News

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Legislation

Post-Kyoto talks gear up

The EU's emission trading scheme (ETS) for greenhouse gases came into effect on 1st January 2005. Energy conglomerate Shell claimed the first trade of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission allowances under the scheme covering the crucial 2008–12 Kyoto protocol compliance period. In a pre-market deal made in November, Shell exchanged an undisclosed volume of allowances at €9 per tonne, a value close to the price for the initial 2005–7 trading phase.

Legislation allowing firms involved in the ETS to gain extra carbon credits by funding abatement projects outside the EU has also entered into force. The so-called “linking directive” allows firms subject to emission caps to reap extra allowances through the Kyoto protocol's flexible mechanisms [JEM, 2004, 6, 29N & 68N]. Italy and the Netherlands have already struck deals under the “flex-mex” arrangements, with Mexico and Slovakia respectively.

Before the ETS even opened EU policy-makers were already outlining their position on the next stage of global climate policy. In the run-up to an international meeting in Buenos Aires in December, Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström said the EU was likely to accept a more diverse and flexible framework after the Kyoto protocol expires in 2012. The current Kyoto model based on national emission caps is increasingly seen as unsustainable without strong backing from the US and emerging developing countries such as China and India. Means to accommodate these concerns need to be found, Ms Wallström said.

Under the protocol, rules for the post-2012 period must be agreed by 2007. The Buenos Aires meeting of the Kyoto Parties (COP10) aimed to lay the groundwork. The UK and Germany made the running, with a series of joint proposals which they claimed amounted to “bold” actions on climate change. These include: tackling CO₂ emissions from the aviation and shipping sectors; future investment in energy sources; recommendations for CO₂ reductions; finance of green projects; scientific research on climate change; and public relations campaigns to draw attention to the issue. Britain will promote the package during its six-month presidency of the G8 group of industrialised nations later this year.

Even the current protocol remains controversial, however. UNICE, Europe's pan-industry lobby group, says the real costs of Kyoto to the EU economy will be five times higher than the European Commission predicts. It claims that current EU policies to meet Kyoto targets—such as the ETS—would reduce the bloc's GDP by 0.48% by 2010, two years into the Protocol's 2008–2012 compliance window. Current measures will also damage exports, UNICE says. It wants to see a “truly international” climate regime instead.

Some still question the need for a policy at all. Predictions of extreme climate change impacts employ “faulty logic, faulty science and faulty economics” according to free-market thinktank IPN.

European Commission, Kyoto post-2012: http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/climat/future_action.htm; Kyoto Linking Directive (2004/101/EC): http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/; British–German initiative: http://www.britischebotschaft.de/en/; UNICE: http://www.unice.org; International Policy Network (IPN): “The impacts of climate change: An appraisal for the future”, http://www.policynetwork.net/main/index.php

Ministers back simpler REACH

EU ministers are moving in favour of a simplified registration procedure that would cut the costs to industry of the REACH chemicals policy reform. First tabled by the UK and Hungary [JEM, 2004, 6, 68N & 109N], the so-called “one-substance, one registration” (OSOR) proposal received majority support from industry ministers at a meeting in November.

Governments are increasingly concerned about REACH's direct costs to firms, especially small and medium-sized businesses, and they see OSOR as a key mechanism for containment. Concerns over OSOR's effects on competition and intellectual property remain, however. For instance, ministers say the scheme should include an obligation to compensate firms that are forced to surrender commercial data under joint registrations. A national consultation in the UK found “broad support” for OSOR from a majority of stakeholders.

Meanwhile, EU authorities and industry groups have started a joint exercise to test the administrative workability of REACH. The Sport initiative, announced last summer, will use eight substances to try out the legislation before it enters force [JEM, 2004, 6, 109N]. Participants include CEFIC, the European Chemical Industry Association, and small firms' body UEAPME. Trade unions and environmental groups will also participate as observers. Final results are expected in mid-2005.

While industry remains concerned about costs, consumer groups have reiterated calls for REACH to be strengthened. Citing test results showing indoor air fresheners as a significant air pollution problem, BEUC, the European Consumers' Association, says REACH should focus on “chemicals that seem to be most dangerous rather than on the quantities in which they are produced”.

Canada is also to modify its reporting process for new chemicals. The Government has proposed an “updated, user-friendly process” for businesses to report any new substances that they may plan to manufacture domestically or to import from other countries. The proposals will be implemented through revisions to the New Substance Notification Regulations.

EU Council of Ministers: http://www.consilium.eu.int; UK REACH Consultation: http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/reach/index.htm; BEUC: http://www.beuc.org; Environment Canada: http://www.ec.gc.ca

Twenty years of LUST

EPA has commemorated the 20th anniversary of legislation to prevent soil and groundwater contamination from leaking underground storage tanks.

In 1984 President Reagan signed legislation directing EPA to protect the public from petroleum leaks from underground tanks at gas stations and other places. Two years later, Congress created the Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) Trust Fund to help fund the clean up of these petroleum leaks. Since then more than 1.5 million sub-standard tanks have been closed and around 300 000 releases have been cleaned up. Today, the approximately 700 000 active tanks have been upgraded or replaced, in accordance with the federal regulations for release prevention and leak detection.

The LUST legislation remains the most stringent in the world regarding underground storage: the EU, for example, has no equivalent legislation.

The Superfund program for high-priority contaminated sites also shows “significant progress”, according to EPA. Its annual summary for year-ended 30th September shows the Agency completed work at 40 sites, bringing the cumulative total to 926 sites. This represents 61% of the top priority sites ranked on the National Priorities List (NPL). During the year, 678 cleanup projects were on-going at 428 sites, including 27 new projects across the country. Superfund also continued to prepare for future cleanup efforts by listing 11 new sites and proposing 26 sites to be added to the NPL. A new initiative, the Return to Use program, aims to support community efforts to return completed Superfund sites to productive use.

The high-profile Love Canal site was removed from the NPL late last year [JEM, 2004, 6, 134N].

EPA: http://www.epa.gov/oust/pubs/20annrpt.pdf; http://www.epa.gov/superfund; and http://www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/recycle

Go ahead for air directive

Ministers have approved the final text of the EU's fourth air quality daughter directive, which will regulate emissions of arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The law will introduce a more stringent emission monitoring regime under EU integrated pollution control legislation, and was agreed politically six months ago [JEM, 2003, 5, 88N; 2004, 6, 51N]. Member states have two years to implement its provisions.European Council of Ministers: final directive text: http://register.consilium.eu.int/pdf/en/04/st03/st03678.en04.pdf

Environmental quality

Man-made influences threaten the Arctic

The first large-scale study of climate change in the Arctic appears to confirm fears that global warming will have a major impact on the region's environment.

The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA), commissioned by eight countries with Arctic territory, says the Arctic is the first region to be hit by climate change. It has, for instance, led to a 15% decrease in the Arctic icecap since the 1970s. Average temperatures in the Arctic have risen at almost twice the rate of the rest of the world over the past several decades, ACIA says, and much larger changes are projected in the future. The consequences of the expected changes will be serious, it warns, and will be felt far beyond the Arctic region.

While the changing climate may give rise to new opportunities in the North, such as increased access to oil and gas minerals, economic and social impacts on aboriginal communities in the circumpolar Arctic are expected to be serious. For example, the range and availability of species of polar bear, walrus, seals and caribou are already beginning to change and, together with shifting ice and weather conditions, pose major challenges to human health and food security for many communities. ACIA concludes that many of these changes are man-made: “While some historical changes in climate have resulted from natural causes and variations…human influences, resulting primarily from increased emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, have now become the dominant factor.”

The ACIA study and related reports on human development and marine strategy were discussed at the fourth biennial meeting of the Arctic Council in Reykjavik, Iceland, in November. They are the latest in a long line of assessments highlighting impacts in the Arctic environment [JEM, 2004, 6, 51N & 134N].

Arctic Council: “Impacts of a Warming Arctic”, available from http://www.acia.uaf.edu

EU ponders future of air pollution

The European Commission has invited an open debate on the EU's future approach to air pollution policy. In particular it has challenged experts to advise on what role economic instruments could play in the bloc's future air quality regime.

Addressing a conference of European and American economists in Brussels, Environment Directorate chief Catherine Day asked whether the EU should move away from traditional “command-and-control” approaches, particularly in relation to sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). If so, she asked, would emission taxes or charges be a “politically acceptable alternative”? And if the EU decided to introduce more emissions trading, should this be organised at local, national or EU level?

Academics, power plant operators, NGOs and national officials all contributed their views. Richard Morgenstern of US think-tank Resources for the Future advocated a mixed approach to regulation. On balance, he said, there was “lots of evidence that market-based measures are at least as efficient as direct regulation and in some cases more so”. Direct regulation is “more likely to fall short of expectations,” he added. Citing experience with a Swedish NOx charging scheme, Thomas Sterner of Gothenburg University said trading might be best organised as several separate regional markets all governed by common EU rules.

The Netherlands, meanwhile, has set the pace by announcing plans to start a national trading scheme for industrial NOx emission permits. The government wants to introduce the system as soon as possible, to run alongside the Europe-wide carbon dioxide allowance trading which was set to start on 1st January. It believes that NOx trading will speed up the emission reductions by allowing industries that can easily tackle the problem to sell NOx permits to ones for whom it is harder or more expensive. The government wants to see the scheme extended Europe-wide.

The Brussels conference came as a Swedish NGO published a list of the top 100 land-based sources of SO₂ emissions in Europe. Eighty-nine are power stations, of which 70 are coal-fired. The two highest emitters are coal-fired power stations in Spain and Bulgaria that between them release more SO₂ per year than the whole of Germany. By contrast, the survey notes that plants with the lowest SO₂ and NOx emissions are all well below the limits in the EU large combustion plants directive.

European Commission: Cafe pages, http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/air/cafe/index.htm; NEBEI Workshop presentations: http://forum.europa.eu.int/Public/irc/env/cafe_baseline/home; Swedish NGO survey: http://www.acidrain.org/publications.htm; Dutch Environment Ministry: http://www.vrom.nl/pagina.html

Digital atlas reveals Europe's changing landscape

A new digital map shows changes in Europe's landscape over the last 10 years. The new atlas of European land cover, known as Corine, shows detailed patterns of land use across 30 countries and will provide an important basis for future policy-making.

The Corine Land Cover 2000 project is a collaboration between the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC). It surveyed Europe's land cover for the year 2000 and analysed the changes since the first CLC survey undertaken in the late 1980s. Both products are publicly available at no cost through the EEA's website.

Launching the new database at a high-level event in Brussels, Agency Director Jacqueline McGlade said Corine enabled policymakers to “measure the dynamic relationship between the many uses of our landscapes and the impacts…and…conflicts that arise from different policies”. The Agency would spend the next two years analysing the land-cover changes since 1990, she said. Early findings are that urban sprawl has particularly grown in Italy, the Netherlands, eastern Germany and Ireland.

Catherine Day, Head of the Commission's Environment Directorate, said the database would inform decisions in several policy areas, especially nature protection, water management and climate change.

Corine will be a major source for the database of harmonised geographic information proposed by the Commission last summer under the name Inspire [JEM, 2004, 6, 112N]. It will also aid the development of agriculture and transport policies.

An international plan to realise a global network of earth observation systems is due to report in February [JEM, 2004, 6, 122N].

European Environment Agency: http://www.eea.eu.int; Corine datasets http://dataservice.eea.eu.int/dataservice/ and images http://image2000.jrc.it/

Money from methane

A new global initiative aims to advance international cooperation on the recovery and use of methane as a valuable clean energy source.

Methane to Markets is a partnership between 14 countries including Australia, China, Japan, Russia, the UK and the United States. EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt first proposed the initiative last summer [JEM, 2004, 6, 111N]. Welcoming its launch, Leavitt said the partnership “will harness the power of collaboration, technology and markets to achieve real, near-term reductions of global methane emissions”.

EPA says there is the potential to reduce net methane emissions by up to 50 million metric tons of carbon equivalent annually by 2015 and continue at that level or higher in the future. This would be the carbon equivalent of removing 33 million cars from roadways for one year or eliminating emissions from fifty 500-megawatt coal-fired power plants.

Methane is a clean-burning fuel that is the main component of natural gas and is also the second-most prevalent greenhouse gas from human sources. As well as bringing environmental benefits, capturing and using recovered methane provides a valuable, clean-burning energy source.

EPA: Methane to Markets, http://www.epa.gov/methanetomarkets

Agreement on airline water testing

Twelve major US airlines are to implement new aircraft water testing and disinfection protocols under an agreement with the EPA. The protocols are an interim measure while EPA reviews existing guidance governing potable water aboard passenger aircraft.

The announcement follows the public disclosure of EPA testing of drinking water aboard 158 randomly selected passenger aircraft during August and September 2004 [JEM, 2004, 6, 135N]. Preliminary data showed that 13% of the domestic and international aircraft tested in the United States carried water that did not meet EPA standards.

Since then EPA has been working with the Air Transport Association, representing the airline industry, to develop an agreement that will immediately reduce public health risks to passengers and provide additional testing to help the Agency determine the nature and extent of the problem.

EPA: http://www.epa.gov/airlinewater

Chemical hazards

Ministers to rule on NiCd row

EU environment ministers are to be called on to resolve a rift over the fate of nickel-cadmium rechargeable batteries (NiCds).

In 2003 the European Commission proposed higher recycling targets for NiCds, which are typically used in portable equipment and household appliances [JEM, 2004, 6, 71N]. Many Member States now favour a partial ban instead, arguing that the recycling targets would be too demanding.

Under a proposal put forward by the Dutch Presidency, sales of portable NiCd batteries weighing less than 1 kilo and containing more than 20 parts per million of cadmium would be prohibited for domestic use. Cordless power tools, which account for around 70% of the market, would have four years to adjust. Industrial and transport uses of Cd batteries would be exempt.

A new impact assessment commissioned in the summer supports a partial ban, which it says will be more effective than stringent recycling targets. Achieving the 80% collection level for NiCd batteries required under the Commission's proposal would require a significant change in consumer behaviour, according to the study. A partial ban would also be more cost-effective, as it would not require close monitoring of the municipal waste stream. Economic impacts would be limited, the study says, because most NiCd manufacturing is outside the EU.

France, the UK, Ireland and Poland are the main countries still opposed to a phase out. The issue was due to be discussed at the EU Environment Council in December.

EU impact assessment: http://register.consilium.eu.int/pdf/en/04/st14/st14372.en04.pdf; European Environmental Bureau: http://www.eeb.org/press/pr_toxic_batteries_22_11_04.htm

Update on EDCs strategy

Progress in implementing the EU's strategy on endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is detailed in a report by the European Commission.

The document confirms that since launching the strategy in 1999 EU work has remained heavily focused on research [JEM, 2000, 2, 78N]. Over the last five years the Commission has invested over €60 million under the EU's 4th and 5th research framework programmes (FP), and more is being spent under the current 6th FP. Research is increasingly linked to the EU Environment and Health Strategy, SCALE, launched in 2003, the Commission says [JEM, 2003, 5, 63N; 2004, 6, 101N].

Although the EDCs strategy has yet to prompt any direct legislative controls, the paper notes that various pieces of EU legislation could have an impact in future. For instance, certain EDCs could be caught by the strict authorisation requirements under the proposed REACH legislation. Work under the Water Framework Directive has already produced a list of 33 substances, 21 of which are suspected EDCs. Endocrine disruption could become an important criterion for compiling a second “priority hazardous” list, triggering phase-out over 20 years. EU directives on groundwater and drinking water could also be relevant.

European Commission: DG Environment, http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/endocrine/index_en.htm and DG Research http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/endocrine/index_en.html

Early release of TRI data

For the first time EPA has released raw data on toxic chemical releases from industrial facilities. In the past, these data were received, quality-checked and analysed before being published in the annual Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). The Agency says it is publishing the data as received—in the basic format and without further analysis—in response to “stakeholder requests”.

The move has been made possible by increased electronic reporting under EPA's initiative to modernise and streamline the TRI program. Facility-level data for 2003 are available in a series of electronic forms, the Electronic-Facility Data Release (e-FDR), one reporting form for each chemical. EPA says electronic reporting is more accurate, because of built-in quality checks, and makes reporting easier for industry.

The traditional TRI Public Data Release, which includes more quality checks, national trends and analysis, is expected in spring 2005.

EPA: TRI, http://www.epa.gov/tri-efdr; For 2004 release see: JEM, 2004, 6, 100N

VOCs delisted

EPA has removed or exempted six chemicals from its list of pollutants regulated under the Clean Air Act. The move follows scientific and technical reviews that concluded the chemicals pose less risk than previously thought and that reclassifying them would not compromise public health.

The solvent ethylene glycol mono-butyl ether (EGBE) has been removed from the list of air toxics (also known as hazardous air pollutants) and the chemical t-butyl acetate (TBAC) and four others have been exempted from control as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). EPA says the move may even benefit public health if they are substituted for more toxic or environmentally damaging chemicals.

Exempting a VOC requires a demonstration that the compound is negligibly reactive, meaning the compound forms less ground-level ozone than ethane. EPA has exempted 48 VOCs since 1977, the last being caprolactam in 1996.

EPA: Air toxics, http://www.epa.gov/airlinks/airlinks1.html

Environmental impact of nanotechnology

Twelve US universities are to receive EPA grants to investigate the potential health and environmental impacts of nanomaterials. The grants, totalling $4 million, aim to address the gap in knowledge over the risks in human and environmental exposure to these substances from waste streams or other environmental pathways.

Nanoscale materials are being used in a wide range of products, such as sunscreens, composites, medical devices and chemical catalysts. They could also herald great advances in environmental protection. For example, filter systems for drinking or wastewater could be designed at the nanoparticle level to remove even the most minuscule of impurities.

The UK's Royal Society recently called attention to the societal and environmental risks of nanotechnologies and the requirement for new regulation [JEM, 2004, 6, 122N].

EPA, National Center for Environmental Research: http://www.epa.gov/ncer

Public and occupational health

EU ducks national GM decision

EU experts remain split over unilateral national bans on approved GM crop varieties taken by some Member States. Meeting in Brussels in November, an EU regulatory committee failed to agree a proposal to overturn the national legislation.

Austria, France, Germany, Greece and Luxembourg have banned specific GMOs approved in the EU citing health concerns. Based on scientific advice that none of the bans was supported by new evidence, the European Commission proposed that they be asked to lift the bans or face legal action. The regulatory committee also failed to approve or reject a proposed new GM maize variety (MON 863) for import to the EU. Decisions on both issues will now be passed to environment ministers.

The move came just three days after the German Parliament approved extensive new rules on commercial growing and handling of GM crops. Although aimed primarily at transposing the EU's 2001 GMOs directive, some of its measures go much further. These include an obligation for GM crop growers to take precautionary action and carry out good farming practice. The law also introduces civil defence and compensation provisions for anyone whose property has been damaged by the release of GMOs. A publicly accessible register will be set up for all sites where GM crops are intended to be grown, with an additional notification requirement in areas defined as ecologically sensitive.

The Netherlands has become the third EU country, after Denmark and Germany, to agree guidelines for managing cultivation of GM, conventional and organic crops. A voluntary agreement between the government and farmers sets out principles for buffer zones between GM and non-GM crops, and makes biotech farmers liable for cross-contamination if shown to have been negligent.

In the UK, a further study from farm-scale trials has concluded that GM crops have “no detrimental impact on biodiversity or farming methods” and can coexist with conventional cultivation. The study, issued by the UK's Agricultural Biotechnology Council, looked at herbicide-resistant oilseed rape and sugarbeet grown in rotation with conventional crops over four years.

Meanwhile, Friends of the Earth Europe (FOEE) claimed that the European Food Safety Authority, the EU's food regulatory watchdog, has taken a “constant position in favour of the biotechnology industry”. In a report, FOEE accuses EFSA scientists of having links with industry and says the authority “continuously brushes aside evidence of differences and potential health effects of GM crops”.

German Consumer Protection Ministry: http://www.verbraucherministerium.de; UK Agricultural Biotechnology Council: http://www.abcinformation.org; FOE Europe: http://www.foeeurope.org/GMOs/publications/EFSAreport.pdf

Industry rejects children's health link

Claims that worrying health trends are linked to everyday exposure to chemicals in the environment are unfounded, according to European industry group CEFIC. A major research review by European toxicology centre ECETOC “could not identify any significant evidence of links between low level, long-term environmental exposure to chemicals and childhood illnesses”, CEFIC said.

According to the report, the observed rise in asthma and respiratory allergies is more likely due to proteins rather than to environmental chemicals. On the other hand, some evidence suggests a role for volatile organic chemicals in aggravating asthma symptoms by irritating the airways.

Although exposure to lead, mercury and PCBs is linked with neurodevelopmental disorders, except for lead, exposure to environmental levels of these chemicals is not proven to have an effect. The main causes of disorders such as autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are found to be genetic and socio-economic.

In reproductive health, the observed early onset of puberty in girls is apparently linked to improved health and nutrition rather than pollution. Cryptorchidism and hypospadias, male reproductive disorders believed to be linked to parental exposures to hormone modulating chemicals, are found to be related to a variety of non-environmental factors.

CEFIC said the report was a contribution to the on-going debate on risk reduction. It wants to ensure that future policies under the EU's Environment and Health Strategy (SCALE) [JEM, 2003, 5, 63N; 2004, 6, 101N] are based on science rather than public opinion. “No matter how much science is in place, we are seeing a move towards decisions based on arbitrary reasons”, a spokesman said.

Across the Atlantic, EPA has decided to send its Children's Environmental Exposure Research Study (CHEERS) for further external, independent review. An expert panel made up of members of the Science Advisory Board, the Science Advisory Panel, and the Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee will review the work undertaken so far and report during spring of 2005.

CEFIC: http://www.cefic.org; EPA, Science Inventory: http://www.epa.gov/si

Danish centre to study MCS

Denmark is to set up a centre to collate scientific data on the controversial syndrome known as multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS). About 50 000 Danes are believed to be affected by the condition, also known as “environmental illness”. It comprises a range of allergic reactions thought to be caused by low ambient concentrations of many common chemicals. A survey by the Danish EPA last April concluded that MCS is “real” and often work-related.

Research activities

EPA updates homeland security role

EPA has released its Homeland Security Strategy, describing the Agency's role in safeguarding the US against the consequences of terrorism. It updates the initial strategy released shortly after the Sept. 11^th attacks [JEM, 2001, 3, 89N; 2002, 4, 100N] and reflects the evolution of policy, including recent Homeland Security presidential directives, and the evolving role of the US Department of Homeland Security.

EPA's homeland security roles and responsibilities include coordinating protection of the drinking water and wastewater sector and providing federal emergency response and recovery support in the event of a terrorist attack. It will also provide forensic evidence collection assistance to law enforcement; conduct research for enhanced methods of detection and decontamination of biological and chemical warfare agents; and safeguard EPA employees and facilities nationwide.

One of the first actions has been to make the National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC), based in Cincinnati, OH, a permanent organisation. The Center was set up on a temporary basis in the wake of the 2001 attacks. It has been successful in addressing building decontamination, drinking water protection, and rapid risk assessment of airborne contaminants. For instance, it developed a list of Standardized Analytical Methods (SAM) for environmental laboratories to use in analysing biological and chemical samples.

EPA, Homeland Security Strategy: http://www.epa.gov/ohs/htm/ohs-sp.htm; and NHSRC: http://www.epa.gov/ordnhsrc/index.htm

Bio-pollutant could be key to new therapies

Researchers working with a toxin called Florida red tide have discovered two new compounds that may treat mucus build-up associated with cystic fibrosis and similar lung diseases. Preliminary studies show these compounds improve the flow of mucus through the respiratory tract, allowing airways to clear more quickly and efficiently.

Florida red tide consists of microscopic plant-like cells that produce a potent chemical toxin which causes fish kills, contaminates shellfish, and creates severe respiratory irritation in people. As the concentration of red tide increases, waves and wind disperse toxin particles into the air, causing irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, lips and tongue.

After identifying the most potent of the red tide toxins, researchers turned their attention to a second question: Can the respiratory problems caused by the toxin be prevented? Their research led to the discovery of two “anti-toxins”—a man-made compound known as β-naphthoyl-brevetoxin, and brevenal, a natural compound produced by the organism itself. Experiments conducted in sheep revealed that both compounds were able to block the effects of the red tide toxin on the respiratory system.

Researchers then made an even more important discovery—the anti-toxins behaved much like drugs used to treat cystic fibrosis. “We found these compounds are able to speed up the clearance of mucus from the lungs,” said Daniel Baden, of University of North Carolina at Wilmington's Center for Marine Science and director of the project.

According to Baden, mucociliary clearance is one of the most important defense systems in the lungs, protecting the airways from bacteria and pollutants. “We think the ability of these anti-toxins to improve the clearance of mucus may be due to a combination of increased movement of the cilia, the tiny hair-like structures that line the airways, and a thinning of mucus,” he said. These compounds are thus excellent candidates for the development of an entirely new class of drugs targeted for the treatment of mucociliary disease.

NIEHS: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/oc/news/redtide.htm

Tracking for chemical health assessments

A new online resource allows the public to follow the development and review of EPA's chemical health assessments in the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS).

IRIS is a key database on potential adverse human health effects from environmental exposure to chemical substances. It currently contains information on potential health effects for more than 500 chemicals and is used both nationally and internationally to provide peer-reviewed human health risk information to decision makers.

The new IRIS Track feature provides greater transparency to the public regarding the status of on-going IRIS assessments by displaying major milestones. It also enables IRIS users to monitor current status and view projected dates for future milestones for each chemical assessment.

EPA: http://www.epa.gov/iris and http://cfpub.epa.gov/iristrac/index.cfm

New head for IMV

British scientist Peter Calow has been appointed as director of Denmark's Environmental Assessment Institute (IMV), replacing “sceptical environmentalist” Bjørn Lomborg, who quit in the summer [JEM, 2004, 6, 103N]. Professor Calow is a specialist in ecology and ecological risk assessment and a member of the EU Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks. He pledged to build on IMV's work examining environmental issues critically and weighing costs against benefits, and to put a high priority on its international profile, particularly in relation to the EU.IMV: http://www.imv.dk

Publications

Personal aerosol sampler

The report describes the results of a 14-month study to evaluate the precision and accuracy of a personal and micro-environmental aerosol speciation sampler (PMASS) used in two locations with different PM composition. A number of modifications were made to the prototype's design, which necessitated further laboratory tests. The PMASS was found to be an improvement over the prototype and to be competitive with other recently developed samplers for assessment of personal exposure to PM2.5 and its chemical constituents. The field studies conducted revealed some limitations, however.“Evaluation of a Personal and Micro-environmental Aerosol Speciation Sampler”, by Dr Alison S Geyh, HEI Research Report 122. Available at http://www.healtheffects.org

Air pollution and climate change

A new report explores the linkages between traditional air pollutants and climate change. Both the science and policy communities are increasingly aware of these linkages. Many of the traditional air pollutants and greenhouse gases have common sources, their emissions interact in the atmosphere, and separately or jointly they cause a variety of environmental impacts on local, regional and global scales. Linkages work in two directions: there can be synergies and negative trade-offs. Thus, emissions control strategies that simultaneously address air pollutants and greenhouse gases may lead to a more efficient use of the resources on all scales.“Air pollution and climate change policies in Europe: exploring linkages and the added value of an integrated approach”, Technical report No 5/2004, European Environment Agency, http://reports.eea.eu.int/technical_report_2004_5/en

Watershed assessment

NCEA has published an outline and review of the various types of information used in 10 different watershed assessments. It summarises how the information was collected, used and evaluated by each of the 10 watershed assessments and outlines some of the types and sources of data that are available. It provides those conducting watershed ecological assessments with an introduction to the types and sources of information used by others and is intended to help improve the use of sound science in watershed scale decision making.EPA, National Center for Environmental Assessment: “Gathering Information for Watershed Ecological Assessments: a Review of Ten Watershed Assessments”, http://www.epa.gov/ncea

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