Environmental Protection Agency Science Research Articles

Fifty years of EPA science for air quality management and control

Research and development has been a key part of the foundation for improvements in US air quality since the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 50 years ago. Although the scientific accomplishments and advances over the course of EPA’s history are often overshadowed by policy debates, much of the air pollution science and engineering we now consider to be routine did not exist when EPA was established. Many of the advances in air pollutant measurement, monitoring, modeling, and control were developed by EPA researchers or supported by EPA programs. The technical foundation built during EPA’s early years has since given the Agency the scientific ability to respond quickly and effectively to unexpected and emerging issues. Equally important, EPA also developed approaches to conducting and presenting science in policy settings to ensure that the science was as objective and complete as possible and was communicated effectively. A look back at some of the accomplishments of EPA scientists and engineers provides a reminder that the cumulative effect of continual, incremental advances can result in large and lasting benefits to society.

Ecosystem services consideration in the remediation process for contaminated sites

In 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Science Advisory Board recommended activities to advance consideration of ecosystem services (ES) to enhance existing remediation and redevelopment processes in the U.S. This article examines advancements in the decade since, focusing on providing those involved in cleanup of contaminated sites a basic understanding of ES concepts and guidelines for considering ES at cleanup sites using a new, four-step transferable framework. Descriptions, including activities for site teams and case study applications of ES tools, are presented for each step: (1) identify site-specific ES; (2) quantify relevant ES; (3) examine how cleanup activities affect ES; and (4) identify, select, and implement solutions (e.g., Best Management Practices). The goal of this article is to provide site cleanup stakeholders, including project managers, contractors, and site responsible parties, with a stronger foundation and shared understanding to consider ES during the cleanup process for their given site. Anticipated outcomes include identifying ES benefits to inform management and tradeoff analyses, a reduction in unintended impacts on ES during site operations, and attention to developing a robust suite of ES relevant for site reuse.

Climate change doubters are finalists for Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board

Climate change doubters are finalists for Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board

Twenty-First Century In Vitro Toxicology Testing Methods and the Assessment of e-Cigarettes

Twenty-First Century <i>In Vitro</i> Toxicology Testing Methods and the Assessment of e-Cigarettes

Estimating sediment and nutrient delivery ratios in the Big Sunflower Watershed using a multiple linear regression model

This study is part of an effort to analyze the nutrient load reductions obtained from current and future best management practices implementations in the Big Sunflower Watershed to meet the 45% nutrient reduction goal set for the watershed based on the US Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board9s (USEPA 2007) Gulf of Mexico hypoxia report. This paper describes the identification of dominant pollutant delivery mechanisms in the watershed, estimation of instream pollutant delivery ratios (DR) from subbasins to watershed outlet, and development of a tool to estimate changes in instream pollutant DR for what-if scenarios. The Big Sunflower Watershed is a 7,800 km² intensively cultivated agricultural watershed in the State of Mississippi. The Comprehensive Environmental and Economic Optimization Tool (CEEOT) modeling system, consisting of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and Agricultural Policy and Environmental Extender (APEX) models, was used to develop a multiple regression equation to estimate the sediment and nutrient DRs for this watershed. The models used 32 years of weather data from 1981 to 2012. The explanatory variables considered for the DR are distance to watershed outlet, flow, and pollutant loads leaving subbasins. They were chosen based on their strength of correlations and type of relationship with DR. Our results indicate that flow from each subbasin is the dominant factor affecting DR for this watershed. Together, the explanatory variables considered under the multiple linear regression framework were able to estimate sediment and nutrient DRs with satisfactory regression parameters. The <i>R</i>² values for the regression relationship between the pollutant DRs and their counterparts estimated with multiple linear regression method were 0.8 for sediment, 0.96 for total nitrogen (N), and 0.9 for total phosphorus (P). The corresponding standard errors were 0.01 for sediment, 0.03 for total N, and 0.07 for total P. The explanatory variables were more strongly correlated to sediment DR than to nutrient DR. The tool developed to analyze changes in DRs for alternative scenarios appears to be useful for watershed managers.

Tiered on-the-ground implementation projects for Gulf of Mexico water quality improvements

B oth the Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan for Reducing, Mitigating, and Controlling Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico and Improving Water Quality in the Mississippi River Basin (USEPA 2008) and the GOMA Governors' Action Plan II for Healthy and Resilient Coasts (GOMA 2009) call for the development and implementation of nutrient reduction strategies to reduce excess nutrient loads to the Gulf of Mexico. However, it is not just the Gulf of Mexico waters that are impacted by excess nutrients. The US Environmental Protection Agency Wadeable Streams Assessment (USEPA 2006) and the National Lakes Assessment (USEPA 2010) indicated almost one-third of the nation's stream miles and 20% of the lakes contain high total phosphorus (P) and total nitrogen (N) concentrations. Over 6,000 waterbodies in the United States are impaired by nutrients (USEPA 2011). The US Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board has called for a 45% reduction of both N and P loads from the Mississippi River Basin to achieve the goal of a 5,000 km2 (1,930 mi2) hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico (USEPA 2007). The approach taken by several states, including Mississippi, involves reduction of excess nutrients to attain the designated uses of state waterbodies for cumulative benefits…

GOVERNMENT Paul Anastas, Environmental Protection Agency science chief, to step down

GOVERNMENT Paul Anastas, Environmental Protection Agency science chief, to step down

EPA scientific integrity policy draft

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its draft scientific integrity policy on 5 August. The draft policy addresses scientific ethical standards, communications with the public, the use of advisory committees and peer review, and professional development. The draft policy was developed by an ad hoc group of EPA senior staff and scientists in response to a December 2010 memorandum on scientific integrity from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The agency is accepting public comments on the draft through 6 September; comments should be sent to osa.staff@epa.gov. For more information, see http://www.epa.gov/stpc/pdfs/draft‐scientific‐integrity‐policy‐aug2011.pdf.

About the Authors

About the Authors

Pesticides: Carbofuran under Review

In the 31 July 2008 Federal Register, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a proposal to revoke all food “tolerances” of the insecticide carbofuran—residue allowances that are allowed to appear on food—on both domestic and imported produce, based on excessive risks to children and wildlife. If approved, this reversal of a July 2006 decision to allow carbofuran tolerances on imported coffee, bananas, sugarcane, and rice would sidestep the need for all-out cancellation of the pesticide’s registration. Carbofuran (trade name Furadan) is a restricted-use pesticide registered in the United States since 1969. The compound causes overstimulation of the nervous system by inhibiting acetyl-cholinesterase. Symptoms of overexposure in humans include headache, weakness, abdominal cramping, nausea, blurred vision, convulsion, tremor, and coma. Carbofuran is highly toxic to birds, fish, and bees. The proposal to revoke tolerances was necessary to protect children, says agency spokesperson Dale Kemery, because “studies have consistently shown that juvenile rats are more sensitive to carbo-furan than adult rats.” Based on EPA risk assessments, children up to age 5 also “experience the highest levels of dietary risk because they tend to eat larger amounts of food per their body weight than do teenagers or adults and because their systems for detoxifying contaminants are still developing.” That assessment was overly conservative, argues John Cummings, regulatory manager for North America at the Agricultural Products Group of FMC Corporation, the sole U.S. manufacturer of carbo-furan. Cummings says the EPA’s risk calculation includes the use of three safety factors, whereas FMC argues that the toxicologic data support a value of 100× for the combination of these factors but not the 400× asserted by the EPA. The three safety factors include a 10× interspecies factor used to extrapolate from animal data to humans, a 10× intraspecies factor used to account for possible variations between individuals, and a 4× uncertainty factor that is permissible under the Food Quality Protection Act. The EPA is only reacting to the law, Kemery says: “We are required by section 408 of the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act to take into account the potential for children to be more sensitive in establishing safe levels on food—for example, by including additional safety factors in our calculations.” The American Bird Conservancy, which has fought for several years to have carbo-furan banned, points out that as far back as 1980 EPA scientists had estimated that over a million birds were killed each year by the granular formulation of carbofuran, the registration for which was cancelled in 1994. Beyond the tolerance revocation, the EPA embarked years ago on an effort to ban all U.S. sales of carbofuran by cancelling its registration altogether on the basis of dietary, occupational, and environmental considerations. This larger move has gotten support from several environmental groups. Alternatively, several U.S. grower groups and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have asked the EPA to consider alternatives to cancellation, claiming carbofuran is economically important to U.S. agriculture. About 1 million pounds are used annually on fruit and vegetable crops including corn, cotton, potatoes, sunflowers, and tobacco. If, following the 29 September 2008 deadline for comments on the proposed action, the EPA issues a final tolerance revocation, FMC could request a hearing. If the revocation becomes law, it would become illegal to sell domestic or imported food bearing any residue of carbo-furan; enforcement would be the responsibility of the Food and Drug Administration.

Enhancing the ecological risk assessment process

The Ecological Processes and Effects Committee of the US Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board conducted a self-initiated study and convened a public workshop to characterize the state of the ecological risk assessment (ERA), with a view toward advancing the science and application of the process. That survey and analysis of ERA in decision making shows that such assessments have been most effective when clear management goals were included in the problem formulation; translated into information needs; and developed in collaboration with decision makers, assessors, scientists, and stakeholders. This process is best facilitated when risk managers, risk assessors, and stakeholders are engaged in an ongoing dialogue about problem formulation. Identification and acknowledgment of uncertainties that have the potential to profoundly affect the results and outcome of risk assessments also improves assessment effectiveness. Thus we suggest 1) through peer review of ERAs be conducted at the problem formulation stage and 2) the predictive power of risk-based decision making be expanded to reduce uncertainties through analytical and methodological approaches like life cycle analysis. Risk assessment and monitoring programs need better integration to reduce uncertainty and to evaluate risk management decision outcomes. Postdecision audit programs should be initiated to evaluate the environmental outcomes of risk-based decisions. In addition, a process should be developed to demonstrate how monitoring data can be used to reduce uncertainties. Ecological risk assessments should include the effects of chemical and nonchemical stressors at multiple levels of biological organization and spatial scale, and the extent and resolution of the pertinent scales and levels of organization should be explicitly considered during problem formulation. An approach to interpreting lines of evidence and weight of evidence is critically needed for complex assessments, and it would be useful to develop case studies and/or standards of practice for interpreting lines of evidence. In addition, tools for cumulative risk assessment should be developed because contaminants are often released into stressed environments.

A New Year

![Figure][1] At the beginning of each New Year, I have difficulty deciding whether to focus the Editorial on what's coming up, or on what's happened during the last one. This time around, there's just too much of both, so I have assumed the Mugwump posture to do a little of each. Looking forward, an encouraging sign is that it was a good year for international science. A multinational experimental fusion reactor, ITER, got under way, and collaboration in space is growing more active. The new German head of state is a scientist, a Russian proved the Poincare Conjecture, and Australia reversed its ban on stem cell research. As for the United States, midterm elections will deliver new occupants for important House chairmanships, and for the Senate too, if the slim majority holds. The Senate's Environment Committee gets Barbara Boxer of California, a huge contrast to incumbent James Inhofe of Oklahoma. Boxer finds the scientific evidence on climate change convincing, along with most of the rest of the country. Inhofe, on the other hand, is a conspiracy theorist who calls global warming a grand hoax. His farewell hearing, held as the 109th Congress limped off the stage, featured his usual crowd of skeptics. ![Figure][1] CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES Among the other new leaders is Bart Gordon for the House Science Committee (see News section). He replaces an excellent Republican Chairman, the newly retired Sherry Boehlert, so this switch is not a rescue but a quality succession. The Republican leadership helped out, ignoring seniority to name Ralph Hall ranking minority rather than former Chairman James Sensenbrenner. And the new House leadership announced a meeting schedule for 2007 that puts to shame the lackadaisical work habits of the 109th. The bad news involves the budget. The new Congress inherits a Continuing Resolution (CR) that will last through February 15, locking spending at existing or even lower levels. That's bad enough, but recent word is that the incoming Democrats plan to extend the CR to the end of the fiscal year (FY) 2007 budget year at FY'06 levels. That would be a real loss for science funding. Their announced intention is to include financial fixes for programs that would be seriously hurt by the CR, but that's a pretty squishy promise, so we'll stay tuned to learn what will really happen to science budgets. Elsewhere, other governments are being more generous. Several European Union nations continue to grow their research expenditures, and China's allocation for 2005 was up by a stunning 16% from the preceding year. Looking in our rearview mirror, which reminds us that objects often appear more distant then they really are, we find few sources for comfort and joy. It just wasn't a banner year. There was too much fraud in science, including a major case that put some egg on our face here. Little progress was seen in the United States and in Germany, for example, on stem cell research; and although intelligent design advocates lost in Pennsylvania and Kansas, the topic won't die. The holiday present from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was another lump of coal in science's stocking. Here's how it will review the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for such “criteria pollutants” as particles, ozone, and soot. Instead of using outside science findings and EPA scientists, political appointees will collaborate with the latter to summarize “policy-relevant” science. The EPA's own Science Advisory Board doesn't like this much, presumably seeing it as yet another case of the policy cart leading the science horse. But there are some real bright spots. New climate data, not to mention Al Gore's film and the determined position of the British government on this issue, seem to have altered the U.S. mood about global warming. Even Exxon Mobil, the most deeply embedded industrial holdout, is changing its tune; could Senator Inhofe be next? We close this topic with a fun item: here's U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia after a Massachusetts attorney had corrected his misuse of “stratosphere” in the carbon dioxide case: “Troposphere, whatever. I told you before I'm not a scientist. That's why I don't want to have to deal with global warming, to tell you the truth.” Troposphere, schmoposphere, your Honor. Happy New Year! [1]: pending:yes

Statistical Issues in Farmworker Studies

Statistical Issues in Farmworker Studies

Development and Applications of Microbial Ecogenomic Indicators for Monitoring Water Quality: Report of a Workshop Assessing the State of the Science, Research Needs and Future Directions

This article brings forth recommendations from a workshop sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Science to Achieve Results (STAR) and Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (EMAP) Programs and by the Council of State Governments, held during May 2002 in Kansas City, Kansas. The workshop assembled microbial ecologists and environmental scientists to determine what research and science is needed to bring existing molecular biological approaches and newer technologies arising from microbial genomic research into environmental monitoring and water quality assessments. Development of genomics and proteomics technologies for environmental science is a very new area having potential to improve environmental water quality assessments. The workshop participants noted that microbial ecologists are already using molecular biological methods well suited for monitoring and water quality assessments and anticipate that genomics-enabled technologies could be made available for monitoring within a decade. Recommendations arising from the workshop include needs for (i) identification of informative microbial gene sequences, (ii) improved understandings of linkages between indicator taxa, gene expression and environmental condition, (iii) technological advancements towards field application, and (iv) development of the appropriate databases.

A Conflict-of-Interest Policy for Epidemiology

W /hen I arrived at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the Assistant Administrator for Research and Development, I was faced with a report from the General Accounting Office titled Science Advisory Board Panels: Improved Policies and Procedures Needed to Ensure Independence and Balance. The EPA's Science Advisory Board was in the midst of revising a form from the Office of Government Ethics for federal employees to determine whether their activities constituted a conflict of interest. The Science Advisory Board had used that same form and now it was apparent that something more detailed was necessary. The evaluation of conflict of interest was not new to me. As a nominee going through Senate confirmation, I had filled out forms for the White House, the Senate, and the EPA. I had also overseen these evaluations as a staff person for the National Research Council (NRC) where all participants in NRC activities have these evaluations. new form was eventually developed and extended throughout the various advisory boards of the EPA. It was then incorporated into the peer review activities for all major science activities at the EPA. These peer reviews, done through independent contractors along with the work of the formal advisory boards, results in over 600 reviews in any given year. Thus, reporting and evaluations related to conflict of interest are now done not just for federal employees engaged in the conduct and use of science in federal agencies, but for peer reviewers of that science as well. How does any of this relate to whether EPIDEMIOLOGY should have a conflict-of interest policy for its authors? Ralph Waldo Emerson should have included policymakers when he said A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. So we will abandon a justification based on consistency. How about going back to the basics? The EPA and other regulatory agencies are constantly urged to use the best available science in formulating environmental and human health regulations. Most of that science is not generated internally. Most of it comes from research conducted outside federal agencies. During my time inside the EPA, a new set of guidelines was developed for determining what information is used in the formulation of regulations (the Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Informa tion Disseminated by Federal Agencies). These guidelines place a premium on the use of peer-reviewed literature as a mechanism for quality assurance. Organizations who view themselves as watchdogs of the regulatory process have for some time opposed the use of science funded by entities that are the object of regulation. This applies to science performed by a corporate scientist or even an academic who has been funded by a corporate entity. In their view, this research is tainted even if it appears in a peer-reviewed journal. There is also a growing movement among these watchdog groups to restrict the participation of scientists and engineers as reviewers of regulation related science if they have been funded by entities that are the object of the regulation. Is all this concern misplaced? Perhaps it is, and, then again, perhaps it is not. Take the example of a recently published epidemiologic study of a compound that has been the subject of intense regulatory interest. Should the journal publishing the paper have refused to review it

Vinyl Chloride and U.S. EPA Research

A commentary by Sass et al. (2005), “Vinyl Chloride: A Case Study of Data Suppression and Misrepresentation,” is itself a case study in misrepresentation. The inclusion of such an article in this peer-reviewed publication stands in contrast to its stated mission to publish “balanced” and “objective” information. Sass et al. (2005) did not include or address recent studies in characterizing the weight of the scientific evidence related to vinyl chloride and made inaccurate and unsupported allegations about the integrity of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scientists and the rigorous peer review process utilized by the U.S. EPA. Sass et al. (2005) asserted that there is a “scientific consensus that [vinyl chloride] is a multisite carcinogen in humans and experimental animals,” referencing 21 articles, only 3 of which were published during the past 15 years. They failed to mention or seriously discuss 7 articles noted below that were published in scientific journals since 1997 and update many of the studies Sass et al. cited and reach the opposite conclusion. These and other recent peer-reviewed studies and reviews fully support the U.S. EPA’s conclusion that “the association [between vinyl chloride and cancers other than the liver] is weak and any estimated increase in mortality from cancer at these sites is likely to be less than for liver cancer” (U.S. EPA 2000). Authors of these articles include Aaron Blair, the chief of the Occupational Studies Section of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), who stated that epidemiologic evidence shows a strong exposure–response relationship for angiosarcoma of the liver, but not for other types of cancer (Blair and Kazerouni 1997). In a more recent review, McLaughlin and Lipworth (1999) reached the same conclusion: Occupational vinyl chloride exposure has not been conclusively causally linked to any adverse health outcome, with the exception of angiosarcoma of the liver. Even more recently, Bosetti et al. (2003) stated that The aggregate data are reassuring in excluding any excess risk of death from lung, laryngeal, soft tissue sarcoma, brain and lymphoid neoplasms, as well as cirrhosis. Recently published updates of cancer incidence in European and American industry-wide cohorts of workers exposed to vinyl chloride provide a firm basis for the conclusion that vinyl chloride exposure is not causally associated with brain cancer and the other tumors mentioned by Sass et al. (2005). The European study (Ward et al. 2001) was conducted by scientists affiliated with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). The authors found no evidence of an increase in cancers other than the liver. Similar, though less definitive, results were published by Mundt et al. (2000) in an update of the American cohort. A recent meta-analysis of these cohorts by IARC scientists further supports the conclusion reached by the U.S. EPA (Boffetta et al. 2003). Given the strength and uniformity of the evidence supporting the U.S. EPA’s position, it is striking that Sass et al. (2005) did not address it. Instead, they claimed that the U.S. EPA yielded to advocacy by chemical manufacturers, implying that the U.S. EPA relied in part upon unpublished data. As noted above, however, the articles upon which the U.S. EPA placed primary reliance are published, in a few cases, by academic scientists sponsored by industry (e.g., Mundt et al. 2000), but for the most part by scientists affiliated with some of the most prestigious government-supported organizations engaged in cancer research (e.g., NCI, IARC, NIOSH). Finally, it is not accurate that industry unduly influenced the review process for vinyl chloride nor that the potency factors published in the IRIS (Integrated Risk Information System) database (U.S. EPA 2000) are insufficiently protective (Norman 2002). The former comment disparages the U.S. EPA scientists who spent 5 years and went through two external peer reviews to make sure that relevant current science was reflected. The latter fails to recognize that a pharmacokinetic (PK) approach to risk assessment was supported over 20 years ago by the National Academy of Sciences and that the PK model for vinyl chloride used by the U.S. EPA—which predicted the actual incidence of angiosarcoma of the liver in the early cohorts of exposed workers—has been peer-reviewed, published, and validated (Clewell et al. 2001; Reitz et al. 1996).

Vinyl Chloride: Sass et al. Respond

Vinyl Chloride: Sass et al. Respond

A growing concern

In early April, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) backed down from a planned, but perhaps poorly conceived, if not unethical, study on the effects of pesticides on children, when two senators threatened to block the confirmation of Stephen L Johnson as EPA Administrator. Unfortunately, the negative press EPA received from the incident overshadowed a more positive step the agency recently took to protect children. In late March, EPA released its first update since 1986 on cancer risk from environmental pollutants. A long time in coming, the new Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment and Supplemental Guidance for Assessing Susceptibility from Early-Life Exposure to Carcinogens, is influencing new regulations on chemicals found in air, water, pesticides, and waste, and the cleanup standards for Superfund and hazardous waste sites. More specifically, they recommend principles and procedures to guide EPA scientists and others in determining the cancer risks from exposure to chemicals or other agents in the environment. They are also used to inform EPA administrators and lawyers, state governments, and the public about risk assessment procedures. Environmental groups are applauding what they see as a promising change in EPA policy. The additional Supplemental Guidance describes approaches that EPA could use to assess children's cancer risks from harmful chemicals. This is the first time that a risk guidance document specifically related to children has been issued by the EPA. It includes a review of scientific literature on chemical effects in animals and humans and summarizes the results of the cancer studies that investigated early-life exposure. Over 10 years ago, the National Research Council (NRC) recommended that “EPA assess risks to infants and children whenever it appears that their risks might be greater than those of adults”. This pronouncement has finally been heeded. The original Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment was published in 1986, and was based on assumptions by toxicologists that if a substance caused cancer in an animal, it would also cause cancer in humans. Those assumptions resulted in many valuable and scientifically valid discoveries regarding childhood exposure to such pollutants as residential lead paint. Yet recent advances have led EPA to determine that in some cases substances harmful to animals do not necessarily pose risks for humans. More startling are newer studies demonstrating that some substances, such as benzene, may be more harmful to humans than once thought. One key portion of the Supplemental Guidance points out that recent advances demonstrate the differences between adults and young children when exposed to carcinogenic chemicals, recognizing the possibility that children under 2 years might be ten times more at risk and children from two to 16 might be three times more at risk. There is a lot of information suggesting links between childhood chemical exposure and a number of diseases. Children are thought to be more susceptible to the health effects of air pollution because their immune systems and developing organs are still immature. Exposure to toxic air contaminants during infancy or childhood could affect the development of the respiratory, nervous, endocrine, and immune systems and increase the risk of disease later in life. Researchers from the University Medical Center and the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University recently concluded that seasonal variations in the use of pesticides, fungicides, other water pollutants, and antihistamines could expose fetuses to these compounds during critical periods of brain development, perhaps contributing to brain cancer. A new study at Columbia of 60 newborns in New York City revealed that prenatal exposure to combustion-related urban air pollutants alters the structure of chromosomes of fetuses in the womb. Environmental exposure to such pollutants during pregnancy, the study hypothesizes, causes a modest a modest but significant increase in chromosomal abnormalities in fetal tissues. Such genetic alterations have been linked in other studies to increased risk of cancer in children and adults. While the applause for EPA's new report was audible, not all environmentalists are happy about the approach. The National Resources Defense Council commented that the efforts to consider all available science to reduce the risk of cancer were laudable, but they contrast this with EPA's approach to solving other problems, especially the halfhearted effort to reduce mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants. The new mercury regulations use a cap-and-trade program as opposed to the Clinton-era approach, which forced plant operators to use the best technology available. New lawsuits and petitions will contest that rule. Power plants emit elemental mercury and mercury oxides. When these enter the food chain, both become methyl mercury, which damages the central nervous system – especially in young children. So even if, as the old adage says, “children should be seen and not heard”, it is high time that environmental science paid them some attention. Douglass F Rohrman

Forging A More Effective: Global Climate Treaty

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsRobert N. StavinsRobert N. Stavins is Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and director of Harvard's Environmental Economics Program. He is also a university fellow with Resources for the Future. Previously, he was the chairman of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Science Advisory Board Environmental Economics Advisory Committee, a lead author of several reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the director of Project 88 for former Senator Timothy Wirth and die late Senator John Heinz, and a staff economist at the Environmental Defense Fund. He is the author of more than 100 articles, monographs, and books on diverse areas of environmental economics and policy. This article draws upon an oral briefing the author carried out for United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, “After Kyoto: Climate Change Strategies for the United Nations” (24 April 2002). Stavins can be contacted via e-mail at robert_stavins@harvard.edu. Helpful comments on a previous version of the manuscript were provided by Joseph Aldy, David Heath, John List, and Richard Richels, but the author is responsible for any errors.

An Air that Kills: How the Asbestos Poisoning of Libby, Montana, Uncovered a National Scandal

By Andrew Schneider and David McCumber New York:G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2004. 440 pp. ISBN: 0-399-15095-1, $25.95 cloth. Asbestos has tragically affected communities throughout the world, largely through its effects on workers. This powerful history is presented with dramatic flair in the new investigative book by Andrew Schneider and David McCumber. An Air That Kills provides a compelling update on what should now be a closed chapter in occupational health in the United States. More remarkably, it also asserts the potential impact of the long-feared environmental health disaster arising from negligent use of asbestos. This book explores new territory in nonoccupational asbestos exposure. The book records the history of some of the heroes of occupational medicine in the United States and also names some of the “black hats.” It also addresses risk and risk reduction related to nonoccupational exposure to asbestos. Here it lands on thin ice, and may even fall through it by omitting results of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) survey that could validate its thesis, as well as by making some extreme statements. Schneider and McCumber note that the federal government “did the biggest public health survey in its history. A third of the town got . . . the ‘death sentence.’” The data from the survey, not presented in this book although published in EHP (111:1753–1759), do not substantiate this statement. The nonrandom sample of 6,668 adults in Libby showed 17.8% with pleural abnormalities and < 1% with interstitial abnormalities. These findings are hard to reconcile with certain asbestos-related mortality of one-third of the town. A wealth of investigative reporting exposes how environmental asbestos concerns were neglected by the Bush–Whitman Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the desire to get Wall Street going after September 11. The authors also describe vermiculite shipments to over 750 locations, 293 major users, and 45–73 expansion facilities throughout North America. Attic insulation, concrete, wallboard, roofing, crayons, and potting soil, as well as tremolite-contaminated talc, taconite ore, and Sierra foothill soil, contain contaminated vermiculite or other “naturally occurring asbestos.” No one has epidemiologically established the risk of mesothelioma from these environmental exposures. This book amply documents “an enormous hole in the safety net that people assume is out there in modern life” for toxic substance regulation and enforcement. The allegation that Libby’s doctors rarely diagnosed asbestosis because doctors were high in the town’s caste system is telling but not documented. The story that W.R. Grace & Co. and others conspired to intimidate a doctor who was willing to diagnose asbestosis is convincing, as are other claims of Grace’s unethical behavior. The lack of chapter titles decreases the utility and approachability of this book. There are too many silly errors of fact, and it is frustrating to read a provocative statement characterizing the World Trade Center cleanup without a source citation. Such a source might likely be an interview rather than a report that could be reviewed by readers. This is not an academic book, but a popular and, to some extent, a muckraking book based on a lot of journalistic research. While U.S. EPA scientists and investigators were struggling to document the Libby problem in the late 1990s, they uncovered reports from 1980 and 1982 that had already characterized the problem. But neither miners nor the public had been warned. The book alleges that 15 years before it took any concrete action, the U.S. EPA knew that asbestos was killing residents of Libby, stonewalled, and then in an about-face requested an investigation, eventually giving an award to the local administrators who had publicized both the situation and the U.S. EPA’s period of inaction. There are even implications that close ties between W.R. Grace CEO J. Peter Grace and the Reagan White House might have led to downplaying the earlier knowledge. The U.S. EPA had knowledge that could have begun a reduction in exposure, for miners and the town, 15–20 years sooner. W.R. Grace made denials until they declared bankruptcy. Beyond the hyperbole and the melodrama of the individual tragedies, there is much new history and political insight to recommend this book. This is important material in the unfortunately still unfolding scientific and historical chapters on asbestos and disease.