Greenlist Bulletin 12/04/2009
This is the weekly bulletin of the TURI Library at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Greenlist Bulletin provides previews of recent publications and websites relevant to reducing the use of toxic chemicals by industries, businesses, communities, individuals and government. 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:
- Expert panel recommends listing formaldehyde as known human carcinogen
- Life cycle assessment of illluminants: a comparison of light bulbs, compact fluorescent lamps and LED lamps
- Childhood lead exposure causes permanent brain damage
- The 5 principles of "Design for Safer Nanotechnology"
- EPA releases guide to help scientists understand children's exposure to pollutants
- Swimmers, hoppers and fliers: how do toxic chemicals move around the planet?
- Toy Safety Directive
- Case of the toxic gingerbread man
1. Expert panel recommends listing formaldehyde as known human carcinogen
Source: NIEHS, December 2009
Author: Robin Mackar
On November 4, a 10-member independent scientific expert panel convened by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) voted unanimously to list formaldehyde as a "known human carcinogen" in the upcoming 12th NTP Report on Carcinogens (RoC). Currently, formaldehyde is listed in the 11th RoC as "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen." The vote came after three days of presentations, public comments and lengthy discussions of the body of literature on this widely used chemical.
"The decision to change the listing status of formaldehyde is based on sufficient evidence in human epidemiology studies, as well as in animal studies, and the fact that a substantial number of U.S. residents are frequently exposed to detectable concentrations of formaldehyde," said Kenneth E. McMartin, Ph.D., chair of the expert panel. McMartin is a member of the Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Neuroscience at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport.
Formaldehyde is a high production chemical with a wide variety of uses. In the United States, formaldehyde is predominantly used to produce industrial resins that are used as adhesives and binders in wood products. It can be found in products such as particle board, glues, permanent press fabrics, paper product coatings, fiberboard and plywood. Formaldehyde is also commonly known for its use as a preservative in medical laboratories and mortuaries. Read more
2. Life cycle assessment of illluminants: a comparison of light bulbs, compact fluorescent lamps and LED lamps
Source: OSRAM Opto Semiconductors GmbH and Siemens Corporate Technology, November 2009
OSRAM Opto Semiconductors‘ study on the life cycle assessment (LCA) compared the environmental performance of three different types of lamps: a conventional light bulb (GLS), a compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) and a light-emitting diode lamp (LED lamp). In order to evaluate lamps and how they actually deal with energy and resources, it is not enough just to consider energy consumption while they are in use. The aim of this LCA is therefore to analyze the environmental impact of an LED lamp over its entire life and to compare it to a CFL and a GLS. The relevant material and energy supplies, including all input and outputs, were determined in detail for all the LED lamp's components and production processes. Apart from a detailed analysis of each individual production stage, for LED chips and lamp housings, for example, these also include all necessary transports.
Apart from the primary energy and resource consumption, the impact on the environment corresponding to selected environmental impact categories, i.e. acidification, eutrophication, photochemical ozone depletion and human toxicity was evaluated. A comparison of the life cycle of three lamp types was accomplished: a 40 W GLS, an 8 W
CFL Dulux Superstar and an 8 W Parathom LED lamp.
Main findings:
Less than 2% of the total energy demand is needed for production of the LED lamp The manufacturing phase is insignificant in comparison to the use phase for all three lamps as it uses less than 2% of the total energy demand. This study has dismissed any concern that production of LEDs particularly might be very energy-intensive. Merely about 0.4 kWh are needed for production of an LED (OSRAM Golden Dragon Plus), about 9.9 kWh for the production of the Parathom LED lamp including 6 LEDs.
LED lamps are competitive to CFL today In contrast to the primary energy consumption of incandescent lamps of around 3,302
kWh, CFL and LED lamps use less than 670 kWh of primary energy during their entire life. Thus 80% of energy can be saved by using CFL or LED lamps. The bottom line is that LED lamps are more efficient than conventional incandescent lamps and also ahead in terms of environmental friendliness. Even today, LED lamps show nearly identical impact on the environment compared to CFL.
Future improvements of LED lamps will further cut down energy demand. As the efficiency of LEDs continues to increase, LED lamps will be capable of saving more energy and achieving even better LCA results in future.
3. Childhood lead exposure causes permanent brain damage
Source: Radiological Society of North America, December 1, 2009
A study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to evaluate brain function revealed that adults who were exposed to lead as children incur permanent brain injury. The results were presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
"What we have found is that no region of the brain is spared from lead exposure," said the study's lead author, Kim Cecil, Ph.D., imaging scientist at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and professor of radiology, pediatrics and neuroscience at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. "Distinct areas of the brain are affected differently."
The study is part of a large research project called the Cincinnati Lead Study, a long-term lead exposure study conducted through the Cincinnati Children's Environmental Health Center, a collaborative research group funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Cincinnati Lead Study followed prenatal and early childhood lead exposure of 376 infants from high-risk areas of Cincinnati between 1979 and 1987. Over the course of the project, the children underwent behavioral testing and 23 blood analyses that yielded a mean blood lead level.
"Lead exposure has been associated with diminished IQ, poor academic performance, inability to focus and increased risk of criminal behavior," Dr. Cecil said.
Dr. Cecil's study involved 33 adults who were enrolled as infants in the Cincinnati Lead Study. The mean age of the study participants, which included 14 women and 19 men, was 21 years. The participants' mean blood lead levels ranged from 5 to 37 micrograms per deciliter with a mean of 14. Participant histories showed IQ deficiencies, juvenile delinquency and a number of criminal arrests.
According to Dr. Cecil, the brain's white matter, which organizes and matures at an early age, adapts to lead exposure, while the frontal lobe, which is the last part of the brain to develop, incurs multiple insults from lead exposure as it matures.
"Many people think that once lead blood levels decrease, the effects should be reversible, but, in fact, lead exposure has harmful and lasting effects," she said.
4. The 5 principles of "Design for Safer Nanotechnology"
Source: Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 18, Issue 3 (February 2010), Pages 285-289
Author: Gregory Morose
Nanoparticles have been incorporated in hundreds of different types of products, and the novel properties of nanomaterials offer great promise to provide new technological breakthroughs. However, nanotechnology is an emerging technology which has potential health and safety risks throughout its product life cycle. The health risk of a nanoparticle is a function of both its hazard to human health and its exposure potential. It is prudent for companies to try to mitigate the potential risks of nanoparticles during the design stage rather than downstream during manufacturing or customer use. The intent of this paper is to propose five design principles for product designers to use during the design stage for products that contain nanoparticles. By using these design principles, the health risk of the nanoparticle may be mitigated by potentially lowering the hazard and/or the exposure potential of the nanoparticle. These proposed design principles are largely untested and are offered as an initial framework that will require more testing, validation, and refinement.
5. EPA releases guide to help scientists understand children's exposure to pollutants
Source: USEPA, October 27, 2009
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today released a user-friendly document to help risk assessors understand how children are exposed to pollution. The document, titled “Highlights of the Child-Specific Exposure Factors Handbook,” serves as a quick-reference guide to the more comprehensive “Child-Specific Exposure Factors Handbook,” published by EPA in 2008. It will serve as an additional resource for those who work on children’s health issues, which the agency has been highlighting during Children’s Health Month.
EPA developed the reference guide to provide important information necessary for answering questions about exposure through drinking water, breathing, and eating foods, such as:
* How much exposure to environmental pollutants might children get if they live or play near contaminated sites?
* How much dirt from a child’s hands might s/he inadvertently eat?
* How much of a child’s exposure to various pollutants might come from skin contact?
* Which age groups (childhood life stages) may inhale or ingest the most and thus may be at higher risks?
More information on the documents: http://www.epa.gov/childexpfactors/highlights
6. Swimmers, hoppers and fliers: how do toxic chemicals move around the planet?
Source: Scientific American, November 23, 2009
Author: Elizabeth Grossman
Even hundreds of miles from the nearest industrial or agricultural activity, the sea ice, ocean, and Arctic plants and animals regularly yield evidence of elemental and synthetic chemical contamination. This contamination includes not only herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides—chemicals that are used in open air, may have washed directly into rivers or are released from factories—but also metals, among them mercury as well as flame retardants and water repellants, among other substances that are, at least in theory, incorporated into the materials of the products they’re designed to enhance.
Among the errant compounds now found regularly in the Arctic, for example, are brominated flame retardants, including those known as PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) used widely in upholstery foam, textiles, and plastics. Also routinely recorded in the far north—some at remarkably high levels—are perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) used as stain repellants, waterproofing agents, and industrial surfactants (think Scotch-guard, Teflon, Gore-Tex, and the slick coating on paper used in food packaging such as pizza boxes, candy wrappers, and microwave popcorn bags).
These same compounds are now being detected in animals and people all over the world. A network of more than forty sampling sites has found evidence of synthetic chemicals that do not break down into nontoxic components—a mix of pesticides, fossil-fuel emissions, and industrial compounds—virtually everywhere it looked, from Antarctica, North America, Australia, and Africa to Iceland. A recent five-year study conducted in U.S. national parks across the American West and Alaska found these same contaminants in the majority of its snow, soil, water, plant, and fish samples.
By taking samples at numerous study sites over extended periods of time, scientists have discovered that some contaminants travel entirely by air—these are what Frank Wania of the University of Toronto calls fliers. Some—the swimmers—stay in the water, circulating with ocean currents. Most are hoppers, though; they make their way north in what’s been dubbed the grasshopper effect, a series of air- and waterborne hops, moving toward the Arctic with cyclical and seasonal patterns of evaporation and condensation.
7. Toy Safety Directives
Source: European Commission, June 30, 2009
On 30 June 2009 the new Toy Safety Directive was published. It substantially amends the old Directive across virtually all safety aspects. It fulfils to the highest level the newest health and safety standards. It improves the existing rules for the marketing of toys that are produced in and imported into the EU in view to reducing toy related accidents and achieving long-term health benefits.
According to its Better Regulation initiative, the Commission has also engaged in simplifying the current legislative framework and increasing its quality and efficiency.
The Directive 2009/48/EC applies to toys defined as "products designed or intended, whether or not exclusively, for use in play by children under 14 years of age". It foresees 19 products not to be considered as toys within the meaning of the Directive and 5 toys the Directive is not applying to (for example, toy steam engines, slings…etc.).
This new Directive came into force on the 20 July 2009, and will become a legal document in all Member States once it has been implemented into national legislation (by 20 January 2011).The Member States must begin applying the new measures from 20 of July 2011.
The Member States have 18 months to implement the new directive, during this transitional period both the old and the new Directives may be used. The Member States must begin applying the new measures from 20 July 2011.
It brings in particular more references on chemicals into the Directive itself by limiting the amounts of certain chemicals that may be contained in materials used for toys.
Chemicals that are susceptible to provoke cancer, change genetic information or harm reproduction, so-called CMR (Carcinogenic, Mutagenic or toxic for Reproduction) substances, are no longer allowed in accessible parts of toys. For certain substances like nickel the tolerable limit values have been reduced and those heavy metals which are particularly toxic, like lead or mercury, may no longer be intentionally used in toys. Allergenic fragrances are either completely forbidden, if they have a strong allergenic potential, or have to be labelled on the toy if they are potentially allergenic for some consumers.
Recognising that this is a more complicated area, the parts of the Directive relating to chemical content will come into force on 20 July 2013.
8. Case of the toxic gingerbread man
Source: ScienceNews, November 21, 2009
Author: Janet Raloff
Why did researchers take a knife to a cute little plastic gingerbread man? To make him give up the source of his toxic fumes.
Or so explained Bill Doucette, this morning, in a particularly entertaining session at the Society for Toxicology and Environmental Chemistry’s annual meeting. But the underlying message that this Utah State University scientist brought home to his audience was anything but funny. He graphically illustrated that hidden dangers may lurk in surprising places.
Doucette’s team stumbled upon the polluting Christmas ornament while puzzling out the source of some indoor-air anomalies detected by Hill Air Force Base, an aircraft-maintenance facility north of Salt Lake City.
Toxic chlorinated solvents released by the base led to contamination of a shallow groundwater reservoir. A pollutant plume containing 1,2-dichloroethane, or DCA, and trichloroethylene, or TCE, migrated out from under the base.
Vapors from these highly volatile chemicals can seep into homes as the pollutants flow beneath them. Fortunately, there are techniques to keep most of those fugitive vapors out (techniques similar to those used for keeping radon gas from entering homes). And Hill AFB installed such systems in homes where these chemicals polluted groundwater and indoor air.
“We got involved,” Doucette explains, “only after [Hill AFB] had installed vapor removal systems and found some were not reducing the concentrations of this particular compound [DCA].” A second hint that something was hinky: Hill found that DCA and TCE concentrations in the air of these homes didn’t match the ratio present in groundwater.
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://library.turi.org for greater topic coverage.
This page updated Friday December 04 2009