This Week in Sustainability Podcast

17: Remodeling Materials

In which Felicia describes the materials choices for her kitchen remodel, and her guest, Helene Renard, Professor of Interior Design in the School of Architecture + Design at Virginia Tech, describes the “Healthier Materials and Sustainable Building” course she took with the Healthy Materials Lab at the Parsons School of Design. Host–Felicia Etzkorn of Virginia Tech, with music by Wendy Godley of The Kind.

Green Kitchen Remodel: https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/e8tg8v/Green_Kitchen_Lecture_2015am1wy.pdf

Course: https://healthymaterialslab.org/learning-hub/e-learning-online-certificate-program

Healthy Materials Lab: https://healthymaterialslab.org/about/team

https://healthymaterialslab.org/

 

16: PFAS Sass

In which we discuss per- and poly-fluoroalkylsubstances (PFAS) with Carol Kwiatkowski of the Green Science Policy Institute (https://greensciencepolicy.org), their properties, function, consumer products, toxicity, persistence, chemical analysis, and regulation both in the US and EU. Some companies, like Keen, are eliminating PFAS from their products. We then discuss a few green substitutes, including Solberg Co.'s firefighting foam, a fatty acid coated cellulose, and iron skillets. Host–Felicia Etzkorn of Virginia Tech, co-host–Jamie Ferguson of Emory & Henry College, with music by Wendy Godley of The Kind.

PFAS review: Kwiatkowski, C. F.; Andrews, D. Q.; Birnbaum, L. S.; Bruton, T. A.; DeWitt, J. C.; Knappe, D. R. U.; Maffini, M. V.; Miller, M. F.; Pelch, K. E.; Reade, A.; Soehl, A.; Trier, X.; Venier, M.; Wagner, C. C.; Wang, Z.; Blum, A., Scientific Basis for Managing PFAS as a Chemical Class. Env Sci & Tech Letters 2020, 7 (8), 532-543.

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00255

EPA Reassessment: https://cen.acs.org/environment/persistent-pollutants/US-EPA-deems-two-GenX-PFAS-chemicals-more-toxic-than-PFOA/99/web/2021/10?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=CEN

Alternatives: https://pfascentral.org/pfas-free-products/

Keen PFAS-free: https://www.keenfootwear.com/conservation/blog-article-20390.html

Solberg Co firefighting foam: https://www.perimeter-solutions.com/class-a-b-foam/

PFAS in cosmetics: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00240

PFAS in fracking: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/12/climate/epa-pfas-fracking-forever-chemicals.html

Dark Waters, Movie about PFAS in WV with Mark Ruffalo: https://www.yidio.com/movie/dark-waters/210401

Binding of PFOA to human serum albumin: Maso, L. et. al., Unveiling the binding mode of perfluorooctanoic acid to human serum albumin. Protein Sci 2021, 30 (4), 830-841.https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pro.4036

Breaking down PFAS: Lockwood, D., Photocatalyst shreds drinking water contaminant PFOA. Chem & Eng News 2018, 96 (36). https://cen.acs.org/environment/persistent-pollutants/Photocatalyst-shreds-drinking-water-contaminant/96/i36

Vermont regulations passed: https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/longevity/554680-vermont-governor-signs-first-in-nation-restrictions-on

15: News Roundup: Blues, Catalytic Converters, and Fracking

In which we discuss the recent development of a series of new blue pigments, the theft of catalytic converters for the rhodium, and the health effects of fracking chemicals. Hosted by Felicia Etzkorn of Virginia Tech, co-host Jamie Ferguson of Emory & Henry College, and music by Wendy Godley of The Kind.

Blue pigments: https://chemistry.oregonstate.edu/content/story-yinmn-blue

Catalytic converter theft: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129047092

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/catalytic-converter-theft-south-africa-rhodium/2021/03/03/dc288192-777d-11eb-9489-8f7dacd51e75_story.html

Fracking chemicals: https://www.ehn.org/fractured-series-on-fracking-pollution-2650624600/fractured-fracking

 

14: Chemical Alt-Rock

In which we discuss the opportunities for substituting safer chemical alternatives for consumer products in current use with our guest, Joel Tickner of the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. We don’t need to wait for green chemistry to come up with great alternatives, many have already been designed. We need to collaborate with businesses to turn towards better alternatives, rather than imposing regulations away from the bad stuff, risking drop-in substitutions that are just as bad. Host–Felicia Etzkorn of Virginia Tech, co-host–Jamie Ferguson of Emory & Henry College, with music by Wendy Godley of The Kind.

Resources

1. Joel A. Tickner, Rachel V. Simon, Molly Jacobs, Lindsey D. Pollard & Saskia K. van Bergen (2021) The nexus between alternatives assessment and green chemistry: supporting the development and adoption of safer chemicals, Green Chemistry Letters and Reviews, 14:1, 21-42, DOI: 10.1080/17518253.2020.1856427
    https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17518253.2020.1856427
2. Tickner J, Jacobs MM, Mack NB (2019) Alternatives assessment and informed substitution: A global landscape assessment of drivers, methods, policies and needs. Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy 13:100161. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235255411930052X
3. O'Brien M. 2000. Making Better Environmental Decisions: An Alternative to Risk Assessment, MIT Press Cambridge, MA. https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/making-better-environmental-decisions

13: Next Seven Generations

In which we discuss sustainable, plant-based cleaning products, oxygen-bleached paper products, recyclable and recycled packaging, transparent labeling, and consumer education with Martin Wolf, Director of Sustainability & Authenticity at Seventh Generation. Host–Felicia Etzkorn of Virginia Tech, co-host–Jamie Ferguson of Emory & Henry College, with music by Wendy Godley of The Kind.

Great resource for sustainability and environmental justice issues:

https://www.seventhgeneration.com/home

12: With the Weight of Lead

In which we discuss the uses of lead in gasoline (and the temporally and geographically associated violence), avgas, pipes, and car paint primer, and the greener replacements for these products—ethanol as replacement for tetraethyl lead as an anti-knock additive in gasoline, potential plastic replacements for lead pipes, and yttrium as a replacement for lead car primer.Host–Felicia Etzkorn of Virginia Tech, co-host–Jamie Ferguson of Emory & Henry College, with music by Wendy Godley of The Kind.

Abelsohn AR, Sanborn M (2010) Lead and Children, Canadian Family Physician 56:531. https://www.cfp.ca/content/56/6/531

EPA Final Revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule: https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/final-revisions-lead-and-copper-rule

Angus Chen, Zapping Lead Pipes with Electricity Could Make Them Safer for Drinking Water, Scientific American, April 4, 2019.

PPG Industries, Yttrium as a Lead Substitute in Cationic Electrodeposition Coatings, EPA  Green Chemistry Challenge Award 2001. https://www.epa.gov/greenchemistry/presidential-green-chemistry-challenge-2001-designing-greener-chemicals-award

Grateful Dead, New Speedway Boogie excerpt, from What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been, 1977.

11 Farming is Elemental

In which we interview Anthony Flaccavento, organic farmer, author, activist, and local politician, about his sustainable practices to incorporate carbon, nitrogen, and other essential elements back into the depleted soil of his former tobacco farm in southwest Virginia. No-till agriculture not only sequesters carbon and nitrogen in the soil, it balances soil water content in both drought and flood times. Host–Felicia Etzkorn of Virginia Tech, co-host–Jamie Ferguson of Emory & Henry College, with music by Wendy Godley of The Kind.

Resources

Anthony Flaccavento Building a Healthy Economy from the Bottom Up: Harnessing Real World Experience for Transformative Change (University Press of Kentucky, 2016) https://www.kentuckypress.com/9780813167596/building-a-healthy-economy-from-the-bottom-up/

SCALE — Sequestering Carbon, Accelerating Local Economies https://www.anthonyflaccavento.com/scale-inc

Savory Institute https://savory.global

National Ecological Observatory Network https://www.neonscience.org

How to Bury Carbon? Let Plants Do the Dirty Work in Nautilus

http://cshl.nautil.us/article/657/how-to-bury-carbon-let-plants-do-the-dirty-work?mc_cid=5c3e66ab03&mc_eid=71fa1ec799

Crop innovations can protect yields and improve food quality in a changing climate

https://cen.acs.org/food/agriculture/Protecting-harvest/98/i6

Climate Change Take 5 with Tony (S.2, Ep. 4)

https://www.bottomupeconomy.org/climate-change-sustainable-farming/

Sustainable farming and social justice:

Chris Newman of Sylvanaqua https://www.sylvanaqua.com

Nina Ichikawa of the Berkeley Food Institute https://food.berkeley.edu

Joel Salatin’s Unsustainable Myth: His go-it-alone message made him a star of the food movement. Then a young Black farmer dug into what he was really saying. https://www.motherjones.com/food/2020/11/joel-salatin-chris-newman-farming-rotational-grazing-agriculture/

 

10: Fertilizer Out of Thin Air

In which we discuss the effect of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer on feeding the world, and the synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen in the air and hydrogen generated from methane, first by the Haber-Bosch process and then by electrochemical processes with our guest, Dr. Michael Stoukides from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. Electrodes, catalysts, yields, rates, and the potential for energy storage are discussed for the electrochemical synthesis of ammonia. Host Felicia Etzkorn of Virginia Tech, co-host Jamie Ferguson of Emory & Henry College, with music by Wendy Godley of The Kind.

Kyriakou V, Garagounis I, Vasileiou E, Vourros A, Stoukides M (2016) Progress in the Electrochemical Synthesis of Ammonia. Catalysis Today 286. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304537323_Progress_in_the_Electrochemical_Synthesis_of_Ammonia

Kyriakou V, Garagounis I, Vourros A, Vasileiou E, Stoukides M (2019) An Electrochemical Haber-Bosch Process. Joule 4. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337041764_An_Electrochemical_Haber-Bosch_Process

9: Bury, Recycle, or Compost?

In which we discuss the relative merits of burying, recycling, or composting plastic waste, in particular, packaging. We distinguish biodegradable from compostable. Jamie describes Eastman Chemical Co.’s new process to take any plastic and break them down into their small molecule components and resynthesize new plastics, a true recycling process. We decide burying plastics is not so bad because it keeps carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Finally, we discuss the idea of geoengineering the atmosphere with sulfur dioxide to reflect sunlight back into space, which is terrible because sulfur dioxide becomes acid rain. Produced, edited and posted by Felicia Etzkorn, with co-host Jamie Ferguson. Music created and performed by Wendy Godley.

Waste by Katie O'Neill: 

https://earthbound.report/2019/08/19/book-review-waste-by-kate-oneill/

Eastman Unveils Recycling Solution to Combat Global Plastic Waste: https://www.waste360.com/plastics/eastman-unveils-recycling-solution-combat-global-plastic-waste

8: Firing Flame Retardants

In which, with our guest, Dr. Arlene Blum (www.arleneblum.com) of the Green Science Policy Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, we discuss the toxicity of flame retardants in children’s products, furniture, and her success in changing the standards for these products so that flame retardants are unnecessary to prevent the most common smoldering fires. Flame retardants are still found in TVs. Then host Felicia Etzkorn and co-host Jamie Ferguson discuss a paper about the flammability of cotton and synthetic fabrics, including the limiting oxygen index (LOI), the heat release capacity (HRC), and the peak heat release rate (PHRR), as well as a potential less toxic flame retardant, sodium hypophosphite with succinic acid.

Green Science Policy Institute: https://greensciencepolicy.org

Six Classes Videos: https://www.sixclasses.org/videos

Stapleton HM, Klosterhaus S, Keller A, Ferguson PL, van Bergen S, Cooper E, Webster TF, Blum A (2011) Identification of Flame Retardants in Polyurethane Foam Collected from Baby Products. Env. Sci. Tech.45:5323-5331. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es2007462

Blum A, Gold MD, Ames BN, Jones FR, Hett EA, Dougherty RC, Horning EC, Dzidic I, Carroll DI, Stillwell RN, Thenot JP (1978) Children absorb tris-BP flame retardant from sleepwear: urine contains the mutagenic metabolite, 2,3-dibromopropanol. Science 201:1020. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/201/4360/1020.full.pdf

Yang CQ, He Q, Lyon RE, Hu Y, Investigation of the flammability of different textile fabrics using micro-scale combustion calorimetry, Polym. Degrad. Stab. 95 (2010) 108e115. www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141391009004108

Post-note: N-methylol containing flame retardants like MDPA are associated with formaldehyde release. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017SRL....2450114Y/abstract