Most of us have grown up with the idea that whiter whites (and brighter colors) mean cleaner clothes. We continue to use chlorine products with abandon to whiten and to disinfect. We write on white paper and bathe in and drink chlorinated water. After all, who wants bacteria-infested water? In our society, chlorine is ubiquitous-and so are its side effects. In fact, the long-term residual effects from chlorine are becoming such a health hazard that the American Public Health Association is urging the American paper industry to stop using chlorine. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found dioxin (a toxic byproduct of chlorine) to be 300,000 times more potent as a carcinogen than DDT Healthy & Natural speaks with Stephen Ashkin, director of product development and environmental affairs at Seventh Generation, a manufacturer of green, non-toxic cleaning products. Although he has a degree in chemistry, Ashkin gained most of his practical knowledge and experience through direct contact in the chemical industry. He literally grew up in the laboratory of his parent's cleaning products manufacturing company. Ashkin chaired the American Society for Testing and Materials' task force that wrote the national cleaning standard for commercial and institutional buildings. He has also chaired President Clinton's Green Chemistry Challenge Task Force. Ashkin is acting advisor for a number of EPA programs including the Indoor Environment Division. He has published numerous articles on environmentally preferable products and is a very popular conference speaker.
U.S. EPA has been preaching the gospel of “less is better” for years. The agency has been saying this through the law,policy and practice of pollution prevention. EPA’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) is chargedwith administering, among other statutes, the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 (PPA), which reflects Congress’commitment to reduce or minimize pollution at the source through changes in production, operation and raw materialsusage. EPA has been aggressive in achieving Congress’s goals.
In...
Up to now, the recovery of precious metals used as catalysts in chemical processes has involved the use of incineration. Now, however, a British-Swedish joint venture has developed a process which uses supercritical water oxidation instead, which provides many economic and environmental advantages.
Precious metals are used extensively in catalysts in a wide range of industrial chemical processes. Sometimes they are used in a homogeneous form, but more often fixed to a solid support for ease of handling. In many...
Green building rating and certification systems are intended to foster more sustainable building design, construction and operations by promoting and making possible a better integration of environmental concerns with cost and other traditional decision criteria. Different building assessment systems approach this task from somewhat different perspectives, but they have certain elements in common. Most, if not all, deal in one way or another with site selection criteria, the efficient use of energy and water...
1.1 Scope and Objectives
A small number of viable options are presently available for the bleaching of wood pulp (delignification and brightening) during the manufacture of pulp and paper. The use of chlorine dioxide (ClO2) in the bleaching process has largely superceded the earlier use of Cl2, or elemental chlorine, in the majority of North American pulp mills: It was discovered over a decade ago that the previous widespread use of Cl2 contributed to the production and subsequent release to the environment of...
IN 1989, California passed historic legislation that sought to radically decrease the amount of materials deposited in the state’s landfills. Authored by State Senator Byron Sher, Assembly Bill 939 mandated that municipalities and counties divert 25 percent of their waste from landfilling by 1995, and 50 percent by the end of 2000. Coupled with significant amounts of financial support, the legislation has pushed California toward tremendous levels of progress in recycling over the past decade, including a...
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Introduction
Sewage sludge originates from the process of treatment of waste water. Due to the physical-chemical processes involved in the treatment, the sludge tends to concentrate heavy metals and poorly biodegradable trace organic compounds as well as potentially pathogenic organisms – viruses, bacteria etc. – present in waste water.
Sludge is, however, rich in nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus and contains valuable organic matter that is useful when soils are depleted or...
OVERVIEW
When chlorine is added to a water supply containing certain organics, the formation of halogenated organics occurs. Called `trihalogenated methanes` (THM`s) these reaction products are suspected carcinogens and maximum allowable limits in municipal supplies are imposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). To reduce the potential for the formation of THM`s, many U.S. municipal supplies are converting their chlorine (Cl2) disinfection method to chloramine addition. Chloramines have a low...
ULTRAPURE WATER CRITERIA - AN OVERVIEW
`Pure water` is a relative term. Practically speaking, no water, naturally occurring or treated by man, consists solely of H2O molecules. Forever in pursuit of achieving equilibrium with its surroundings, water has unique characteristics that result in its ability to dissolve most matter. This property of water to dissolve and transport materials is employed by the electronics industry for the critical rinsing steps essential to the fabrication of integrated microcircuitry....
The objective of this investigation was to examine the effectiveness of a magnetic ion exchange resin (IVIIEXR) provided by ORICA Australia Pty Ltd. of Victoria, Australia to enhance the coagulation of disinfection by-product (DBP) precursors. The IVIIE)C resin purportedly adsorbs natural organic material, thereby lowering the coagulant demand of the water, as well as lowering its DBP formation potential. Pre-treatment of raw drinking waters with I\’IIEX was evaluated to determine its impact on subsequent coagulati...
Abstract
Foundry production needs high quality of quartz sand. After production, most of the sand is recycled and used again, but there is still a certain quantity which cannot be used. This paper presents the results of the researches made with a view to utilization of waste sand from foundry production. It is possible to use such material in building materials production and building construction.
Introduction
The development of foundry production in the territory of Yugoslavia dates from the beginnings of...
Introduction
There is considerable public, scientific and regulatory concern over the possible adverse health effects of chronic exposure to trace levels of persistent organic pollutants. The class of compounds made up of the polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF), often collectively known as dioxins, has received widespread attention and attracted a great deal of research, following the accidental release of the most toxic of these (2,3,7,8 TCDD) at Seveso in 1976.
Diox...
Abstract
Waste represents an enormous loss of resources both in the form of materials and energy. Indeed, quantities of waste can be seen as an indicator of the material efficiency of society. Waste generation is increasing in the European Union, and amounted to about 3.5 tonnes of solid waste per person in 1995 (excluding agricultural waste) 1
Excessive quantities of waste result from:
inefficient production processes low durability of goods unsustainable consumption patterns. Solid waste is also increasingly...
Imagine being in charge of a chemical company. One day a fire breaks out, and an employee, designated as a first responder, is killed fighting the blaze. Then OSHA investigators discover that the man died primarily because both his training and his equipment were inadequate. This scenario is why CPL 2-2.59A should put anyone who runs a HAZMAT facility into a state of introspection. These employers need to ask themselves: `When was the last time that our Emergency Response Plan was brought up to date? Do our...
Many of the Environmental Protection Agency`s (EPA`s) methods used to monitor air, water and soil for environmental contaminants prescribe step-by-step details on how the chemical analysis must be conducted and prohibit any deviations or variations. The EPA has recognized that monitoring equipment and technology have improved tremendously over the last few years; that environmental media do not always act the same way for each analysis; and that the matrix may affect the analysis and results. The EPA has been...
Natural organic matter (NOM) is one of the main parameters which affects water quality and performance of water treatment processes. Current processes including coagulation, oxidation, filtration and adsorption are at times inadequate or uneconomic.
Over the last two years, a consortium consisting of ICI Watercare and the Australian Water Quality Centre has developed a new continuous process to remove dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from a variety of source waters. Employing a high capacity magnetic ion exchange...
Introduction
The ZERILINK Schools Project is an exciting and award winning partnership created by Breakthrough Technologies, a company based in Gloucestershire, U.K. as part of the Zero Emissions Research Initiative created by the United Nations University in Tokyo. Wells Cathedral School in Somerset, U.K. were the first school to take part in this innovative scheme. The work started in October 1997 and in January 1998 their neighbours The Blue School also became involved. Clifton College in Bristol and Rendcomb...
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making available to the public a study containing information relating to its Proposed Rule addressing the management of mercury-containing lamps under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Subtitle C hazardous waste management system published in the Federal Register on July 27, 1994, 59 FR 39288. The study consists of an electronic model and report that provides an assessment of mercury emissions from the management of mercury-containing lamps under different...
Reuse/Recycle: Recovery and reuse technologies for energetic materials, including both explosives and propellants, should be considered at explosives waste sites for several reasons. First, new recovery methods and potential uses for reclaimed explosive materials are rapidly developing. Second, recovery/reuse options reduce overall remediation costs by eliminating destruction costs and allowing the value of reclaimed materials to be recovered. Finally, EPA`s treatment hierarchy, which is based on environmental...
Abstract This paper presents data on the source of PCDDs/PCDFs in cement plant stack emissions, demonstrating that these emissions are not necessarily all created by the process. The data potentially demonstrates that some of the PCDDs/PCDFs in the emissions are pre-existing dioxins and furans that are vaporized out of the kiln raw feed. This calls into question the assumption that PCDD/PCDF emissions can be decreased below a certain point. The EPA has acknowledged resuspended PCDD/PCDF emissions, such as from...
SummaryWaste discharges from municipal sewage treatment plants are a significant source of water quality problems throughout the country. States report that municipal discharges are the main source of impairment to estuaries and coastal waters, the second leading source of impaired rivers and streams, and also are a major source of pollution in lakes. Pollutants associated with municipal discharges include nutrients (which can stimulate growth of algae that deplete dissolved oxygen in surface water), bacteria and...
INTRODUCTION
As the electronics industry continues to provide us with such products as high resolution television, notebook size portable computers and cars with automatic navigation systems, it becomes necessary to produce semiconductors with finer device geometries to allow for efficient placement of more circuits per a given area. This requires increased control of a semiconductor`s material characteristics by eliminating impurities in the circuit material or on its surface.
Likewise, amazing drugs such as...
Better than 95% of all dialysis centers use water purification equipment to purify water for dialysis. The centerpiece of these water purification systems has become reverse osmosis. In conjunction with sound pretreatment, RO has proven itself to be the safest, most reliable, and most economical method of purifying water for dialysis.
Water plays an important, life-sustaining role for dialysis patients. And as such, the water used for this critical function must be of special quality.
When hemodialysis started...
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