EPA's Environmental Technology Verification Program: An Evaluation of a Public‐Private Process

The Environmental Technology Verification Program (ETV) was started by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in October 1995 to generate independent and credible data on the performance of innovative technologies that have the potential to improve protection of public health and the environment. The purpose of this program is to help organizations, industries, businesses, states, communities, and individuals make better‐informed decisions when selecting new environmental technologies. The program has now been in existence for six years and the following article presents, for the first time, the results achieved to date and the program's future operating plans. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Evaluation of environmental impacts from municipal solid waste management in the municipality of Aarhus, Denmark (EASEWASTE).

A new computer based life cycle assessment model (EASEWASTE) was used to evaluate a municipal solid waste system with the purpose of identifying environmental benefits and disadvantages by anaerobic digestion of source-separated household waste and incineration. The most important processes that were included in the study are optical sorting and pre-treatment, anaerobic digestion with heat and power recovery, incineration with heat and power recovery, use of digested biomass on arable soils and finally, an estimated surplus consumption of plastic in order to achieve a higher quality and quantity of organic waste to the biogas plant. Results showed that there were no significant differences in most of the assessed environmental impacts for the two scenarios. However, the use of digested biomass may cause a potential toxicity impact on human health due to the heavy metal content of the organic waste. A sensitivity analysis showed that the results are sensitive to the energy recovery efficiencies, to the extra plastic consumption for waste bags and to the content of heavy metals in the waste. A model such as EASEWASTE is very suitable for evaluating the overall environmental consequences of different waste management strategies and technologies, and can be used for most waste material fractions existing in household waste.     

Monitoring of symptoms in estimating the effect of intervention in the sick building syndrome: A field study

Employees in six day-care institutions were asked to fill out a simple questionnaire before and one year after technical changes were made in their buildings. The institution were defined as sick buildings, based on a prevalence (exceeding 40%) of irritative symptoms and general symptoms among the employees. Based on the technical measurements there were no obvious reasons for the complaints. It was decided, however, to remove man-made mineral-acoustic ceilings and to install mechanical ventilation. One year later there was a significant reduction in the prevalence of symptoms (irritative and general symptoms related to the sick building syndrome) among the employees. The study indicates that systematic monitoring of employees' symptoms before and after corrective action is an important indicator of the benefit of the actions and might be used routinely by architects, engineers, and local authorities in dealing with indoor climate problems. Follow-up studies might give more knowledge of the causes of sick building syndrome.     

Environmental modelling of use of treated organic waste on agricultural land: a comparison of existing models for life cycle assessment of waste systems.

Modelling of environmental impacts from the application of treated organic municipal solid waste (MSW) in agriculture differs widely between different models for environmental assessment of waste systems. In this comparative study five models were examined concerning quantification and impact assessment of environmental effects from land application of treated organic MSW: DST (Decision Support Tool, USA), IWM (Integrated Waste Management, U.K.), THE IFEU PROJECT (Germany), ORWARE (ORganic WAste REsearch, Sweden) and EASEWASTE (Environmental Assessment of Solid Waste Systems and Technologies, Denmark). DST and IWM are life cycle inventory (LCI) models, thus not performing actual impact assessment. The DST model includes only one water emission (biological oxygen demand) from compost leaching in the results and IWM considers only air emissions from avoided production of commercial fertilizers. THE IFEU PROJECT, ORWARE and EASEWASTE are life cycle assessment (LCA) models containing more detailed land application modules. A case study estimating the environmental impacts from land application of 1 ton of composted source sorted organic household waste was performed to compare the results from the different models and investigate the origin of any difference in type or magnitude of the results. The contributions from the LCI models were limited and did not depend on waste composition or local agricultural conditions. The three LCA models use the same overall approach for quantifying the impacts of the system. However, due to slightly different assumptions, quantification methods and environmental impact assessment, the obtained results varied clearly between the models. Furthermore, local conditions (e.g. soil type, farm type, climate and legal regulation) and waste composition strongly influenced the results of the environmental assessment.     

The Southeastern Aerosol Research and Characterization Study: Part II. Filter-based measurements of fine and coarse particulate matter mass and composition

The Southeastern Aerosol Research and Characterization Study (SEARCH) was implemented in 1998-1999 to provide data and analyses for the investigation of the sources, chemical speciation, and long-term trends of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and coarse particulate matter (PM10-2.5) in the Southeastern United States. This work is an initial analysis of 5 years (1999-2003) of filter-based PM2.5 and PM10-2.5 data from SEARCH. We find that annual PM2.5 design values were consistently above the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) 15 microg/m3 annual standard only at monitoring sites in the two largest urban areas (Atlanta, GA, and North Birmingham, AL). Other sites in the network had annual design values below the standard, and no site had daily design values above the NAAQS 65 microg/m3 daily standard. Using a particle composition monitor designed specifically for SEARCH, we found that volatilization losses of nitrate, ammonium, and organic carbon must be accounted for to accurately characterize atmospheric particulate matter. In particular, the federal reference method for PM2.5 underestimates mass by 3-7% as a result of these volatilization losses. Organic matter (OM) and sulfate account for approximately 60% of PM2.5 mass at SEARCH sites, whereas major metal oxides (MMO) and unidentified components ("other") account for > or = 80% of PM10-2.5 mass. Limited data suggest that much of the unidentified mass in PM10-2.5 may be OM. For paired comparisons of urban-rural sites, differences in PM2.5 mass are explained, in large part, by higher OM and black carbon at the urban site. For PM10, higher urban concentrations are explained by higher MMO and "other." Annual means for PM2.5 and PM10-2.5 mass and major components demonstrate substantial declines at all of the SEARCH sites over the 1999-2003 period (10-20% in the case of PM2.5, dominated by 14-20% declines in sulfate and 11-26% declines in OM, and 14-25% in the case of PM10-2.5, dominated by 17-30% declines in MMO and 14-31% declines in "other"). Although declining national emissions of sulfur dioxide and anthropogenic carbon may account for a portion of the observed declines, additional investigation will be necessary to establish a quantitative assessment, especially regarding trends in local and regional emissions, primary carbon emissions, and meteorology.     

Early holocene openlands in southern New England

The pre-historical vegetation structure in temperate forest regions is much debated among European and North American ecologists and conservationists. Frans Vera's recent hypothesis that large mammals created mosaics of forest and openland vegetation in both regions throughout the Holocene has been particularly controversial and has provoked new approaches to conservation management. Thirty years earlier, American paleoecologists Herb Wright and Margaret Davis debated whether abundant ragweed pollen at Rogers Lake, Connecticut at 9500 yr BP signified local forest openings or long-distance transport of pollen from Midwestern prairies. Using new pollen records from Harvard Forest and the North American Pollen Database, we address this question and offer insights to the openland discussion. Ragweed and other forbs exceed 3.5% at five sites in a restricted area of southern New England between 10,100 and 7700 yr BP. Strong evidence suggests this pollen originated from the landscapes surrounding these sites (supporting Davis), as ragweed pollen percentages do not increase with longitude from New England to the Midwest. Ragweed pollen percentages are also unrelated to basin size and therefore unrelated to the proportion of extraregional pollen in New England. High forbs values were associated with increases in oak, decreases in white pine, and relatively high charcoal values. Modern pollen records with similar forb and tree percentages occur along the Prairie Peninsula region of the Upper Midwest. However, the closest analogue to the southern New England early Holocene assemblages comes from Massachusetts' Walden Pond in the early 18th century. These results and the affiliation of ragweed for open, disturbed habitats suggest that oak-pine forests with large openings persisted for over 2000 years due to dry conditions and perhaps increased fire frequency. This conclusion is corroborated by independent lake level and climate reconstructions. Because these early Holocene openlands have no detectable analogue in New England for the past 7000 years before European settlement, we suggest that all important openlands today are almost exclusively a legacy of Colonial agriculture and should be managed accordingly. Nonetheless, our results may have implications for forest dynamics accompanying projected climate change to more arid conditions in New England over the next century.     

Brominated flame retardant concentrations and trends in abiotic media

BFR burdens in abiotic media have been less studied than in biota, despite their essential value as an aide to identifying sources, temporal and geographic trends and exposure routes. Many polymer products consist of several percent by weight of BFRs. Global trade in these can result in rapid and wholesale BFR movement. Loss from in-use products of nonreactive BFRs may be important, particularly in respect to indoor exposure. In the case of BDE-209, discharges from publicly owned treatment works may be substantial. BFR burdens in air, water and sewage sludge respond rapidly to changes in environmental BFR inputs. PBDEs have been the most widely studied. In many locales PBDE burdens in these media now surpass those of PCBs. Air and water near sources and urban areas are typically enriched relative to rural locales. The more volatile PBDEs dominate in the vapor phase, while BDE-209 typically predominates on particulates. Evidence exists for long-range transport of the more volatile PBDEs. A greater diversity of BFRs (mostly PBDEs, HBCD and TBBP-A) has been detected in sewage sludges. Land application of these sludges on agricultural fields is one conduit for soil contamination. In general, environmental concentrations of BDE-209 appear to be increasing, while penta-BDE burdens in Europe may have peaked. Sediments function as longer-term integrators of environmental burdens. Concentrations of common BFRs therein may be substantial near point sources. Evidence for debromination in the environment has been limited to date. However, some laboratory and field observations suggest it is possible to a limited extent.