Environmental Health News Feeds

Many websites now use Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds to distribute changing content to subscribed users. To learn more about RSS feeds visit our "What is RSS" page or see our "RSS Starter Kit." RSS feeds can also be combined to provide one stream of useful information. The list of items below is an aggregated feed of in-press articles from Environmental Health Perspectives, updates from the Hazardous Waste Clean Up Information (CLU-IN) website, news of the recent activities of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), and recent updates from the Superfund Research Program (SRP).

Recent Environmental Health News

CLU-IN Spotlight: Partners in Environmental Technology Technical Symposium & Workshop, Washington, DC, November 30-December 2, 2010
Hosted by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP), this event will offer a comprehensive technical program featuring multiple technical sessions and several short courses. This conference will assemble environmental researchers and technology developers with the defense user and regulatory communities to showcase cutting edge environmental technologies and ideas, as well as communicate the most difficult challenges of our defense establishment.
CLU-IN Spotlight: Four Open EPA Positions
The following employment opportunities, which may of interest to hazardous waste professionals, are being advertised as a public service for the CLU-IN audience: (1) Senior Environmental Employee (SEE) Program Position with EPA's Environmental Response Team in Erlanger, Kentucky; (2) Research Hydrologist with EPA's Office of Research and Development in Ada, OK; and (3) Senior Environmental Employee (SEE) Program Position with EPA's Contract Laboratory Programm in Arlington, VA.
CLU-IN Spotlight: Senior Environmental Employee (SEE) Program Position with EPA's Contract Laboratory Program
If you are over 55, live in the Washington DC area and are interested in contributing to EPA's Contract Laboratory Program, please read on! EPA has a formal relationship with the National Older Workers Career Center (NOWCC) to support their Senior Environmental Employee (SEE) Program which provides positions for individuals aged 55 and older. The US EPA's Superfund Analytical Services Branch is seeking experienced chemists (2) to help implement this prominent national program that produces analytical results for contaminated site clean-up. The ideal candidates would have extensive laboratory experience including knowledge of sample receipt, prep, analysis, and report generation, know SW846, Water and CLP analytical methods, and understand Data Validation procedures. Furthermore, the candidates would have a working knowledge of: high resolution gas chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS) for chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (CDD) and chlorinated dibenzofuran (CDF) analysis; working knowledge of gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) for volatile organic compounds in air based on EPA Method TO-15; and Phase Contrast Microscopy (PCM) used for air analysis(screening), Polarized Light Microscopy (PLM) used for soil analysis (medium level), and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). These two positions are located in Arlington, Virginia. Reference Code Numbers DC-1291 and DC-1292. When you apply, let NOWCC know you found out about their program and these positions through CLU-IN.
Courses and Conferences Section Update for July 28, 2010
The CLU-IN Upcoming Courses and Conferences section was updated on July 28, 2010. There are 58 new entries, for a total of 121 upcoming courses and conferences related to hazardous waste remediation:
Respiratory Health Effects of Exposure to “Low NOx” Unflued Gas Heaters in the Classroom: a Double-blind, Cluster Randomized Cross-over Study.

Background: There are long-standing concerns about adverse effects of gas appliances on respiratory health. However, the potential adverse effect of “low NOx” unflued gas heaters on children’s health has not been assessed.
Objectives: To compare the respiratory health effects and air quality consequences of exposure to “low NOx” gas heaters with exposure to non-indoor-air-emitting flued gas heaters in school classrooms.
Methods: A double blind cluster randomized cross-over study was conducted in 400 primary school students attending 22 schools in New South Wales, Australia. Children measured their lung function and recorded symptoms and medication use twice daily. Nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde concentrations were measured in classrooms using passive diffusion badges.
Results: Nitrogen dioxide concentrations were, on average, 1.8 times higher (95% CI 1.6 to 2.1) and formaldehyde concentrations were, on average, 9.4 ppb higher (95% CI 5.7 to 13.1) during exposure to unflued gas versus flued gas heaters. Exposure to the unflued gas heaters was associated with increased cough reported in the evening (odds ratio 1.16, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.34) and wheeze reported in the morning (OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.83). The association with wheeze was greater in atopic subjects. There was no evidence of an adverse effect on lung function.
Conclusions: We conclude that classroom exposure to “low NOx” unflued gas heaters causes increased respiratory symptoms, particularly in atopic children, but is not associated with significant decrements in lung function. It is important to seek alternative sources of heating that do not have adverse effects on health.
Determinants of The Pro-Inflammatory Action of Ambient Particulate Matter in Immortalised Murine Macrophages

Background: Proximity to traffic related pollution has been associated with poor respiratory health in adults and children.
Objectives: We wished to test the hypothesis that PM from high traffic sites would display an enhanced capacity to elicit inflammation.
Methods: We examined the inflammatory potential of coarse (PM_2.5-10) and fine (PM_0.1-2.5) particulate matter collected from nine sites throughout Europe with contrasting traffic contributions. Murine monocytic-macrophagic RAW264.7 cells were incubated with PM samples from these sites (20 and 60µg/cm²) and their capacity to stimulate arachidonic acid release, or the production of interleukin-6 and tumour necrosis factor alpha quantified as a measure of their inflammatory potential. Responses were then related to PM composition: metals, hydrocarbons, anions/cations and endotoxin content.
Results: Inflammatory responses to ambient PM varied markedly on an equal mass basis, with PM_2.5-10 displaying the largest signals and contrasts between sites. Notably there was no evidence of enhanced inflammatory potential at high traffic sites, with some of the largest responses observed at sites distant from traffic. Correlation analyses indicated that much of the sample-to-sample contrast in the pro-inflammatory response was related to the endotoxin and transition metal (especially Fe and Cu) content in PM_2.5-10. Use of the metal chelator diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid inhibited arachidonic acid release, whereas recombinant endotoxin neutralising protein partially inhibited TNFα production, demonstrating that different PM components were triggering inflammatory responses through separate pathways.
Conclusions: We found no evidence that PM collected from sites in close proximity to traffic sources displayed enhanced pro-inflammatory activity in RAW264.7 cells.
CLU-IN Spotlight: Research Hydrologist with EPA's Office of Research and Development
The U.S. EPA Ground Water and Ecosystems Restoration Division (GWERD) of the National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL) is accepting applications beginning July 19, 2010 through August 17, 2010 for a full-time permanent Research Hydrologist. The successful candidate must have a demonstrated research background in areas such as computer modeling of the contaminant transport and fate in ground water at multiple scales, hydrologic modeling and/or field-based assessment of ground-water flow, and monitoring the effectiveness of environmental management actions. Specific job information and application instructions for the position are posted on the USAJOBS Internet site. Vacancy Announcement Numbers: RTP-ORD-DE-2010-0040, RTP-ORD-DE-2010-0043. Applicants must be United States citizens. The U.S. EPA is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Seminar: Understanding the FY11 Job Training Grant Application Guidelines - 2, September 2, 2010
This seminar will provide an overview of the FY11 application guidelines for the Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Grants -formerly known as the "Brownfields Job Training Grants." Eligibility and ranking evaluation criteria will be covered, as well as information on formatting and key building blocks of a successful proposal. A questions and answers session will be held at the end.
Seminar: Understanding the FY11 Job Training Grant Application Guidelines, August 30, 2010
This seminar will provide an overview of the FY11 application guidelines for the Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Grants - formerly known as the "Brownfields Job Training Grants," and is specifically geared towards tribal, tribal and minority academic institution applicants. (However, anyone is free to attend.) Eligibility and ranking evaluation criteria will be covered, as well as information on formatting and key building blocks of a successful proposal. A questions and answers session will be held at the end. (A second CLU-IN session will be held September 2nd for other applicants.)
Air Pollution and Emergency Department Visits for Otitis Media: A Case-Crossover Study in Edmonton, Canada

Background: Otitis media (OM) is one of the most common early childhood infections, resulting in an enormous economic burden to the healthcare system through unscheduled doctor’s visits and antibiotic prescriptions.
Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the potential association between ambient air pollution exposure and Emergency Department (ED) visits for OM.
Materials and Methods: Ten years of ED data were obtained from Edmonton, Alberta and linked to air pollution levels including: carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), ozone (O₃), sulphur dioxide (SO₂), and particulate matter of median aerometric diameter less than 10 and 2.5 microns (PM₁₀, PM_2.5 respectively). A time-stratified case-crossover technique was applied to analyze the associations between ambient air pollution and health outcomes. Conditional logistic regression analysis with the subject’s ID as a stratum variable was used to obtain odds ratios (OR) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) after adjustment for meteorological factors.
Results: The analysis was based on 14,527 ED visits for OM over 10 years in children aged one to three. Statistically significant positive associations were observed between ED visits for OM and interquartile increases in carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) levels after adjusting for ambient temperature and relative humidity. The strongest associations (expressed by ORs) were observed in the warmer months (April – September) in girls and all patients for exposure to CO and NO₂, and in boys for exposure to CO, for two days before an OM ED visit.

Conclusions: These results support the hypothesis that ED visits for OM are associated with ambient air pollution.
Seminar: "Brownfields Nonprofit Outreach Training" from July 6, 2010 has been added to the Internet Seminar Archives
The purpose of this meeting is to learn about the different types of grants and assistance available through the Brownfields Program specifically targeting nonprofits and their partners.
Seminar: "US and EU Perspectives on Green and Sustainable Remediation" from July 12, 2010 has been added to the Internet Seminar Archives
Sustainable remediation is the practice of considering environmental, social, and economic impacts when restoring contaminated sites to productive use. During ConSoil 2010 (September 22-24, 2010, in Salzburg, Austria) a special session entitled "Sustainable Remediation: International Developments" will take place, focusing on the state of international implementation of sustainable environmental remediation (www.consoil.de). On July 12th, an interactive Internet Seminar will be hosted as a primer to the ConSoil session, wherein international leaders of sustainable and green remediation efforts will discuss their drivers and constraints as well as the impacts of these opportunities and issues on their efforts. An open forum will be held after the presentations in which participants will be able to submit questions to the speakers. The panel will include representatives from the following organizations: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Environment Canada; Sustainable Remediation Forum (SURF) United States, United Kingdom, and the Netherlands; EURODEMO+; Network for Industrially Contaminated Land in Europe (NICOLE); and the Common Forum on Contaminated Land in Europe.

Boston University Superfund Research Program

Environmental Health News Feeds

Main Menu

RSS Feeds