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Eiviraimeitaif News AR226-1529 Potential explanation for fluorinated compounds' persistence The first assessment of the atmos pheric lifetime of an important class of fluorinated chemicals, ducers. EPA "has identified potential human health concerns from expo sure to [PFOA] and its salts, although Research Laboratories and the ES&T paper's lead author. Because of the chemical similar fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs), in there remains considerable scientif ities, some activists have compared dicates that they persist for 20 days ic uncertainty regarding potential perfluorochemicals (PFCs) as a whole before breaking down, according to risks," according to a Federal Register to polychlorinated biphenyls, dub scientists from the Ford Motor Co. notice published on April 14, 2003. bing them the "PCBs of the 21st and the University of Toronto. century". "We think that the In research in this issue of whole family of perfluorinat- ES&T (p. 3816), the group ed compounds [is] highly concludes that FTOHs merit toxic, and we think the sci further study as a potential ence more than justifies source of the persistent, phasing out the telomers," bioaccumulative, and poten says Kris Thayer, senior sci tially toxic perfluorocar- entist at the Environmental boxylic acids (PFCAs) that are Working Group, an environ being discovered worldwide. mental nonprofit association. PFCAs have been found "We don't know a lot about in locations as remote as the environmental fate of the Canadian north Arctic. larger fluorinated organic Because the molecules are compounds," Mabury says. fairly large, with molecular "They're relatively persistent weights between 350 and because the carbon-fluorine 550 atomic mass units, it is bond is so stable. And when surprising that they persist you polyfluorinate some for so long in the atmos thing, it tends to be far more phere, says Scott Mabury, volatile on a mass basis than chair of the University of a heavy molecule that doesn't Toronto's chemistry depart have fluorine." ment and co-author of the The experiments described paper. He points out, how in the ES&T paper looked ever, that FTOH lasts long at how three generic FTOH enough in the atmosphere Scientists at the Ford Motor Co.'s Scientific Research molecules behave in the gas to be transported to remote locations. "By most interna Laboratories use a smog chamber to measure the atmos pheric lifetime of fluorotelomer alcohols. phase in the presence of chlorine atoms and OH radi tional [regulatory] conventions, The Telomer Research Program es cals. The experiments showed that, 20 days is a long time in the timates that 5 million kilograms of as is the case with PFCAs, the "fluo- troposphere," Mabury says. FTOHs are used annually as inter rinated tail" of the FTOH molecules FTOHs are already under increas mediates in a wide variety of prod makes them less susceptible than ing scrutiny because of their sus ucts, including paints, polymers, other compounds to attack by both pected connection with one PFCA, adhesives, waxes, polishes, metals, OH radicals and chlorine atoms. perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), electronics, and caulks. Wallington says that these results which is used to make Teflon and Scientists had previously esti indicate that FTOHs can survive in causes reproductive toxicity in rats. mated the lifetime of FTOHs on the the atmosphere long enough to reach The U.S. EPA is pursuing enforceable basis of structure-activity relation the remote locations where PFCAs consent agreements with telomer ships, but such estimates can be are being found. "There is some liter manufacturers through the Telomer off by up to a factor of 5, says Tim ature to suggest that FTOH will bio Research Program, an industry group Wallington, an atmospheric chem logically oxidize to perfluorinated that represents the major FTOH pro ist at Ford Motor Co.'s Scientific acids [like PFOA] in rats," Mabury 312 A EN V IRO N M EN TAL S C IE N C E & TECH N O LO G Y / S E P T E M B E R 1, 2003 2003 Am erican Chemical Society says. "It is clear that at least some FTOHs break down," Thayer adds, noting that DuPont has shown that telomer 82 degrades to PFOA. "The vast majority [80%] of the FTOHs...are incorporated into polymeric materials, and we have no data on whether those polymer ic materials break down, and if so, under what conditions or how fast," Mabury says. "We hypothesize that the polymers are degrading because people often have to reapply their coatings, on carpets, for example. That seems to suggest that they don't last forever," he continues, adding that he and his fellow researchers are testing these hypotheses. It's too early for companies like Ford to remove FTOHs from use in their products or supply chains, Wallington says. "Clearly, we need to understand the environmental im pacts of our products and processes, and that's what we're trying our best to do," he adds. "If we have a com plete understanding of what these compounds do in the atmosphere and why they do it, we can perhaps make suggestions as to how one might alter the structure of these compounds such that they would be more environmentally friendly. That's the goal." --KELLYN S. BETTS Estrogen knocks out fish in whole-lake experiment For the first time, scientists have demonstrated in a natural lake ecosystem that the synthetic estro gen found in birth control pills can cause the collapse of fathead min now populations. The findings sup port lab studies, which over the past 10 years have linked natural and synthetic estrogen in waste water to feminization of male fish but have been unable to show whether these changes would alter population dynamics of fish and their food webs. From May to October over the past three years, 17-ethynylestradiol was added to Lake 260 in the Experimental Lakes Area of north- A researcher adds estrogen to Lake 260, a pristine lake in Canada. western Ontario-- a pristine wilder ness of lakes and boreal forest on granite bedrock known as the Canadian Shield, says Karen Kidd, ecotoxicologist with the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and coordinator of the study. Until now, Lake 260 has not been manipulated for any ex periments. The average estrogen concentration, 5-6 nanograms per liter, in the lakes was similar to lev els found downstream of waste water treatment plants in North America, Kidd explained at a June 24 symposium of the American Chemistry Council, a manufactur ers' association. Dozens of researchers in acade mia and government in the United States and Canada tracked changes in the populations and physiology of fish, bacteria, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and insects in Lake 260 and several reference lakes both before and during estrogen additions, Kidd says. Although pre liminary results do not yet point to dramatic changes in the lower lev els of the food web, fish are clearly stressed. Fathead minnows, which live just 2-3 years, once numbered newsBriefs Effectiveness of voluntary initiatives questioned Governments are increasingly turning to voluntary approaches in environ mental policy, but such initiatives sel OECD Idom result in improvements beyond what would have occurred anyway under a businessas-usual scenario, finds a report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The report analyzes several voluntary initiatives being implemented across OECD member countries, focusing on the environmental and economic ef fectiveness of such approaches used in isolation or as part of policy mixes. Voluntary Approaches for Envi ronmental Policy: Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Usage in Policy M ixes can be purchased at www.oecd.org. NGOs are a global force Taken together, all the world's non profits are worth more than $1 trillion a year, according to SustainAbility, an international consultancy specializing in business strategy and sustainable development. As a result, environmen tal nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) can have a profound effect on business and markets, SustainAbility argues in its new report, The 21st Century NGO in the Market for Change. "International NGOs powerfully shape and drive the corporate respon sibility and sustainability agendas,'' according to the report. NGOs have been able to focus attention on the environment in Latin America and South Africa despite civil strife, and the growing ranks of environmental non profits in China, Russia, and Central Asia are beginning to change those countries' policies. For more informa tion, go to www.sustainability.com. S E P T E M B E R 1, 2003 / EN V IRO N M EN TAL SC IE N C E & TECH N O LO G Y 313 A