1. 6 JANUARY 1999

Contact: Bill Grigg
Grigg@niehs.nih.gov

301-402-3378

NIH-National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Center Set Up To Evaluate Evidence of Chemical Threats To Human Reproduction

The National Toxicology Program and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences today announced the establishment of an NTP Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction.

The organizers said the center will bring together experts to evaluate data indicating that a chemical or mixtures of chemicals could impair human reproduction and development. For reasons that are "largely unknown," according to the official announcement:

- Between 5 and 10 percent of couples who want to have children cannot do so, About half of all pregnancies are not successfully completed, - - NIEHS research has shown that many fertilized fetuses disappear before the prospective mother is even aware she is pregnant -- - - Some 3 to 5 percent of newborns suffer from major birth defects, and "A decline in human sperm counts over recent decades has been reported but not confirmed." - The organizers said the center is not intended to conduct research or provide counseling or medical treatment but will convene panels of 10-15 scientists with expertise in reproduction, toxicology and related areas to review the information available on the effects of a chemical on reproduction and development. Panel meetings will be open to the public and will permit public comment.

- Michael D. Shelby, Ph.D., chief of the Laboratory of Toxicology at NIEHS will direct the center's activities. Dr. Shelby said, "The center was established in response to growing public concern for the effects of environmental exposures on human fertility and the health of children." He said, "Consistent, unbiased, scientifically sound evaluations [from the center] will provide a much needed service to the public, as well as to other government agencies and the scientific community." -

- The announcement in the Federal Register page 68782, vol. 63, Number 239 said that the center will review, initially, two or three chemicals or mixtures a year that are nominated by the public, scientists, industry, workers and/or government agencies. The expert panels will prepare consensus reports on the strength of scientific evidence that an exposure poses a hazard to reproduction and the health of children. Panel reports, the Federal Register announcement said, will be written "in terms that can be understood by those who are not scientifically trained." and be published in the NIEHS' journal Environmental Health Perspectives and on a center website linked to the NTP and NIEHS websites.

- Scientific and administrative support to operate the center will be provided under contract by Sciences International Inc., and nominations of chemicals and of panel members should be sent there to the attention of John Moore, DVM, 1800 Diagonal road, Suite 500, Alexandria, VA 22314-2808. Oversight will be provided through the NTP Board of Scientific Counselors, a chartered peer review group of scientific experts primarily from outside government.

- ### The NTP is an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services and serves many regulatory agencies within HHS and some outside as well. NTP is headquartered at NIEHS in Research Triangle Park, N.C., and shares the same director, Kenneth Olden, Ph.D., as NIEHS, which is one of the National Institutes of Health.
 
 

2. NIEHS/EPA Superfund Basic Research Program 'Research Brief' - Number 37 (from Jill)

SBRP "Research Brief" - Number 37

Title: Promising Developments are Made in the Real-Time Analysis of Combustion Emissions

Our society relies greatly on combustion processes, which support our modern lifestyle in a variety of ways. Combustion is used in incinerators as a method for destroying the country's growing volume of hazardous, medical, and municipal wastes, and it also accounts for approximately 85 percent of the world's energy production. Industrial burners and furnaces, as well as metal smelters and cement kilns, also employ thermal oxidation at high temperatures to accomplish their given purposes. Unfortunately, these various combustion processes can generate unintentional by-products that have the potential to impact public health, diminishing the benefits derived from combustion applications.

When any type of material is burned, whether to produce energy from fossil fuel or to destroy high volumes of hazardous wastes, the combustion process rarely results in complete thermal oxidation of the material to carbon dioxide and water. Depending on the chemical nature of the material burned and the combustion conditions, small amounts of a variety of substances can be formed or released. For example, when organic materials are combusted, pyrosynthesis can produce by-products such as hydrocarbons, dioxins, and furans. Heavy metals such as arsenic, chromium, and lead can also be released during the combustion of coal, metal ores, and metal-containing waste materials. Some of these combustion by-products pose carcinogenic and other health risks to humans. Thus, there is a great deal of concern when they escape into the atmosphere, because from there they can potentially come into contact with humans.

The emissions from combustion processes represent one of the most controversial issues surrounding the use of combustion, which remains the largest source of air pollutants in this country. Toxic emissions from combustion systems can be reduced, however, by engineering interventions such as advanced control systems that signal when toxic species are being released in combustion exhausts. One means for preventing emissions of toxic pollutants into the ambient air, continuous emissions monitoring, is now considered essential to fully assess the operating condition of large-scale combustion systems, such as waste incinerators. Monitoring systems capable of detecting a broad spectrum of toxic and hazardous chemicals are in particular demand at this time.

A team of researchers at the University of California-Berkeley (UC-Berkeley), in collaboration with scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California, is developing a technique for real-time, continuous monitoring of a variety of compounds commonly found in combustion effluents. The technique under development uses excimer laser fragmentation fluorescence spectroscopy (ELFFS), a method that is offering the potential for detecting and quantifying multiple components in combustion exhausts.

The ELFFS technique uses high-energy photon beams from an excimer laser to convert non-fluorescent compounds into smaller fragments. The fragmented species are then detected optically by laser-induced fluorescence. The fluorescence signal is proportional to the concentration of substance detected. Because the photons are efficiently absorbed and the fluorescence lifetime falls within the range of nanoseconds, the process is rapid and also allows for sensitive detection of low concentrations of compounds.

Metallic elements not requiring fragmentation can also be detected through this technique.

In laboratory experiments, ELFFS is proving to be a versatile tool for the simultaneous detection of different airborne compounds under simulated combustion conditions. During studies carried out in the post-flame gases of a laboratory burner, the researchers have shown that ELFFS is effective for detecting chlorinated hydrocarbons, barium, chromium, manganese, nickel, lead, and tellurium -- in real time and in situ. The method is also powerful: minute traces (in the ppb range) of the aforementioned species can be detected and identified based on their unique fluorescence.

Because the laboratory scale tests with ELFFS were so promising, a Cooperative Research and Development Authority (CRADA) was undertaken by the Department of Energy and Thermatrix (a company specializing in hazardous waste destruction) to advance the commercialization of this system for continuous emissions monitoring.

When fully developed, the ELFFS based system will have a major advantage over conventional emissions monitoring methods. Current monitoring practices of the above combustion by-products involve lengthy procedures that include extractive sampling and preparation of samples for chemical analysis, which can take up to several weeks to produce results. By using ELFFS, monitoring data can be produced as emissions are formed, allowing for rapid response and corrective actions if pollutants are being released. This capability will ultimately be useful for reducing the amount of pollutants released into the atmosphere by combustion processes.

Even as major efforts are underway to move away from society's dependence on combustion processes, combustion will continue to be an integral part of our society until new waste management strategies and energy production technologies are developed and in place. This research on continuous emissions monitoring is motivated in part by the need to protect human health and prevent environmental damage from the inadvertent by-products of combustion. Thus, these breakthroughs in emissions monitoring have far-reaching effects for both public health and environmental protection by offering a novel approach to control combustion processes in way that reduces their risks.
 

3. Chemical and Engineering News
NEWS OF THE WEEK
January 11, 1999
Volume 77, Number 2

RIGHT TO KNOW: EPA proposes lower reporting thresholds for persistent bioaccumulative
chemicals
by Bette Hileman

The Environmental Protection Agency moved last week to significantly
expand the public's right to know about certain toxic chemicals. The
agency published in the Federal Register a proposed rule that would
require more--lots more--reporting to the Toxics Release Inventory
(TRI) of environmental releases of persistent bioaccumulative toxic
chemicals, including dioxins and mercury.

Currently, facilities are not required to report releases to air,
water, or land unless they manufacture or process more than 25,000 lb
annually or use more than 10,000 lb annually of a TRI-listed chemical.
As a result, releases of many persistent chemicals, such as mercury,
that bioaccumulate in wildlife and humans are not reported.

Under the new proposal, the reporting thresholds for 13 chemicals or
chemical groups would be lowered to either 10 lb or 100 lb per year,
depending on the chemical's persistence in the environment and
bioaccumulative capacity. The lowest threshold, 0.1 g per year, is
reserved for dioxins. Six new chemicals or groups, including the flame
retardant tetrabromobisphenol A, also would be added to TRI.

In announcing the proposal, EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner said:
"Putting information about toxic pollution into the hands of local
citizens is one of the most effective tools for protecting human
health and the environment. Our proposal today is another major step
forward to ensure that people receive the best possible picture about
pollution in their communities."

If the proposed rule becomes final, it would affect a wide range of
industries, including electric utilities that burn coal or oil,
chlor-alkali plants, petroleum refiners, cement kilns, and hazardous
waste incinerators, as well as facilities that manufacture plastics,
chlorinated organic compounds, pesticides, paints, steel, and pulp and
paper. EPA estimates that the extra reporting mandated by the proposal
would require facilities to submit a total of about 17,000 additional
reports annually. This would entail aggregate industry costs of about
$126 million in the first year and $70 million per year after that,
EPA says.

The addition of chemicals to TRI and the lower thresholds are based on
their chronic health effects and on their adverse effects on the
environment. "It is important that the public understand that these
persistent bioaccumulative toxic (PBT) chemicals can have serious
human health and environmental effects resulting from low levels of
release and exposure," EPA writes in its proposal. The new reporting
thresholds will help communities know if PBTs are present in their
communities at levels that may pose a significant risk, EPA maintains.

The Chemical Manufacturers Association disagrees. "We are not certain
the proposed rule will achieve meaningful reductions in PBT
emissions," CMA says in a statement. It points out that "the proposed
thresholds do not take into account the significant efforts already
taken by our industry to characterize and reduce emissions." Also, CMA
notes, the TRI listings are not risk based, so they give the public
little information on the actual risk that TRI-listed substances pose.

The Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG),
on the other hand, believes the proposal is not stringent enough.
"EPA's proposal is a significant step in the right direction, but we
still have a long way to go to ensure complete access to the
information about these particularly dangerous chemicals in our
communities," says Allison LaPlante, PIRG environmental advocate. "We
have the right to know when industries release any quantity of these
toxins into the environment," she says.