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will conduct studies over several seasons to assess impact on wildlife. The U.K.’s first large-scale offshore wind farm, which was commissioned at North Hoyle off Wales last November, operates 30 turbines that produce 60 MW. The U.K.’s only other wind farm, at Blyth in the North Sea, runs two 2-MW turbines. —MARIA BURKE
Fertilizers may cause long-term nitrate contamination
In an effort to improve the numbers reported by governments for vehicle emissions and engine performance, the United States, European Union (EU), Japan, and China agreed in December to work toward establishing better laboratory procedures for testing through increased information exchanges. The goal behind the memorandum of understanding (MOU), which was signed at the climate change talks in Milan, Italy, is a common scientific platform from which to measure and benchmark air pollution from traffic. With vehicles being exported across borders, “everybody has something to gain,” says Maureen Delaney, a senior policy adviser on international issues for the U.S. EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality. Likewise, increased research cooperation “could help with some of the new measurements that are coming up as we reach for lower standards.” For now, the focus will be on developing common methods among government agencies for vehicle and engine testing and fuel analysis that could be correlated with those used by car manufacturers. Quality assurance methods are expected to follow, along with testing techniques for special environmental conditions, such as cold temperatures and high altitudes. Further down the line, the partners plan to tackle the testing of advanced engines and fuels, such as hybrids and hydrogen. Although the MOU is not bind-
PHOTODISC
Countries to cooperate on transportation research
China is helping to create a benchmark test for measuring air pollution from traffic.
ing, EU officials say the results could be used to support ongoing efforts under the auspices of the United Nations to harmonize worldwide vehicle emission regulations. In addition, the EU hopes to use any new information gleaned from the cooperation in future directives that establish exhaust limits for passenger cars and trucks, says Alois Krasenbrink with the Emissions and Health Unit of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre. Other labs participating in the joint venture include the EPA’s National Vehicle and Fuel Emission Laboratory, Japan’s National Traffic Safety and Environment Laboratory, and the Chinese State Environment Protection Administration’s Vehicle Emission Control Center. —KRIS CHRISTEN
In some watersheds, nitrates may persist in soils for up to 30 years before they reach streams, according to a study from the U.S. Agricultural Research Service in Ames, Iowa. Fertilizer applied at three times the normal level on an Iowa cornfield between 1969 and 1974 took 30 years to reach a 70-footdeep water table, according to the Journal of Environmental Quality. Nitrate from fertilizers and sewage sludge contaminates groundwater and drives algal blooms and lowoxygen “dead zones” in water bodies. The study concludes that techniques to cut nitrate pollution, such as changes in tilling practices and fertilizer application rates, may not improve water quality until decades after they are implemented. For more information about LongTerm Effects of Nitrogen Fertilizer Use on Ground Water Nitrate in Two Small Watersheds, go to http:// jeq.scijournals.org/cgi/content/ abstract/32/6/2158.
Doctor’s green book Published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, Pediatric Environmental Health—2nd Edition is known as the pediatrician’s “Green Book”. This latest edition contains 10 new chapters on a wide range of emerging environmental threats, including arsenic, gasoline and its additives, nickel, manganese, chromium, chemical and biological terrorism, the nontherapeutic use of antibiotics in animal agriculture, and environmental threats to children in developing countries. New information is presented about breastfeeding, administering potassium iodine in the case of a radiation disaster, and risk assessment and management. Purchase the guide at www.aap.org.
MARCH 1, 2004 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ■ 85A
USGS
problems for birds,” says Mark Avery, RSPB’s conservation director, alluding to the danger of flying into moving turbine blades (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2000, 34, 292A–293A). “We already know that large numbers of red-throated divers congregate in the Greater Thames and off the north Norfolk coast [Greater Wash area] in late winter,” Avery says. However, Hill insists that industry
