Chemical Education Today
Reports from Other Journals
News from Online: The Environment by Carolyn Sweeney Judd list. Then I chose “Ground Water” and ended up at http:// NIMBY—Not in My Back Yard! This battle cry will send www.epa.gov/ogwdw/, the home page for the EPA Office of voters to the ballot box, to City Hall, and to protest in the Ground Water and Drinking Water. Here, I chose “Source street. This includes your students. Introduce them to the Water: Surface and Ground Water” at http://www.epa.gov/ Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) EnviroMapper at ogwdw/protect.html. From this page, I went to the “Drinking http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/em/index.html. EnviroMapper Water Contaminant Source Index Introduction” at http:// is a dynamic way to view and query environmental informawww.epa.gov/OGWDW/swp/intro4.html. I chose “Potential tion using an interactive Geographic Information System Source Index” at http://www.epa.gov/OGWDW/swp/ (GIS) functionality. Types of environmental information insources1.html to receive a list of Potential Sources of Drinking clude drinking water, toxic and air releases, hazardous waste, Water Contamination, organized by facility type. This is great! and Superfund sites. You can take many avenues from the That service station near my home could fit several catEnvironMapper page. Here is one path I took. egories: Automobile, Body Shops/Repair Shops; Gas Stations; The EnviroMapper Index Page displays five maps as or Aboveground Storage Tanks. About 20 different chemistarting points. Click on the Map labeled CEIS (Center for cals appear in these three categories as potential contaminants Environmental Information and Statistics) EnviroMapper. of ground water. Now your students have another good reaThis will take you to a large map of the United States at son to learn nomenclah t t p : / / w w w. e p a . g o v / ture—so that they can unceisweb1/ceishome/atlas/ derstand what is in their enviromapper/. Enter your back yards. I decided to zip code near the top of this investigate one of the page and then select “Go”. chemicals that was comOf course at this point, mon to all three categoeach student should enter ries, TCE or trichloroethhis or her zip code. ylene. I must confess that My personalized I also chose TCE because EnvironMap initially disI decided that any chemiplays information by decal known by an acronym fault, but changes are easmust be special. ily made. Click on your Now go back to personalized EnviroMap— where we started: the a zoom version of the EnviroMapper Index Page EnviroMap will appear, at http://www.epa.gov/ centered around the locaEnviroMapper, a dynamic way to use maps to see environmental information where you clicked. You tion on the World Wide Web (http://www.epa.gov/ceisweb1/ceishome/ enviro/html/em/index.html. This time, choose the acshould now be able to iden- atlas/enviromapper/ ). cess point to the data ittify your own back yard. self, Envirofacts Warehouse at http://www.epa.gov/enviro/ There is a green square near my home—a Hazardous index_java.html. From the pop-up menu under Queries, Waste Handler. Yes, I am curious about what that is! Click Maps and Reports, I chose “Chemicals” at http://www.epa.gov/ on the circle next to “Hazardous Waster Handler” from the enviro/html/emci/emci_query.html. Now we are at the EMCI Mapping Features column. Now choose the button at the (Envirofacts Master Chemical Integrator) Query Form that right of the map labeled “Identify” and then click on the colallows you to obtain the acronyms, chemical identification ored icon of interest on the map. The exact name of the Haznumbers, and chemical names reported by several Envirofacts ardous Waster Handler pops up. It turns out to be the gas databases. Make no mistake—this is a big deal! station where I usually fill up my car. Search for the chemical by name, partial name, or CAS Follow this path with your students—they will be innumber. I entered “trichloroethylene” under the Chemical terested in exactly what occurs within a block of his or her Name Option. The next page listed the findings by Datahouse that causes the EPA to have data on that site. Remembase for TCE and also the CAS number (#79-01-6). After ber to point out to your students that the facilities identified selecting the CAS number, I was sent to http://www.epa.gov/ on EnviroMapper are not violators of EPA policy, but rather enviro/html/emci/chemref/79016.html, a Chemical Reference are subject to EPA rules and regulations. Page from the Envirofacts Warehouse. Now just what is that service station near my home hanHere I was given the IUPAC name for my chemical, its dling that is classified as Hazardous Waste? How can I find CAS number, and several databases for further information out? I went to the EPA Home Page at http://www.epa.gov/. about trichloroethylene. I chose the “Fact Sheets” option at Next, I went to “Search: Browse by Subject” at http:// http://www.epa.gov/ttn/uatw/hlthef/tri-ethy.html, which dewww.epa.gov/epahome/browse.htm to get a very comprehensive 1608
Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 76 No. 12 December 1999 • JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu
Chemical Education Today
scribe the effects on human health of substances that are defined as hazardous by the 1990 amendments of the Clean Air Act. (See http://www.epa.gov/ttn/caaa/siteindx.html for detailed information about the Clean Air Act.) Health hazards attributed to the inhalation of TCE include effects on the central nervous system (CNS), gastrointestinal system, liver, kidneys, and skin. The cancer risk assessment guidelines for trichloroethylene are under review by the EPA. I can also choose to leave the EPA for further information. Go back to the Chemical Reference Page at http:// www.epa.gov/enviro/html/emci/chemref/79016.html and leave the EPA site by choosing “Public Health Statements” at http:/ /www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ToxProfiles/phs8824.html. Public health information specifically for TCE is given by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry of the Department of Health and Human Services. Here, I find that trichloroethylene is a colorless liquid at room temperature with an odor similar to that of ether or chloroform. It is a man-made chemical mainly used as a solvent to remove grease from metal parts and as a general solvent. Various federal and state surveys indicate that between 9 and 34% of the water supply sources in the United States may be contaminated with trichloroethylene. Another source of information about risks to health can also be reached by going back to the Chemical Reference Page at http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/emci/chemref/79016.html. This time, choose the “Chemical Scorecard of the Environmental Defense Fund” at http://www.scorecard.org/chemicalprofiles/summary.tcl?edf_substance_id=79-01-6. This wealth of information is well-organized. We find that TCE is a high-volume chemical with over 1 million pounds produced annually and is ranked as one of the most
hazardous compounds (worst 10%) to ecosystems and to human health. Now I have learned a lot about my chemical, trichloroethylene. In truth, I have not even touched the data within the EPA sites and references. I must also admit that a road map is helpful because the journey through the EPA can be confusing. With EnviroMapper as a guide, your students can learn a lot about chemicals and their environmental impact— and begin to have some curiosity at least about chemicals in their back yards. Another way for your students to learn about environmental issues is to schedule an Online Special Topics course for upper-class chemistry students at your college during Spring 2000. An Online course, OLCC-IV Environmental and Industrial Chemistry at http://www.ched-ccce.org/olcc/ beard1999.html, is sponsored by the American Chemical Society Division of Chemical Education’s Committee on Computers in Chemical Education (CCCE at http://www.chedccce.org/index.html). Sylvia Esjornson of Southwestern Oklahoma State University and James Beard of Catawba College are working jointly with many others to make this fourth offering of Online Special Topics in Environmental Chemistry possible. Let’s bring chemistry into the lives of our students. Confront them with the evidence that we all need to educate ourselves about important environmental issues—and that understanding of environmental issues must be built on a foundation of chemical knowledge. Carolyn Sweeney Judd teaches at Houston Community College System, 1300 Holman, Houston, TX 77004; phone: 713/ 817-6315; email:
[email protected].
The EnviroMapper Index Page http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/em/index.html EPA Home Page http://www.epa.gov/ EPA Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water Home Page http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/
Clean Air Act Information: EPA Office of Air Quality Planning & Standards (OARP&G) Site Index http://www.epa.gov/ttn/caaa/siteindx.html
Non-EPA Sites
Source Water Protection: Surface and Ground Water http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/protect.html
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry of the Department of Health and Human Services Toxicological Profile Information Sheet http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ToxProfiles/
Drinking Water Contaminant Source Index Introduction http://www.epa.gov/OGWDW/swp/intro4.html
Chemical Scorecard of the Environmental Defense Fund http://www.scorecard.org/chemical-profiles/
Potential Contaminant Source Index http://www.epa.gov/OGWDW/swp/sources1.html
Online course, OLCC-IV Environmental and Industrial Chemistry http://www.ched-ccce.org/olcc/beard1999.html
Envirofacts Warehouse http://www.epa.gov/enviro/index_java.html
Committee on Computers in Chemical Education (CCCE) http://www.ched-ccce.org/index.html
access date for all sites: October 1999
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World Wide Web Addresses
EMCI (Envirofacts Master Chemical Integrator) Query Form http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/emci/emci_query.html
EPA Sites
