Search Results for: Environmental Health⊂mit=Search

BY KEITH NUTHALL

GENERAL Motors wastes Euro 9.8 billion’s worth of environmental and social costs compared to a notional industry average, a new international assessment on auto industry sustainability has claimed. This follows the largest such statistical exercise ever undertaken, carried out by experts from Queen’s University, Belfast, in Northern Ireland; the Euromed Management School, Marseilles, France; and the Institute for Futures Studies and Technology Assessment (IZT), Berlin.…

By Emma Jackson

‘Out of sight, out of mind’ may have worked for chemical cleanups in the 1950s, but now Swiss researchers from several national institutes have discovered that long-banned chemicals are popping back into view – turning up in glacial lake sediments at levels not seen since they were in use over 50 years ago.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE INTERNATIONAL Finance Corporation (IFC), of the World Bank, has provided US$50 million in financing to the Kuwait Energy Company to accelerate its development and exploration of Egypt and Yemen oil and gas assets. The money will also improve environmental and social management of these projects.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is to review all existing European Union (EU) laws that control nanoparticles, to ensure regulations are sufficiently robust to cope with their unusual properties. Outgoing EU environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas told a Swedish government-European Commission conference on nano-regulation: "The Commission will review all relevant legislation within two years to ensure safety for all applications of nanomaterials in products with potential health, environmental or safety impacts over their life cycle."…

BY EMMA JACKSON

‘OUT of sight, out of mind’ may have worked for chemical cleanups in the 1950s, but now Swiss researchers have discovered banned chemicals used more than 50 years ago are turning up in glacial lake sediments through climate change-induced glacial melting.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

STRICT regulation of chemicals is coming to the US and although there is concern within the American auto industry, there is certainly no panic – at least not so far. Legislation is expected to be introduced before Thanksgiving by Senator Frank Lautenberg (New Jersey) and others in Congress for a long overdue updating of the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), and it could be tough.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

INFLUENTIAL European Union scientific committees advising on the safety of many personal care products are now working again, following their reorganisation this year. The new scientific committee on consumer safety has released an opinion on using 2-Hydroxyethylamino-5-nitro-anisole in hair dyes for instance.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE USA textile dying and finishing sector and its suppliers may face additional controls on the chemicals they buy and use, maybe mirroring Europe’s REACH system. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is drafting reforms to the US Toxic Substances Control Act, branding it an "inadequate tool for providing the protection against chemical risks that the public rightfully expects".…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is to review all existing European Union (EU) laws that control the use of nanoparticles, to ensure regulations are sufficiently robust to cope with their unusual properties. Outgoing EU environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas told a Swedish government-European Commission conference on nano-regulation: "The Commission will review all relevant legislation within two years to ensure safety for all applications of nanomaterials in products with potential health, environmental or safety impacts over their life cycle."…

BY MARK GODFREY

AS CHINA’S stimulus-primed economy rebounds, increased local emphasis on environmental and quality specifications is playing into the hands of foreign brands like PPG Industries and Akzo Nobel.

"The whole industry is facing consolidation, changing needs from customers, and stricter environmental requirements," said Mike Horton, head of architectural coatings and automotive refinish coatings for the Asia Pacific region at PPG.…