News Briefs
because endocrine-disrupting effects are additive. No other country has set standards for steroid estrogens in sewage effluent. Some sections of the water industry remain to be convinced that endocrine disrupters are a priority and have voiced concerns about how their removal could be managed and funded. However, a spokesperson for the industry association Water UK took a more cautious approach: “We are taking the issue very seriously and are committed to investigating implications for wastewater treatment.” The move to treat wastewater arises from research by the agency and Exeter and Brunel Universities, which surveyed more than 1500 roach fish at 50 river sites and found that over one-third of male fish exhibited female characteristics and were less able to reproduce (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2002, 36, 270A). “This is the only complete data set of its kind in the world, with a long history and significant findings,” says Taisen Iguchi from Japan’s National Institute of Basic Biology. “The whole world is following closely this research.” —MARIA BURKE
EPA certifies hybrid SUV The first hybrid sport utility vehicle (SUV) to be sold in the United States, Ford Motor Company’s Escape Hybrid, will be one of the least polluting cars on the road, according to the U.S. EPA. The Escape Hybrid earned a 9 out of 10 on the agency’s 2005 green vehicle ratings, which use emissions levels and fuel economy values to determine environmental scores. Ford attributes the Escape Hybrid’s fuel efficiency and low emissions to components in the vehicle’s powertrain, including its dual overhead cam engine, continuously variable transmission, electric motor, nickel–metal hydride battery, and its vehicle controller system, which shuts the engine down when coasting and at stoplights. While the conventional 2004 model year SUVs average 17.9 miles per gallon (mpg), even the 4-wheel drive Ford Escape Hybrid version gets 33 mpg in the city and 29 mpg on the highway, according to EPA. For more on the EPA’s green vehicle ratings, go to www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/05 escape-hybrid.htm.
Two key electronics industry associations in Taiwan, which is one of the world’s top manufacturers of semiconductors, have pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The country’s government is promoting the move as helping to ensure that companies are able to meet the Kyoto Protocol GHG standards, but Taiwanese environmentalists say the government isn’t going far enough. The agreements also involve manufacturers of the thin-film transistor liquid-crystal display (TFT-LCD) technologies that have become very popular for use in computer screens. Both the semiconductor and the TFT-LCD industries have committed to sign memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration (Taiwan EPA) by the end of the year.
RHONDA SAUNDERS
Taiwan to reduce some greenhouse gases
In a country where electronics manufacturing is big business, two important segments have agreed to emit less perfluorocarbons.
Taiwan is the 14th-largest exporting country in the world, and Taiwanese companies command more than 30% of the global market in the semiconductor and TFT-LCD industries, according to the Taiwan EPA. The country is a major producer of laptops, motherboards,
Temperature affects child mortality Public-health policies aimed at protecting adults from air pollution may not help children, concluded researchers in a new report (J. Occup. Environ. Med. 2004, 46, 768– 774). Using data collected from 1986 to 1997 in Madrid, researchers linked mortality of children under 10 to low temperatures and high levels of particulates in the winter air. In the summer, mortality was linked to high levels of both particulates and nitrogen oxides. The analysis contradicts relationships between temperature and mortality typically observed in older people, who seem to die more often in extreme heat and cold.
OCTOBER 1, 2004 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ■ 363A
FORD MOTOR CO.
The independent water-industry regulator in the United Kingdom will decide in September whether to include the removal program in the industry’s plan of work for 2005–2010. Funding would come from water companies’ customers through higher bills. Full costs for installation and operation of the additional treatment over a fiveyear period are on the order of £20 million per plant. But Brighty says that only a “few tens of plants” would need this highly effective, top-of-the-range approach; other plants that emit lower estrogen levels could use cheaper techniques. The program would also study the most appropriate regulatory approach. “We have set a threshold exposure limit for steroid estrogens, which we use in risk assessment, but because of estrogenic substances’ interactions, a bioassay may be the best regulatory approach for discharges,” says Brighty. The thresholds are 0.1 nanograms per liter (ng/L) for ethinylestradiol, 1 ng/L for 17-estradiol, and 3 ng/L for estrone. A total threshold value based on 17-estradiol has also been set,
Environmental▼News and other information-technology appliances. Taiwan’s overall GHG emissions rose by 70% between 1990 and 2000 —from 160 to 272 million metric tons (Mt) of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCE). During that same period, the country’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions grew by 80%. The country produces more CO2 emissions than all but 21 nations. The perfluorocarbon (PFC) compounds used in electronics manufacturing have a much greater effect on global warming than equal amounts of CO2, with global warming potentials from 5700 to 11,900 times greater than those of CO2, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Horng-guang Leu, former director general of the Taiwan EPA’s Bureau of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control, said that through the voluntary partnership the agency would help the two industries to reach global PFC-emissions-reduction goals. Most members of the World Semiconductor Council (WSC) have agreed to voluntarily reduce PFC emissions by the end of 2010 to at
least 10% below the industry’s 1995 baseline level. However, the Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association (TSIA), a WSC member, has agreed to a very different, complicated formula. Because the country’s semiconductor production grew rapidly in 1999, TSIA has assented to a baseline equal to 50% of the industry’s combined emissions in 1997 and 1999. Jung-pin Yu, advisor to TSIA, said Taiwan’s semiconductor industry can meet this goal by optimizing production procedures and adopting advanced control equipment involving improved end-of-pipe abatement methods. However, due to the ongoing global growth in semiconductor production, the country’s overall PFC emissions will continue to increase for at least a few more years. Because the TFT-LCD industry is fairly young, its MOU uses 2002 as the baseline year. In the agreement, which was brokered through the World LCD Industry Cooperation Committee, Taiwan’s TFT-LCD Association (TTLA) and its counterparts in Japan and South Korea vow to jointly reduce global PFC emissions
from the TFT-LCD fabrication facilities to less than 0.82 Mt of carbon equivalent. However, each country’s share remains uncertain. The TTLA has promised that, beginning this year, all association members building new fabrication plants will have to install scrubber systems that can get rid of at least 90% of PFC emissions. However, because Taiwan is a major emitter of GHGs, especially for its size, local environmentalists charge that the country’s government must make more fundamental changes to the nation’s industrial structure. “Taiwan should phase out industries that emit carbon dioxide during the production process, including cement production, lime production, steel-making, and others,” argues Sam Lin, head of the Ecology Conservation Alliance. —YU-TZU CHIU
ES&T salutes Professor Walter J. Weber, Jr. Coming November 15
364A ■ ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / OCTOBER 1, 2004
