Fw: OPPT-Newsbreak Tuesday, 20 April 1999

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>OPPT NEWSBREAK Tuesday, 20 April 1999

>

>

> Today's " Toxic News for the Net "

> Brought to you by the OPPTS Chemical Library

> http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/oppt_nb.txt

>

> NEWS

>

> " Fires Turn Day to Night Over Part of Everglades. " Washington

>Times, 20 April 99, A3. " Everglades Ablaze as Brush Fires Torch

>State. " Washington Post, 20 April 99, A8.

> Wildfires in the Everglades have now burned nearly 130,000

> acres. Authorities are warning people with asthma,

> bronchitis, and emphysema to stay indoors.

>

> " Whose Beaches, Whose Burdens? At $60 Million a Mile, Rebuilding

>New Jersey's Shore Stirs Debate on Access, Effectiveness. "

>Washington Post, 20 April 99, A3, A8.

> A " `beach nourishment' " project to replenish 127 miles of

> the New Jersey shore and keep them replenished for 50 years

> could cost at much as $9 billion. The federal Office of

> Management and Budget would like to eliminate funding for

> new nourishment projects and reduce funding for

> " `renourishments' " to 35 percent. Environmentalists are

> concerned that federal funding may encourage more

> development along the coast and damage the ecosystem. Some

> of the towns that will benefit from this project have no

> public access to their beaches, a point that draws criticism

> from taxpayers. Sidebar: " Beach Brigade " is a map.

>

> AROUND THE BELTWAY: DC/MD/VA REGIONAL NEWS

>

> " Fire at Junkyard Smokes Up Area. Prince Declares

>Emergency. " Washington Times, 20 April 99, C5.

> A fire at Sam's Junk Recycle Scraps & Material Services in

> Gainesville, Va., burned throughout the weekend and was

> still smoldering Monday night, prompting Prince

> County officials to declare a state of emergency. Smoke

> from the fire has drifted into nearby neighborhoods.

> Firefighters used more than 2 million gallons of water in

> fighting the blaze, and runoff from the hoses was diverted

> into a quarry on the property. EPA is monitoring water

> quality at Lake Manassas and in the quarry. EPA is also

> assessing the junkyard for possible environmental dangers

> and devising a plan to prevent long-term problems.

>

> " Officials Warn of PCBs in Catfish, Eels, Carp. " Washington

>Post, 20 April 99, B2.

> land and Virginia environmental officials warned people

> to limit their consumption of large catfish, eels, and carp

> from a stretch of the Potomac River from the Bridge

> south to Brent Point, Va. The fish may be contaminated with

> polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBS. The source of the

> pollution is not known.

>

> " Farmers Sue Amelia County Board for Barring Human-Waste

>Fertilizer. " Washington Times, 20 April 99, C5.

> Eleven farmers are suing the Amelia County (Va.) Board of

> Supervisors, claiming the board illegally pre-empted state

> law when it banned the use of biosolids, or treated human

> waste, as fertilizer. State law allows the application of

> biosolids if a farmer has a permit from the state Department

> of Health. The lawsuit says the ban " deprives the farmers

> `of a beneficial source of agricultural soil improvement

> that improves and maintains the quality of the crop and

> pasture land, enhances plant growth, reduces runoff and

> helps to prevent soil erosion.' "

>

> " Too Quiet. Silence in Frog Habitat Not Golden. " Washington

>Times, 20 April 99, 1999.

> This year, land and Virginia are participating in the

> North American Amphibian Monitoring Program to collect data

> on the declining number of frogs and other amphibians.

> Frogs are considered an " `indicator species' " because they

> breathe through their skins and live in water, making them

> particularly sensitive to environmental changes. Suspected

> causes for the declining frog population include loss of

> wetlands, excessive chemicals, a new fungus, acid rain, and

> more ultraviolet radiation.

>

> EDITORIALS AND COMMENTARY

>

> " Columnist Sounded Like a Flack for the Bottled Water Industry

>[Letters]. " Washington Times, 20 April 99, A18.

> National Resource Defense Council's Wallinga, M.D.

> (Senior Scientist) and Olson (Senior Attorney), respond

> to Fumento's " diatribe " about the NRDC's bottled

> water study. They dispute several of the points he made,

> especially disagreeing about the importance of bacterial

> contamination. They conclude: " Finally, Mr. Fumento argues

> that we should let the free market regulate bottled water.

> One of our major recommendations would help do exactly that.

> We recommend requiring that bottled-water labels show the

> results of safety testing and reveal the true water source,

> to ensure that the market is based on full and accurate

> information. Full disclosure helps consumers make the free

> market work. "

>

> BIOTECHNOLOGY

>

> " Tailoring Drugs to Fit the Genes [science Times]. " New York

>Times, 20 April 99, D9.

> Scientists are now capable of studying positive and adverse

> drug responses in people by examining the full set of human

> genes which, in principle, would allow for the matching of

> drugs to the " subgroups who would most benefit from them " .

> Column discusses recent advances.

>

>

> " For the Very Ill, Steroids Can Offer Hope [science Times]. " New

>York Times, 20 April 99, D8.

> Showing in new clinical trials that low doses of synthetic

> anabolic steroids can reverse " previously uncontrollable

> weight loss " in two groups of patients, those needing kidney

> dialysis and those with H.I.V., scientists reinforced their

> claim that steroids can benefit the very ill, whom they were

> developed for in the aftermath of World War II. Findings

> are represented by two separate controlled studies, both

> reported last week in The Journal of the American Medical

> Association. Though medical experts require more studies to

> determine safe and unsafe doses of steroids for both ill and

> healthy people, they " say athletes frequently take anabolic

> steroids in doses high enough to have dangerous

> consequences " , doses which are " much higher " than those used

> in the clinical trials.

>

> " Rooting Out Superweeds [science Times: Observatory]. " New York

>Times, 20 April 99, D5.

> British University of Reading botanists, whose three-year

> study is published in the journal Nature Biotechnology,

> showed that by inserting " designer genes " into the

> chloroplasts, rather than the nuclei, of rapeseed plant

> cells, the transmission of crop traits like herbicide

> resistance could not be transferred via pollen to the

> plant's weed cousin, the wild turnip. Genes that are

> inserted into a cell's nucleus, standard practice in genetic

> engineering, can be transmitted through pollen to " wild

> relatives " which scientists fear could create " superweeds "

> that might " harm agriculture and the environment. "

>

> " These Bacteria Are So Big, the Microscope's Optional [science

>Times]. " New York Times, 20 April 99, D5.

> " Sulfur pearl of Namibia " or Thiomargarita namibiensis is

> the name for a new " healthy " " robust " and unusually large

> bacterium discovered in 1997 " from sulfurous muck on the

> ocean floor off the coast of Namibia in Africa " by Heide

> Schulz, a doctoral student at the Max Planck Institute for

> Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany. Scientists believe

> that the visible microbe, which can measure one-thirteenth

> of an inch in diameter, may play a " crucial " role in the

> ecological balance of the ocean floor by consuming sulfide

> from organic low-oxygen slime, thereby, assisting in the

> cycle of decay and keeping the ocean floor safe for bottom-

> dwelling sea creatures that might otherwise be poisoned by

> some concentrations of hydrogen sulfide gas.

>

> BOOK REVIEWS

>

> " Take Some Strychnine and Call Me in the Morning [science

>Times]. " New York Times, 20 April 99, D1, D9.

> The 1999 edition of the Merck Manual will be released this

> week in centennial packages, each containing a reissue of

> the 1899 edition. The article describes some remedies used

> to treat symptoms in the previous century, many of which are

> known today to be toxic. For example, inhaling formaldehyde

> to relieve symptoms of the common cold or treating

> alcoholism with opium.

>

> CAR CORNER

>

> " GM, Toyota Team Up to Make Electric Cars. Ford, DaimlerChrysler

>Set to Follow Suit. " Washington Post, 20 April 99, E4.

> " To Define Future Car, GM, Toyota Say Bigger Is Better. " Wall

>Street Journal, 20 April 99, B4.

> General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. announced that

> they will work together to develop vehicles that run on

> hydrogen fuel cells and other types of electric power. Ford

> Motor Co., DaimlerChrysler AG, and fuel-cell maker Ballard

> Power Systems Inc. are expected to announce today an

> agreement with Texaco Inc., Atlantic Richfield Co., Shell

> Oil Co., and the state of California to have a fleet of

> fuel-cell vehicles on the road next year.

>

>

>

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>*Viewpoints expressed in the above articles do not necessarily

>reflect EPA policy. Mention of products does not indicate

>endorsement.*

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