Greenlist Bulletin
From the Toxics Use Reduction Institute
at the University of Massachusetts Lowell
October 12, 2012
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This is the weekly bulletin of the TURI Library at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Greenlist Bulletin provide s 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 mary@turi.org if you would like more information on any of the articles listed here, or if this email is not displaying properly.
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| NEWMOA Introduces Green Lodging Calculator | Source: Green Lodging News, October 3, 2012
BOSTON--The Northeast Waste Management Officials' Association (NEWMOA) announces the launch of the "Green Lodging Calculator," an online tool to help lodging facilities, government programs, and technical assistance providers estimate the financial and environmental benefits from sustainable practices. Users answer a few simple questions about the lodging operations and sustainable practices, and the calculator provides estimates of the resulting environmental outcomes and cost savings.
The calculator contains more than 40 individual metrics for 18 practices that lodging facilities might implement as part of their sustainable initiatives. These include activities resulting in: water conservation, reductions in chemical use, reductions in energy use, waste reduction, reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and financial savings.
Read more...
Access calculator here.
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| Study maps greenhouse gas emissions to building, street level for U.S. cities | Source: Arizona State University, October 9, 2012
Arizona State University researchers have developed a new software system capable of estimating greenhouse gas emissions across entire urban landscapes, all the way down to roads and individual buildings. Until now, scientists quantified carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions at a much broader level.
Dubbed "Hestia" after the Greek goddess of the hearth and home, researchers presented the new system in an article published Oct. 9 in Environmental Science and Technology. Hestia combines extensive public database "data-mining" with traffic simulation and building-by-building energy-consumption modeling. Its high-resolution maps clearly identify CO2 emission sources in a way that policymakers can utilize and the public can understand.
Read more...
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| Mercury exposure in womb linked to ADHD symptoms | Source: CNN Health, October 8, 2012
Author: Amanda Gardner
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) appears to be on the rise in the United States, and in the search for explanations researchers have begun to scrutinize fetal exposure to a wide range of toxins, including lead, tobacco, pesticides, and chemicals such as PCBs.
Mercury, a metal that affects the nervous system, is among the latest suspects to be investigated. And in a new study, researchers report that children who are exposed to higher levels of mercury in the womb are more likely to exhibit attention problems, hyperactivity, and other ADHD symptoms when they're 8 years old.
Read more...
Read "Prenatal Exposure to Mercury and Fish Consumption During Pregnancy and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder-Related Behavior in Children."
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Automotive Wire
| Source: Wire Journal International, Volume 45, Number 10, October 2012, Pgs. 46-60
Author: Richard Mack
CRU International provides its perspective of the automotive wiring market, focusing on the impact of electrically powered vehicles. Also, WJI looks at a future "wireless" charging station and the outlook for more aluminum wire. . . .
According to a presentation by Francois Schoeffler, Marketing Manager in the Automotive and Embedded Solutions Unit at Acome, given at CRU's June, 2012 Wire and Cable Conference in Vienna, a compact or "C-class" car has 1.2 km of wire in it, and more than 90% of this is 0.5 mm in diameter, or greater.
Please contact TURI if you are interested in reading more about this subject.
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New Piezoelectric Material is Based on PLA
| Source: Plastics Engineering, October 2012, Pgs. 44-46
Teijin Limited and Kansai University (Japan) have ... developed a flexible, transparent piezoelectric material that demonstrates unprecedented piezoelectric effects. The material is based on PLA, a polyester derived from renewable resources. . . .
Reportedly the world's first binary-blended PLA multilayer film with piezoelectric performance that surpasses that of lead zirconate titanate (PZT), a conventional and widely used piezoelectric material, the new material is expected to pave the way for larger and more lightweight products that have been difficult to achieve, Teijin says.
Read more...
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| CPI Launches New Regulatory Compliance Assistance Program for TDI Emissions | Source: American Chemistry Council, July 2012
Author: Marie Francis
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Center for the Polyurethanes Industry (CPI) of the American Chemistry Council (ACC) has launched a new program designed to help manufacturers, processors and other users of toluene diisocyanate (TDI) with calculating emissions to meet mandatory reporting obligations to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). CPI's Regulatory Compliance Assistance Program (RCAP) is a tool to help facilities calculate their Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) reporting.
Read more... For more information and links to TDI and MDI emissions calculators, visit CPI's RCAP page. |
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| Please send a message to mary@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.
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Greenlist Bulletin is compiled by:
Mary Butow
TURA Program Research Assistant
Toxics Use Reduction Institute
University of Massachusetts Lowell
600 Suffolk St., Wannalancit Mills
Lowell MA 01854
978-934-4365
978-934-3050 (fax)
mary@turi.org
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