Yale scientists will lead a new four-year, $4.4 million project intended to promote the design of a new generation of chemicals and materials less toxic to humans and the environment.

The team, which also involves scientists from three other universities, will develop tools that help molecule designers predict toxic hazards when evaluating new and existing chemicals and modify their designs to reduce risks while maintaining efficacy.

"For the last two centuries, chemists have been increasingly able to design molecules, chemicals and materials so that they perform particular functions, from color to adhesion to conductivity," said Paul Anastas, a professor of chemistry at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and the project's principal investigator. "One thing that we haven't been able to do is to design chemicals so that they have reduced toxicity, reduced adverse impact on humans and the environment. This project aims to get an understanding of the inherent basis of these adverse consequences."

Oil and gas companies are being told for the first time to give county officials and local fire departments information about the toxic chemicals drillers use to fracture shale.

Ohio officials sent a memo this month notifying companies that a federal right-to-know law trumps a 2001 state law that allowed them to send the information exclusively to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

The memo "puts oil and gas companies on notice that they will have to comply with the federal requirements," said Chris Abbruzzese, a spokesman for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

The decision marks a victory for environmental advocates, who have long demanded that more light be shed on the chemicals used in fracking, a process in which millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are pumped underground to crack shale and free oil and gas trapped within it.

Levels of 12 organophosphate flame retardants (OPs) were measured in particle phase samples collected at five sites in the North American Great Lakes basin from March 2012 to December 2012 (inclusive). The target compounds were three chlorinated OPs [tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP), tris(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCPP), and tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCPP)], three alkyl phosphates [tri-n-butyl phosphate (TnBP), tris(butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBEP), and tris(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (TEHP)], and six aryl phosphates [triphenyl phosphate (TPP), tri-o-tolyl phosphate (TOTP), tri-p-tolyl phosphate (TPTP), tris(3,5-dimethylphenyl) phosphate (TDMPP), tris(2-isopropylphenyl) phosphate (TIPPP), and tris(4-butylphenyl) phosphate (TBPP)]. Total OP (ΣOP) atmospheric concentrations ranged from 120 ± 18 to 2100 ± 400 pg/m3 at the five sites, with the higher ΣOP levels detected at Cleveland and Chicago. ΣOP concentrations at these urban sites were dominated by the chlorinated OPs (TCEP, TCPP, and TDCPP), with the sum of these three compounds comprising 51 ± 6 and 65 ± 12% of ΣOP concentrations at these two sites, respectively. Nonhalogenated OP compounds were major contributors to ΣOP concentrations at the remote sites, with the sum of all nine nonhalogenated OP concentrations comprising 70 ± 21 and 85 ± 13% of the ΣOP concentrations at Eagle Harbor and Sleeping Bear Dunes, respectively. On average, these ΣOP concentrations are about 2-3 orders of magnitude higher than the concentrations of brominated flame retardants in similar samples.

This final report presents a case study of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs); it focuses on the specific example of MWCNTs as used in flame-retardant coatings applied to upholstery textiles. This case study is organized around the comprehensive environmental assessment (CEA) framework, which structures available information pertaining to the product life cycle, environmental transport and fate, exposure-dose in receptors (i.e., humans, ecological populations, and the environment), and potential impacts in these receptors. A group of experts representing multiple disciplines and multiple sector perspectives used an earlier draft of the case study in conjunction with a structured workshop process to identify and prioritize research gaps that, if pursued, could inform future MWCNT assessment efforts. The final report is not a health, risk, or exposure assessment and as such does not draw conclusions about potential risks, or present an exhaustive review of the literature. Rather, it presents the MWCNT research priorities that experts identified in this application of CEA in order to aid research planning throughout the scientific community. The outcomes of these research efforts may subsequently inform long-term MWCNT assessments.

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AUGUSTA -- Frank Ober, a former firefighter and now a selectman in Whitefield, said he remembers when having the dirtiest turnout suit after a fire was a point of pride for firefighters.

The times have changed, and research now shows firefighters are at a greater risk of developing cancer because of exposure to toxic chemicals while fighting fires.

A recently published study of firefighters in California from Dr. Susan Shaw, an environmental scientist based in Blue Hill, found higher levels of chemicals from commercial flame retardants and other household materials than expected, increasing firefighters' risk of developing cancer later in life.