Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
Following is the March/April edition of EarthLink, a bi-monthly current awareness newsletter produced by INFOTERRA/USA. EarthLink provides information on international environmental activities, publications and news of interest to EPA staff and other environment professionals.
Sections:
Article: NATO/CCMS Special Technical Session
on Permeable Reactive Barriers
Internet Sites for Environmental Treatment
Technologies
International Environment News
General
Coastal Management
Air Pollution
Remediation
Chemicals
Cleaner Production
Upcoming International Conferences
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NATO/CCMS Special Technical Session on Permeable Reactive Barriers
Permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) were the topic of a special technical session held in Vienna, Austria, during the February 1998 meeting of the NATO Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society's (CCMS) pilot study on Evaluation of Demonstrated and Emerging Technologies for the Treatment of Contaminated Land and Groundwater. The CCMS was established by NATO in 1969 to share information among countries on environmental and societal issues, and the pilot study is one of three that address pollution control issues. The U.S. EPA's Technology Innovation Office has co-chaired the multinational pilot study since 1987. The annual pilot study meetings provide the 24 participating countries a forum to discuss the latest developments on treatment technologies and environmental policy. The participants also follow the progress and evaluate the cleanup technologies used at contaminated sites around the world.
The Vienna meeting kicked off Phase III (1998-2002) of the pilot study, which is focusing on emerging as well as demonstrated approaches to treating contaminated soil and groundwater. PRBs, also referred to as "treatment walls," are examples of innovative approaches that treat contaminated groundwater in situ. Conventional treatment of groundwater involves the installation of "pump and treat" systems to extract groundwater from the aquifer for above-ground treatment. These systems are typically expensive due to energy and maintenance requirements and often require many years of operation. Also, residual contaminants frequently remain at undesirable levels. PRBs, on the other hand, are passive approaches that depend on the groundwater's natural hydraulics. To construct a PRB, a trench is excavated across the flow path of contaminated groundwater. The trench is filled with one of a variety of reactive materials selected to treat the specific contaminants by oxidation, reduction, sorption, or precipitation as groundwater flows through the PRB. PRBs have been demonstrated to be effective at treating a wide range of contaminants in groundwater, yet are much less expensive than conventional treatments.
At the Vienna meeting, an international panel of 15 experts presented research on construction methods and reactive materials, as well as evaluations of full-scale applications of PRBs. Several presentations focused on construction methods to improve the effectiveness of PRBs by increasing their depth or by channeling groundwater flow towards the reactive material. Reactive materials such as zero-valent iron, permanganate crystals, and peat were examined as was the use of catalysts, sorptive materials, and "bioscreens," which enhance the bioremediation of contaminants. Laboratory and field tests of these materials were shown to treat groundwater contaminated with chlorinated solvents, petroleum hydrocarbons, metals, and radionuclides. Several presentations highlighted promising results of full-scale cleanups at contaminated industrial, mining, military, and manufactured gas plant sites in Europe and North America. The presentations were followed by an open forum among the participating countries to discuss the effectiveness of PRBs, their limitations, and issues that should be considered before implementation.
Summaries of the presentations and discussions were compiled in a special session report published by NATO and U.S. EPA entitled NATO/CCMS Pilot Study on Evaluation of Demonstrated and Emerging Technologies for the Treatment of Contaminated Land and Groundwater (Phase III) 1998 Special Session: Treatment Walls and Permeable Reactive Barriers. In addition, a "Phase III annual report: proceedings from the non-technical sessions in Vienna"was prepared. The annual report contains descriptions of fifteen treatment projects in Europe and North America selected for evaluation during the pilot study as well as presentations from each participating country on their legislative, regulatory, programmatic, and research issues related to contamination. These reports can be downloaded free of charge from websites listed below. The technical session on PRBs was the first in the series of special sessions addressing innovative treatment technologies. Monitored natural attenuation will be the topic of the specialty seminar at the next pilot study meeting to be held May 9-14, 1999, in Angers, France.
Internet Sites for Environmental Treatment Technologies
1. Hazardous Waste Clean-up Information
(CLU-IN)
http://www.clu-in.org/ 
http://www.epa.gov/swertio1/
The CLU-IN website is maintained by the U.S. EPA Technology Innovation
Office. CLU-IN provides information about innovative treatment technologies
to the hazardous waste remediation community. It describes programs, organizations,
publications, and other tools for federal and state personnel, consulting
engineers, technology developers and vendors, remediation contractors,
researchers, community groups, and citizens. Reports of the Vienna meeting,
as well as reports on Phases I and II of the pilot study can be downloaded
free of charge. Just click on "International Updates" and then "NATO/CCMS."
Additional references on permeable reactive barriers, such as "A Citizen's
Guide to Treatment Walls," and references on many other innovative treatment
technologies are also available Just click on "Publications and Software,"
or perform a search for the name of the technology. CLU-IN also offers
the option of ordering copies of documents online from the National Service
Center for Environmental Publications. CLU-IN maintains links to the NATO/CCMS,
Remediation Technologies Development Forum, Federal Remediation Technologies
Roundtable, and Ground-Water Technologies Analysis Center websites, as
well as a host of others.
2. NATO Committee on the Challenges
of Modern Society
http://www.nato.int/ccms/
The CCMS website is a tool for the multiple CCMS pilot studies and participating
nations to acquire, organize, retrieve, and disseminate environmental
information of common interest. It provides access to environmental data,
reports, and studies. The reports on this pilot study, in addition to
13 other pilot studies relating to pollution control, defense, health
and technical risks, and quality of life, can be downloaded free of charge.
Just click on "Publications."
3. Remediation Technologies Research Forum
(RTDF)
http://www.rtdf.org
The RTDF is a public-private partnership to identify what government and
industry can do together to develop and improve the environmental technologies
needed to address their mutual cleanup problems in the safest, most cost-effective
manner. The RTDF fosters public and private sector partnerships to undertake
the research, development, demonstration, and evaluation efforts needed
to achieve common cleanup goals. The Permeable Reactive Barriers Action
Team, established in March 1995, is one of seven partnerships formed.
The RTDF website maintains profiles on full-scale and pilot-scale applications
of permeable reactive barriers. The issue paper "Permeable Reactive Barrier
Technologies for the Containment of Remediation" is also available. Just
click on "Permeable Reactive Barriers Action Team" then "Technical Documents"
to download these documents free of charge.
Check the RTDF website for information on the new training course In Situ Permeable Reactive Barriers Application and Deployment sponsored by the U.S. EPA, RTDF, and the Interstate Technologies Regulatory Cooperation. The course will be offered in the 10 EPA regional cities between June 1999 and September 2000.
4. Federal Remediation Technologies Roundtable
(FRTR)
http://www.frtr.gov/
FRTR is an interagency working group seeking to build a more collaborative
atmosphere among the federal agencies involved in hazardous waste site
remediation. By providing such opportunities, the Roundtable hopes to
identify and publicize more efficient, cost-effective solutions to the
Federal Government's hazardous waste challenges. To date, the focus of
this group has been on the exchange of information regarding the use and
development of innovative hazardous waste characterization, monitoring
and treatment technologies. The exchange synthesizes the technical knowledge
that Federal Agencies have compiled and provides a more comprehensive
record of performance and cost. Click on "Cost & Performance" to learn
more about the work group, contacts, documents and case studies. Case
studies prepared by EPA, DoD, and DOE were prepared based on recommended
terminology and procedures agreed to by the agencies. These procedures
are summarized in the "Guide to Documenting and Managing Cost and Performance
Information for Remediation Projects" (click on "Links to Relevant Documents").
There are also three PRB case studies currently available. Just click
on "Catalog of Case Studies" or "Search the Case Studies" to download
free of charge.
5. Ground-Water Technologies Analysis
Center (GWRTAC)
http://www.gwrtac.org/
GWRTAC is a specialized national environmental technology transfer center
that compiles, analyzes, and disseminates current information concerning
innovative groundwater remediation technologies. GWRTAC benefits from
a guidance committee comprised of senior individuals from industrial companies,
remediation firms, R&D organizations, government agencies and universities.
GWRTAC maintains a technology database and a vendor information database
on the website. There are also several documents and presentations about
PRBs available. Just click on "Technical Documents" to download these
documents free of charge.
6. Special Training Course offered
by the U.S. EPA, "In Situ Permeable Reactive Barriers: Application and
Deployment."
http://www.trainex.org/prb
Sponsored by the U.S. EPA Technology Innovation Office (TIO)
The training course is designed to assist professionals in the regulatory
community in overseeing the design, implementation, and monitoring of
groundwater remedies that involve the deployment of permeable reactive
barriers. Industry professionals and consultants will benefit from the
updated technical information presented as well as the interaction with
regulators and other professional colleagues. There is a brochure available
in Adobe PDF format from: http://www.epa.gov/earlink1/earthlink/99marapr/prbtraining.pdf.
INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT NEWS
General
Kjellerupa,Ulf, "Significance determination: A rational reconstruction
of decisions," Environmental Impact Assessment Review 19, no.1
(January 1999): 3-19.
This article deals with some screening environmental impact assessments
(EIAs) that have been reviewed and decided by the Appeal Board for Nature
Protection. The practices developed by the Appeal Board show that the
handling of significance in screening lacks focus, a lack of standardization
of arguments and practices. The Appeal Board found that problems exist
in both project-related screening cases and general screening cases. The
article argues that structural barriers in Danish EIA regulations hinder
the function of the EIA system in general. It also addresses the problems
of implementing EIA into existing legal frameworks and present the view
that a Board composed mainly of politicians cannot be the right body to
enforce the procedural rules of the EIA-system.
Lorangera, Tom and Damon Delistratya, "Over- and under-regulating hazardous
waste," Environmental Impact Assessment Review 19, no.1 (January
1999): 99-108.
Hazardous waste regulations in the United States tend to over-regulate
certain wastes and under-regulate others. Over-regulation is related to
the listing strategy, whereas under-regulation is primarily a result of
failing to assess waste toxicity directly. Hazardous waste regulations
in individual states are required to be at least as stringent as federal
rules. The state of Washington has added several waste criteria, including
acute toxicity, persistence, and carcinogenicity.
Prellera, Ruth H., et. al., "Modeling the Transport of Radioactive Contaminants
in the Arctic," Marine Pollution Bulletin 38, no. 2 (February 1999):
71-91.
A coupled ice-ocean model, designed by the Naval Research Laboratory,
composed of the Cox ocean model coupled to the Hibler ice model is used
to simulate the dispersion of radioactive contaminants in the Arctic and
its marginal seas. Source locations and estimated inventories of disposed
radionuclides are based on those documented in a Russian report referred
to as the Yablokov Report. The ocean model is separated from the ice model
to investigate only the transport and dispersion of contaminants once
they have entered the water column.
Shenta, Huiting, et. al., " A review of plastics waste recycling and the
flotation of plastics," Resources, Conservation & Recycling 25,
no.2 (February 1999): 85-109.
This paper summarizes the importance of plastic waste recycling and plastic
waste separation. Based on an analysis of the physical and chemical characteristics
of plastics and plastic waste, the potentials and limitations of several
technological processes are discussed. In addition, a review of the surface
chemical aspects of plastic flotation is presented. It can be concluded
that the flotation of plastics is a fairly flexible technique and could
prove to be a useful process for the separation of mixtures of several
different types of plastics. However, more research and development effort
is required before this technology can be introduced to industry.
Changa, Ni-Bin, et. al., "The assessment of reuse potential for municipal
solid waste and refuse-derived fuel incineration ashes," Resources,
Conservation & Recycling 25, no. 3-4 (March 1999): 255-270.
Resource recovery plants with a waste presorting process prior to incineration
have not been successfully implemented in many developing countries. At
least two engineering projects were fully assessed in Taiwan for the possible
installation of presorting facilities in order to increase the potential
efficiency of material and energy recovery for municipal incinerators.
But the reuse potential of incineration ash in light of toxicity leaching
and compressive strength of concrete mixture remains unclear due to the
lack of comprehensive evaluation for the ash characteristics. A comparative
study for assessing the reuse potential of incineration ash based on two
types of incineration processes was therefore performed in this study.
The experimental results indicate that fly ash collected from both types
of incineration processes is classified as a hazardous material because
of their leachable metal contents. For the reuse of bottom ash as fine
aggregate in concrete mixing, the refuse-derived fuel (RDF) incineration
process shows higher potential than the solid waste incineration process
without any presorting unit. But the concrete mixture with RDF incineration
ash still presents a lower compressive strength by 23% as compared with
the concrete made with conventional aggregate.
"Developing Countries Resist Expansion of Environment Role for World Trade
Body." International Environment Reporter, 17 March 1999 (vol.22,
no. 6): 224-225.
Some developing countries do not want the World Trade Organization
to be allowed to expand its role in dealing with trade-related environmental
concerns. Brazilan, Indian and Mexican representatives said they think
the WTO should focus on preventing industrialized economies from using
domestic environmental provisions to achieve protectionist goals.
Zatza, Michael and Shana Harbourb. "The United States Environmental Protection
Agency's 33/50 Program: the anatomy of a successful voluntary pollution
reduction program," Journal of Cleaner Production, February 1999
(Vol.7, issue 1): 17-26.
This paper presents an overview of the 33/50 Program which was introduced
in 1991 by the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection
Agency (U.S. EPA). This was a voluntary program which established government-industry
partnerships, and encouraged creative pollution reduction techniques.
Although the program ended in 1996, this paper explores possible reasons
why over 1300 companies considered the Program a success and suggested
additional voluntary programs should replace regulator actions whenever
possible.
Nsanze, H., Z. Babarinde, H. Al Kohaly. "Microbiological quality of bottled
drinking water in the UAE and the effect of storage at different temperatures."
Environment International, Vol. 25, Iss. 1 (January 1999): 53-57.
The microbiological quality of bottled water from different sources in
the United Arab Emirates was studied. The study was done on 80 commercial
bottled water samples from 4 different manufacturing companies. The results
showed that 75% of the 20-L bottles were contaminated by 10 different
species of bacteria, whereas 10 to 40% of the 1.5-L bottles were contaminated
by 2-4 types of micro- organisms. Heterotrophic bacteria and a few types
of human-associated bacteria were isolated. The most frequent organism
found in all types of water was Acinetobacter lwoffii with several
genospecies. Storage of water at 4°C preserved the water without microbial
multiplication, whereas at 25-37°C, most microbes multiplied, and at 42°C,
most contaminants were destroyed. The source of these micro-organisms
and their untoward effects on the drinking water were not determined.
Coastal Management
Avigdor Abelsona, *, Boris Shteinmanb, Maoz Finec and Semion Kaganovskyb,
"Mass Transport from Pollution Sources to Remote Coral Reefs in Eilat,"
Marine Pollution Bulletin 38, no. 1 (January 1999).
Over the last decades, damage to coral reefs from pollution and over-exploitation
has accelerated alarmingly. Scientists suspect that severe deterioration
of the coral reefs of Eilat pollutants that reach the reef sites by current-derived
mass transport. This study aimed to test determine the possible occurrence
of mass transport from the pollution sites to the reefs, to determine
the pathways and modes of transported pollutants and to test the applicability
of the `fluorescently-labelled tracer' method, as a reliable tool for
assessing mass transport in coastal marine environments. The results reveal
that particulate matter from pollution sites reaches the remote coral
reefs of Eilat, both as bedload and suspension-load particles. The results
also show that fluorescently-labelled tracers are a reliable and highly
sensitive tool for assessing mass transport in marine environments.
Air Pollution
Patela, M. K. et.al., "Surfactant production and use in Germany: resource
requirements and CO2 emissions," Resources Conservation & Recycling
25, no. 1 (January 1999): 61-78.
Surfactants (surface-active agents) can be derived from both petrochemical
feedstocks and renewable resources (e.g. oleochemicals). Renewable resources
contribute less to the greenhouse effect if harvested and grown sustainably.
When comparing the contribution to the greenhouse effect, the life-cycle
of the product should be analysed, covering the CO2 emissions from production,
use and degradation after disposal. In this paper, the use phase is only
included for washing and cleaning agents since it is practically impossible
to cover all the utilization processes for surfactants. For surfactant
applications in laundry detergents, lowering wash temperatures is also
an interesting strategy to reduce CO2 emissions.
"83 Countries Sign Kyoto Protocol By March 15 Deadline, U.N. Says," International
Environment Reporter, 17 March 1999 (vol.22, no. 6): 224.
Eighty-three countries plus the European Union signed the Kyoto Protocol
by the March 15th deadline, according to the United Nations. The 1997
Protocol is a treaty that builds on the 1992 United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change. It calls for industrialized countries to
reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases. "A listing of the Kyoto Protocol
signatories and their ratification status is available on the World Wide
Web through http://www.unfccc.de
and clicking on "Convention & Kyoto Protocol."
Rabl, A. and J. V. Spadaro. "Damages and costs of air pollution: an analysis
of uncertainties." Environment International, Vol. 25, Iss. 1 (January
1999):29-46.
This paper evaluates the uncertainties of an impact pathway analysis which
traces the fate of each pollutant or other burden, from the source to
the receptors, using dose-response functions to evaluate the damage. The
expression for the total damage is shown to be largely multiplicative,
even though it involves a sum over receptors at different sites. This
follows from conservation of matter which implies that overprediction
of the dispersion model at one site is compensated by underprediction
at another; the net error of the total damage arises mostly from uncertainties
in the rate at which the pollutant disappears from the environment. Since
the central limit theorem implies that the error distribution for multiplicative
processes is likely to be approximately lognormal, one may be able to
bypass the need for a detailed and tedious Monte Carlo calculation. Typical
error distributions are discussed for the factors in the expression for
the total damage, in particular those of two key parameters: the deposition
velocity of atmospheric dispersion models, and the value of statistical
life; they are close to lognormal. A lognormal distribution for the total
damage appears plausible whenever the dose-response function is positive
everywhere. As an illustration, results for several types of air pollution
damage are shown (health damage due to particles and carcinogens, damage
to buildings due to SO2;, and crop losses due to O3):
the geometric standard deviation is in the range of 3 to 5. To the extent
that the distribution of the result is lognormal, the geometric mean equals
the median and the geometric standard deviation has a simple interpretation
in terms of multiplicative confidence intervals around the median.
Todorovic, Dragana, Dragana Popovic, and Gordana Djuric. "Concentration
measurements of Be and Cs in ground level air in the Belgrade city area."
Environment International, Vol. 25, Iss. 1 (January 1999): 59-66.
Concentrations of 7Be and 137Cs in ground level
air in the city area (Belgrade, central Serbia) were determined in the
period from 1991-1996. The average monthly concentrations of 7Be
in ground level air were in the range of 2-7 mBq/m3 with pronounced
one or two maxima in summer or early fall and a minimum in winter. The
average air concentrations for 137Cs were from 0.5-8.5 × 10-5
Bq/m3, with a spread maximum in the spring-summer period and
a pronounced maximum during the winter. A general increase in 7Be
and 137Cs concentrations during 1993 was recorded. The maximum
seasonal indices were 1.3 for 7Be (summers) and 2.7 (late springs
and early summers) and 3.4 (winters) for 137Cs. No correlation
with the amount of precipitation and 137Cs concentrations in
air was determined, while the washout effect of rainfalls seems to be
more closely related with variations in 7Be concentrations.
Burgess, R. M., and R. A. McKinney. "Importance of interstitial, overlying
water and whole sediment exposures to bioaccumulation by marine bivalves."
Environmental Pollution, Vol. 104, No. 3 (March 1999): 373-382.
During the performance of contaminated sediment studies using nonpolar
pollutants, like polyclorinated biphenyls (PCBs), with marine organisms,
the routes of exposure can include whole sediment, overlying waters and
interstitial waters (assuming no feeding). These routes can be further
subdivided into particulate, colloidal and dissolved aquatic phases. Currently,
the dissolved phase is believed to be the primary bioavailable exposure
phase. In this investigation, two (i.e. interstitial water) and three
phase (i.e. whole sediment) exposures were performed to determine the
relative importance of each phase to the accumulation of PCBs from environmentally
contaminated sediments. PCB concentrations in each exposure were separated
into dissolved, colloidal and particulate phases, quantified and compared
to concentrations accumulated by two exposed bivalve species: the filter-feeder
Mulinia lateralis and the deposit-feeder Yoldia limatula.
Remediation
Santasa, R., et. al., "Mesocosm Assays of Oil Spill Bioremediation with
Oleophilic Fertilizers: Inipol, F1 or Both?" Marine Pollution Bulletin
38, no. 1 (January 1999): 44-48.
Scientists examined the biodegradation of Iranian light crude in seawater
environments in three mesocosms, simulating a wild Mediterranean ecosystem.
The biodegradation enhancement of two oleophilic fertilizers, Inipol EAP-22
and F1 (modified fish meal), were compared. Hydrocarbon degradation proceeded
faster at the water surface than at the sediment, as assessed by the n-C17/pristane
and n-C18/phytane indicator ratios. Alkane biodegradation was higher in
the presence of F1 (70% in 30 days). However, treatment with Inipol produced
another desirable effect, the quick disappearance of the oil slick. The
data led to the formulation of the hypothesis that the combined use of
both fertilizers may be the a viable treatment technique.
Hayes, Miles O., et. al., "Factors Determining the Long-Term Persistence
of Exxon Valdez Oil in Gravel Beaches," Marine Pollution Bulletin
38, no. 2 (February 1999): 92-101.
The largest amounts of, and the least weathered, oil found eight years
after the Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred at depths of 25-50+ cm under
the protective cover of a well-sorted cobble/boulder armor on intermittently
exposed, coarse-grained gravel beaches within Prince William Sound, Alaska.
In addition to the armoring, other factors enhancing the retention of
the oil include flat slopes of the middle beach and a thick sediment veneer
over a bedrock platform. Natural cleaning of the subsurface sediments
was accomplished within three years on the finer-grained gravel beaches
that have steeper slopes, a thin sediment veneer over the rock platform,
and no surface armoring. Minor berm relocation was an effective technique
for removing subsurface oil from the finer-grained gravel berms at the
high-tide line. Extensive storm berm relocation caused disruptions to
beach morphology and sediment distribution which lasted for up to six
years.
Park, S. S., and K. M. Erstfeld. "The effect of sediment organic carbon
content on bioavailability of hydrophobic compounds in aquatic ecosystems."
Environmental Pollution, Vol. 105, No. 1 (April 1999): 9- 15.
The effect of sediment organic carbon content on bioavailability of hydrophobic
compounds was investigated, using a numerical dynamic model capable of
incorporating several major factors affecting bioconcentration. These
included adsorption/desorption, metabolism, volatilization, and biochemical
degradation. The model was validated against data obtained by exposing
goldfish to two chlordane isomers in the presence of benthic sediments.
Two sediments with differing organic matter content were used in the experiment:
muck sediment with high organic matter and loam sediment with low organic
matter. It was shown that sediment organic carbon can cause a significant
impact on bioavailability of hydrophobic compounds, especially sediment
containing low organic carbon content, where small changes in organic
carbon content produced large variations of chlordane concentration in
organisms.
Trapido, M. "Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Estonian soil: contamination
and profiles." Environmental Pollution, Vol. 105, No. 1 (April
1999): 67-74.
The distribution and accumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAH) in soil as well as PAH profiles have been investigated in areas
with different anthropogenic pollution such as the city of Tallinn, the
towns of Pärnu and Kohtla-Järve and some rural areas. PAH were identified
in 147 soil samples (0-10 cm upper layer) collected in September 1996.
The typical PAH level in Estonian rural soil is about 100 g/kg dry weight.
PAH concentrations in Tallinn, Pärnu and Kohtla-Järve soil were quite
high (the mean PAH concentrations were 2240, 7665 and 12390 g/kg dry weight,
respectively). The dominant PAH in soil samples were pyrene, triphenylene
and fluoranthene. 3-4 ring PAH and 5-6 ring PAH ratio altered from 5:1
to 1.7:1.
Chemicals
Jørgensen, Rikke Bramming and Olav Bjørseth. "Sorption behaviour of volatile
organic compounds on material surfaces: the influence of combinations
of compounds and materials compared to sorption of single compounds on
single materials." Environment International, Vol. 25, No. 1 (January
1999): 17-27.
The sorption of volatile organic compounds (VOC) on material surfaces
was evaluated by chamber testing. The sorption of single VOCs was compared
to the sorption of the combination of the VOCs and the sorption of single
material surfaces was compared to the sorption of the combination of material
surfaces. The sorption compounds were -pinene and toluene, and the material
surfaces were wool carpet and nylon carpet. The sink effect of the chambers
and the effect of the loading of the materials were evaluated separately.
The results show that the loading has no influence by itself. Relatively
high loading minimizes the sink effects of the test chamber and is therefore
recommended. The presence of two chemical compounds at the same time gives
correspondingly higher sorption compared to experiments with one compound
at a time. The results indicate that the desorbed masses of individual
compounds are additive, making prediction of the desorbed mass of combinations
of compounds possible. The combination of two materials at the same time
leads to higher sorption than one single material. The results indicate
that the effect was additive, although the results for -pinene are not
completely clear. There is a need for further research to investigate
the sorption behavior of combinations of materials as well as other combinations
of common indoor compounds. A one-sink model, based on a linear Langmuir
adsorption isotherm, appears adequate to describe the results.
Saeed, Talat, and Maha Al-Mutairi. "Chemical composition of the water-soluble
fraction of the leaded gasolines in seawater." Environment International,
Vol. 25, Iss. 1 (January 1999): 117- 129.
The chemical composition of the water-soluble fraction (WSF) of gasoline and high-octane gasoline (both leaded) in seawater was investigated. Volatile compounds present were analyzed by purge and trap/gas chromatography (P&T/GC), and confirmed by GC/MS. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determined by analyzing the concentrated extract of WSF by single-ion monitoring. A total of 46 volatile compounds were identified in the WSF of gasoline, amounting to about 67 mg/L, while the WSF of high-octane gasoline consisted of 35 volatile compounds which added up to about 77 mg/L. Aromatic compounds were predominant and benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) formed the bulk of the total dissolved components. The concentration of PAHs was higher in the WSF of gasoline (1.3 mg/L) as compared to the PAHs in the WSF of high-octane gasoline (about 1 mg/L). Naphthalene and methylated naphthalenes were the major components in the PAH fraction. The effect of temperature and mixing time on the composition of the WSF was also investigated.
Wu, Ying, Jing Zhang and Qing Zhou. "Persistent organochlorine residues in sediments from Chinese river/estuary systems." Environmental Pollution, Vol. 105, No. 1 (April 1999): 143-150.
Persistent organochlorine compounds were analyzed in surficial sediment samples from seven large Chinese river/estuary systems. The reported concentrations of organochlorine compounds in sediments collected from Zhujiang, Minjiang and Jiulongjiang were also presented for comparison. Concentrations of HCH were low in most sediments except the Zhujiang River, where the concentrations were one order of magnitude higher than for the other rivers. The levels of DDT were relatively low in sediments from north Chinese river/estuary systems while the values of DDT were high in South China. Higher concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were observed at Huangpujiang, Qiantangjiang and Changjiang, which drain highly industrialized and densely populated areas of China. Compared with the world's other river/estuary systems, the residue levels in these sediments were relatively low, though the production and usage of organochlorines in China is in large quantities. Great water discharge and/or sediment loads and biogeochemical processes such as biodegradation, volatilization, etc., may be responsible for low concentrations.
Wayland, M., and T. Bollinger. "Lead exposure and poisoning in bald eagles and golden eagles in the Canadian prairie provinces." Environmental Pollution, Vol. 104, No. 3 (March 1999): 341-350.
The prevalence of high lead exposure and lead poisoning was examined in dead bald eagles and golden eagles from the Canadian prairie provinces from 1990-96. Of 127 eagles, the prevalence of elevated lead concentrations did not differ between the two species although statistical power was low. When both species were combined, a higher proportion of adult and subadult birds had elevated tissue lead concentrations than immature birds. Golden eagles that exhibited high lead exposure were found closer to the hunting season than those that exhibited low lead exposure. Such was not the case in bald eagles. There was a greater prevalence of high lead exposure in bald eagles found in areas of high waterfowl hunting intensity than in their counterparts found in areas of low waterfowl hunting intensity. In contrast, golden eagles with high lead exposure were associated with areas of lower waterfowl hunting activity than those with low lead exposure. In the study area, prevalences of lead poisoning in bald eagles and golden eagles were approximately equal. For bald eagles, lead shot associated with waterfowl hunting was probably the main source of lead. Other sources of lead, including lead ammunition in upland game birds and mammals were more likely sources for golden eagles.
Cleaner Production
Jödickea, Gerald,Oliver Zenklusena, André Weidenhauptb and Konrad Hungerbühlera, "Developing environmentally-sound processes in the chemical industry: a case study on pharmaceutical intermediates." Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 7, Issue 2, (March 1999).
This article looks at Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) case studies as applied to enantioselective reductions frequently used in synthetic chemistry. It also outlines the three distinct conclusions that were drawn from these studies.
UPCOMING INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES
Notices regarding the following international conferences have been sent to INFOTERRA during the last few months. Notification is received through the mail and over the Internet. The list below is not comprehensive; INFOTERRA maintains a fairly large file of conference announcements. If you have any questions about the conferences listed below, or would like to consult our conferences file, please contact the INFOTERRA office (202) 566-0544 or send an email request to: library-infoterra@epa.gov.
1.
Industrial Wastes Technical Conference
Indianapolis, Indiana
27-30 June 1999
This conference, sponsored by the Water Environment Federation and
Purdue University, will cover issues such as water quality based permitting,
residuals, applied research, emerging technologies wastewater treatment,
groundwater & hazardous wastes remediation, pollution prevention & environmental
management, and pretreatment issues. Contact: Rob Schweinfurth, email:
rschweinfurth@wef.org ; Telephone:
(703) 684-2400 x7750 or Eddie Gonzalez, email:
egonzalez@wef.org; Telephone: (703) 684-2400 x7401.
3. 1999 World Conference on Natural Resource Modelling
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
23-25 June 1999
http://www.cqs.washington.edu/
This multidisciplinary conference is sponsored by the resource modelling association to provide a forum for new developments in the modelling and analysis of natural resource systems. Contact: RMA Conference Committee, Finance and Management Science, St. Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3H3C3; email: resource.conf@stmarys.ca; Fax: (902) 496-8101.
4. 7th ACM International Symposium on Geographic Information Systems
Kansas City, Kansas
5-6 November 1999
This symposium aims to bring together people doing research in novel systems based on geo-spatial data & knowledge. Send abstracts papers by May 5th to Claudia Bauzer Medeiros, Institute of Computing, UNICAMP, Brazil; email: cmbm@dcc.unicamp.br .
5. International Conference on Sustainable Management of Coastal
Ecosystems
Oporto, Portugal
3-5 November 1999
This conference sponsored by Federnando Pessoa University & IMAR-Institute of Marine Research focuses on studies at the ecosystem level, related to sustainable management of coastal ecosystems. Papers on experimental, theoretical and mathematical modeling work will be accepted as well as papers dealing with economic aspects of coastal ecosystems management. Contact: email: pduarte@ufp.pt.
INFOTERRA/USA
INFOTERRA is located in the EPA Headquarters Information Resources Center,
which is open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Our
reference desk may be reached from 9-3, Monday through Friday, at (202)
566-0544 or by fax at (202) 566-0545. Any email correspondence should
be sent to library-infoterra@epa.gov.
INFOTERRA Staff (contractors):
Head Librarian: Jennifer Page
Reference Librarian: April Wright
Library Technician: Kathleen O'Neill
