Search Results for: Environmental Health⊂mit=Search

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

COMMONLY used in industrial and outdoor environments – and exposed to direct heat and ultraviolet light, PVC coatings can very easily be weathered; losing tensile properties, colour and durability. Coatings manufacturers and their clients are increasingly using heat stabiliser additives as a result.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE UNITED States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has requested information from nine oil and gas fracking service companies about the construction, design and operation of 350 oil and gas wells that were hydraulically fractured from 2009 to 2010.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE INTERNATIONAL Institute for Environment and Development has warned energy biomass demand growth could spark forest clearance in developing countries with weak property rights and environmental controls. It could also reduce food cultivation through "growing pressure on land access… in some of the poorest countries," the London-based group warned, stressing biomass already feeds 77% of world renewable energy.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

A VOTE in the European Parliament last night (Tuesday 13-9) on the European Union’s (EU) planned raw material strategy has backed creating a more sustainable industry, with a strong focus on the potential of ‘urban mining’ – reclaiming raw materials from landfills, unused buildings and industrial plant in towns and cities.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A KEY European Union (EU) scientific committee is examining chemicals used by a wide range of polluting industries, to determine their safety to the environment, ahead of a European Commission water quality review. Brussels officials are planning to ask EU ministers and MEPs to approve new and revised EU Environmental Quality Standards (EQS) that limit how much certain chemicals can leach into surface waters.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has taken another step towards focusing the European Union’s (EU) support for biofuel production on those fuels that create at least 35% less carbon emissions than fossil fuels. A key part of this process is using certification schemes to ensure that biofuels are green, taking account of the environmental impact of their production as well as use, and the Commission has now recognised seven of these systems.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE WORLD Bank is developing a plan to improve the airports of the remote Pacific island state Kiribati. Costing an estimated USD26 million, the project would improve international airports Bonriki and Cassidy, and airstrips on Kanton island and 19 outer islands.…

BY WACHIRA KIGOTHO

RESEARCHERS studying mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are warning illegal uranium mining continues in a country still riven with political violence and weak government authority.

Indeed, militia groups and government soldiers continue to benefit from illegal uranium mining in the eastern DRC, claims Ms Nyambura Githaiga, a researcher with the Nairobi-based African Conflict Prevention Programme.…

BY MARK ROWE

BETWEEN t-shirts that incorporate technology allowing people to chat up someone from across the dance floor to vests that can monitor the wearer’s health, the past decade has seen some extraordinary developments in high-tech smart fabrics. Scientists have been keen to explore their potential and while more eye-catching garments may have been at the forefront of these technologies in the past, according to experts, the industry for intelligent fabrics is now moving in the direction of less flash, and more functionality.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

A NEW innovative bioplastic made from cheese by-products is expected to be appear in consumer product packaging within six months to a year’s time, according to Dr Elodie Bugnicourt of Barcelona-based research company IRIS.

The biodegradable plastic made using whey protein results from a three-year long European Commission-funded ‘WheyLayer’ project, which Bugnicourt has spearheaded.…