your real tree every year for 10 years, how much fuel was used to transport that tree (and the air around it), how much energy the local waste company uses for its disposal, and compare that with the petroleum used to make the plastic tree, the fuel used to ship it (in its flat box) from somewhere in Asia, the gas you use shopping for it.
All of that calculating might yield a carbon footprint - ah, but what about the health effects of chemicals used to make the fake tree or grow the real tree? What about water depletion for the real tree? What about the combustibility of fakes? What about the impact of either on the U.S. economy, your wallet or your allergies?
Now, go ahead and do the right thing.
Link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/28/HOBPTEM5U.DTL
10. Comparing waterborne and solvent-borne paints for protecting steel in atmospheric exposures
Author: Fragata, F.; Almeida, E.; Santos, D.; de la Fuente, D.; Morcillo, M.
Source: Journal of Protective Coatings and Linings (JPCL), November 2007, pp40-56, 59
Abstract: This article presents the results of the authors’ research, which compares the anticorrosive performance of waterborne and solvent-borne paint systems on carbon steel plate in atmospheres of different corrosivity categories. In this article, a ‘waterborne coating’ is defined as one with a binder that is soluble or emulsifiable in water, and a ‘solvent-borne coating’ is defined as one with a binder that is soluble in organic solvents.
Link: http://www.paintsquare.com/library/articles/
Comparing_Waterborne_and_Solvent-borne_Paints_for_
Protecting_Steel_in_Atmospheric_Exposures.pdf
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 November 30 2007