[greenyes] FW: [greenlist] Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 12/10/04

[amy perlmutter <amyperl@no.address>]

Some abstracts of articles I thought would be of interest to this group.
Note in the second abstract that Bisphenol A leaches out of polycarbonate--
like water bottles many folks use for hiking.

I deleted a few of the abstracts that I didn¹t think would be of interest,
which is why the article numbering is not accurate.

Amy




------ Forwarded Message
From: Mary Vidal <Mary_Vidal@no.address>
Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2004 11:03:02 -0500
To: "greenlist@no.address" <greenlist@no.address>
Subject: [greenlist] Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 12/10/04

 Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 12/10/04

The Bulletin is now online at
http://www.turi.org/content/content/view/full/1938/

This is the weekly bulletin of the TURI Library, reporting a selection of
 recently published titles we have acquired. Our pledge is to keep the
bulletin relevant to your work and brief -- no more than 10 titles.
(usually)


1. TITLE Markets for Biopolymers Grow as the Materials Evolve
AUTHOR Toensmeier, Patrick A.
SOURCE Plastics Engineering, October 2004, vol. 60, no. 10, pp. 20-21
ABSTRACT Biodegradable polymers have been used mostly in low-value
disposables like food-service items, bags, and packaging. While these will
continue to be their main markets, the materials are evolving in performance
and processability, and upgraded versions are being targeted at more
demanding end-uses.


3. TITLE A Hazard in Utero?: Bisphenol A More Potent than Expected
AUTHOR Josephson, Julian
SOURCE Environmental Health Perspectives, November 2004, vol. 112,
no. 15, pp. A896-A897
ABSTRACT  Environmental estrogens are a structurally diverse group of
chemicals that partially mimic the effects of endogenous estrogens.
Scientists 
believe the wide use of environmental estrogens such as bisphenol A (BPA),
a component of epoxy resins and polycarbonate plastics, may help explain the
rising incidence of birth defects and certain cancers. It is further
believed that 
the developing embryo is more vulnerable to the effects of environmental
estrogens than adult animals, but until now it has been difficult to
determine 
these effects directly in embryos. In this issue, Josephine G. Lemmen of the
Netherlands Institute for Developmental Biology and colleagues investigate
the 
use of a new transgenic mouse model to study such effects [EHP
112:1544-1549].

4. TITLE The Montreal Protocol: Lessons for Successful International
Chemicals Management
SOURCE Industry and Environment, April - September 2004, vol. 27,
no. 2-3, 2004, pp. 23-26
ABSTRACT The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone
Layer was designed to phase out the production and consumption of a
number of CFCs and several halons. Adopted in 1987, the Protocol came
into force in 1989. It has been amended to introduce other types of control
measures and to add new controlled substances. The Protocol is an example
of policy-making based on scientific, environmental and technological
global assessments. Its successful implementation can provide lessons for
policy- and decision-makers in governments and industry, as well as for
international organizations implementing other international agreements
concerning chemicals.

5. TITLE A New Vision: Inspiration and Strategic Change on the Path to
Sustainability
AUTHOR Simard, Jean Pierre
SOURCE Green@no.address, Winter 2004, pp. 34-38
ABSTRACT In today's fast-changing business environment, forging continuity
between vision, strategy and daily operations has never been more important.
This is especially true in light of the recent revolution in sustainable
design. As 
the need for developing business models and manufacturing processes that
sustain environmental health has become crucial to long-term success, many
companies are re-inventing themselves and searching for new ways of doing
things. These are important steps. But to be a truly smart, agile,
21st-century 
company, sustainability must become a core business strategy. For example,
at Victor Innovatex, we do not simply want to reduce waste and limit our
impact 
on the world; we want to design products that benefit people and the
environment, 
that enrich quality of life in every phase of their production and use, that
grow 
value and competitive advantage. As we've worked toward those goals we've
learned a few things about strategic change - ideas we are sharing here that
have allowed us, and we hope your company - to move toward a new vision
of quality and performance.

6. TITLE This Process Gets the Ink Out of Paper Recycling
SOURCE Chemical Engineering, September 2004, vol. 111, no. 9, p. 21
ABSTRACT Ultrasound and magnetic separation are used to remove printing
ink from paper fibers, in a process being developed by the Technical
Research 
Center of Finland under a research project funded by the European
Commission. Partners in the project include industrial pigment and paper
producers and equipment manufacturers. The process is currently
undergoing pilot-scale trials. Conventional flotation methods are fine for
recycling household paper, but can't remove the ink from digitally printed
paper. The new process uses ultrasound to detach and breakup the relatively
large ink particles, and a magnet separates the ferromagnetic components,
which are typically found in office printer inks.

8. TITLE Soybeans to the Rescue for Hurricane-Prone Homeowners
SOURCE Chemical Engineering, October 2004, vol. 111, no. 11, p. 13
ABSTRACT Promise of a bio-based, molded roof designed to withstand
severe winds should interest not only renewable-materials proponents but
also homeowners living through a destructive US hurricane season. Cara
Plastics 
has designed and tested a monolithic, composite roof having a
weather-exposed 
layer made of a nanoclay reinforced with a soybean-based gel, an underlayer
consisting of cellulose (from recycled cardboard) infused with soy-based
resin, 
and a foam core between those two layers. As heavy winds sweep over
this high-strength roof and, thus, lower the pressure above it in accordance
with Bernoulli's equation, pointed out Cara president Richard Wool during
the Chemical Heritage Foundations' Innovation Day in Philadelphia last
month, 
the roof expands slightly in response, enabling it to stay fastened in
place. 
A conventional roof, which cannot expand, is subject to being sucked away.
The new roof, which also offers good thermal insulation, should cost about
the 
same as conventional roofing, states Wool. The foam layer in the small-scale
demonstration version, on the campus of the University of Delaware in
Newark, consists of conventional polyurethane. But the aim is to instead use
a foam polymerized from functionalized modifications of triglycerides
derived 
from soybean oil. The project is associated with an Affordable Composites
from Renewable Sources program involving the university's  Dept. of
Chemical Engineering, where Wool is a professor, and the Dept. of Civil
Engineering, in collaboration with professor Tripp Shenton. Among other
promising applications of the soy-based composites are bridge decking and
furniture.

10. TITLE Tufts Study Says REACH Would Benefit EU Chem Firms
AUTHOR Milmo, Sean
SOURCE Chemical Market Reporter, October 25, 2004, vol. 266, no. 14,
pp. 4, 13
ABSTRACT Debate about the potential costs of the proposed REACH system
to the European chemical industry, its downstream customers and consumers
has been intensified by the results of research on the project by US
academics. 
The researchers, at Tufts University, Boston, conclude that the total direct
and 
indirect costs of REACH are unlikely to harm European industry and could
actually benefit the chemicals sector.

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