RESEARCH WATCH

BIODIVERSITY

Biodiversity links. A multiscale as­sessment of biodiversity is examined to determine whether remote sens­ing information can be linked with local field sampling of biodiversity. (Nagendra, H.; Gadgil, M. "Biodiver­sity Assessment at Multiple Scales: Linking Remotely Sensed Data With Field Information," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 1999, 96 (16), 9154-9158)

CLIMATE CHANGE Paleoclimate change. A study of varved (annually laminated) sedi­ments from Deep Lake, Minn., indi­cated high-resolution continental Holocene paleoclimate data trends, including a climate reversal, which is distinct from the widespread cold snap that occurred in Greenland and other regions 8200 years ago. (Hu, F. S.; et al. "Abrupt Changes in North American Climate During Early Ho­locene Times,"Nature 1999, 400 (6743), 437-439)

D I S R U P T E R S

Adequacy of tests. Although exist­ing toxicological tests can pick up many end-organ and functional effects that are relevant to endo­crine disturbances, they are gener­ally poor at exploring apparently subtle effects such as disturbances of brain endocrine homeostatic mechanisms, which may be critical for normal development. (Barlow, S. "Dilemmas Facing Regulatory and Advisory Bodies Dealing With Con­flicting Results," Chemosphere 1999, 39 (8), 1287-1292)

Ecological effects. An overview is pre­sented of the main evidence for endo­crine disruption in wildlife, focusing

on reproductive effects; and priority research projects for the United King­dom, ultimately aimed at determining the population-level significance of endocrine disruption, are described. (Taylor, M. R.; Harrison, R T. C. "Eco­logical Effects of Endocrine Disrup­tion: Current Evidence and Research Priorities," Chemosphere 1999,39 (8), 1237-1248)

Health effects. Trends toward an in­crease in adverse health effects on reproductive organs and relevant existing Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development guidelines are reviewed, and prob­lems connected to monitoring activi­ties are outlined, particularly for am­bient and biological monitoring. (Menditto, A.; Turrio-Baldassarri, L. "Environmental and Biological Mon­itoring of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals," Chemosphere 1999,39 (8), 1301-1307)

Testing and screening. The current status of EPA's new multigeneration testing guidelines and the develop­ment of an endocrine disrupter screening program in response to the passage of the Food Quality Pro­tection Act of 1996 are described. (Kavlock, R. J. "Overview of Endo­crine Disruptor Research Activity in the United States," Chemosphere 1999, 39 (8), 1227-1336)

Chlorinated organic micropollutants

Primary formation of chlorinated organic micropollutants (OMPs), such as mono- to octachlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (CDDs/Fs), during municipal solid waste combustion is not well understood. E. Wikstrbm and coworkers investi­gated how variation in combustion conditions affects primary formation of OMPs in a series of experiments that were performed in a laboratory-scale fluidized bed reactor fed with an artificial municipal solid waste. Flue gas samples were taken at a relatively high flue gas temperature (650 °C), to enable mechanistic studies on the high-temperature formation (primary formation). They concluded that primary for­mation of CDDs and CDFs is through different mechanisms: CDDs are mainly formed by condensation of chlorinated phenols, and CDFs are formed through a non- or a low-chlorinated precursor followed by further chlorination reactions. (En­viron. Sci. Techno!., this issue, pp. 4263-4269)

EMISSIONS CO2 emissions. The main source of C02 emissions in Barcelona for 1987-1994 was private vehicle transporta­tion, accounting on average for 35% of total emissions. (Baldasano, J. M.; So­riano, C; Boada, L. "Emission Inven­tory for Greenhouse Gases in the City of Barcelona, 1987-1996," Atmos. Envi­ron. 1999, 33 (23), 3765-3775)

MODELING Biodegradability predicted. Biode-gradability data were collected and evaluated for 894 substances with widely varying chemical structures and were used to develop a model for predicting chemical biodegrad­ability. (Loonen, H.; et al. "Prediction of Biodegradability From Chemical Structure: Modeling of Ready Bio-degradation Test Data," Environ. Tox­icol. Chem. 1999,18 (8), 1763-1768)

Decision making. The influence of model prediction uncertainties on the outcome of environmental manage­ment practices is examined, and a method is described for assessing un­certainty for situations in which vali­dation research is difficult or impossi­ble. (Ragas, A; et al. "Assessing Model

5 1 6 A • DECEMBER 1, 1999 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / NEWS

Uncertainty for Environmental Deci­sion Making: A Case Study of the Co­herence of Independently Derived Environmental Quality Objectives for Air and Water," Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 1999,18 (8), 1856-1867)

Large natural systems. Global param­eter sensitivity analyses that are po­tentially useful at all stages of the modeling process of natural systems are described and used to assess re­gional vulnerability of groundwater to contamination by pesticides. (Soutter, M.; Musy, A. "Global Sensitivity Analy­ses of Three Pesticide Leaching Mod­els Using a Monte Carlo Approach," /. Environ. Qual. 1999,28 (4), 1290-1297)

OZONE Ozone phytotoxicity. The body of sci­entific evidence on 0 3 phytotoxicity and whether the data now available are sufficient to mandate 0 3 control strategies over the European Commis­sion territory are discussed. (De San-tis, F. "New Directions: Will a New Eu­ropean Vegetation Ozone Standard Be Fair to All European Countries?" At-mos. Environ. 1999,33 (23), 3873-3874)

P E S T I C I D E S

Global HCH usage. Results show that India was the most contaminated country in 1990 and is most likely the most polluted by technical HCH to­day. (Li, Y. F. "Global Technical Hexa-chlorocyclohexane Usage and Its Con­tamination Consequences in the Environment: From 1948 to 1997," Sci. Total Environ. 1999,232(3), 121-158)

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Photovoltaics. The advantages and limitations of photovoltaic solar mod­ules for energy generation are re­viewed, with an emphasis on silicon-based solar cells; recent developments suggest that thin-film crystalline sili­con—especially, microcrystalline sili­con—is evolving as a prime candidate for future photovoltaic applications. (Shah, A.; et al. "Photovoltaic Technol­ogy: The Case for Thin-Film Solar Cells," Science 1999, 285 (5428), 692-698)

Atmospheric chemistry of MMT Quantification of possible environ­mental impacts of the gasoline addi­tive methylcyclopentadienyl manga­nese tricarbonyl (MMT) requires an understanding of its atmospheric chemistry. This was studied by T J. Wellington and coworkers using laboratory smog chamber systems. They found that MMT, which ab­sorbs strongly in the UV-visible re­gion, undergoes photolysis, produc­ing CO and an unidentified species believed to be methylcyclopentadie­nyl manganese dicarbonyl (MMD). MMD undergoes rapid photolysis, liberating additional CO. Reaction of MMT with OH and 03 proceeded rapidly. During the day, the atmo­spheric loss of MMT proceeds via photolysis; at night, reaction with 03

can be significant. [Environ. Sci. Technol., this issue, pp. 4232-4238)

Renewable resources. Energy payback, carbon dioxide abatement, energy storage, and pathways for introducing hydrogen technologies into the energy infrastructure are examined in terms of whether money and energy should be spent on carbon dioxode seques­tration or implementation of renew­able resource technologies. (Turner, J. A. "A Realizable Energy Future," Science 1999, 285 (5428), 687-689)

TECHNOLOGY

Electrode preparation. The concept and potential of electrochemical pro­cedures are described for biomolecule immobilization on electrode surfaces based on electrochemically polymer­ized films. (Cosnier, S. "Biomolecule Immobilization on Electrode Surfaces by Entrapment or Attachment to Elec­trochemically Polymerized Films—A Review," Biosens. Bioelectron. 1999,14 (5), 443-456)

TOXICITY

Cultured fish. Results of a study of the bioaccumulation of trace metals in polycultured fish showed that bioac­cumulation occurred in the organisms

at lower levels of the food web, with no biomagnification detected at upper levels, except in mosquito fish. (Liang, Y.; Cheung, R. Y. H.; Wong, M. H. "Rec­lamation of Wastewater for Polycul-ture of Freshwater Fish: Bioaccumula­tion of Trace Metals in Fish," Water Res. 1999,33 (11), 2690-2700)

Dioxin elimination. The advantages and limitations of several possible ap­proaches that use biological end points to determine the presence of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs) in the environment and ultimately define virtual elimination were evalu­ated. (Servos, M. R.; et al. "Developing Biological Endpoints for Defining Vir­tual Elimination: A Case Study for PC­DDs and PCDFs," Water Qual. Res. J. Can. 1999, 34 (3), 391^22)

Estrogen effects. This study ad­dresses whether estrogens and their mimics are present in marine waters and if so, whether the effects are harmful to populations and commu­nities through changes in reproduc­tive and other physiological pro­cesses. (Allen, Y; et al. "Survey of Estrogenic Activity in United King­dom Estuarine and Coastal Waters and Its Effects on Gonadal Develop­ment of the Flounder Platichthys flesus," Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 1999, 18 (8), 1791-1800)

WASTE

Demolition wastes. The risks associ­ated with landfilling demolition wastes were assessed by analyzing potential inorganic contaminants and factors controlling their mobil­ity. (Johnson, C. A.; Moench, H.; Brandenberger, S. "Assessing the Po­tential Long-Term Behavior of the Landfill Fraction of Sorted Demoli­tion Wastes,"/. Environ. Qual. 1999, 28 (4), 1061-1067)

Environmental engineering. Tech­nological innovations contributing to the ongoing shift in environmental engineering from waste disposal to waste reclamation are summarized. (Iranpour, R.; et al. "Environmental Engineering: Energy Value of Replac­ing Waste Disposal With Resource Recovery," Science 1999, 285 (5428), 706-711)

DECEMBER 1, 1999 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / NEWS • 5 1 7 A