Research Watch
Air
Chlorinated hydrocarbon destruction Sulfur transport. The authors measured the spatial variation of the isotopic sulfur composition of lichens across Newfoundland to assess die degree to which the atmosphere is being affected by long-range transport of andiropogenic sulfur from Eastern North America and local pollution sources. (Wadleigh, M A ; Blake, D. M. "Tracing Sources of Atmospheric Sulphur Using Epiphytic Lichens", Enviro.. Pollut. 1999, 106 (3), 265-271)
Air Quality Polyethylene combustion. Using a high-performance Hewlett-Packard 6890GC-5973MSD, the authors identified compounds produced by combustion of polyethylene. (Piao, M., et al. "Characterization of the Combustion Products of Polyetiiylene", Chemosphere 1999, 39 (9), 1497-1512)
Bioremediation Remediating oil spills. This review, with 110 references concerning in situ bioremediation strategies used to remediate oil-polluted shoreline environments, addresses topics such as development and evaluation of bioremediation technologies; phytoremediation; enhanced dispersion; and operational guidelines. Lee, K.; De Mora, S. "In Situ Bioremediation Strategies for Oiled Shoreline Environments" Enviro.. Technol 1999 20 (8), 783-794)
Endocrine Disrupters U.S. Research. The current status of research being conducted by the U.S. EPA and the Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources to
Groundwater contamination by chlorinated hydrocarbons is a well-recognized environmental problem. W. McNab, Jr., and co-workers used a novel groundwater treatment technology based on catalytic reductive dehalogenation to efficiently destroy chlorinated hydrocarbons in situ using a reactive well approach. The process used dissolved H2 as an electron donor, in the presence of a commercial palladium-onalumina catalyst to rapidly reduce common chlorinated aliphatics into nonchlorinated hydrocarbons such as ethane. The system rapidly destroyed a variety of common chlorocarbon contaminants and maintained performance over a one-year test period. Operation of the treatment system was optimized to maintain catalyst activity and to prevent formation of intermediate compounds. (Environ. Sci. Technol..,his issue, pp. 149-153)
monitor endocrine disrupters and to determine die breadth of the chemicals tiiat pose a risk to the endocrine system is described. (Kavlock, R. J. "Overview of Endocrine Disrupter Research in the United States", Chemosphere 1999,39 (8), 1227-1336)
Groundwater Wet-weather flow. A review with 376 references concerning urban wetweather flow covers such topics as characterization and effects; management; control and treatment technologies; models, applications, and geographic information systems; regulatory policies and financial aspects. (O'Connor, T. P., et al. "Urban Wet-Weather Flow", Water Environ. Res. 1999, 71 (5), 559-583)
Health Organochlorine compounds. Comparisons with international data on adipose tissue levels suggests that body burden levels for organochlorine compounds associated with environmental exposure in Greenland's Inuit population are among the highest known. (Dewailly, E., et al. "Concentration of Organochlorines in Human Brain, Liver, and Adipose
3 8 A • JANUARY 1, 2000 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / NEWS
Tissue Autopsy Samples from Greenland", Environ. Health Perspect. 1999, 107 (10), 823-827) Population interviews. This study analyzes the structure of a population living in a metiiylmercury-polluted area, near Minamata City in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, by investigating die relationship between die 1304 interviewees' subjective complaints and the methylmercury pollution and by comparing this information with interviews of 446 age-matched adults in a nonpolluted area. (Fukuda, Y, et al. "An Analysis of Subjective Complaints in a Population Living in a Mediylmercury-Polluted Area" EnviRes. 1999 81 (2) 100-107) Phytoestrogen research. The autiiors present an overview of the recent advances of phytoestrogen research, including developments in methods, food analyses, receptor studies, pharmacokinetics, and the interest in lignans, which is increasing as a result of a large rye project in the Nordic countries. (Adlercreutz, H. "Phytoestrogens: State of the Art", Environ. Toxicol. Pharmacol. 1999 7 (3), 201-207)
Mercury Bird health. This study examines whether elevated mercury (Hg) con-
