Recently in Green Chemistry Research Category

TitrIC combines the advantages of direct measurement of pH value and conductivity, of titration and ion chromatography in a single system that provides fully automatic drinking water analyses.

All ionic components are determined reliably, quickly and reproducibly. The results are saved in the integral database and can be processed to produce a combined report. Intelligent control and thoroughly tested technology guarantee reliable analyses regardless of the time of day or night. Up to one hundred samples can be analyzed fully automatically. This reduces the time required and inreases the precision of the measurements.

Metrohm is a worldwide leading manufacturer of precision instruments for chemical analysis. In the field of electrochemical ion analysis Metrohm has been the leader for many years. This is reflected in the company's comprehensive product range:

• pH meters, ion meters, conductometers
• Potentiometric, thermometric and Karl Fischer titration
• Polarography, voltammetry and CVS
• Ion chromatography
• Stability measurement of fats, oils and biofuels
• Process analysis
• Automation in titration, voltammetry, ion chromatography and process control

Metrohm offer much more than just instruments. In their laboratories they develop customized applications to help their customers safeguard the quality of their products, comply with regulations and optimize processes.

Metrohm is exclusively represented in more than 80 countries, in more than 40 of which they have their own subsidiaries. This guarantees a tight network for sales and service.

Head office: Herisau CH-9101 Switzerland 

Paper has a long history of "grass" based feedstock -- think papyrus and even cotton!  Maybe it's time to rethink trees as the best natural resource for papermaking.  The chemicals used to convert wood into pulp requires enormous quantities of very caustic, very toxic chemicals. Green chemistry could be a way of exploring other fibers that require less chemicals and less toxic chemicals for the papermaking process.    

Canopy has launched an online survey to gather information that will help assess market interest in North America for papers made with agricultural residues.

Agricultural Residues such as Wheat Straw

"This study is the first of its kind in North America. Up until now, information about the market viability of non-wood paper has been anecdotal," says Neva Murtha, Second Harvest Campaigner with Canopy. "When done, we'll be able to translate demands for eco-paper into initiatives that help make straw papers a North American reality."

Straw Based Papers

Last year's successful trial of the Wheat Sheet issue of Canadian Geographic showed that non-wood papers pass the technical and quality requirements of the North American market. Also apparent during last year's trial was a significant level of interest by large paper consumers in agricultural residue paper alternatives such as the Wheat Sheet. With environmental concern on the rise, so is support for innovative business solutions that alleviate the stress on intact and endangered forests and the climate. Diversifying North America's paper fibre basket to include agricultural residues rather than carbon and species rich forests is one such solution that could also help ensure a secure supply of fibre for domestic producers.

Environmental Paper

This study is designed to help Canopy identify new and emerging opportunities for environmental paper. The survey will provide further information about what level of support exists for non-wood paper development in North America - a key element in new pulping capacity being developed in the US and Canada.

All survey input shall remain confidential and only used in aggregate numbers, unless otherwise approved by participating companies. Data collection will be targeted primarily at large paper consumers, such as publishers, printers, office retailers, and will capture data such as demand tonnage, priority grades, and how participants would like to engage in further stages of non-wood paper development.

To complete the survey about agricultural residue paper


For more information:
Canopy's work to build a market for agricultural residue papers, please visit their website.
For more information on the Wheat Sheet
CONTACT:
Neva Murtha, Second Harvest Campaigner
604-817-4974 | neva@canopyplanet.org 

Paper has a long history of "grass" based feedstock -- think papyrus and even cotton!  Maybe it's time to rethink trees as the best natural resource for papermaking.  The chemicals used to convert wood into pulp requires enormous quantities of very caustic, very toxic chemicals. Green chemistry could be a way of exploring other fibers that require less chemicals and less toxic chemicals for the papermaking process.    

Canopy has launched an online survey to gather information that will help assess market interest in North America for papers made with agricultural residues.

Agricultural Residues such as Wheat Straw

"This study is the first of its kind in North America. Up until now, information about the market viability of non-wood paper has been anecdotal," says Neva Murtha, Second Harvest Campaigner with Canopy. "When done, we'll be able to translate demands for eco-paper into initiatives that help make straw papers a North American reality."

Straw Based Papers

Last year's successful trial of the Wheat Sheet issue of Canadian Geographic showed that non-wood papers pass the technical and quality requirements of the North American market. Also apparent during last year's trial was a significant level of interest by large paper consumers in agricultural residue paper alternatives such as the Wheat Sheet. With environmental concern on the rise, so is support for innovative business solutions that alleviate the stress on intact and endangered forests and the climate. Diversifying North America's paper fibre basket to include agricultural residues rather than carbon and species rich forests is one such solution that could also help ensure a secure supply of fibre for domestic producers.

Environmental Paper

This study is designed to help Canopy identify new and emerging opportunities for environmental paper. The survey will provide further information about what level of support exists for non-wood paper development in North America - a key element in new pulping capacity being developed in the US and Canada.

All survey input shall remain confidential and only used in aggregate numbers, unless otherwise approved by participating companies. Data collection will be targeted primarily at large paper consumers, such as publishers, printers, office retailers, and will capture data such as demand tonnage, priority grades, and how participants would like to engage in further stages of non-wood paper development.

To complete the survey about agricultural residue paper


For more information:
Canopy's work to build a market for agricultural residue papers, please visit their website.
For more information on the Wheat Sheet
CONTACT:
Neva Murtha, Second Harvest Campaigner
604-817-4974 | neva@canopyplanet.org 

In an ongoing effort to increase recycling in California, support environmental education and keep litter out of our waterways, the American Chemistry Council (ACC)  joined LA City Councilman Ed Reyes and representatives of the Los Angeles Conservation Corps on the banks of the LA River to announce a $100,000 contribution from ACC's Plastics Division, Progressive Bag Affiliates and Plastic Foodservice Packaging Group to the LA River Keepers program.

LA River Keepers Program

This program, developed in partnership with the Los Angeles Community Development Department and the Bureau of Sanitization, works to restore and revitalize sections of the LA River.

Remove and Recycle Litter and Debris from LA River

"Thanks to this new partnership , the LA River Keepers program will be able to continue its efforts to remove and recycle litter and debris from the LA River and promote environmental education, as well as provide ongoing opportunities for job skills training for our area youth," said Bruce Saito, Executive Director of the LA Conservation Corps.

The LA River Keepers' vision lies in the premise that the Los Angeles River environment is an excellent location for training, education and green job skill development through classroom and outdoor environmental restoration projects.

"This generous donation from the American Chemistry Council pumps much-needed dollars into two of the City's most valuable resources--our youth and our environment," said Councilmember Ed P. Reyes, who spearheaded the City's Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan to transform the concrete-corseted L.A. River into a continuous greenbelt linking communities.

The L.A. River Keepers, mostly inner-city young adults, pick up trash, remove bulky items and provide an ongoing presence at the River as it undergoes revitalization. 

The LA River Keepers provides these service projects:

• watershed education
• native plant landscaping
  
• weekly restoration work including removal of debris and illegal dumping,
• removal of graffiti
• recycling,
  
• fire hazard and fuel reduction
  

"The LA River Keepers program will help increase recycling, improve environmental education, and keep litter out of our waterways, which are goals we all share," said Sherri McCarthy, Manager, State Affairs, American Chemistry Council. "We're very pleased to support this program and to help increase awareness of the many plastics that can be recycled in Los Angeles."

Recycling Programs to Collect Plastic Debris

The LA Conservation Corps is the latest partner to join the statewide recycling awareness campaign, "Plastics. Too Valuable to Waste. Recycle.(SM)," which has found success in a variety of areas. The campaign began in 2008 when representatives from the California Department of Parks and Recreation, ACC and Keep California Beautiful (KCB) launched a recycling program that placed - and continues to maintain - hundreds of permanent and seasonal recycling bins at State Parks sites in the Los Angeles and Central Coast areas. The program soon spread to State Parks beaches in the San Diego, Monterey and Santa Cruz areas, the City of Woodland, California, and to California highway rest stops through its new partnership with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). 

About the LA Conservation Corps:

The LA Conservation Corps was founded in 1986 with the primary mission to provide at-risk young adults and school-aged youth with opportunities for success through job skills training, education and work experience with an emphasis on conservation and service projects that benefit the community. Over the past 24 years, the Corps has grown into the largest urban conservation corps in the nation with a full-time staff of over 150 employees serving over 17,000 young people each year

About the American Chemistry Council's Plastics Division:
The American Chemistry Council, whose members include major plastics manufacturers, recognizes the importance of keeping plastics out of the marine environment best management practices. 

Web Site: http://www.2valuable2waste.com/

California Department of Toxic Substances Control Director Maureen Gorsen explains how, by using wiki technology, California shares with the public at large its mandate to create Green Chemistry regulations.

Director Gorsen also instructs wiki users on how to participate in this innovative approach to advancing California's green product revolution. California is implementing the first body of green chemistry law in the world and DTSC, the agency charged with its implementation is making history by writing the regulations on real time along with stakeholders and the people of the State of California.


Wiki for Green Chemistry

Chemicals used in wood preservation are coming under environmental and health related attacks and new approaches for a greener chemical approach are underway.

The US Department of Agriculture carries on extensive research about wood -- how to grow it, how to engineer it to conserve it, and how to protect it over the lifetime of the building or application -- and what happens to the chemicals infused into the wood after the used wood is discarded in landfills. The Forest Products Laboratory is the research arm of the USDA that tests wood, wood products, and the chemicals used in wood for construction purposes.

UC Berkeley Extension Sponsors Courses in Green Chemistry  for Public and CEUs

Green Chemistry Initiative

A society-wide shift from toxic to green requires educating the entire supply chain from consumers to retailers to distributors to manufacturers to change a system -- any system -- from current practices to new best practices.  The greening of chemistry requires that same dedicated educational process.  California's Green Chemistry Initiative is being strengthened with education for professionals in the supply chain as well as consumers through courses available across the state in accessible channels such as continuing education  for licensed professionals and the general public.

Extension Courses on Green Chemistry

University of California's UC Berkeley Extension is expanding their green chemistry course offerings in the spring of 2010.  The UC Extension will offer 2 courses for career enrichment and licensing CEUs, Green Chemistry Policy as well as Toxicology and Risk Assessment.  The Green Chemistry Policy course will be offered in both classroom and on-line formats to make learning about best practices implementation available statewide.

Public Event on Role of Green Chemistry

UC Berkeley Extension is also sponsoring a free public event called "Can We Achieve a Sustainable Future? The Role of Green Chemistry."  The presentation is scheduled for March 25, 2010, 6:30 - 8:00 pm at the UC Berkeley campus.  Registration is requested.

Please see the UC Berkeley Web site and contacts for additional information on these courses as well as UC Berkeley Extension's Certificate Program in Green Chemistry

Self-education about everyday chemistry can be helpful to your career as this massive chemical shift takes shape.  From health care to personal care to building chemicals for wood preservation, green chemistry is working its way through the labs into the supply chain...and into our homes.  Your career can benefit from learning best practices related to identifying alternatives to toxic chemicals.

Chemical safety affects us all.  But how do laws support chemical safety?

Out of more than 62,000 synthetic chemicals that are part of our everyday lives, fewer than 200 have been tested for safety.

The Chemical Industry and Safety Best Practices

Thanks to effective lobbying by the chemical industry, laws are written so that every synthetic chemical is "innocent until proven guilty." The legal burden weighs on those seeking to prove the harm a substance can cause.

Find out more in "Toxic Ignorance is Not Bliss," by author and writer Dominique Browning.

Human Guinea Pigs

Browning reveals the shocking truth when it comes to potentially toxic chemicals -- you're basically on your own.

"We should be worried about what amounts to a huge, uncontrolled human testing experiment. Without agreeing to it, without understanding it, without even knowing it, we have become the chemical industry's guinea pigs."

Of highly visible concers of late is Bisphenol A (BPA), found in baby bottles, possibly the water bottle sitting by your desk and plastic dental sealants.

BPA is increasingly suspected of causing a variety of serious ills, yet factories continue to produce six billion pounds of it each year.

In the coming months, Congress may review the process by which we regulate toxic chemicals -- or, as Browning points out, mostly don't regulate them.

"Society needs to pay much more attention to this problem," says Dr. Richard Denison, Senior Scientist at EDF. "We've been complacent about it." Denison maintains an influential blog tracking the debate over chemical safety.

In 1976 Congress passed the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

Unfortunately, the 62,000 chemicals on the market at that time were given a free pass: no requirement they be tested or assessed for safety.

EPA's Role in Chemical Regulation

Although the Environmental Protection Agency has garnered some information about chemicals through voluntary submissions by industry in a program that EDF helped start, limited testing has been required on a mere 200 chemicals over the past three decades.

Worse, EPA has managed to restrict only five substances--and even that overstates the agency's efficacy.

The only group of chemicals entirely banned was PCBs, because Congress required it.

Even Cal Dooley, the president of the American Chemistry Council, commented on EPA's incapacity in this matter: "EPA cannot make a determination on whether or not a chemical is safe for its intended use."

Read more at: "Toxic Ignorance is Not Bliss,"

Chemical ingredients are casually accepted by consumers because the terminology and the science are so complex that even scientists argue over the impact on people and the environment.   But it is important for citizens -- parents, loved ones, and merchants who care about their customers -- to learn as much as possible about key ingredients.   That's what the green movement is about -- and that is what social justice is about.  Pollutants can be recognized and removed from our homes and work environments.

Here is a basic overview of one set of known problem chemicals:  organic bromine and chlorine.  Better known as substances in PVC pipe, electronics and other common product materials.

This overview of organic bromine and chlorine is quoted from a report by the International Chemical Secrtariat (www.chemsec.org) and Clean Production Action (www.cleanproduction.org)

Organic bromine and chlorine

Compounds that contain organic bromine and chlorine tend to be particularly likely to bioaccumulate, be persistent and/or toxic - or to degrade in the environment into new brominated or chlorinated organic compounds with these characteristics.

As they accumulate over time, these organo-halogen compounds can become widespread pollutants in air, water, soil, and sediment, where they are increasingly ingested by humans and animals. It is also important to note that inorganic forms of these chemicals can lead to the formation of dioxin and other problematic chemicals, particularly when they are mixed with organic matter.

Chlorinated dioxins and furans can cause severe health problems, including:

• Cancer
• Endocrine disruption
• Endometriosis
• Neurological damage
• Birth defects and impaired child development
• Reproductive system damage
• Immune system damage

Because dioxins and furans break down slowly, they endure in the environment for long periods of time.18,19 Like many organohalogens, they bioaccumulate in animals' fatty tissue. The highest concentrations are found in animals at the top of the food chain, including humans. Linda Birnbaum, a leading science expert on BFR s and dioxins, led the US EPA's 1994 dioxin assessment process, which concluded that for certain dioxins there was no safe level of exposure for humans.

Most of what we know about dioxins and furans is the result of the study of one particular dioxin: tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCD ), which is a developmental toxicant that causes skeletal deformities, kidney defects, and weakened immune responses in the offspring of animals exposed to it during pregnancy. The compound is also associated with some cancers and other health effects, including immune system alterations and skin lesions. Additionally, studies indicate many of the hundreds of other dioxins and furans are likely to cause similar health effects.

Dioxin precursors

Of particular concern is the ability of halogenated organics to act as precursors for generating dioxin, a potent known human carcinogen4 that is toxic at very low levels. Exposing halogenated organics such as the BFR s, CFR s, and PVC in electronics to incineration at insufficiently high temperatures or the uncontrolled burning practices commonly used in informal recycling in the developing world can generate dioxins, as well as furans, which can be equally toxic.

Chlorine Use in PVC

The predominant use of chlorine in electronics has been in PVC plastics. Most internal and external cables use PVC to insulate copper wires. Human health and environmental concerns about exposure to plastic additives used in PVC, such as lead, cadmium, and phthalates, as well as dioxin formation during the combustion of PVC components, triggered industry-wide efforts to replace PVC use in wire and cables. The major challenge has been developing alternative resins, that meet safety standards that in some instances were only written to specify PVC resins. To further complicate the situation, these safety standards vary geographically, forcing companies to use and get approval for multiple alternatives that comply with the different regional standards.

Bromine- and chlorine- based compounds are used extensively in the production of today's modern electronic products as flame retardants, solvents, dyes, adhesives and plastic resins.

The highest concentrations of bromine and chlorine are used in brominated and chlorinated flame retardants (BFR s and CFR s) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

However, in response to growing awareness of the human health and environmental problems associated with the use of bromine and chorine, leading manufacturers have started to restrict the use of these chemicals. These manufacturers have also come to recognize that the wide variety of halogenated compounds used in the electronics supply chain makes it very difficult to certify that specific brominated or chlorinated compounds have successfully been removed from electronics products.

Accordingly, some manufacturers have chosen to restrict the use of all substances containing these two elements, rather than contend with the difficulties involved in implementing and validating restrictions on specific, individual brominated and chlorinated substances. The method of focusing on chemicals on the group level rather than on individual compounds has come to be known as the elemental approach.

The Association Connecting Electronics Industries (IPC) is currently in the process of developing another standard for all plastic resins. The current proposal (September 2009) applies the elemental standard to a subset of brominated and chlorinated compounds, namely BFR s, CFR s, PVC, and PVC congeners in plastic resins. This approach, however, is more difficult to verify through testing and some companies are calling for a more verifiable approach that would apply restrictions on all uses of bromine and chlorine.

Greening Consumer Electronics:
Moving Away from Bromine and Chlorine

Two leading environmental organizations, Clean Production Action and ChemSec, have released a new report showing companies that are leading the electronics industry by moving away from chemicals that can lead to health and environmental problems. features seven companies who have engineered environmental solutions that negate the need for most -- or in some cases all -- uses of brominated and chlorinated chemicals. This includes eliminating brominated flame retardants and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which can create dioxin, a human carcinogen, during the burning of e-waste. 

The best time to clean up "brownfields" that are dead because of toxic pollutants -- is not not use toxic chemicals or processes in the first place.  But how?  It's not easy to green manufacturing, especially high performance gadgets at low prices.  But it is possible.

ALSO NEEDED, consumer support :  Need to know how to recycle your electronics (TVs, computers, phones) safely?  Try Electronics Takeback Coalition.