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2012
Alzheimer's Type Symptoms Seen in Children Exposed to Air Pollution
(01/31/2012)
Source: Inhabitots, 1/30/12.New research shows that children exposed to air pollution may experience some of the very same physical and genetic changes in their brains that adults who have Alzheimer's disease experience. It's not a big shock that more scientists have linked air pollution to health problems. Past research shows that air pollution is linked to asthma, autism, bodily inflammation, poor academic success, brain, respiratory, and digestive problems in early life, low IQ, developmental delays, slower lung growth and other serious issues. In the case of this study, researchers compared the brains of children and young adults living in urban, higher pollution areas with the brains of those living in less polluted, rural areas. While studying the brains, researchers found that the gene expression analysis showed there were major differences in how the genes worked between rural and urban dwellers. In fact, more than 100 genes were changed in the brains of individuals who lived in urban areas. Brains from individuals living in urban areas showed signs of amyloid-B plaques and 40% expressed pretangle material. To compare, scientists found no sign of either condition in the brains of individuals living in rural areas. Amyloid-B plaques and pretangle materials are pretty science-minded terms, but to sum up, the plaques are protein deposits commonly found in the brains of people experiencing Alzheimer's. Pretangle material is also often associated with Alzheimer's.
Asthma Rate and Costs from Traffic Pollution Higher
(01/31/2012)
Source: Environmental Protection, 1/26/12.A research team led by University of Massachusetts Amherst resource economist Sylvia Brandt, with colleagues in California and Switzerland, have revised the cost burden sharply upward for childhood asthma and for the first time include the number of cases attributable to air pollution, in a study released in the online version of the European Respiratory Journal. The total cost of asthma due to pollution is much higher than past traditional risk assessments have indicated and there is growing evidence that exposure to traffic-related air pollution is a cause of asthma and a trigger for attacks, so it should be included, say the authors. They conducted the study in Long Beach and Riverside, Calif., communities with high regional air pollution levels and large roads near residential neighborhoods. Total additional asthma-specific costs there due to traffic-related pollution is about $18 million per year, almost half of which is due to new asthma cases caused by pollution, they report.
NASA: Green Aircrafts in the Works
(01/31/2012)
Source: Environmental Protection, 1/30/12.Leaner, greener flying machines for the year 2025 are on the drawing boards of three industry teams under contract to the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate's Environmentally Responsible Aviation Project. Teams from The Boeing Company in Huntington Beach, Calif., Lockheed Martin in Palmdale, Calif., and Northrop Grumman in El Segundo, Calif., have spent the last year studying how to meet NASA goals to develop technology that would allow future aircraft to burn 50 percent less fuel than aircraft that entered service in 1998 (the baseline for the study), with 75 percent fewer harmful emissions; and to shrink the size of geographic areas affected by objectionable airport noise by 83 percent.
Elevated Exposure to Chemicals Weakens Immune Response to Vaccines
(01/27/2012)
Source: Inhabitots, 1/26/12.A new research study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests that perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) may reduce the effectiveness of common childhood vaccines. Researchers working on this study, headed up by Dr. Philippe Grandjean, chair of environmental medicine at the University of Southern Denmark, studied children born in the Faroe Islands due to reports of increasing amounts of PFCs in the drinking water and fish located within close proximity to the Islands. Children in the study received the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTaP) vaccine at 3 months, along with the recommended booster at age five. The researchers tested the immunity of the children, at age five and seven years, and drew some blood to test PFC levels. What they found wasn't good. Higher levels of PFCs in the blood correlated with much lower immune responses. In fact, by the age of seven years, children with a twofold increase of bodily PFCs were up to fours times as likely to have an immune response that was no longer even clinically active. Basically, children with the highest PFC levels weren't as protected or weren't protected at all against disease, even though they'd been vaccinated.
How We Are Greenwashing The Cloud and What It Means for IT's Carbon Footprint
(01/27/2012)
Source: Treehugger, 1/19/12.Treehugger reported Jaymi Heimbuch talked with CES Sumir Karayi about some of the misconceptions about the cloud, and what needs to happen for it to be truly a greener option for IT.
In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad
(01/27/2012)
Source: The New York Times, 1/25/12.In the last decade, Apple has become one of the mightiest, richest and most successful companies in the world, in part by mastering global manufacturing. Apple and its high-technology peers -- as well as dozens of other American industries -- have achieved a pace of innovation nearly unmatched in modern history. However, the workers assembling iPhones, iPads and other devices often labor in harsh conditions, according to employees inside those plants, worker advocates and documents published by companies themselves. Problems are as varied as onerous work environments and serious -- sometimes deadly -- safety problems.
Old Electric Car Batteries to Find Second Life on the Power Grid
(01/27/2012)
Source: Treehugger, 1/20/12.Electric car batteries have up to 70% capacity remaining after 10 years of use. This allows them to be used beyond the lifetime of the vehicle for applications, and smart grids can take advantage of their capacity to store intermittent renewable energy.
More Companies Say Sustainability Needed to be Competitive
(01/26/2012)
Source: Environmental Leader, 1/26/12.Two-thirds of corporate leaders say management attention to and investment in sustainability rose from 2010 to 2011, according to a global study by MIT Sloan Management Review and The Boston Consulting Group. In the third annual Sustainability & Innovation Global Executive Study, sponsored by SAP and Shell, two-thirds of companies also said sustainability is necessary for competitiveness, up from 55 percent a year before.
State of the Union highlights: energy a top priority
(01/25/2012)
Source: Smart Planet, 1/24/12.Last night, U.S. president Barack Obama delivered his Constitutionally mandated State of the Union address. The President called for greater development of natural gas and oil reserves as well as continued investments in renewable energy. Environmental stewardship is also part of the President's priorities.
Business leaders form corporate sustainability council
(01/23/2012)
Source: Waste & Recycling News Corporate Sustainability Report, 1/19/12.Heavy hitters in the global corporate world have come together to form the Innovations in Environmental Sustainability Council. The newly created council will explore how innovation in business process and technology can enable strategic solutions to major sustainability challenges involving materials, energy, water, infrastructure and logistics, according to a news release. Some of the council's charter members are IBM, Boeing, Coca-Cola Co., General Motors Co., Walt Disney Co., and World Environment Center (WEC).
NSF International to help certify product compostability
(01/20/2012)
Source: Waste & Recycling News, 1/20/12.Certifying that products, resins and packaging can use the compostable logo from the Biodegradable Products Institute will now by done by NSF International under an agreement reached by the two organizations.
Stricter e-waste proposal likely to affect European Union
(01/20/2012)
Source: Waste & Recycling News, 1/20/12.European Union member states will have to collect 45 tons of electronic waste for every 100 tons of electronic goods put on sale during the previous three years under a new proposal passed by the European Parliament, the BBC reported. The bill, expected to be formally approved by the 27 EU governments soon, would become law in 2014, the BBC reported. The bill would increase the target to 65 tons by 2019, or member states could opt to collect 85% of the total e-waste generated, the news organization reported.
ACEEE Report: U.S. Better Off 'Thinking Big' About Energy Efficiency Instead of Focusing First on Development of New Energy Sources
(01/17/2012)
Source: American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy via MarketWatch, 1/12/12.America is thinking too small when it comes to energy efficiency, while also making the mistake of "crowding out" economically beneficial investments in energy efficiency by focusing on riskier and more expensive bids to develop new energy sources, according to a major new report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).
Apple Releases Supplier List, as NGOs Praise Chinese Transparency Progress
(01/17/2012)
Source: Environmental Leader, 1/17/12.The National Resources Defense Council and Beijing-based NGO the Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs have said China is making steady progress on environmental transparency, the same weekend that Apple published its first list of suppliers.
Group Pressure Could Form Green Consumers
(01/17/2012)
Source: Environmental Leader, 1/17/12.Green marketing should focus on how consumers respond to social pressure from those around them, rather than trying to force individual consumers to change their habits, according to brand consultant and Environmental Leader columnist Guy Champniss. Writing for the Guardian, Champniss says discussions on sustainable consumption have tended to focus on the antagonistic relationship between people's intrinsic and extrinsic values. Efforts have focused on forcing the individual to reconnect with intrinsic values, such as concern for the greater good, says Champniss, who is co-author of Brand Valued: How Socially Valued Brands Hold the Key to a Sustainable Future and Business Success. But it could potentially be easier to take a "social intuitionist" approach. Champniss says researchers have begun to argue that people are far better at figuring out the right thing to do based on the behavior of those around them, rather than figuring it out on their own.
Liquipel's Hydrophobic Nanocoating Makes Gadgets Completely Waterproof
(01/17/2012)
Source: Inhabitat, 1/17/12.Water has always been the bane of electronics, however American company Liquipel just announced that they have developed a way to completely waterproof our devices against the elements. Using a revolutionary process, Liquipel applies a hydrophobic nanocoating to your devices that completely waterproofs it and protects it against accidental exposure to liquids.
School Indoor Air Quality in the Spotlight this Weekend with CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta
(01/13/2012)
Source: Healthy Schools Campaign Blog, 1/12/12.One of the most basic promises of a school building is that it will provide a safe environment where students and teachers can focus on learning. Very simply, the school environment should not put students' health at risk. But what happens when schools fall into disrepair and no longer fulfill that promise? This weekend, CNN will bring much-needed attention to the issue of indoor air quality in schools, exploring the ways this widespread and often overlooked problem affects kids' health and their long-term academic success. In this segment, CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta will visit schools across the country to examine the impact of poor indoor air quality.
Split forms over e-waste export ban bills
(01/13/2012)
Source: Waste & Recycling News, 1/13/12.Electronics remained a surging waste stream in 2011 and that trend doesn't appear to be slowing. And neither does the boom in electronics recycling, as new states implement landfill bans, and the United States Congress plans to take a hard look at e-waste export bans in 2012. The U.S. EPA estimates that 2.4 million tons of electronic waste was generated in 2010, up from about 2 million tons in 2005 and 1.3 million tons in 2000. A study funded by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI) in late 2011 showed that 74% of the electronics recycled in the United States came from commercial businesses, while the majority of electronics are purchased by individuals. At the same time, a split is forming about what to do with that waste. The largest piece of legislation likely to deal with electronic waste in 2012 is the proposed ban on exports of e-waste to developing countries that is before both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Responsible Electronics Recycling Act has a total of 17 sponsors between the two bills, including 10 Democrats and seven Republicans. ISRI has opposed the legislation, but a coalition of recyclers, which now includes Sims Recycling Solutions, a division of Sims Metal Management, has thrown support behind it.
GHG tool shows landfills account for 3.6% of emissions
(01/12/2012)
Source: Waste & Recycling News, 1/12/12.Landfills represent 3.6% of total greenhouse gas emissions emitted from large facilities across the county, new data released by the U.S. EPA showed. The agency released the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, which allows users to look at greenhouse gas data from more than 6,700 facilities across the country. Users can search by state, facility, industrial sector or the type of greenhouse gas emitted.
Top 7 Green Gadgets To Debut at This Week's 2012 CES
(01/12/2012)
Source: Inhabitat, 1/9/12.The year is sure starting off with a bang, bringing with it a whole slew of new green tech to be unveiled at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. While past years have been a little thin when it comes to eco-friendly tech, this year's show promises to be packed with innovative green gadgets. From a solar sleeve to power and protect your Kindle to an incredible Eco ATM that gives you cold hard cash in exchange for recycling your unwanted electronics to a low-energy 22-inch HD USB-based monitor from AOC, Inhabitat describes 7 of its favorite picks.
DOE Announces Guide for 50% More Energy Efficient Retail Buildings
(01/10/2012)
Source: US Department of Energy, 1/10/12.The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the release of the third installment in a series of four 50% Advanced Energy Design Guides (AEDGs). This latest guide will help architects, engineers, and contractors design and build highly efficient retail buildings, helping to save energy and cut store operational costs. The 50% AEDG series provides a practical approach for designers and builders of retail stores, and other major commercial building types, to achieve 50% energy savings compared to the building energy code used in many parts of the nation. These commercial building guides support President Obama's goal to reduce energy use in commercial buildings 20% by 2020. The Advanced Energy Design Guide for 50% energy savings in retail buildings is now available for download.
U.S. toxic chemical releases rise 16% in 2010
(01/10/2012)
Source: Waste & Recycling News, 1/6/12.A total of 3.93 billion pounds of toxic chemicals was released into the environment nationwide in 2010, a 16% increase over 2009, the U.S. EPA said. The agency released its annual analysis of the Toxics Release Inventory, which includes information on toxic chemical disposals and other releases into the air, land and water. The data is submitted annually to the EPA by multiple industry sectors, including manufacturing, mining, electric utilities and commercial hazardous waste facilities.
Update: Waste volumes up in 2010, but is it new trend?
(01/10/2012)
Source: Waste & Recycling News, 1/6/12.After an 11.7 million ton decline in waste between 2007 and 2009, the amount of waste Americans generated in 2010 increased by 6.2 million tons, according to statistics from the U.S. EPA. In its annual report, the EPA said Americans generated 249.86 million tons of trash in 2010, up from 243.7 million tons in 2009. It's the first increase in waste generation since 2007. The national recycling rate is also on the rise, with Americans recycling or composting 34% of their waste. Bruce Parker, president and CEO of the National Solid Wastes Management Association, called the report a surprise.
Update: Groups sue U.S. EPA over Navy ship-sinking policy
(01/09/2012)
Source: Waste & Recycling News, 1/9/12.The U.S. EPA has failed to adequately regulate the dumping of toxic chemicals into the ocean through the Navy's ship sinking program, a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court alleges. The Basel Action Network and Sierra Club, along with Earthjustice, filed the suit, saying the agency did not respond to its citizen petition by the required time limit. The trio petitioned the agency to regulate the Navy's SINKEX program more stringently in July. The EPA responded that it received the petition, but did not respond by a statutory deadline. The SINKEX program, short for sink exercise, allows the Navy to use decommissioned ships as live target practice in the open ocean. The Navy has a permit and agreement with the EPA to perform the ship-sinking exercises and must complete environmental remediation prior to sinking ships, including PCB decontamination. However, the Navy must remove solid PCB items only if they are readily detachable, according to the lawsuit.
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