This is why air pollution in China is a big concern to the rest of the world, even though the study was for the United States.

This is also why air pollution in the United States is a big concern to the rest of the world, and why everybody’s air pollution should be a concern to everybody else.

A lot of the pollution discussed is particulate matter at 2.5 microns to 10 microns, PM2.5 and PM10, respectively, that can cause visibility problems to asthma and other health impacts.

More from the article excerpt below.

Minh Tan
Envirostats author

It has been a decade since University of Washington scientists first pinpointed specific instances of air pollution, including Gobi Desert dust, traversing the Pacific Ocean and adding to the mix of atmospheric pollution already present along the West Coast of North America.

Now a UW researcher is finding that dust from the Gobi and Taklimakan deserts in China and Mongolia is routinely present in the air over the western United States during spring months…

- Science Daily, Dec 14 2007

This is late news for those in Canada now but for those in the United States who might not have heard, one of Canada’s more prominent retailers, specializing in outdoor and healthy lifestyles, has stopped selling Nalgene bottles out of concern for bisphenol-A used in the bottles’ polycarbonate coatings. They say they are playing it safe, though, and will look to the Canadian federal government for guidance once the Feds come out with some review comments in May 2008 (originally next Nov), as I had commented before in Commentary 033.

I don’t have the time to share what I know on BPA but I’ll just say I affirmingly applaud MEC’s decision and that I’d be willing to bet that even if the Feds say BPA is safe, MEC will probably say it’s not convincing enough and standby this policy. We’ll see in May 2008.

Minh Tan
Envirostats author

Postscript: Several days after the original post, an article came out about Sears stopping sales of products with polyvinyl chloride (PVC). PVC isn’t nearly as controversial in harm, but it’s nice to see retailers stopping the flow of products that aren’t good for people and/or the environment because getting people to boycott or avoid buying certain products is tough to do!

- MEC BPA story via Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) , Dec 7 2007 

- Sears PVC story via Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Dec 12 2007

B20 is a mix of 20% biofuel and 80% petroleum diesel fuel.

Use of biodiesel will enable the City to achieve significant reductions in diesel exhaust, a toxic air contaminant linked to an array of serious health problems. Biodiesel usage also greatly reduces carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, toxic air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions. The San Francisco Bay Area is second only to Los Angeles in the health impacts from diesel pollution.

In addition to the implementation of biodiesel for its municipal fleet, the City has worked for more than a year on other biodiesel projects through the City’s Biodiesel Access Task Force, including the opening of the first viable biodiesel fueling station in San Francisco at the Olympic station at 2690 Third Street.

Earlier this month, San Francisco launched SFGreasecycle, a citywide program to collect waste grease for conversion to biodiesel, the first program of its kind in the country. The aim is for this program to one day serve to fuel the entire City municipal vehicle fleet. Upon full implementation of the program, the City anticipates collecting approximately 6 million pounds (or 1 million gallons) of grease annually. This will translate to nearly 1 million gallons of biofuel.

I don’t usually post future forecasts except quite predictable ones because I don’t believe humans are very good at predicting the future. However, this is annual planning for just one year ahead and is heavily based on past records so I’m pretty confident in it to post it.

However, be aware that B20 biodiesel still has 80% diesel, and diesel comes with environmental and health problems. Of course, going to B20 is a big step towards reducing diesel impact, but it is hardly the entire solution. I know that diminishing returns will make 100% biofuel unfeasible for some time to come, and also at some percentage short of 100%, the diesel impact will start to become “acceptable”, but I do want to make it clear while B20 is applaudable, it isn’t the end of the story. 

There were an estimated 13 million diesel engines in the US, although it was not certain from what year this statistic was compiled. The source page at the Clean Air Task Force had a copyright 2005 in the frame but 2007 at the bottom, although the statistic would be for 2004 and 2006 as a result. That’s a minor detail, though. It’s a lot of diesel engines. [Envirostats author]

- San Francisco Office of the Mayor press release, Nov 29 2007

- Diesel soot health impacts FAQs at the Clean Air Task Force

- US state diesel soot health impacts at the Clean Air Task Force

For other health and environment impacts of cotton, please search for “cotton” near the upper right of this blog and also check out Fashion Sustainability 2007, by Forum for the Future (0.4 MB). [Envirostats author]

After the cotton is harvested, more than 8,000 chemicals – many classified by the WHO as “hazardous” – may be used in the various processes it must then go through, including washing, bleaching, dyeing and printing.

But organically-grown cotton is different. Many of the 25,000 farmers who now produce it in 22 countries report that by using non-chemical alternatives to pesticides they are able to avoid getting into debt and enjoy farm land on which they can grow food safely for their families. “Crop rotation is a major principle of organic farming,” explains Damien Sanfilippo from the Pesticide Action Network-UK (PAN-UK). “When you allow farmers to grow organic cotton, you know you are also helping them grow a large supply of organic food for themselves and their community.”

- The World Health Organization (WHO) via The Independent, Dec 1 2007

A little context for some environmental concerns in China. [Envirostats author]

- C.S. Kiang, founding dean of the college of environmental sciences at Beijing University, via The Guardian, Nov 14 2007