OPPT NEWSBREAK Tuesday, 23 February 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
"Planned Parenthood Gets Anthrax Threat." New York Times, 23
February 99, A14.
An FBI spokeswoman says that 24 occupants of a Planned
Parenthood clinic in Kansas City, Montana were quarantined
with no injuries today after the clinic received a letter
containing a powdery substance the sender claimed was
anthrax. The substance will be tested. A similar threat
was received by workers at a Planned Parenthood clinic in
Newark, Delaware today. Last week, at least 14 letters of
this kind were received by abortion clinics and Planned
Parenthood centers across the nation. The letters were
post-marked Lexington, Ky. Tests revealed all to be hoaxes.
"PCB's in Hudson Striped Bass at Safe Levels, State Says." New
York Times, 23 February 99, A18.
Safe-to-eat PCB levels in striped bass of the lower Hudson
River have been found for the first time in twenty years by
New York environmental scientists with the Environmental
Conservation Department. The lifting of a 23-year-old ban
on commercial fishing may be considered by state officials.
PCB's were legally released by General Electric factories
until the 1977 banning. Clean-up is expected to continue
despite improving conditions.
"Biotechnology Treaty Stalls as U.S. and Developing Nations
Quarrel." New York Times, 23 February 99, A9.
Talks between the U.S. and developing countries regarding
the drafting of the Biosafety Protocol, a global
biotechnology safety treaty that would regulate the shipment
of genetically altered organisms between countries, are at a
standstill over disagreements, one of which concerns whether
exporters should receive permission from importing nations
for shipments of agricultural commodities like genetically
altered soy beans or wheat. The U.S. argues that such food
commodities need not be covered because they won't upset the
importing country's ecological balance by introducing new
genes to present species, the prevention of which is the
objective of the treaty. Developing countries argue that
these commodities contain seeds that could escape into the
environment. Pharmaceuticals, organisms used in scientific
research and products made from genetically altered
organisms are exempted from the draft as well, raising
criticism from developing countries. Negotiations will end
Tuesday.
"Smugglers' Sea Marker May Imperil Whales [Regional Briefing:
The Americas]." Washington Times, 23 February 99, A12.
The environmental Group of 100 has asked the Mexican
government to investigate whether a cyanide-based chemical
known as Natural Killer-19 which is used to make fluorescent
marks in the water to mark drug shipment points for drug
smuggler ships and planes, is responsible for the deaths of
seven gray whales along the coasts of Sinaloa, Sonora, and
Baja California Sur states.
"Refuse, Lack of Jobs Sully Cape Breton. Economic Hopes Focus on
Cleanup." Washington Times, 23 February 99, A12.
A profile of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, which federal,
provincial, and local officials have declared as "Canada's
worst hazardous waste site." Little attention was paid to
the contamination from the island's steel and coal
industries until the 1980s, when toxins were found in local
lobsters. Joint Action Group, the cleanup committee,
includes government officials and community volunteers who
are studying cleanup options. The cleanup is expected to
cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take many years to
complete. Sidebars: maps and photos.
"Pediatric-Drug Rules Attacked in Lawsuit." Wall Street Journal,
23 February 99, B5.
The government is being sued by two generic-drug industry
groups, the National Pharmaceutical Alliance and the Generic
Pharmaceutical Industry Association, who argue that the FDA
is making much too broad an interpretation of the 1997 Food
and Drug Administration Modernization Act which gives
companies the right to keep generic versions of their
product off the market for an extra six months if they
themselves are studying the drug's effect in children.
Generic-drug groups are finding that major pharmaceutical
firms are extending their market exclusivity to whole lines
of products rather than just on the specific drug under
study. This costs trade groups several million dollars in
loss of expected sales. The FDA is reviewing the lawsuit.
"Ukraine to Keep Reactors On Line. G-7's Alternative Too Costly,
It Says." Washington Times, 23 February 99, A11.
In a May 11, 1998, letter to British Prime Minister Tony
Blair that was revealed just last weekend, Ukrainian
President Leonard Kuchna said Chernobyl's two nuclear
reactors will have to remain open because Ukraine cannot
afford to replace them with the nuclear stations insisted
upon by Group of Seven leaders. Mr. Kuchna prefers
replacing them with gas-powered stations. Mr. Kuchna asked
Mr. Blair to intervene on Ukraine's behalf to obtain a loan
from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to
complete the new reactors.
"Germany: Ban On A-Fuel Lifted [World News Briefs]." New York
Times, 23 February 99, A6.
Minister for the environment and a leader of the Green
Party, Jurgen Trittin, says Germany will again reprocess
spent nuclear fuel abroad after lifting a ban to do so and
continuing contractual agreements with England and France.
The ban was part of a proposed law to help eliminate nuclear
power.
"Panel Will Monitor Plan for the Everglades." New York Times, 23
February 99, A16.
A panel has been established to oversee the restoration plan
for the Florida Everglades as it evolves. To the
satisfaction of scientists who wanted the plan subjected to
external scrutiny, Secretary Bruce Babbitt said that
appointed panel members will be experts who are not involved
in formulating the plan. The plan will be sumitted to
Congress in July.
"Rough Weather Hampers Crews at Grounded Ship [National News
Briefs]." New York Times, 23 February 99, A12.
Coast Guard crews will use an 825-yard cable flown in from
the Netherlands today to pull the bow of the grounded cargo
ship, New Carissa, from the beach by tug boat. Rough
weather in Coos Bay, Oregon continues to be a hinderance.
EDITORIAL & COMMENTARY
"Attack of the Killer Veggies [Editorials]." Washington Times,
23 February 99, A16.
The WT uses the National Research Council report
"Carcinogens and Anticarcinogens in the Human Diet," which
was issued three years ago, to contradict last week's
Consumers Union study that showed "even a single daily
serving of some produce can deliver unsafe levels of toxic
pesticide residues' for young children." The WT says the
NRC report said "the dose makes the poison, not the
substance itself...the risks are purely hypothetical
[because] the restrictions that agencies like the
Environmental Protection Agency put on pesticide residues
are based not on studies of humans but of lab rats...[and]
there may be far more naturally occurring, 'wild' pesticides
and chemicals--that plants use to protect themselves--in the
food supply than the man-made variety."
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
"Gertrude Elion, Drug Developer, Dies at 81 [Obituaries]." New
York Times, 23 February 99, C28.
Gertrude Elion, a pioneering woman drug researcher who has
been awarded a National Medal of Science and shared a 1988
Nobel Peace Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Dr. George
H. Hitchings, died on Sunday. In collaboration with Dr.
Hitchings, she developed drugs used to treat a variety of
medical conditions including herpes, gout, malaria and
arthritis. Drug names include Zovirax, Imuran, Zyloprim,
Daraprim and a component of Septra. A former employee of
Glaxo Wellcome, Ms. Elion oversaw the development of AZT
after retirement in 1983.
"On Germ Patrol, at the Kitchen Sink [Science Times]." New York
Times, 23 February 99, D6.
Dr. Charles Gerba, a microbiology professor at the
University of Arizona began pioneering research on how
microbes get into the environment twenty-five years ago by
studying bacteria in bathrooms and kitchens. Today, he is
gaining more recognition for the significance of his
contributions, including how viruses infiltrate drinking
water, as resistance to antibiotics continues. Dr. Gerba
published a study last year in Applied Microbiology in which
his research showed that kitchens are much dirtier than
bathrooms. Findings from Dr. Gerba's current investigation
of the survival of microbial pathogens in laundry shows
detection of E.Coli and fecal matter in washing machines as
well as hepatitis A and some salmonella that are able to
survive the drying cycle. Dr. Gerba anticipates that the
next century will see a rise in microbe-caused illness due
to antibiotic resistance, aged drinking water infrastructure
and new pathogens. Dr. Gerba is also a consultant to the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration wherein he
advises on how to deal with human waste during space flight.
CAR CORNER
"Japan Rolls Out Hybrid. Toyota, Honda Way Out Front on
Marketing Gas-Electric Car." Washington Times, 23 February 99,
B7, B8.
At least two automakers are planning to introduce gas-electric
hybrid cars in the United States over the next year
or two. Honda's VV model, which will be renamed before it
is introduced, has a 1-liter, three-cylinder gas engine that
charges a bank of nickel metal hybrid batteries. It will
cost less than $20,000 and can go more than 700 miles on one
tank of gasoline, and its emissions are 86 percent cleaner
than conventional cars. Toyota's Prius, which is similar to
the Honda, will be priced in the low- to mid-$20,000 range.
Sidebar: "How It Works" compares the Toyota Hybrid System
to a conventional gas engine.
"California Air-Quality Standards Do Not Fit the Needs of All
States [Letters]." Washington Times, 23 February 99, A16.
William F. O'Keefe, executive vice president of the American
Petroleum Institute, writes in response to Eric Peters'
February 9 commentary "Lowering the Levels of Gas Sulfur" to
outline a proposal by the American Petroleum Institute (API)
and the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association to
reduce sulfur levels in gasoline. The proposal is based on
different sulfur levels for different regions of the country
because of differences in air quality. He concludes: "EPA
should base its approach to reducing vehicle emissions and
sulfur in gasoline on real environmental need, affordability
and balancing the needs for fuel and vehicle changes.
That's the type of program petroleum refiners have offered
already. A stringent national fuel standard based on the
unique air-quality needs of California flunks the common-sense
test and will impose an unnecessary burden on most motorists."
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