PHOTODISC
To successfully monitor fecal pollution at America’s beaches, health officials need a versatile “toolbox” of measurement techniques that includes new indicators for rapid detection, according to a report from the National Research Council (NRC). Officials have long relied on indicator organisms to judge the quality of water, but recent advances in analytical chemistry have spurred scientists to reassess these techniques, which take about 24 hours to produce a result (Environ. Sci. Technol. 1999, 17, 353A–354A). The NRC report, which was released May 19, outlines a framework for addressing the wide range of situations that can lead to unhealthy levels of disease-bearing bacteria at U.S. beaches. “The first phase is an early warning,” explains Steve Weisberg, executive director of the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP) and also a member of the NRC committee. “A problem is there that you just don’t know about, so you want to monitor a lot of places, a lot of times, with a lot of speed.” The SCCWRP is finalizing a study comparing five new rapid tests, which are based on such techniques as fluorescence, polymerase chain reaction, and magnetic bead separations. In the longer term, the NRC committee envisions methods that can distinguish between human and animal feces, such as techniques based on microfluidics and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Applying these “lab-ona-chip” technologies to beach mon-
Safe for swimming? Major changes are needed in the way beach water health is monitored, say experts.
itoring poses many challenges, of which sensitivity is the biggest. “Because you’re measuring properties on individual molecules, you have to measure very large volumes,” Weisberg says. “Yet MEMS technologies are set up for measuring small volumes.” Researchers are developing ways to concentrate samples or run fluids through the system faster, and the techniques should be available in about five years, Weisberg predicts. Determining the pollution source offers other advantages. “When you begin to know the source, you can essentially model the system,” Weisberg says. He points to recent research by Stan Grant at the University of California, Irvine, which showed that pollution levels were consistently higher at high tide (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2004, 9, 154A–155A). Likewise, rain events are almost always associated with more pollution, according to Mark Sobsey, an environmental engineer at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a member of the NRC committee. And land use can even be a good predictor of water quality problems, because increased urbanization can affect pathogen contributions within a drainage area. Great Lakes scientists are already using models to predict beach water quality in Chicago and Milwaukee. These sophisticated models use multiple regression techniques to take into account factors such as rainfall, wind, solar radiation, temperature, turbidity, and pH. But less-predictable scenarios— such as a leaky sewer line—are of greater concern because they can’t be modeled, which is why officials still need rapid indicators, Weisberg says. The NRC report also underscores the need for researchers to have a clearer understanding of the link between exposure to waterborne pathogens and disease. Additional data are expected to result from a collaboration between the U.S. EPA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
News Briefs Room for improvement in Europe European countries still have a long way to go in managing the impacts of agriculture, transport, and energy use, as well as influencing changes in consumer behavior, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA). In its latest annual survey highlighting key environmental trends, EEA finds that nitrate pollution from farming continues, most of Europe’s urban population is still exposed to air pollution above health protection levels, and waste generation—particularly from packaging—is increasing. The number of disastrous weather- and climate-related events doubled during the 1990s and now account for ¤10 billion in annual cleanup and remediation costs, and the figure continues to rise, EEA reports. EEA Signals 2004 is at http://reports.eea. eu.int/signals-2004/en.
Energy efficiency = less air pollution The U.S. EPA is expanding its highly successful Energy Star program to include new commercial buildings, according to the agency. The program’s expansion, which was recommended in President Bush’s National Energy Policy, was spurred by EPA’s finding that although commercial buildings are responsible for 20% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, newly constructed buildings are not significantly more efficient than those constructed years ago. “EPA hopes to call attention to building design practices that are expected to deliver high-quality and energy-efficient commercial building space,” according to the agency. Buildings that meet the designation can display a plaque saying that they are “designed to earn the Energy Star.” For more information on the 12-year-old Energy Star program, go to www.energystar.gov.
AUGUST 1, 2004 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ■ 283A
PHOTODISC
Rapid indicators of beach pollution needed
between measurements, exposure, and human health. —JASON GORSS
Florida, EPA slammed for regulatory failures A series of decisions has raised questions about federal and state environmental regulatory oversight of Florida’s waters. In the most recent incident, a Florida grand jury blasted U.S. EPA Region 4’s Superfund program for failing to protect drinking water in the western part of the state. The jury found that residents have unwittingly been drinking water contaminated with radium, dry-cleaning chemicals, pesticides, and petroleum products for at least eight years. The grand jury—the second in the past five years to criticize the Region 4 office—also condemned the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and the local water company for allowing Escambia County’s drinking water source to become so polluted that the area could be forced to find an alternative water supply. In a 43page report released on May 4, the jury described how regulators failed to address pressing drinking water pollution issues. Escambia County is one of the United States’ most polluted counties, encompassing six Superfund sites, hundreds of petroleum storage facilities, and numerous abandoned sites. The area is at special risk because its sole drinking water source is a shallow aquifer that is highly susceptible to contamination. Despite this susceptibility, EPA Region 4, based in Atlanta, Ga., approved natural attenuation as the remedy of choice at three Superfund sites. In one case, the grand jury has charged that ConocoPhillips, the corporate owner of the Agrico Chemical Co. Superfund site, avoided paying for cleanup by using a consultant who persuaded government officials to approve natural attenuation. Florida’s two senators called on the agency to investigate the grand jury findings. “The EPA must examine its role in prolonging the health
threat posed by the contamination,” Sen. Bob Graham (D) and Bill Nelson (D) wrote. EPA Region 4 is preparing a response to the grand jury’s report and won’t comment, says spokesperson Laura Niles. Meanwhile, in a case involving Clean Water Act discharge permits, the Sierra Club and other environmental groups have notified EPA that they intend to sue because Region 4 has turned a blind eye to Florida’s longstanding failures to obey the act. And, in a March 8 ruling on a dairy permitting suit, Florida Circuit Judge L. Ralph Smith wrote that the FDEP’s regulation of dairies, which has included voluntary agreements to reduce pollution, “is so inadequate as to closely resemble a delegation of its duties to the industry it is required to regulate.” “If EPA allows states to pick and choose when and how they enforce federal environmental laws, then, in effect, we have no federal standards and we encourage states like Florida to ‘race to the bottom’ as a way to please existing industrial polluters and attract more,” says University of Alabama law professor Robert Kuehn. “Failure to enforce standards also perversely punishes industries that spend the extra money to comply,” adds Kuehn. EPA takes the allegations seriously and is currently investigating them, according to a May 13 letter to the environmental groups from Region 4’s director of water management James Giattina. When it comes to enforcement of environmental regulations, Florida “is pretty third world,” says an environmental scientist who moved south several years ago. Linda Young, southeast regional coordinator of Clean Water Network, one of the groups that brought the dairy lawsuit, agrees, “In most cases FDEP’s purpose is to protect illegal polluters from the public,” she says. —REBECCA RENNER
News Briefs Biotechnology for pollution prevention Genetically engineered organisms (GEOs) have the potential to dramatically reduce industrial pollution, according to a report by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), an industry group. New Biotech Tools for a Cleaner Environment, which was released in June, claims that using such organisms and enzymes in place of traditional technologies is a cost-effective way to prevent the creation of pollution. For example, GEOs can produce ethanol from crop residues, and the resulting fuel generates 8–10 times as much energy as required for production. The report claims that the benefits of using GEOs outweigh their risks in industrial settings, because the engineered organisms are contained and the chances that they will be accidentally released into the environment are minimal. The report is at www.bio.org/ind/pubs/cleaner 2004/CleanerReport.pdf.
Assessing PVC with LCA The best way to determine the environmental impacts of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is by comparing life cycle assessments (LCAs) on the basis of how the plastic is used, concludes a German consultancy in a report published in June for the European Commission. For example, PE Europe GmbH’s report found that in flooring, linoleum had fewer environmental impacts than PVC had, whereas in roofing, PVC polymers had lower environmental impacts than bitumen systems had. The report also found that LCAs should be complemented by risk assessments as LCAs do not evaluate the effects of exposure and hazard-related data. Life Cycle Assessment of PVC and of principal competing materials is at http:// europa.eu.int /comm/enterprise/ chemicals/sustdev/pvc-executive_ summary_lca.pdf.
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RHONDA SAUNDERS
which is combining exposure studies with data from rapid indicators to get a clearer picture of the link
