The issue is really whether we are going to recognize that the oceans, like the land, are not limitless, self-healing, and invulnerable to humanity's harmful activities. |
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Elizabeth Kaplan, testimony to the U.S. House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Subcommittees, 20 February 1980 |
Although Americans elected what most consider a largely anti-environmental Congress in November 1994, they do not necessarily support current congressional plans to dismantle environmental legislation, according to a recent poll.
"Increasingly, Americans feel we've done enough to protect the environment; we don't need to track down the last molecule of toxicity. However, these same Americans are not saying it is time to eliminate what we've already accomplished," states the report based on the poll's results, entitled The Environmental Two-Step: Looking Back, Moving Forward.
The poll, sponsored by the Times Mirror Magazines Conservation Council and the National Environment Forum, was conducted to gauge public opinion on environmental issues and response to how Congress and the media are handling these issues. Roper Starch Worldwide conducted the fourth annual poll, surveying a nationally representative telephone sample of 1,000 adult Americans aged 18 and older in March and April 1995.
According to the results, most Americans are concerned about the environment. About three-quarters of Americans say they are active environmentalists or sympathetic toward the environment but not active, and 91% believe that there can exist a balance between the economy and nature.
Despite their concerns for the environment, however, Americans are calling for a reexamination of certain environmental policies. For example, support for property rights, which may infringe on environmental protection, is increasing. A majority of Americans (66%) feel that the government should be required to compensate property owners for land devalued by environmental laws such as the endangered species and wetlands regulations. A majority of Americans (65%) also believe the Endangered Species Act should take cost into consideration when attempting to prevent the extinction of a species.
For the first time in four years, less than the majority (43%) say that environmental regulations have not gone far enough. This figure has dropped from 53% in 1994 and 63% in 1992. The drop is a result of the increase in those Americans who feel that current environmental regulations create about the right balance between the economy and environmental protection (29%, up from 23% in 1994 and 17% in 1992), and those who feel that environmental regulations have gone too far (22%, up from 16% in 1994 and 10% in 1992).
These figures indicate that Americans would like to see some reform to environmental policies. However, the report states that Americans do not want to dismantle the current regulations. In fact, when asked about specific areas of environmental legislation, the majority of Americans feel that air and water regulations have not gone far enough. The environmental issue of greatest concern to Americans is water quality.
According to the report, most Americans seem to believe that environmental protection and economic development can work together. When this is not possible, and a choice must be made between environmental protection and economic development, 63% of Americans would side with the environment while 23% would choose economic development.
When balancing environmental protection with economic development, 70% of Americans prefer conservation over preservation of wildlife, natural areas, and natural resources. This means they believe that resources can be managed while also using them for the benefit of the economy and the public, rather than preventing development or restricting human activity in these areas.
Poll results indicate that Americans are generally optimistic about the future of the environment. A majority (91%) believe that a good balance can be found that will allow continued economic progress and protection of the environment. Also, 61% of Americans agree that technology will find a way to solve environmental problems.
Ironically, in light of congressional budget cuts to the EPA and other agencies involved in the environment, many Americans say they would be willing to pay more for environmental protection. A majority of 76% said they would be willing to spend $0.25 more per gallon of gasoline if it reduced pollution from their cars by 50%.
Findings also indicate that most Americans do not support the agenda of the Republican-dominated Congress when it comes to environmental issues. "Evidently, though Americans sense a need to curb or at least reexamine environmental policies, they do not agree with the scope or pace of environmental overhaul proposed by the Republican congressional leadership," the report says. Further, "newly elected members of Congress who feel they have been brought to Washington with a mandate to gut environmental laws are out of touch with what the public really wants."
Of those surveyed, 45% say they are dissatisfied with the Republican environmental agenda that is included in the Contract with America, while 39% say they are satisfied.
Republican members of Congress have been warned that their environmental agenda is not consistent with the public's views. According to an editorial in The New York Times, Linda DiVall, a Republican polltaker whose clients include Senator Phil Gramm and Speaker Newt Gingrich, warned Republicans that "our party is out of sync with mainstream American opinion," including a "disturbingly" large number of Republicans.
However, satisfaction with the Clinton administration's environmental agenda is decreasing. While 49% of Americans are satisfied with the environmental agenda of the Clinton administration, this figure is down from 1994's satisfaction rate of 55%. Forty-one percent are dissatisfied.
The Times Mirror report shows that an increasing number of Americans (27%, up from 18% in 1992) are casting votes based on a candidate's environmental position. This change is evidenced by the recent election of Ron Wyden, a Democrat elected to fill Bob Packwood's Senate seat in Oregon. According to DiVall's editorial in The New York Times, exit polls suggested that Republican efforts to undermine environmental laws played a critical role in Wyden's upset win.
The report was presented to the Society of Environmental Journalists at its Fifth National Conference held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in October. Vice President Al Gore spoke to conference attendees about the state of environmental legislation. He criticized Congress for not representing the American people's views on the environment. "We Americans support protecting the environment," Gore said. "What we're seeing today in Congress is devastation with misrepresentation. This is the most anti-environmental Congress in the history of the United States."
A topic particularly important to the SEJ conference attendees was the report finding that most Americans think the media are doing only a fair (52%) or poor (27%) job of reporting on environmental issues. Less than half of Americans (42%) feel that the environmental coverage the media provide is accurate. About 35% say that the media make environmental situations appear "worse than they really are," while 16% think the media make environmental situations appear "better than they really are." Over half of Americans (52%) want more environmental coverage in the future. "News about the environment is extremely important to the American people," Gore said.
The report calls for more environmental education because 90% of Americans say their knowledge of the environment is limited: "Clearly, further environmental education is needed to increase concern about the environment, which in turn may make Americans more cognizant of environmental problems and more active in hunting for solutions."
Turning Brownfields Green Again
Throughout the United States, the urban landscape is marred by deserted and dilapidated factories and littered lots, often contaminated with toxic materials. Lying unused, these so-called brownfields have robbed cities of some of their vitality. "You have declining tax bases in urban areas, you have jobs leaving urban areas, you have property that will continue to remain contaminated, and the continuing encouragement of urban sprawl," says James Bower, brownfields coordinator for the EPA's midwestern region. "Cities are in big trouble if they can't find a way to recycle their land."
Over the past several years, however, states have begun to try new ways to spur development of these sites. One major technique is to relax liability laws and regulations so that developers can clean the sites and not be liable for past contamination.
The problem is large. A survey of 39 cities released by the U.S. Conference of Mayors estimated 21,000 brownfields sites. The EPA estimates 300,000 brownfields sites nationwide. "But no one has a comprehensive inventory of all the brownfields sites in the country," says Linda Garczynski of the EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response.
Contaminants at these sites can include asbestos which causes cancer; lead, which causes nerve and brain damage; organic solvents, which can damage kidneys; and PCBs, which have been linked to cancer and liver damage. The specter of huge liability from toxic contamination has squelched efforts by developers to pump economic life into these sites. The reality though, says Bower, is that "the vast majority of sites are not that contaminated and do not pose a health risk."
According to Jay Pendergrass, an attorney with the Washington, DC-based Environmental Law Institute, at least 20 states have passed legislation with brownfields cleanup in mind. Much of the legislation has been passed in the past five years.
Minnesota has been at the forefront of the brownfields effort with 700 sites cleaned up or being cleaned up since the late 1980s and returned to providing taxes and payrolls. One dramatic instance is a $25 million clinic built in Minneapolis on an abandoned lot once contaminated with industrial solvents and garbage.
Last year the EPA announced its own brownfields agenda, which included working with cities and states to redevelop brownfields. The agency has funded 40 brownfields pilot demonstration projects at $200,000 each and plans to fund 10 more at the same level by next June. The money typically pays for soil and groundwater testing, information programs, site selection, and reuse plans.
Already, the EPA's midwestern region has distributed $2 million through the Superfund program to help states and cities begin addressing brownfields, says Bower. In Chicago alone, the region has spent over $5 million to actually remove toxic wastes from abandoned buildings to prepare them for sale to developers.
While Bower and Garczynski talk optimistically about the potential for rejuvenated brownfields to bring jobs and tax money to cities, concerns remain in the environmental justice community. "I think it's important that the stakeholders--including government, industry, business--all recognize the community has to have a say in determining what shape the redevelopment takes," says Robert Bullard, director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University.
"There needs to be effort placed on developing good models for community participation that give people in the neighborhood an appropriate opportunity to look at how decisions are being made and how sites are being cleaned up," says Tim Brown of Clean Sites, a nonprofit-public interest group involved in brownfields cleanups. The EPA has refused to fund pilot projects that can't show community participation, according to Garczynski.
Controlling land use is high on the list of priorities for making sure the toxic contamination problem doesn't repeat itself and pose a neighborhood threat. For example, cleanup at a site to be used for industry can meet a lower standard than if people were going to live on it. Bullard says it's all right "to talk about lower standards" if the property is always going to be designated for industrial use. But if schools and residences enter the picture, he maintains, cleanup has to be stricter.
In Wisconsin, brownfields cleanups require state certification that any contamination left in place will be isolated and pose no human health threat. Furthermore, in a move typical in brownfields cleanups, zoning and deed restrictions will be placed on the property to ensure it remains used for industrial, rather than residential, purposes. Pendergrass offers cautious optimism however, noting that such restrictions may be ignored or forgotten. In addition, while cleaning up brownfields does offer promise, he says, not every contaminated site can be cleaned up economically.
Biosphere 2's Quest for Credibility
Biosphere: take two. Researchers hope new management by the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University will make use of Biosphere 2 for unique scientific investigations.
Photo: Karen Silva
Because controversy, rather than credibility, has surrounded the Biosphere 2 project since its inception, the owner has passed management to Columbia University in an effort to use the structure for more sound scientific purposes.
As of the first of this year, Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York, is managing and directing Biosphere 2's scientific, educational, and visitor's center operations per a five-year agreement between owner and benefactor Edward Bass and Columbia.
The $150 million enclosed glass and steel structure located in Oracle, Arizona, was originally built to test the theory that humans could survive on Mars in a self-contained structure, recycling all air, water, and waste, if Earth ever became uninhabitable.
The 3.15-acre structure is the largest tightly sealed ecological laboratory ever built, enclosing seven different biomes--a rain forest, a savanna, an ocean, a marsh, a desert, an area of intensive agriculture, and a human habitat. These biomes collectively house about 3,800 plant and animal species, including a living coral reef.
Scientists can control almost all of the variables--temperature, humidity, plant and animal species, soil nutrients, and atmospheric gases--except light. These variables are monitored by over 1,000 sensors located throughout the biosphere that send information to the on-site Operations Center.
A team of eight people lived in Biosphere 2 from September 1991 to September 1993 to test the idea that they could live in the self-contained environment without outside assistance. The attempt failed due to several factors, and the credibility of the operation was damaged by mismanagement and criticism from the scientific community.
One example of a scientific problem was that carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide reached extremely high levels in the air inside Biosphere 2, hindering the activities of the inhabitants. The managers, in an effort to continue the project, concealed the fact that they had to use scrubbers to remove the excess gases from the enclosed air.
In April 1994, Bass called in federal marshals to remove the former managers. He hired Stephen Bannon, an investment banker who specializes in corporate turnarounds, as acting CEO to find new management for Biosphere 2. Bannon collaborated with scientists to look at the research possibilities for Biosphere 2, and then made the deal with Columbia.
Scientists agree that Biosphere 2 provides an unparalleled opportunity to study the effects of global warming. "The intellectual lure of the biosphere is tremendous," said Wallace Broecker, a Newberry Professor of Geology at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, in a press release announcing the agreement.
"The big advantage of a sealed experimental system like this one is that we can assess the daily growth of plants in Biosphere 2 and see how it changes with temperature or light or carbon dioxide content of the air or other factors. We can monitor carbon dioxide uptake by the plant community as a whole as well as by individual plants, and we can also monitor the water use by the whole community. We can create a whole future inside Biosphere 2 and develop ways to gain some control over what is otherwise an unknown future," Broecker said.
Columbia researchers have begun conducting studies in Biosphere 2 to examine the effects of increasing carbon dioxide levels on plants. Last winter, Broecker says, researchers completed an experiment in which they used plastic curtains to separate the desert and rain forest biomes, and tracked the carbon dioxide levels. They measured the rates of carbon fixation and the water expenditure of the plants. "We have found that the expenditure of water goes down linearly as carbon dioxide goes up. This has implications for agriculture of the future," Broecker said. "Plants may grow with less irrigation." Broecker says they are planning other experiments with different plants to study the various effects of increasing carbon dioxide.
So far, Broecker and Bruno Marino, a biogeochemist and Biosphere 2's science director, have developed two specific goals. The first is to conduct experiments on the long-term impact of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide on plant and coral communities. The second is to conduct experiments designed to elucidate the factors influencing the isotopic composition of marine and terrestrial plant material.
The scientists plan to physically divide Biosphere 2 into two major parts--a wilderness and an agricultural unit--which will be maintained at separate environmental conditions.
To establish an internal control for the experiments, the scientists plan to subdivide the agricultural unit into three environmentally independent parts. This will allow three different levels of carbon dioxide to be maintained, with identical plants grown in each section.
Broecker said they are looking at conducting long-term experiments (perhaps decades-long) that emphasize perennial plants. They will look at factors such as the quality of fruits and nuts, as well as water-use efficiency.
Many questions remain about what experiments to conduct, what plants to study, and how to conduct studies, Broecker said. "We want to use the biosphere for things we can't do elsewhere," he said. "It would be silly to use this expensive structure for experiments that could be done in smaller labs."
For example, the ocean biome of Biosphere 2 offers a unique opportunity to study oceanic phenomena in a controlled setting. Researchers plan to study the effects of rising carbon dioxide on the growth of coral. "This is something we can do that others can't," Broecker said.
In searching for the best ways to use Biosphere 2 for scientific purposes, the Columbia management is welcoming input from other scientists. "We have to explore other people's opinions about the validity of what we want to do," Broecker said. "I think the success of the place requires that we make close ties with experts from around the world. That gives us more credibility and prevents us from making dumb mistakes."
Columbia officials have been collaborating with the University of Arizona and Arizona State University. Broecker said that the information highway is bringing universities in closer contact with one another to work on projects such as Biosphere 2. "We hope to make Biosphere 2 a center for plant physiology," he said.
In addition to directing research at Biosphere 2, Columbia will also introduce educational programs. These include a college-level program in earth and environmental sciences, a "semester abroad" program in which students from around the world can conduct research at the biosphere, an earth sciences curriculum linked through the World Wide Web, and teacher workshops. Columbia also plans to expand the science and visitors' center, which will be open to the public. No more live-in missions are planned for Biosphere 2 at this time, according to university officials.
The use of dental sealants containing bisphenol-A-related compounds should be reevaluated, according to researchers at the University of Granada and Tufts University. Nicolás Olea and colleagues reported in the March 1996 issue of EHP that resin-based composites and sealants may contribute to human exposure to xenoestrogens.
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Not something to smile about? Recent data on dental sealants suggests they may leach estrogenic chemicals into the body. |
The American Dental Association (ADA) endorses the use of dental sealant, a thin plastic coating, to prevent cavities. The cleaned tooth is roughened with an acid solution. Sealant is then painted on the tooth enamel and cured, or hardened, by either chemical reaction or light. The entire procedure takes only a few minutes, and the sealant remains effective for up to five years. The sealant acts as a barrier between bacteria and tooth enamel, preventing bacteria from degrading the tooth. Sealants are increasingly being used on children's teeth because they can reduce molar cavities by more than 50%, according to the ADA.
Most sealants contain bisphenol-A diglycidyl methacrylate (bis-GMA), a common ingredient in restorative dental materials since the 1960s. Although most of the bis-GMA is polymerized during curing of the sealant, Olea and his colleagues found that unpolymerized monomers of bis-GMA, bisphenol-A and bisphenol-A dimethacrylate, leached into the saliva one hour after treatment. The amount of these compounds in saliva translated to 0.1-2% of the 50 milligrams of sealant applied. Enzymes in the saliva, along with chewing, could contribute to persistent breakdown of bis-GMA, and animal studies have indicated that a significant portion of this material is absorbed by the intestine.
In a written statement, the ADA called the study "interesting," but questioned whether the estrogenic potential of the sealant compounds would survive the acidic environment of the human gastrointestinal tract. "The amount of leachable materials still needs to be quantified," wrote Chris Martin, manager of ADA Media Relations. "The biological implication of this observation needs to be further elucidated. . . . The ADA cannot at this time draw definitive conclusions from this [study's] observation."
Olea and co-workers report that the amount of bisphenol-A and bisphenol-A dimethacrylate in dental sealants varies depending on the manufacturer and batch. An earlier study of 12 commercial dental resins by Vankerchkhoven and colleagues, published in the Journal of Dental Research in 1981, found bis-GMA in all samples ranging from 19% to 51% of the total weight. The amount of monomer compounds leached from the sealant also depends on the degree of polymerization effected by the curing process. Typically, 60-75% of the material is polymerized, although levels as low as 30% may be found at the bottom of fillings.
In the E-screen test, which is based on the ability of human breast cancer cells to proliferate in the presence of estrogens, cell cultures treated with four different bis-GMA-based sealants proliferated sixfold more than control cultures. The proliferative effect of the sealants was similar to that seen with the natural estrogen estradiol-17ß. Bisphenol-A has been shown to be toxic to fish; in mice, it induces photoallergic dermatitis, can be fetotoxic, and affects sperm motility.
"What we know is that it seems to be a significant amount of bisphenol-A being leached from sealants," says Ana Soto, one of the authors of the study. Soto points out that, although the significance of dental sealants in terms of total exposure to xenoestrogens is unknown, "the quantity is enough that we are pursuing it further."
EHPnet
After World War II, impoverished people throughout the world were suffering from health problems such as chronic malnutrition, communicable diseases, and parasitic infections, and many people did not have access to health care. In response to the perceived need for a world organization to group resources for health, develop health goals, and provide a forum for the exchange of health information, the United Nations set up a specialized agency--the World Health Organization (WHO).
WHO is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with satellite offices located throughout the world. WHO's World Wide Web site is located at URL: http://www.who.ch and provides background information, current WHO projects, and WHO's future plans. The WHO home page offers 17 links to health and health-related information, as well as to statistical and epidemiological data.
The link to Headquarters' Major Programmes lists the more than 30 divisions of WHO, with links to most of these programs. Among these are the Division of Control of Tropical Diseases, the Division of Family Health, the Division of Food and Nutrition, the Global Programme on AIDS, and the Division of Health Promotion, Education, and Communication. There is also a link that provides information about WHO field offices.
The link to the World Health Report 1995 offers the executive summary of the report, which discusses gaps in health and access to health care. From this site, a link to 50 Facts of Health lists statistics and highlights from the report. For example, according to 50 Facts, "it is estimated that by the year 2000, over 5 million children will be infected by HIV and another 5-10 million orphaned by the HIV/AIDS pandemic."
Another link accesses the Weekly Epidemiological Report (WER), which provides timely epidemiological information on cases and outbreaks of diseases under the International Health Regulations. The report also describes other communicable diseases of public health importance, including newly emerging or reemerging infections, noncommunicable diseases, and other health problems. The WER is distributed electronically every Friday in English and French.
The WHO Web site also serves as a useful tool for research on health-related information. The link to the WHO Statistical Information System (WHOSIS) provides selected health and health-related statistical databases and pointers to additional WHO information. The link to public information offers press releases, newsletters, publications information, and library information.
An Outbreaks link provides information on outbreaks of diseases such as influenza and Ebola. There are also links to World Health Day and World No-Tobacco Day, both of which are sponsored by WHO. For travelers, the link to International Travel and Health offers vaccination requirements and health advice. Other links are still under construction, but most are up and running.
Last Update: May 22, 1997