Green Buckeye RN

(Chicago, Ill. – July 6, 2009) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 has filed an administrative complaint against Sauder Woodworking Cogeneration Facility for alleged Clean Air Act violations at the company’s furniture manufacturing plant at 502 Middle St., Archbold, Ohio. EPA proposed a $328,334 penalty. EPA alleges Sauder violated federal and state regulations by emitting excessive amounts of visible particulates (smoke, dust, ash), nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds from its wood-fired boilers. In addition, EPA alleges Sauder violated notification and recordkeeping requirements and requirements to continuously monitor emissions from its boilers. EPA learned of the alleged violations after receiving excess emission reports that the company was required to submit to the state. The agency notified Sauder of alleged violations in April 2008 and again in February 2009 and met with the company after each notification to discuss the findings and how to resolve them. Sauder has 30 days from receipt of the complaint to file an answer and request a hearing. It may request an informal conference with EPA at any time to discuss resolving the allegations. Inhaling high concentrations of particulates can have adverse health effects, particularly in children, the elderly and people with heart and lung disease. Nitrogen oxides can irritate the lungs and lower resistance to respiratory infections. They also contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone (smog) and acid rain. Volatile organic compounds also contribute to the formation of smog. Smog is formed when a mixture of pollutants react on warm, sunny days. Smog can cause respiratory problems, including coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath and chest pain. People with asthma, children and the elderly are especially at risk, but these health concerns are important to everyone. Information about EPA Region 5’s air enforcement program is at http://www.epa.gov/region5/air/enforce/index.html. Potential environmental violations may be reported at http://www.epa.gov/compliance/complaints.

Jun 29, 2009

Hospitals that have adopted disposable eco-friendly bedpans say the products not only help reduce medical waste but that they also help improve nurse morale, Nurse Zone reports. Canada-based Vernacare manufactures the bedpans, which are made from recycled newspapers and telephone books that have been treated with a natural resin to render them leak proof, along with similar products including emesis basins and other receptacles for collecting body fluids. The products are disposed of using a machine called a macerator that adds water and grinds the vessel into fine paper fragments that are disposed of through the hospital’s sewage system. Vernacare products have been popular in Europe for the last 50 years, but American hospitals were slow to adopt them until facilities began making efforts to be more environmentally conscious. Officials at Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington, Del., report that, since implementing the products, the hospital has eliminated the use of more than 7,000 emesis basins, 17,000 urinals and 25,000 basins annually in its emergency department, helping the hospital eliminate 4,000 pounds of plastic waste. Moreover, the hospital reports that nurse satisfaction has improved since adopting the products because nurses are no longer spending time cleaning bed pans. Although little research has been conducted to determine whether Vernacare products can reduce infection transmission, a recent study in the American Journal of Critical Care suggests that conventional bath basins frequently harbor bacteria. Commenting on the products, Vernacare’s vice president notes that “it’s a small tool to make bedside nursing more tolerable.” (Wood, Nurse Zone, 6/29/09)

From cell phones and computers to bicycle helmets and hospital IV bags, plastic has molded society in many ways that make life both easier and safer. But the synthetic material also has left harmful imprints on the environment and perhaps human health, according to a new compilation of articles authored by more than 60 scientists from around the world. Evidence is mounting that the chemical building blocks that make plastics so versatile are the same components that might harm people and the environment. And its production and disposal contribute to an array of environmental problems, too. Green solutions, however, are becoming available, the scientists say.

 Read further at http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/dangers-of-plastic

 The House Homeland Security Committee passed legislation June 23 that would greatly reduce the risks and consequences of a terrorist attack on a chemical facility. The bill also includes small but important improvements in the accountability of the nation’s chemical security program. However, industry-sponsored amendments and the continued risk of excessive secrecy during implementation diminish the value of the bill.

The legislation, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009, would reauthorize and enhance existing security rules that are due to expire in October. The current security rules, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS), were developed following passage of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations Act of 2007. Section 550 of the appropriations act required DHS to develop a temporary program for instituting security performance standards for high-risk chemical facilities.

Thousands of chemical facilities around the country represent potential terrorist targets – storing and processing chemicals that, if released, could become deadly clouds of gas drifting through communities. For many of these plants, there are safer alternatives to the chemicals and processes now in use.

 Read the article at http://www.ombwatch.org/node/10161/

By H. JOSEF HEBERT
The Associated Press
Monday, June 29, 2009; 6:59 PM

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Monday proposed to strengthen a key air pollution health standard to better protect children and people with respiratory illnesses.

The Environmental Protection Agency said it wants to tighten the air quality requirement for nitrogen dioxide that is released from motor vehicles, coal burning power plants and factories.

The pollutant is among those the EPA is required to examine periodically to determine that concentrations are at a level to ensure healthy air. Nitrogen dioxide can cause respiratory problems and is of special danger to children and people suffering from asthma and other respiratory illnesses.

Read further at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/29/AR2009062903534.html

 By Renee Schoof | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday released a list of 44 coal-fired power plant waste sites in 10 states with a high hazard potential, including 12 sites in North Carolina, seven in Kentucky and a large storage pond in Pennsylvania.

The list is the result of an investigation that the EPA ordered after the failure of a Tennessee Valley Authority coal ash pond in Kingston, Tenn., flooded more than 300 acres of land in December. After the spill, the EPA required electric utilities that store coal ash in surface impoundments to respond to mandatory questionnaires about their sites.

 Read further and find out where Ohio’s coal ash sites are located at: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/71012.html

A recent 6 to 3 vote in the Supreme Court, ruled that fill material from mines will no longer count as pollution. In accordance, toxic tailings from mines can now be deposited directly into our waterways. Such dumping is set to happen at the Kensington gold mine in Lower Slate Lake in Alaska, not to mention into other waterways throughout the U.S. The ball is now in the Obama administration’s court— they can allow this dumping or revert back to a definition of fill material that fits the original intent of the Clean Water Act. Host Steve Curwood talks with the environmental lawyer, Tom Waldo, who argued this case before the Supreme Court.

Read or listen at http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=09-P13-00026&segmentID=1

By Dan Shapley
 
It’s well known that children are more susceptible to the harmful effects of chemical exposure than adults. For one, their bodies are still developing rapidly, so chemicals can interfere with the normal growth of their brains and other organs, or disrupt their hormones at key developmental periods. For another, doses are likely to be disproportionately large, because their bodies are so much smaller than adults’ and because their breathing rates are so much more rapid. Finally, their habits — crawling on the floor, testing the world with their mouths and frequently putting their hands into their mouths dirty — mean they are exposed to more toxic chemicals on the ground.

A new study suggests yet more reason kids are more susceptible to the harmful effects of harsh chemicals: Their bodies have yet to produce significant quantities of a detoxifying enzyme that helps adults rid their bodies of organophosphate chemicals, a class of chemicals that includes many pesticides.

 Read more at http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/pesticide-childrens-health-47062503

Ohio River stretch near Portsmouth suffers highest cancer risk, EPA says

By Randy Ludlow

The risk of some Scioto County residents contracting cancer is nearly 20 times higher than the national average, according to a new study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

 Read the article at http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/06/25/Air_Toxics.ART0_ART_06-25-09_A3_64E9IOF.html?sid=101

Women exposed to air pollution from freeways and congested roads are much more likely to give birth to premature babies and suffer from preeclampsia, according to a study by California scientists published Wednesday. The findings, based on births in the Long Beach/Orange County region, add to the growing evidence that car and truck exhaust can jeopardize the health of babies while they are in the womb.

By Marla Cone

June 25, 2009

Women exposed to air pollution from freeways and congested roads are much more likely to give birth to premature babies and suffer from preeclampsia, according to a study by University of California scientists published Wednesday.

The findings, based on pregnant women in the Long Beach/Orange County region of Southern California, add to the growing evidence that car and truck exhaust can jeopardize the health of babies while they are in the womb.

Reviewing the birth records of more than 81,000 infants, researchers found that the risk of having a baby born before 30 weeks of gestation increased 128 percent for women who live near the worst traffic-generated air pollution.

In addition, preeclampsia increased 42 percent for women who lived in those areas, according to the study, published online in the scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Preclampsia, a serious illness that involves high blood pressure, can endanger the baby and the mother.

 Read further at http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/preemies-and-air-pollution

According to new guidance offered by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), private well water should be tested yearly, and in some cases more often, Researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health, took a lead role in working with the AAP to develop these recommendations and draft a new AAP policy statement about the things parents should do if their children drink well water.

The recommendations call for annual well testing, especially for nitrate and microorganisms such as coliform bacteria, which can indicate that sewage has contaminated the well. The recommendations point out circumstances when additional testing should occur, including testing when there is a new infant in the house or if the well is subjected to structural damage. For more information go to:
<http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-05/nioe-wws052209.php>

Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Michael Scott

U.S. EPA officials — attending a party marking the 40th anniversary of the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire — commended local officials for cleaning up the river, but denied a request to remove a large part of it from a list of polluted North American waterways.

The news wasn’t expected and it wasn’t well received.

Read further at http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/124574587367390.xml&coll=2

Used in yards, farms and parks throughout the world, Roundup has long been a top-selling weed killer. But now researchers have found that one of Roundup’s inert ingredients can kill human cells, particularly embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells. The new findings intensify a debate about so-called “inerts” — the solvents, preservatives, surfactants and other substances that manufacturers add to pesticides. Nearly 4,000 inert ingredients are approved for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

By Crystal Gammon
Environmental Health News

June 22, 2009

Used in yards, farms and parks throughout the world, Roundup has long been a top-selling weed killer. But now researchers have found that one of Roundup’s inert ingredients can kill human cells, particularly embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells.

The new findings intensify a debate about so-called “inerts” — the solvents, preservatives, surfactants and other substances that manufacturers add to pesticides. Nearly 4,000 inert ingredients are approved for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Read the article at http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/roundup-weed-killer-is-toxic-to-human-cells.-study-intensifies-debate-over-inert-ingredients

Jun 23, 2009

Wang, RY, RB Jain, AF Wolkin, CH Rubin and LL Needham. 2009. Serum concentrations of selected persistent organic pollutants in a sample of pregnant females and changes in their concentrations during gestation. Environmental Health Perspectives doi: 10.1289/ehp.0800105.

Synopsis by Kathleen M. McCarty, Sc.D.

First time expectant mothers in the US have much lower blood levels of selected persistent organic pollutants than women did before the chemicals’ ban and restrictions on use and emissions.

Blood levels of some of the most dangerous compounds are decreasing in people since they were regulated some 40 years ago, finds a study comparing first time pregnant women from two different generations.

The results are consistent with prior studies and with what would be expected since the chemicals were banned or limited in the 1970s in the United States. Researchers compared levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the blood of women sampled between 1959-1966 and women from 2001-2002.

 Read further at http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/newscience/pops-blood-levels-down-in-pregnant-women/