NEWS BRIEFS The first geographically detailed estimate of the U.S. population's exposure to 148 hazardous air pollutants is available on the Environmental Defense Fund's Web site. The database allows anyone to estimate his or her exposure to toxic air pollution based on census tract information. EPA killed plans to publish a similar set of local data in response to pressure from urban mayors who complained about the data's 1990 vintage. EDF stands by the validity of the data, which the organization uses to estimate cancer and noncancer risks. Go to http://scorecard.org and enter a zip code or click on "hazardous air pollutants."
was developed to support an NRDC petition filed in March calling on the FDA to strengthen label disclosure requirements for bottlers. For a copy of the report, see http://www.nrdc.org.
More than one-fourth of the world's population will face "severe water scarcity" in the next 25 years, according to a study by the Sri Lanka-based International Water Management Institute, a global water organization. Water Scarcity in the Twenty-First Century, the first study to look at the complete cycle of water use and reuse, projects water supply and demand for 118 countries from 1990 to 2025. It examines, on a country-by-country basis, not only how much water is being withdrawn, but also how much water remains to be used, and how much water returns to the ground to recharge aquifers. The brief can be downloaded from http://www.cgiar.org/iwmi.
Consumer use of water treatment devices and concern about water quality is increasing, according to the 1999 National Consumer Water Quality Survey; prepared for the Water Quality Association (WQA). For the first time since this biannual survey was conducted in 1995, the number (38%) of respondents using water treatment systems equaled the number using bottled water. This represents an 11% increase since 1995. According to this survey of 1007 adults living in private households, 48% of respondents are concerned about health contaminants, and 40% believe drinking water regulations are not strict enough. Those most concerned are young adults, metropolitan dwellers, those with children under 17, AfricanAmericans, and Hispanics. For a copy of the survey findings, contact the WQA at (630) 505-0160 or access http://www.wqa.org.
Most bottled water sold in the United States is exempt from Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations for water safety, according to the results of a four-year study by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The 30-40% of bottled waters that are covered by FDA rules are subject to less rigorous testing and purity standards than is city tap water, including laxer requirements for contamination by E. coli or fecal coliform and no testing rules for Cryptosporidium or Giardia, according to the NRDC report Bottled Water: Pure Drink or Pure Hype? The study
Federal regulations cost the typical family $7239 in 1998, up from $6800 in 1997, according to a March report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a free-market research and advocacy group. Part of an ongoing research project by CEI, the report finds that government agencies have issued more than 21,000 final rules in the last five years, and the costs associated with them now eat up 9% of the gross domestic product. For a copy of Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Policymaker's Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State, contact CEI at (202) 331-1010.
Sprawl threatens six of the nation's 10 most endangered rivers, according to America's Most Endangered Rivers of 1999. "Sprawl is one of the fastest growing, most ominous threats to our nation's rivers," concludes the 14th annual report compiled by American Rivers, a nonprofit environmental organization. The majority of the rivers on mis year's list are in the West, where they are sullied by dams, water withdrawals, and poor grazing practices. The authors see the "most alarming change" in Washington's Lower Snake River, where salmon runs are on the brink of extinction. The report calls on the Clinton administration to prescribe partial removal of four Snake River dams in a salmon recovery plan due this December. For a copy, call (202) 347-7550. Calcium is an essential nutrient for tree growth and necessary for neutralizing acid rain, but calcium levels in forest soils have decreased at locations in 10 northeastern and southeastern states, according to a report by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The report, Soil Calcium Depletion Linked to Acid Rain and Forest Growth in the Eastern United States, summarizes recent findings on the role of acid rain in forest ecosystems and on the recovery potential of acidified surface waters. It can be downloaded from the Web at http:// bqs.usgs.gov/acidrain. Separation technologies have great potential for helping reduce process waste, according to the American Institute of Chemical Engineers' Center for Waste Reduction Technologies. The organization published two reports: Emerging Separation and Separative Reaction Technologies for Process Waste Reduction—Adsorption and Membrane Systems and Vision 2020 1998 Separations Roadmap. The reports are part of an industry-wide effort to create a blueprint of research and technology milestones needed to achieve long-term waste reduction goals in the chemical process industry. To order a copy of either document, call (800) AICHEME.
JUNE 1, 1999 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / NEWS • 2 3 5 A
