Industrial Toxics Project

The EPA is also investigating the use of voluntary means to reduce effluent. One such voluntary program is the Industrial Toxics Project, aimed at reducing environmental releases of 17 high-risk chemicals. This initiative is more frequently... 

Izmerov NF, Sanotsky IV, Sidorov KK. 1977. Toxicometric parameters of industrial toxic chemicals under single exposure. Moscow, USSR Centre of International Projects, GKNT, 72. 

Typically, funding to embark on information and/or knowledge management initiatives within the life sciences only occurs after a serious failure within the business, such as a project failure or a withdrawal of a medicine from the market. Recently, COX-2 programs across the industry are under close scrutiny since the highly publicized withdrawal of Vioxx [10]. Of course, there has been no withdrawal of aspirin, paracetamol, alcohol, or tobacco products, which are well known as toxic. 

This second volume of the book presents the results obtained during the RISKCYCLE project, paying special attention to a set of selected additives in the diverse industrial sectors (i.e., PFOS, DEHP, Pb). Different methodologies have been used to analyze aspects such as the fate, human and environmental exposure, and toxicity of these compounds. Case studies have been developed to assess their risk in developing countries such as China or Vietnam. The findings have been presented in the different RISKCYCLE workshops as well as at the final conference in Dresden. 

PPG Industries has developed a substitute for lead in a coating process used widely in the auto industry. The replacement is yttrium that, though much less studied than lead, is considered orders of magnitude lower in hazard. In addition it was discovered that as yttrium is used in the process it is converted to yttrium oxide that is appears to be non-toxic by ingestion, in stark contrast to lead. As PPG customers implement yttrium overthe next several years, it is projected that the use of approximately one million pounds (some 454 tonnes) of lead will be avoided. 

Detective Layman s Report LCO cleaning, DEmonstration Textile CO Treatment Introduction Validation Effort - Detective, EU Life Project No LIFEOO ENV/NL/000797,17 Feb 2005 De Rosa, D. (2001) Out of Fashion. Moving beyond toxic cleaners in the Fabric Care Industry. Greenpeace USA. See ... 

In all cases, the DfE Program used the expertise of the EPA s New Chemicals Program to understand the chemistry and potential fate and toxicity of chemicals of concern and potential safer alternatives while engaging the key stakeholders to ensure the five facets of informed substitution are considered and safer alternatives are feasible for all parties. The DfE Program has had other successes in partnering with industry and others to reduce risks of chemicals. Information about these projects can be found at www.epa.gov/dfe. 

CANMET (1997a) Review of methods for sublethal aquatic toxicity tests relevant to the Canadian metalmining industry, Aquatic Effects Technology Evaluation (AETE) Program, Project 1.2.1, Canada Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology (CANMET), Mining Association of Canada (MAC), Ottawa, Ontario, pp. 1-132. 

The pT-method has gained attention in other countries. In a GTZ project (German government-owned corporation for international technical co-operation or GTZ), the pT-method was applied successfully by the Environmental Agency (FEEMA) of the Federal State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to identify the toxicity of industrial effluents discharging into the Rio Paraiba do Sul and to characterize the toxicity of surface water in water bodies discharging into the Sepetiba Bay (Soares, 2000). In both cases toxic effects could be detected. The pT-value functioned as a useful discriminator that could distinguish different types of hazard potentials. 

The objective of another project was to evaluate the level of pollution in water and sediments in Lake Turawskie, a storage reservoir built in the 1930s on the Mala Panew River in southwestern Poland, and then to search for a correlation between the analytical chemical results and the toxicity parameters estimated from the application of biotests. Polluted waters as well as large amounts of polluted sediments enter the reservoir from the Mala Panew and its tributary, the Libawa. Industrial activities in the river basin include silver, zinc, and lead processing plants, steel and glass manufacture, and the production of cellulose and chemicals. Agriculture presents a further potential threat (e.g., fertilizer and pesticide run-off), as does the use of the reservoir s banks for recreational purposes. 

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