Greenlist Bulletin
From the Toxics Use Reduction Institute
at the University of Massachusetts Lowell
June 28, 2013
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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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| OSHA to Target Key Coating Chemical | Source: PaintSquare, June 27, 2013
Federal health and safety authorities have announced a new crackdown on worker exposure to a chemical commonly used in protective and marine coatings.
Isocyanates, commonly used in paints, coatings, spray-on polyurethane products, and building insulation materials, are the focus of a new National Emphasis Program by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The chemicals can cause occupational asthma; irritation of the skin, eyes, nose and throat; and cancer, OSHA reports. Isocyanate exposures have also caused deaths due to both asthma and hypersensitivity pneumonitis.
Read more...
Check out OSHA's special topic page on isocyanates. |
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Addition of a Nonylphenol Category - Proposed Rule
| Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, June 20, 2013
On June 20, 2013, EPA announced that it is proposing to add a nonylphenol category to the TRI list of reportable chemicals. The Agency's proposal is part of its ongoing efforts to examine the scope of TRI chemical coverage and provide communities with more complete information on toxic chemical releases.
Nonylphenol is highly toxic to aquatic organisms and has been found in natural waters. Because of nonylphenol's toxicity, chemical properties, and widespread use to make other chemicals, concerns have been raised over the potential risks to aquatic organisms from exposure to nonylphenol.
Read more...
Access proposed rule here.
A team from UMass Lowell, that also received an academic research grant from TURI, won an EPA P3 award for developing "'Greener' Surfactants from Bio-based Waste as Efficient Alternatives to Nonylphenol Ethoxylates."
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| Carcinogen use and release declines dramatically in Massachusetts: An important step in cancer prevention | Source: The Pump Handle, June 26, 2013
Author: Elizabeth Grossman
In 1989, Massachusetts enacted a remarkable and landmark law known as the Toxics Use Reduction Act (TURA). . . . Between 1990 and 2010, companies reporting hazardous chemicals use and emissions under TURA have documented a 40% reduction in toxic chemical use, a 71% reduction in toxic byproducts and a 91% reduction in on-site releases of toxic chemicals.
A new report from the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell based on this data shows a similarly dramatic decrease in state businesses' release and use of 74 different known and suspected industrial carcinogens. According to the TURI analysis, which is based on data from businesses reporting chemical use under TURA, environmental releases of potentially carcinogenic chemicals declined 93% between 1991 and 2010 while reported use declined 32% between 1990 and 2010. If the single most-used potentially carcinogenic chemical used during this period, styrene monomer (which accounts for 76% of carcinogenic chemical use) is excluded, the decline in overall use of known and suspected carcinogens is even greater: 53%.
Read more...
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| Federal agency finds lax regulation of chemicals | Source: San Francisco Chronicle, June 27, 2013
Author: Ramit Plushnick-Masti
HOUSTON (AP) -- The Environmental Protection Agency has displayed a lack of urgency in the wake of a deadly Texas fertilizer plant explosion and must regulate potentially explosive chemicals immediately, legislators said Thursday. The Chemical Safety Board, one of several federal agencies investigating the April explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. that killed 15 people, presented its preliminary findings to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. It reported that the decades-old standards used to regulate potentially dangerous fertilizer chemicals are far weaker than those used by other countries. "The safety of ammonium nitrate fertilizer storage falls under a patchwork of U.S. regulatory standards and guidance -- a patchwork that has many large holes," according to the report presented to the panel by Rafael Moure-Eraso, the board's chairman. Read more...
Also read June 27, 2013 testimony on the event from Dr. Rafael Moure-Eraso.
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| Study: Chemical in Antibacterial Soaps May Harm Nursing Babies | Source: University of Knoxville, Tennessee, June 27, 2013
A mother's prolonged use of antibacterial soaps containing the chemical triclocarban may harm nursing babies, according to a recent UT study.
The study, which was conducted on rats, showed that exposure to the compound may reduce the survival rates of babies. . . .
Triclocarban, a bactericide, is found primarily in antibacterial bar soaps.
Read more... Read additional information from the Natural Resources Defense Council on Triclocarban and Triclosan. |
| Temporal Trends of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) in the Blood of Newborns from New York State during 1997 through 2011: Analysis of Dried Blood Spots from the Newborn Screening Program | Source: Environmental Science and Technology, June 11, 2013
Authors: Wan-Li Ma, Sehun Yun, Erin M. Bell, Charlotte M. Druschel, Michele Caggana, Kenneth M. Aldous, Germaine M. Buck Louis, and Kurunthachalam Kannan
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are ubiquitous environmental pollutants, and on a global basis, North American populations are exposed to the highest doses of PBDEs. In response to the exponential increase in human exposure to PBDEs during the late 1990s, some PBDE formulations were phased out from production in the early 2000s. The effectiveness of the phaseout of commercial penta-BDE and octa-BDE mixtures in 2004 in the U.S. on human exposure levels is not known. Dried blood spots (DBSs), collected for the newborn screening program (NSP) in the U.S., are a valuable resource for the elucidation of trends in exposure to environmental pollutants in newborns. In this study, seven PBDE congeners were determined by gas chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (GC-HRMS) in archived DBS samples (in total, 51 blood spot composites from 1224 newborns) collected from newborns in New York State (NYS) from 1997 to 2011. The most frequently detected PBDE congener was BDE-47, with a detection rate (DR) of 86%, followed by BDE-99 (DR: 45%) and BDE-100 (DR: 43%). The mean concentrations determined during 1997 through 2011 in the whole blood of newborns were 0.128, 0.040, and 0.012 ng/mL for BDE-47, -99, and -100, respectively. A significant correlation was found among the concentrations of three major congeners (p < 0.001). PBDE concentrations were similar during 1997 through 2002 and, thereafter, decreased significantly, which was similar to the trends observed for perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in DBS samples. Occurrence of PBDEs in the whole blood of newborns confirms that these compounds do cross the placental barrier.
Read more... |
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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
Research and Reference Specialist
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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