Environmental digest

Legislation

Europe debates future environmental policy

The direction of the EU's future environmental policy is taking shape as the debate progresses on various fronts. The policy, known as the Seventh Environmental Action Plan (7EAP), is currently being debated by the EU institutions ahead of formal proposals due in the autumn. It is intended to guide European policymaking until 2020 and beyond. The European Commission wants the Plan to take greater account of urban areas, consumer behaviour, and mainstream climate and environmental affairs, as well as improving legal implementation.

The EU has been trying for some years to integrate issues such as resource efficiency, climate change and biodiversity into its broader policy framework, most recently through its multi-annual financial plans. It aims to further protect health and wellbeing by improving air and water quality, and by creating a toxic-free environment. The latter could include more action on endocrine disruptors, nanomaterials and the combined effects of chemicals.

According to the Commission, policymakers need to give more thought to the environmental problems specific to urban areas, where 80% of European citizens are expected to live by 2020, and to potential solutions. It also wants to improve the information available to policymakers through better data collection and sharing, more use of information collected by the public and better understanding of the factors driving human behaviour. The EU must also work more closely with other world regions on environmental problems.

The Plan is expected to place particular emphasis on improving implementation of EU environmental legislation, which could save €50bn a year.¹ In a separate policy paper on the issue, the Commission suggests a range of approaches including improved surveillance and inspection, better sharing of information, and more access to justice for environmental groups. While stopping short of recommending the immediate creation of an EU environmental inspectorate – a recurring call among some stakeholders – the paper leaves this as an option alongside upgrades to existing national frameworks for inspection and enforcement, and the inclusion of more specific inspection rules in new legislation. The Commission promises to bring forward proposals for an information sharing system (SEIS) by the summer and to investigate setting up ‘structured implementation and information frameworks’ (SIIFs) to assess the requirements of particular directives and their implementation.

In its debate on the 7EAP, the European Parliament's Environment Committee called for an environmental inspection law, further action on waste and a drive on sustainable land use through targets and impact assessments. Rapporteur Jo Leinen, a German Socialist MEP and former chair of the committee, singled out poor implementation of environmental law as a major problem and again suggested that the Commission consider setting up an EU inspection force.

Governments are also debating the future shape of LIFE+, the environmental funding programme for 2014-20. Under current proposals each Member State would have at least one ‘integrated project’, a new mechanism designed to help support the implementation of environmental law. Examples will include regional Natura 2000 networks, river basin management plans, cross-border flood prevention strategies and climate adaptation plans. However, at a recent meeting in Brussels, ministers called for clarity on how this principle would be applied and what criteria would be used.

European Commission: 7EAP, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/consultations/7eap_en.htm; implementation: http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/12/220&format;=HTML&aged;=0&language;=EN&guiLanguage;=en; European Parliament: www.europarl.europa.eu; Council of Ministers: LIFE+: www.consilium.europa.eu, (reference 128883).

EU consults on water blueprint

The European Commission has launched a further consultation on water policy designed to shape its strategy through to 2020 and beyond. The exercise focuses on policy measures that will be proposed in its water protection blueprint due later this year. Some of these measures have already been put to consultation, including those on building water efficiency.²

In the consultation document, the Commission's Environment Directorate stresses the blueprint is evolutionary rather than revolutionary, and is not intended to radically overhaul the existing policy framework.³ The blueprint will provide a ‘policy toolbox’ to help EU governments improve water management in line with the objectives of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the broader EU 2020 strategy, which led to the resource efficiency roadmap.

The new consultation covers a wide range of policy options aimed at improving data at river basin level, reducing the impact of agriculture on resources, tackling water leakages, improving building efficiency and water pricing.

The difficulty in establishing water balances – the balance between how much water flows in and out of a river basin – is a key concern and a major barrier to good and efficient water management, the Commission says. Such balances depend on the availability of reliable data to ensure the sustainability of local basins and efficiency targets. Options to address this problem include EU guidance on the use of water accounting and a methodology for setting targets. At the recent World Water Forum, a draft global water management standard was discussed based on a number of key principles including water balance.

Other policy options presented include changes to the way EU environmental impact assessment rules are applied to irrigation projects; the use of water metering devices as a condition for receiving farming subsidies; and various measures for better pricing so as to improve water efficiency.

The EU needs a more consistent regulatory approach to water reuse, new rules on sewage sludge, and better links between water policies and other legislation, according to water industry association Eureau. The association was responding to a previous Commission consultation on EU freshwater policies. It is calling for a single set of EU guidelines on reuse and wants an urgent review of the sewage sludge directive which reflects the value of sludge as a source of nutrients and energy. Compliance with the directive is still patchy, a recent report showed.⁴ Eureau sees a particular need to align water policies with chemicals, pesticide and agriculture rules. For example, chemicals identified as pollutants under the WFD could automatically be subject to restrictions under REACH to ensure the problems are not just addressed by sewage works.

The Commission claims broad support for additional measures to tackle water problems, according to the findings of a survey published to coincide with World Water Day. Around 42% of respondents wanted water users to be charged according to how much they consume; a similar proportion agreed but added that measures should be put in place to offset possible negative social consequences. Only 13% of respondents said they did not support water pricing. These findings have to be taken with caution, however, since people tend to be more open to environmental pricing in surveys than when the policies are actually presented to them.

At international level, one of the main outcomes of the World Water Forum – which is held every three years – was a ministerial declaration reaffirming commitments to water issues. Among other things, the declaration puts an emphasis on integrated river basin management and the need to mainstream water goals into other policy areas. The Forum saw the launch of a roadmap for global action and a website – www.solutionsforwater.org – with information on hundreds of sustainable water initiatives.

DG Environment: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/consultations/blueprint_en.htm; opinion survey: http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_344_sum_en.pdf; World Water Forum: http://www.worldwaterforum6.org; Alliance for Water Stewardship: http://www.allianceforwaterstewardship.org.

Marine policy requires fine tuning

Policies to improve the environmental status of marine areas must take into account the variability and complexity of such areas, their open access and the time it takes to effect changes, according to an EU consultancy report. The report should help EU states prepare programmes under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, for which consultations are currently underway.⁵ These plans, which must be finalised by 2015, are intended to help marine areas reach ‘good environmental status’ by 2020.

The authors, led by environmental consultancy Arcadis, compiled a database of about 140 possible measures and analysed five in more detail. They conclude that Member States considering translating policies from other regions need to tread carefully and should give thought to the scale at which these policies are applied. The consultancy also recommends that policymakers get the backing of stakeholders and seek “win-win” measures, such as energy savings for ships and ecolabels for fish products, wherever possible because of the difficulty of regulating marine areas.

One of the first areas where these approaches could be applied is the Baltic Sea, following an announcement that the EU's Baltic Sea strategy will be re-structured to improve implementation and align it with the goals of the Europe 2020 plan. Each of the strategy's three new objectives – Save the Sea, Connect the Region and Increase Prosperity – will be accompanied by indicators and targets. Some of these will be based on a revision of the MSFD and the updated Helcom action plan for the region due in 2013. Environmental targets include drawing up transboundary and ecosystem-based maritime spatial plans by 2015. Baltic Sea countries had already committed to develop such plans under the 2007 Helcom programme.

The EU's integrated maritime policy encourages maritime spatial planning. Maritime Affairs Commissioner Maria Damanaki said the Commission would table a proposal to further promote such planning across the EU. In addition to indicators and targets, a 2011 review of the Baltic Sea strategy also found that EU funds for the region were not sufficiently linked together. The next EU budget will take greater account of regional dynamics, the Commission says.

Baltic Sea nations have finalised their application to the International Maritime Organization for a nitrogen oxides emissions control area (NECA). The issue has been on Helcom's agenda since 2010. Designation of the Baltic as a NECA is expected to cut NOx emissions from ships by 60%. The gradual phase-out of more polluting vessels means that the full effects will not be seen until 2045. Lower NOx levels would improve air quality and cut eutrophication in the Baltic.

European Commission: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/marine/public-consultation/index_en.htm; Helcom: http://www.helcom.fi

Environmental quality

Governments must take the long view

Policymakers must not neglect longer term challenges despite the urgent need to redress public finances and tackle high unemployment rates, the OECD said as it unveiled its Environmental Outlook to 2050. Its analysis was closely followed by another long-term projection, by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) at the University of York, which warns that the annual economic value of oceans could fall by $2 trillion (€1.5trn) by 2100 – equivalent to 0.37% of the world's GDP – due to global warming.

The OECD report presents the organisation's latest projections on socio-economic trends and global environmental impacts. Apart from the (now well-known) climate impacts and energy projections, it warns that ground-level ozone could lead to a sharp increase in the number of premature deaths, particularly in India and the OECD region. The think tank also warns of a further 10% decrease in terrestrial biodiversity and a 13% decline in mature forest areas if no action is taken urgently to move towards greener growth. Health problems related to exposure to toxic chemicals would also be on the rise due to the increase of poorly regulated production in emerging countries.

The SEI figures are a preliminary assessment of the combined threats facing marine environments, including rising sea-levels, pollution and the overuse of marine resources. Together, these could have a far bigger impact than the scale of each individual threat might suggest, the report warns. It suggests that, although 40% of marine environments already face more than one major threat, policymakers still tend to focus on single issues.

OECD environment ministers met in Paris recently to discuss how to deliver green growth. Despite general political support for the green economy, there are indications countries most affected by the debt crisis, such as Greece and Spain, are putting environmental protection on the back burner.

OECD: ‘Environmental Outlook to 2050’: http://www.oecd.org; Stockholm Environment Institute: http://www.sei-international.org

Ozone levels down as Europe debates pollution targets

European levels of ground-level ozone last summer were the lowest in any year since records began in 1997, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA). This was mainly due to cool, wet weather rather than lower emissions of precursor gases. However, the figures provided little consolation for EU states as they tried to agree a common position on revisions to the Gothenburg Protocol on air pollution ahead of the next round of talks in May.

The EEA's annual ozone report shows that every Member State breached the EU's long-term goal of keeping average eight hour concentrations below 120 micrograms per cubic metre. The biggest problems continue to be in Mediterranean countries and, as in 2010, 17 states exceeded the limit on more than 25 days. However, the total number of breaches was the lowest since 1997. The percentage of EU measuring stations exceeding the higher ‘information threshold’ level of 180 μg m⁻³ was also the lowest seen so far at 18%, according to the report. The 240 μg m⁻³ ‘alert threshold’ was exceeded 41 times and concentrations of 300 μg m⁻³ or more were measured three times in 2011 in Bulgaria, Italy and Spain.

For the Gothenburg Protocol discussions, a note by the Danish Presidency proposes a number of targets for 2020, including a 55% cut in sulfur dioxide below 2005 levels, a 40% cut in nitrogen oxides, 20% for fine particulates (PM2.5), 25% for volatile organic compounds and 5% for ammonia. But several countries are unhappy with these goals.⁶ Even these targets are less stringent than those proposed by other parties to the UNECE Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP). This is partly to encourage more countries to ratify the protocol, which so far has been ratified by 26 of the LRTAP's 51 parties.

In Madrid, meanwhile, levels of nitrogen oxides and ozone rose again last year, breaching EU limits for the second year running, according to official data published by the NGO Ecologistas en Acción. The group attributed the failure to the regional government's refusal to address car use.

EEA: http://www.eea.europa.eu; Danish Presidency note: http://register.consilium.europa.eu, (reference: st07303); Ecologistas en Acción: http://www.ecologistasenaccion.org/.

Nuclear industry faces uncertain future

Twelve months on from the Fukushima disaster in Japan, the nuclear industry is facing an uncertain future. At the recent Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, industry insiders were putting an optimistic spin on things, claiming the industry was “almost back to business as usual”. But worldwide the nuclear industry's prospects are very much a mixed bag.

Within months of the Fukushima incident, Germany, Belgium and Italy vowed to quit atomic energy. Emerging economies, on the other hand, cannot afford to turn their backs on the nuclear option. India has overridden six months of local protests to approve the start of its Kudankulam plant. China is “very likely” to resume approval of new nuclear projects this year, said Sun Qin, president of China National Nuclear Corp. And in February, even the US gave the green light to build its first reactor in 30 years.

Indonesia, Egypt, and Chile are among more than a dozen nations planning to build their first nuclear station to join the 30 countries operating atomic plants. Sixty-one reactors are currently under construction and a further 162 units are planned, according to the World Nuclear Association. But the International Energy Agency has predicted a 15% fall in world nuclear power generation by 2035.⁷ Other commentators are also predicting a rapid decline in nuclear's fortunes in the face of spiralling costs.⁸ Meanwhile, the announcement that construction had begun on a dome over the reactors at Chernobyl – 25 years after the accident there – served to emphasize the long-term consequences of nuclear mishaps.

In the UK, the government's hopes for a new generation of nuclear power suffered a major blow after German-owned energy companies RWE Npower and Eon announced they were scrapping plans to build plants. Under the name Horizon Nuclear Power, the two firms were looking to build a 3.3 gigawatt plant in Gloucestershire and another one in Anglesey, North Wales. Planning applications were due in 2013/14 with at least one plant operating from 2020. The decision leaves just two consortia looking to develop new nuclear capacity in the UK: EDF/Centrica and NuGen, which includes Scottish & Southern Energy, GDF Suez and Spanish utility firm Iberdrola. According to the Guardian newspaper, as many as 12 of Britain's 19 civil nuclear sites are at risk of flooding and coastal erosion because of climate change, according to an unpublished government analysis.

Safety tests on nuclear plants ordered by the EU last year in the wake of Fukushima should be completed by around the middle of the year, according to EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger.⁹ The results had been promised last autumn and the delay is creating suspicion among nuclear sceptics.¹⁰ “Thoroughness is more important than delivering quick results”, Mr Oettinger said. China used the Seoul meeting to call for global cooperation on nuclear safety.

RWE: http://www.npowermediacentre.com/; Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/

UN hails drinking water target

The target of halving the proportion of the world's population without access to safe drinking water – a key part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – has been met well in advance of the 2015 deadline, UN agencies say. Between 1990 and 2010, over two billion people gained access to improved drinking water sources, such as piped supplies and protected wells. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the milestone “a great achievement for the people of the world”.

According to the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation, at the end of 2010 89% of the world's population, or 6.1 billion people, used improved drinking water sources. This is one per cent more than the 88% MDG target. The report estimates that by 2015 92% of the global population will have access to improved drinking water.

“For children this is especially good news”, said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. “Every day more than 3000 children die from diarrhoeal diseases. Achieving this goal will go a long way to saving children's lives”. But Lake warned that victory could not yet be declared as at least 11% of the world's population – 783 million people – are still without access to safe drinking water, and billions without sanitation facilities.

A separate report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) says that recognising the valuable services provided by ecosystems such as wetlands and forests – and not only focusing on water productivity in agriculture – can improve livelihoods and help meet the rising demands on the world's water resources in a sustainable way.

WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme: ‘Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation 2012’: http://www.wssinfo.org/; UNEP: ‘Releasing the Pressure: Water Resource Efficiencies and Gains for Ecosystem Services’: http://www.unep.org/

Superfund list extended

EPA is adding nine new hazardous waste sites to the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites, and is proposing to include 10 additional sites. The new sites include former factories in Miami, Mississippi and North Carolina, contaminated creeks and groundwater plumes in New York state, Montana and Puerto Rico, and an inactive waste dump in Maryland.

Since 1983, 1661 sites have been listed on the NPL. Of these, 359 sites have been cleaned up resulting in 1302 sites currently on the NPL (including the nine new additions). There are 62 proposed sites (including the additional 10) awaiting final agency action. Contaminants found at such sites include arsenic, benzene, cadmium, chromium, copper, creosote, dichloroethene (DCE), lead, mercury, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), tetrachloroethylene (PCE), pentachlorophenol (PCP), trichloroethane (TCA), trichloroethylene (TCE), toluene, uranium and zinc.

With all NPL sites, EPA works to identify companies or people responsible for the contamination, and require them to conduct or pay for the cleanup. For the newly listed sites without viable potentially responsible parties, EPA will investigate the full extent of the contamination before starting significant cleanup. Therefore, it may be several years before significant cleanup funding is required for these sites.

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

Chemical hazards

Europe considers cadmium and mercury bans

Europe may ban cadmium in batteries for cordless power tools from 2016 under a proposal put forward by the European Commission. This is one of the last remaining uses of cadmium allowed under the EU's batteries directive. A ban on the use of mercury in dental amalgams is also on the cards.

In 2010, the Commission ruled out scrapping the power tools exemption, citing gaps in information on the cost and benefits of alternatives such as lithium-ion batteries that make up 36% of the EU market.¹¹ But this option is now back on the table in the light of new information.

An impact assessment published alongside the proposal explores two options: banning cadmium in such batteries now or in 2016. The latter would be less costly – €33m compared with up to €60m – while the environmental benefits would only be slightly lower. The environmental benefits of a ban are also calculated, taking into account both existing and forthcoming collection targets; the batteries directive sets targets of 25% and 45% for 2012 and 2016 respectively.

The directive bans the sale of batteries containing more than 0.002% of cadmium by weight, with exemptions in power tools, alarm systems and medical equipment. Uses in jewellery, plastic and brazing alloys were banned last year.

On mercury, a consultancy study recommends a ban in its use in dental amalgams from 2018. The study follows a 2010 review of the EU's mercury strategy, which recommended to investigate the possibility of further restrictions.¹² Sweden, which does not allow mercury in dentistry, has pushed for an EU ban in this area for some time.

Council of Ministers: http://register.consilium.europa.eu (reference: st08245); European Commission: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/mercury.

Pesticides linked to decline of bees

Researchers have raised concern over the affect of low-dose pesticides on bees. Systemic insecticides, a common way to protect crops, can seriously damage the bees' ability to navigate, scientists say.

The new research strongly links the pesticides to the serious decline in honey bee numbers in the US and UK – a drop of around 50% in the last 25 years. The losses pose a threat to food supplies as bees are important pollinators. Scientists found that bees consuming one pesticide suffered an 85% loss in the number of queens their nests produced, while another study showed a doubling in “disappeared” bees – those that failed to return from food foraging trips. The significance of the new work, published in Science, is that it is the first carried out in realistic, open-air conditions.

Prof Mickaël Henry, of INRA in Avignon, France, who led one of the research teams, said: “Under the effects we saw from the pesticides, the population size would decline disastrously, and make them even more sensitive to parasites or a lack of food”.

The reason for the huge decline in bee numbers has remained uncertain, but pesticides, the varroa mite and other parasites, and destruction of the flower-rich habitats in which bees feed are believed to be the key reasons. Pesticide manufacturers deny a class of the chemicals called neonicotinoids cause significant problems for bees, but Germany, Italy and France have suspended key insecticides over such fears. Researchers say the latest findings are cause for concern and will increase pressure to improve pesticide testing and regulation.

Meanwhile, experts are recommending that the pesticide trichlorfon should be regulated under the Rotterdam convention on trade in dangerous chemicals. Meeting in Geneva, the Convention's chemical review committee also approved draft guidance documents on several recommendations made last year.¹³ These cover: perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and its salts and precursors; flame retardants pentaBDE and octaBDE; and paraquat dichloride, the active ingredient in herbicide formulation Gramoxone Super. They will be discussed by governments at the next international meeting in 2013. Substances on the Rotterdam list of toxic chemicals cannot be exported without the receiving country's prior informed consent.

Science: http://www.sciencemag.org; Rotterdam Convention: http://www.pic.int/.

SVHC products revealed

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has published a summary of the 203 notifications of hazardous substances in articles it has received to date. The Agency warns, however, that the summary “does not provide a comprehensive picture” of SVHCs in articles on the EU market.

The notifications received cover only 18 of the 54 SVHCs on the candidate list by 1 December 2011. For each substance, ECHA lists the type of consumer goods involved but does not name individual products. Four-fifths of notifications relate to just five chemicals: plasticisers diethylhexyl- and dibutyl phthalate (DEHP and DBP); flame retardant hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD); heat-resistant aluminosilicate refractory fibres; and boric acid. The listed uses of DEHP and DBP include electrical cables and numerous types of flexible plastic such as bags, inflatable items, tarpaulins and synthetic leather. HBCDD was used mainly in polystyrene insulating board and packaging.

Producers and importers must notify ECHA if their goods contain a substance of very high concern (SVHC) from the REACH candidate list in a concentration above 0.1% and if the total amount of the substance in their goods each year exceeds one tonne. Vita Buonsante, a lawyer with NGO ClientEarth, said the list is confusing in its current form and not very helpful to consumers. Green groups have launched legal challenges to force ECHA to move more quickly on products regulation.¹⁴

ECHA is also consulting on a Danish plan to restrict levels of chromium VI in leather goods. Denmark wants to limit levels in products that have prolonged or repeated contact with the skin to three milligrams per kilogram. Chromium VI is a by-product of tanning processes using chromium III and can cause skin allergies. The consultation runs until 16 September and ECHA's scientific advice will be finalised by March 2013. If the European Commission backs the restriction, the substance will be added to REACH's ‘Annex XVII’.

ECHA has also confirmed the reappointment of its Director Geert Dancet for another five year term.

ECHA: http://echa.europa.eu.

EPA tightens product rules

In an action similar to the above move in Europe, EPA is proposing that companies be required to report all new uses, including in domestic or imported products, of five groups of potentially harmful chemicals.

The five chemicals EPA is targeting are polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs), benzidine dyes, a short chain chlorinated paraffin, hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), and phthalate di-n-pentyl phthalate (DnPP). The agency is also proposing additional testing on the health and environmental effects of PBDEs. Over the years, these have been used in a range of consumer products and industrial applications, including paints, printing inks, pigments and dyes in textiles, flame retardants in flexible foams, and plasticizers.

The proposed regulatory actions are known as significant new use rules (SNUR) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Anyone who intends to manufacture, import, or process any of the chemicals for an activity that is designated as a significant new use would be required to notify EPA at least 90 days before beginning the activity. For PBDEs, the agency will simultaneously issue a test rule under section 4(a) of TSCA that would require manufacturers or processors to conduct testing on health and environmental effects.

EPA: http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/.

Public and occupational health

NGO warns over chemical link to obesity

Exposure to hormone disrupting chemicals in food and consumer products could be contributing to obesity and diabetes, scientists say. Studies published in recent years provide compelling evidence that human chemical contamination can play a part in both conditions, according to a report by CHEM Trust, an NGO.

The report, prepared by two of the world's leading experts, reviewed over 240 research papers. It concludes that the cocktail of chemicals to which we are exposed in our everyday lifestyles is likely to contribute to these modern epidemics, both of which are major financial drains on the health services and the economy.

The review finds that exposures to certain chemicals in the womb, at other critical periods of life and in adulthood may be linked to obesity and disruption of the normal functioning of insulin in later life. Evidence of the role of hormone disrupting chemicals comes from both laboratory studies and studies on human populations. Obesity and diabetes are increasing in the EU at an alarming rate, and obesity is the greatest known risk factor for developing diabetes.

“If exposure to hormone disrupting chemicals is programming us to be fat, it is high time that public health policy takes into account cutting edge science”, noted CHEM Trust Director Elizabeth Salter Green. The NGO is calling for the UK Government and the EU to urgently identify hormone disruptors to ensure that chemicals suspected of playing a role in diabetes and obesity are substituted with safer alternatives.

CHEM Trust: “Review of the Science Linking Chemical Exposures to the Human Risk of Obesity and Diabetes”: http://www.chemtrust.org.uk/.

Modern engines less harmful to health

Modern diesel engines appear to be less harmful to health than their older counterparts, according to animal testing undertaken by the US-based Health Effects Institute (HEI). These are the first results from HEI's Advanced Collaborative Emissions Study (ACES) looking at modern diesel engines.

Investigators at the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico, are exposing mice and rats 16 hours each day, 5 days a week, to diluted emissions from a 2007-model heavy-duty engine equipped with a diesel particle filter. Previously, HEI-sponsored work has shown that emissions from such engines contain very low levels of diesel particles and other pollutants. This is the first, and so far only, study to focus on emissions from new engines now on the market, which comply with stringent emission regulations now in force.

The new publication reports results from mice exposed for 1 and 3 months and rats exposed for 1, 3, and 12 months, and includes data on respiratory, inflammatory, and cardiovascular function, together with lung histopathology, genotoxicity, and other end points. Consistent with the study hypothesis, the investigators have not so far found evidence of significant changes in key health end points, except for certain mild changes in the lung that are consistent with exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), a major component of the emissions. Experiments will continue until the end of the year.

A separate paper, released as HEI Communication 17, provides results of the exhaust characterization under various operating conditions in the dilution tunnel and in the animal exposure chambers before the start of inhalation exposures.

HEI: ‘Advanced Collaborative Emissions Study (ACES) Phase 3A: Characterization of U.S. 2007-Compliant Diesel Engine and Exposure System Operation’: http://www.healtheffects.org/.

Research activities

World could face three degrees of warming

Global temperatures could rise by 1.4–3.0 °C (2.5–5.4F) above levels for late last century by 2050, a computer simulation has suggested. Almost 10 000 climate simulations were run on volunteers' home computers. The projections, published in Nature Geoscience, are somewhat higher than those from other models. The World Meteorological Organization announced recently that 2011 was the 11^th warmest since records began in 1850, while earlier reports show global carbon emissions have rebounded to record levels,¹⁵ with a consequent increase in radiative forcing.¹⁶

The researchers aimed to explore a wider range of possible futures, which they say helps “get a handle” on the uncertainties of the climate system. The study – run through climateprediction.net with the BBC Climate Change Experiment – ran simulations using a complex atmosphere-ocean climate model. The representations of physical parameters were varied between runs of the model, reflecting uncertainties about precisely how the climate system works. And the forecast range was derived from models that accurately reproduced observed temperature changes over the last 50 years. The low end of this range is similar to that of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its 2007 report, but the high end is somewhat above the range their analysis produced.

Myles Allen of the School of Geography and Environment and Department of Physics, Oxford University, principal investigator of climateprediction.net, said the ability to “explore the full range of uncertainty” was especially valuable.

Elsewhere, scientists have told UK MPs that the possibility of a massive methane release triggered by melting Arctic ice constitutes a “planetary emergency”. The Arctic Methane Emergency Group claims “the Arctic methane potential is a global warming carbon bomb”. Huge amounts of frozen solid methane gas is trapped under pressure in sea floor sediments. Methane from the East Siberian Arctic shelf (ESAS), the largest source of methane hydrate, is now venting to the atmosphere, scientists warn. Studies of ancient sediment cores have suggested that abrupt methane releases may have played a major role in two events, 55 and 251 million years ago, that extinguished much of life on Earth. British researchers launched a major study of the Arctic climate system earlier this year.¹⁷

Climate Prediction Study: http://www.climateprediction.net; World Meteorological Organization: http://www.wmo.int; Arctic Methane Emergency Group: http://ameg.me/index.php/methane.

Arsenic turns stem cells cancerous

Exposure to arsenic can turn normal stem cells into cancer stem cells and spur tumor growth, an American study has found.

Inorganic arsenic, which affects the drinking water of millions of people worldwide, is known to be a human carcinogen, while a growing body of evidence suggests that cancer is a stem-cell based disease. Normal stem cells are essential to normal tissue regeneration and to the stability of organisms and processes. But cancer stem cells are thought to be the driving force for the formation, growth, and spread of tumors.

Michael Waalkes, Ph.D., and his team at the National Toxicology Program Laboratory, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, had shown previously that normal cells become cancerous when they are treated with inorganic arsenic. This new study shows that when these cancer cells are placed near, but not in contact with normal stem cells, the normal cells very rapidly acquire the characteristics of cancer cells. It demonstrates that malignant cells are able to send molecular signals through a semi-permeable membrane, where cells cannot normally pass, and turn the normal stem cells into cancer stem cells.

“This paper shows a different and unique way that cancers can expand by recruiting nearby normal stem cells and creating an overabundance of cancer stem cells”, said Waalkes. “The recruitment of normal stem cells into cancer stem cells could have broad implications for the carcinogenic process in general, including tumor growth and metastases.”

This reveals a potentially important aspect of arsenic carcinogenesis and may help explain observances by researchers working with arsenic that the substance often causes multiple tumors of many types to form on the skin or inside the body. Next, the laboratory team will look to see if this finding is unique to arsenic or if it is applicable to other organic and inorganic carcinogens.

Xu Y, Tokar EJ, Sun Y, Waalkes MP. 2012. ‘Arsenic-transformed malignant prostate epithelia can convert non-contiguous normal stem cells into an oncogenic phenotype’, Environ Health Perspect; DOI: 10.1289/ehp.1204987.

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