To join the Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE) and the LDDI Working Group, please complete the form at http://www.healthandenvironment.org/roles/register?&phase=registerform. Be sure to mark that you want to join the Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative Working Group at the bottom of the application.
1) LDDI's next national quarterly call is scheduled for Tuesday, March 20th at 2:00 p.m. EDT. We will discuss the priorities that emerged in the break-out session at the NCSE meeting in Washington, DC, in early February since they all relate to the work of LDDI members. The purpose of this call would be to discern which of these priorities attracts the most interest of the diverse sectors represented in LDDI. We will then discuss what steps we might take collectively. For those of you who will be attending the LDDI national conference in Atlanta May 10-11th, (please see below), we will then have an opportunity to delve more deeply into how to coordinate our work more effectively on the priorities we choose. A reminder and call-in information will be sent closer to the time.
2) LDDI's National Conference 2007, "Priming for Prevention: An Ecological Approach to Research, Education and Policy" will be held May 10-11, 2007, at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. Former US Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher, among other distinguished speakers, will be presenting at this conference. Check out our new conference brochure and register now on our website: http://www.iceh.org/LDDImeetings.html
For information about additional events, please visit our searchable calendar of events at http://www.iceh.org/calendar.html.
March 5 - 7, 2007
Long Beach, California
at the Coast Long Beach Hotel, 700 Queensway Drive
The conference is tailored to the policies, regulations and programs that are specific to the states in the Western Region. This will provide attendees with information, technical assistance and program ideas they can put to practical use in carrying out their job responsibilities and business activities. This will be an educational and networking conference for public officials, lead-industry practitioners, environmental consultants and contractors, facility operators, health educators and community advocates from the western United States.
Contact: Conference Hotline, 800-590-6522
March 5 - 7, 2007
Alexandria, Virginia
at the Radisson Hotel Old Town, 901 N. Fairfax Street
An independent panel of 15 scientists convened by the Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction (CERHR), of the NIEHS and National Toxicology Program, will review recent scientific data and reach conclusions regarding whether or not exposure to a commonly used chemical, Bisphenol A (BPA) is hazardous to human development or reproduction. Time is set aside on March 5th for oral public comments, limited to seven minutes per speaker or organization. No registration is required. Details about the meeting, including panelists and agenda, are posted on the NTP website.
Website: http://cerhr.niehs.nih.gov/news/fedreg/fr-12-12-06.pdf
Contact: Robin Mackar, 919-541-0073 or rmackar@niehs.nih.gov
from the Associated Press, Cincinnati Post
February 26, 2007
http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070226/NEWS01/702260373
COLUMBUS -- State officials say they hope a new law barring schools from buying any device that contains mercury will help eliminate spills of the toxic liquid metal. State records show at least 96 mercury spills at schools and universities in the past five years. In addition to the law, which takes effect in April, health inspectors plan to start going through school buildings next school year to look for mercury and order it removed. Many districts already have banned mercury because of its risk to children's brains, nervous systems and kidneys, but school officials don't always know they have the metal in their buildings.
Article Summary: It's common for schools to overlook mercury thermometers, said Mike Dalton, an emergency response coordinator for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's central district. The devices frequently are used in chemistry, biology and physics labs. The metal also is used often in barometers for science class and in school nurses' blood pressure gauges.
from Reuters
February 26, 2007
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSN2631036920070226?pageNumber=2
BOSTON -- A judge rejected on Monday a bid for a new trial in a landmark case that found three U.S. companies liable for harming the health of children and creating a public nuisance by manufacturing lead paint. Rhode Island accused paint manufacturers of covering up the risk of lead paint in its lawsuit filed in 1999, the first in the nation to hold paint makers responsible. The suit could trigger a wave of litigation against the industry. The three former lead paint makers -- Sherwin-Williams Co., NL Industries Inc. and Millennium Holdings -- were ordered to clean up contaminated paint in the state, which could cost as much as $3 billion. The companies, which were found liable by a jury on February 22, 2006, said they would appeal Monday's decision.
Article Summary: Lead paint was banned by the U.S. government in 1978 after studies showed it caused health problems in children, including learning disabilities and permanent brain damage. But it remains widespread, especially in older homes in the northeastern United States. Rhode Island children routinely test above the national average for blood-lead levels. Rhode Island authorities say more than 30,000 children were poisoned by lead paint in the state, with an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 homes contaminated by the paint. The cost of cleaning one home is estimated at up to $15,000. The paint companies had denied that they were directly responsible, saying landlords, not paint makers, should be held accountable for conditions that expose children to lead. The court last year denied punitive damage claims against the paint companies.
by Keith Leslie, Canadian Press
February 26, 2007
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=fe0373c1-8cb4-4214-b73e-7bde8d33fe19&k=98839
Article Summary: Armed with tests that suggest the body of every Canadian carries trace evidence of dangerous chemicals, Ontario's New Democrats are spearheading an effort that would help them learn exactly what carcinogens or toxins they are exposed to on a daily basis. Toxic chemicals are in many everyday products, from household cleaners and laundry detergents to hair dyes and cosmetics, said NDP environment critic Peter Tabuns, who is pushing for a new law that would compel manufacturers to disclose dangerous ingredients in their products. Consumers would demand changes if labels told them exactly what a product contains, Tabuns said in an interview. After a similar law was passed in California, manufacturers opted to find alternatives rather than list carcinogens on their labels. The members of Canada's Chemical Producers Association believe in right-to-know legislation, but "the devil is in the details," said Michael Bourque, the association's vice-president of public affairs. He cautioned that the group does not support giving people information that's going to confuse them or alarm them unnecessarily. Tabuns' bill also calls for better worker access to warnings about harmful chemicals they are exposed to on the job, and he plans to introduce companion legislation, a Toxic Use Reduction act, to force companies to cut the use, waste and spillage of toxic chemicals.
by Colleen Diskin, Bergen County [New Jersey] Record
February 26, 2007
http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3MDg0Mjc5JnlyaXJ5N2Y3MTdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5Mg==
Article Summary: Polluted sites in North Jersey sit idle for decades, with chemicals poisoning the soil and groundwater. Environmental regulators can do little more than flash a badge at the owners of the estimated 18,000 contaminated sites in the state, critics say. They are at the mercy of polluters who often dictate the terms and time frame of a cleanup. One polluted site in Ridgefield Park has been languishing for 20 years despite suspicions that benzene, coal tar and other chemicals have contaminated the groundwater and that an on-site landfill threatens the adjacent Overpeck Creek. Frustrated over situations like this, lawmakers, developers, environmentalists and even DEP officials are calling for tougher laws about contaminated sites. The push comes after the disclosure last summer that a child-care center named Kiddie Kollege had unknowingly opened in an old factory in South Jersey that was contaminated with mercury. The understaffed DEP had lost track of the site. To fix the ailing system, DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson has asked the Legislature to give the DEP more muscle, including:
Developers and private consultants bristle at the idea of more regulations, because they don't think caseworkers have the expertise to know the best methods to clean up contaminated sites. They also complain about the bottlenecks at the DEP. While it waits for changes, the DEP is creating a list that would give priority to properties located near homes or water. It may step up enforcement at sites where voluntary cleanups have stalled, Kropp said.
by Martin Mittelstaedt, Toronto Globe and Mail
February 26, 2007
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070226.PESTICIDE26/TPStory/Environment
Ontario is being lobbied by a number of well-known medical, public-health and environmental organizations to institute a provincewide ban on the aesthetic use of pesticides. If the Liberal government accepts the idea, Ontario would be the second province, after Quebec, to take this action and it would mean that more than half of the country's residents live in areas where the use of pesticides for cosmetic reasons has been made illegal, based on health concerns. Dozens of cities, including Toronto and Halifax, also have bans.
Article Summary: A delegation from his organization, along with the Canadian Cancer Society's Ontario wing, the Ontario College of Family Physicians, Pesticide Free Ontario, and the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario, plans to meet with Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Health officials today to seek a ban. It would mean homeowners would not be permitted to spray lawns with herbicides, such as 2,4-D, to kill dandelions just because they don't like the looks of the weed; they would only be able to use products to kill pests, such as rats or mosquitoes, that pose recognized health threats. According to the poll, 71 per cent of Ontario residents support a ban, while 22 per cent are opposed. There is a growing body of scientific research linking pesticides to some illnesses, such as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and breast cancer, although not all studies have found associations.
by Sue Lowe, South Bend [Indiana] Tribune
February 25. 2007
http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070225/News01/702250319/-1/NEWS01
Our state and federal governments monitor a litany of chemicals that are released into the air and water. State Rep. Ryan Dvorak, D-South Bend, thinks we need to find out how much of those chemicals actually ends up in our bodies. He has introduced legislation calling for establishment of a biomonitoring program to test for the presence of toxic and cancer-causing chemicals in human bodies.
Article Summary: The bill would require creation of a panel of scientific experts who would set up a biomonitoring program. The state would analyze samples of human blood, bone, fat, hair, milk, saliva or urine for chemicals. Only volunteers would be tested and, at least initially, they would be people who would fit into whatever studies the panel of scientists had set up. He said the chemical and pesticide industries have long criticized regulations they say are based on vague data. "With biomonitoring, you really know what is in people," Dvorak said. He also thinks the state needs to know what is in people's bodies in order to decide what regulations are needed to protect its citizens. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a biomonitoring program, but the number of people sampled is so small that the results apply only to national studies and cannot be used for state action.
from the Associated Press, Jonesboro [Arkansas] KAIT News
February 24, 2007
http://www.kait8.com/Global/story.asp?S=6135582&nav=0jsh
Article Summary: WASHINGTON -- Some children's jewelry is being recalled because the products contain high levels of lead, including "Kidsite" necklace and earring sets and "Claudia Jublot" children's rings. Mark Ross, a spokesman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, says if children ingest the jewelry "they can suffer from lead poisoning, it can make them sick and it can be deadly."
by Adrienne Lu, Bergen County [New Jersey] Record
February 24, 2007
http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2NSZmZ2JlbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5NzA4MjM0MyZ5cmlyeTdmNzE3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTQ=
Harsh scrubbing powders, caustic cleaning fluids and pungent disinfectant sprays may be headed the way of the chalkboard in classrooms, as more and more schools trade conventional cleaning products for less toxic and more environmentally friendly alternatives. Even though New Jersey has yet to require "green cleaning" in schools, many school districts are switching on their own, citing health and environmental reasons.
Article Summary: According to Deirdre Imus, many of the chemicals found in conventional cleaners can trigger allergies and rashes and may even contain carcinogens and neurotoxins. Scientists are trying to determine the nature of the threat from cleaning products. Some cleaning products contain chemicals that have not been independently tested or approved. Besides benefiting schoolchildren, the change also provides fewer offensive odors and less skin irritation for the custodians and the maintenance workers. In New York, all public and private schools must switch to green cleaning this school year, which means that all-purpose cleaners, cleaning products for window, carpets and bathrooms and even hand soaps must comply with detailed guidelines developed by the state's Office of General Services. The state is believed to be the first to require green cleaning in all its schools. Former New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey signed an executive order a year ago requiring state agencies to use environmentally friendly cleaning products, but the ruling does not apply to schools.
Charles Weschler, a professor at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and an expert in the field, said some conventional cleaning products may indeed pose either chronic or acute health risks to people, meaning anything from asthma attacks to cancer. However, he warned that so-called green cleaning products may or may not be any better "Green is such an ill-defined word right now when it comes to cleaning products," he said.
[Editor's note: See a related article about a proposed legislation in Illinois that attempts to clean up indoor air in schools by requiring the use of environmentally friendly cleaning supplies at http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stcharles/story/DC315211A5D2CD558625728900141E01?OpenDocument.]
by Douglas Fischer, Oakland Tribune
February 23, 2007
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_5287682
Flame retardants are generating some heat of their own as concerned researchers and lawmakers note rising levels in the environment and are stepping up efforts to ban them from everyday household products. The latest and most sweeping effort came Thursday as Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, unveiled a bill that would ban from upholstered furniture and bedding products any flame retardant made with bromine or chlorine. Compounds with such elements are related to PCBs, a long-lived and potent neurotoxin banned in the United States in 1979 but still found in the blood of anyone tested. Various governments, including California and the European Union, have banned individual flame retardants, a few of which were marketed as "safe" alternatives to PCBs. None have succeeded in banning an entire class of chemicals, allowing manufacturers to swap a problematic compound with a chemically related but untested one.
Article Summary: Chemical manufacturers warn that such bans replace a very real threat -- death by fire -- with an unknown and potentially empty one -- cancer years later. For many compounds, there is no evidence that they are harmful, they are increasing or they are accumulating. There's no evidence, whatsoever, because such investigations are expensive, difficult and have not been done. Some lawmakers and activists say society has no time to wait for scientists to confirm the toxicology and environmental fate of all the so-called brominated and chlorinated compounds. The chemicals, they say, have a proven track record and should be banned as a precaution. To do otherwise risks waiting until levels in our bodies are high enough to cause harm. That is like what happened with a collection of widely used brominated flame retardants known as PBDEs, which saw production explode after the PCB ban. PBDEs, or polybrominated diphenyl ethers, are astonishingly effective at retarding fire in foam and plastic. Until recently, they were sold in three mixtures: Penta and Octa for foam and upholstery -- including bedding; Deca for hard plastic and some textiles. Then researchers discovered that concentrations of Penta and Octa were doubling every few years in wildlife and nursing mothers. California and the European Union banned them from products. Deca is different. It has eluded bans in large part because industry has successfully argued the chemical does not pollute the environment or our bodies to the extent Penta and Octa do. Manufacturers claim Deca, unlike Penta and Octa, neither leaches from products nor breaks down into more toxic compounds. But new findings are challenging both notions.
from the Economist
February 22, 2007
http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8733763
Article Summary: Bruce Blumberg of the University of California, Irvine, has conducted research into endocrine disrupters -- chemical compounds that interfere with the body's normal processing of hormones such as estrogen. His research has led him to conclude that some of them may well encourage obesity. The notion of such "obesogens", as Dr Blumberg calls them, is controversial. Some insist that diet and exercise (or, rather, the lack thereof) are the simpler explanations for obesity, with perhaps a dash of genetic predisposition thrown in. However, a panel of experts convened at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting argued that those factors are insufficient to explain the dramatic increase in obesity seen across the world since 1980. Caloric intake and exercise levels have not altered enough to explain the difference, the scientists maintained, and human genes cannot have changed in such a short time. Some environmental-health experts suspect that fetal exposure to nasties found in everyday plastics might be the underlying explanation of the recent obesity trend. John Peterson Meyers of Environmental Health Sciences, an advocacy group, observes that a number of synthetic chemicals widely found in the environment have been shown to alter the activity of genes, even when they are present at extremely low concentrations. Retha Newbold of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has discovered that early DES exposure leads to obesity in adult mice, in addition to causing damaged reproductive organs in children of women who took it during pregnancy. Other synthetic hormones and endocrine disrupters common in the modern world seem to have a similar impact, including bisphenol-A and tributyl tin. Frederick vom Saal of the University of Missouri has investigated the impact of early exposure to this compound, showing that fetal exposure to bisphenol-A led to obesity and cancer in animals.
by Tom Meersman, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune
February 22, 2007
http://www.startribune.com/587/story/1019852.html
Certain chemicals once made by 3M would be defined as "hazardous substances" and their health risks would receive new scrutiny under bills introduced at the Legislature this week.
Article Summary: The proposals came after a chemical called PFBA and other 3M chemicals were detected in drinking-water wells in the area. Several of the chemicals were formerly manufactured by Maplewood-based 3M for use in products such as stain-resistant fabrics, firefighting foams, film and nonstick cookware. State health officials said that the levels of PFBA in the water do not represent an immediate threat to public health, but that little is known about long-term exposure to the chemical. One of the proposed bills would define PFBA and similar compounds called perfluorochemicals (PFCs) as hazardous substances under the Minnesota Environmental Response and Liability Act, commonly known as the state Superfund law. The effect would be to ensure that any costs of removing or cleaning up PFCs in the environment would be borne by the polluters, rather than taxpayers. Another proposal at the Capitol would set interim health risk limits for PFBA and at least temporarily tighten the existing limits for two other perfluorochemicals, PFOA and PFOS. The bill would require the department to reassess the health risks and develop limits for all three chemicals by Aug. 1. Another proposal includes PFCs in a larger bill that would establish an environmental health tracking system in the state. One provision would authorize a small-scale study of the concentrations of different chemicals, including PFCs, in the blood of volunteers.
by Sheryl Ubelacker, Canadian Press, Toronto Globe and Mail
February 21, 2007
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070221.wcancer0221/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/home
TORONTO -- Women who take vitamins containing folic acid before and during pregnancy appear to significantly cut the risk that their infants will develop three common childhood cancers, Canadian researchers say. Folic acid is already known to diminish the chance that a child will be born with spina bifida or other neural tube defects, but it may also have powerful effects in preventing some cases of pediatric leukemia, brain tumours and neuroblastoma, the study by researchers at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children suggests.
Article Summary: The analysis found that prenatal supplementation with multivitamins containing folic acid is associated with a 39 per cent protective effect for leukemia, 27 per cent for brain tumors and 47 per cent for neuroblastoma. Leukemia, the most common childhood cancer, accounts for up to 35 per cent of new pediatric cases each year; brain and spinal tumors, the second most common form of cancer, account for 17 per cent; while neuroblastoma, the most prevalent solid tumour that occurs outside of the brain in children under age five, affects one in every 6,000 to 7,000 children in North America. Neuroblastoma arises in the adrenal gland or related nervous system tissue and can spread to the area behind the eyes and to the bones. The tumors may press on the spinal cord, causing paralysis. Often the cancer is present at birth but it not detected until later in infancy or childhood. But doctors stress that there are many causes of cancer and it's not known exactly what role folic acid alone plays -- or, indeed, the contribution of other components of multivitamins. Dr. Rogers said factors such as diet as well as exposure to viral infections or environmental toxins could also be responsible for planting the seeds of these childhood cancers, but more research is needed.
by Barbara Booth, Environmental Science & Technology
February 21, 2007
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2007/feb/science/bb_asrice.html
Article Summary: The largest market basket survey of arsenic in U.S. rice indicates that rice from California contains, on average, about 40% less arsenic than rice from the south central U.S. -- Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Missouri. Andrew Meharg and co-workers at the University of Aberdeen (U.K.) measured arsenic levels in 134 samples of rice purchased from Arkansas and California supermarkets. Arsenic levels in south central U.S. rice averaged 0.27 micrograms per gram (µg/g), whereas arsenic in rice from California averaged 0.16 µg/g. Meharg speculates that the higher level of arsenic in rice from the south central U.S. can be traced to residual arsenic-containing pesticides still present in old cotton fields now used for growing rice. But not everyone is convinced. The higher amounts of arsenic in south central U.S. rice could be due solely to natural background levels in soils, notes Mark Barnett, an arsenic expert at Auburn University. Meharg asserts in the paper that regardless of the original arsenic source, "the consequences for human health are identical." He added that on average, half the arsenic in rice is composed of the more dangerous inorganic form, although this varies widely. He points out that "none of the levels of arsenic in rice exceeded the 1.0 milligram per kilogram threshold recommended by some countries." Barnett also notes that arsenic is a normal part of the human diet and that arsenic intake from food often exceeds that from drinking water.
by Kellyn S. Betts, Environmental Science & Technology
February 21, 2007
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2007/feb/science/kb_indoorair.html
Article Summary: Research published today uses an innovative approach to show that indoor air releases far more PCBs to the atmosphere around England's second-largest city than does the area's soil. The findings go against the widely held hypothesis that soil volatilization is the main source of PCBs in the environment, according to Stuart Harrad and his colleagues at the University of Birmingham (U.K.). PCBs are one of the 12 "dirty dozen" pollutants banned by the United Nations' Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. The paper adds important new data to the growing body of research showing that older consumer products still in use are a significant source of PCBs on a global basis. The ventilation of contaminated indoor air "to outside is what is driving outdoor air concentrations, which in turn is what drives food concentrations," Harrad explains. At present, food is the main route through which most people are exposed to PCBs, explains Linda Birnbaum, director of the experimental toxicology division of the U.S. EPA's National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory. Harrad's new data corroborate recent measurements of the sources of PCBs in and around Toronto. The findings could lead to a reevaluation of remediation and cleanup priorities. Although the levels of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs have been falling, the concentrations of nondioxin-like PCBs in U.K. food have not declined since 1992, according to a draft report (594KB PDF) by the country's Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
[Editor's note: See a related article on PCB pollution in Oregon at http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1172116502284670.xml&coll=7.]
by Ken Ward Jr., Charleston [West Virginia] Gazette
February 21, 2007
http://sundaygazettemail.com/section/News/2007022125
Newborn babies exposed to low levels of the chemical C8 have been found to have decreased birth weight and head circumference, according to preliminary results from Johns Hopkins University researchers. The findings, if confirmed, could represent a dramatic new piece of evidence -- actual developmental effects in humans -- about the potential dangers of C8 and similar chemicals.
Article Summary: C8 is another name for ammonium perfluorooctanoate, or PFOA. DuPont has used the chemical since the 1950s to make Teflon, other non-stick products, oil-resistant paper packaging and stain- and water-repellent textiles. Researchers are finding that people around the world have C8 in their blood. The blood levels may be generally small, but it is unclear whether these amounts are dangerous. Nonstick cookware may be one route of exposure to C8, but recent studies suggest that food packaging may be a much bigger source. DuPont has consistently maintained there are no human effects known to be caused by C8.
Dr. Lynn Goldman, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, is leading the new study with a team from Johns Hopkins and the federal Centers for Disease Control. Goldman said that there are still unknowns, such as exactly how the babies were exposed to C8 and whether other factors may have also contributed to the developmental effects. Previous results of the Johns Hopkins study, announced in February 2006, found C8 in umbilical cord blood samples from 298 of 300 babies tested. Overall, the C8 levels in the babies tested were "at concentrations lower than typically reported in adult [blood] collected from other regions of the United States," according to an abstract of Goldman's presentation last week. Previous animal studies have shown that C8 can travel across the placental barrier. In animal studies, effects including birth defects, developmental delays and neonatal death have been observed. C8 has also been linked to cancer in animal studies, and an EPA science panel recommended that the agency classify C8 as "likely" to cause cancer in humans. Enesta Jones, an EPA spokeswoman, said that the agency is "absolutely" concerned about the Johns Hopkins findings and would consider the study as it finishes a broad risk assessment of C8.
by Michael Milstein, Portland Oregonian
February 21, 2007
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1172028342143560.xml&coll=7
Environmental groups and nine states are suing the federal government for refusing to control toxic mercury released into the air by existing cement kilns, including one in Eastern Oregon that is among the largest sources of airborne mercury nationwide. The Environmental Protection Agency decided in December that it would be too expensive for cement companies to refit their plants to cut down on mercury emissions. The new lawsuits filed Friday and Tuesday contend that the EPA defaulted on an earlier court decision that ordered the agency to regulate mercury from the plants.
Article Summary: Nine Eastern and Midwestern states sued the EPA on Tuesday for not controlling cement kilns, following a similar lawsuit filed last week by environmental groups including the Sierra Club, Downwinders at Risk, Desert Citizens Against Pollution, and Montanans Against Toxic Burning. Cement plants can emit as much or more mercury as power plants. A cement plant in eastern Oregon was the third-largest source of airborne mercury in the country in 2004, according to estimates the company reported to the EPA. Mercury collects in the food chain -- especially in fish -- causing neurological damage and birth defects in people who consume too much contaminated fish. Some forms of the compound fall out of the air quickly, while others can travel thousands of miles around the globe. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality wants to know more specifically what forms of mercury come from the cement plant.
by Sandy Bauers and Tom Avril, Philadelphia Inquirer
February 21, 2007
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/16744098.htm
Faced with a reality they have fought for months, Pennsylvania's coal-plant operators now have to figure out how they can vastly reduce the mercury emissions from their plants. Under a new rule that went into effect Saturday, they must cut mercury emissions 80 percent by 2010 and 90 percent by 2015. With the rule, Pennsylvania joins Illinois among the country's major coal-producing states that have adopted measures tougher than federal legislation. That legislation requires cuts of about 86 percent in emissions over the next 20 years.
Article Summary: Pennsylvania has 36 coal-fired power plants and is second only to Texas in mercury emissions. The new rule would stop an estimated 3.6 tons of mercury from flowing into the air per year. Mercury becomes airborne when coal is burned. Once it falls into waterways, it becomes methylmercury, which is more toxic and accumulates in fish. It can cause nervous-system damage in a developing fetus and young children. PennEnvironment's energy and clean-air advocate, Nathan Wilcox, called the rule a "tremendous victory for Pennsylvania's environment and public health." He said nearly 11,000 citizens submitted comments in support of the rule. But Douglas L. Biden, president of the Electric Power Generation Association, predicted that many older, smaller plants, unable to afford the new technology, will shut down. Many in the industry had hoped the Pennsylvania rule would allow trading, so companies able to reduce pollution more than required could sell "credits" to plants that could not make the reductions without great expense. One legislator has indicated that she planned to introduce legislation that would incorporate the Rendell plan but also allow interstate trading of emissions.