Research Watch

Air Particle sampling. Various long- and short-term dry-deposited samples and airborne coarse particles were analyzed for trace metals and mod­eled using the U.S. EPA's Chemical Mass Balance Model (Version 7) to determine the sources of these parti­cles. (Paode, R. D., et al. "Source Ap­portionment of Dry-Deposited and Airborne Coarse Particles Collected in the Chicago Area", Aerosol Sci. Technol. .999 31 (6)) 473-486)

Sulfide sources. This study investi­gates the distribution and magni­tudes of the global sources and sinks of carbonyl sulfide, hydrogen sulfide, carbon disulfide, and dimethyl sul­fide. (Watts, S. F. "The Mass Budgets of Carbonyl Sulfide, Dimethyl Sul­fide, Carbon Disulfide, and Hydro­gen Sulfide", Atmos. Environ. 2000, 34 (5), 761-779)

Bioremediation Enhancing biodegradation. This review addresses vegetation that en­hances in situ biodegradation of or­ganic compounds and can play a key role in the bioremediation of such contaminants in polluted soils and groundwater. (Narayanan, M., et al. "Simple Plant-Based Design Strate­gies for Volatile Organic Pollutants", Environ. Prog. .999,18 (4), ,21-242)

Climate Change Arctic haze. During two measuring campaigns during the early spring of 1994 and 1995 and one during the summer of 1994, measurements of ozone, PAN, sulfur dioxide, nitric acid, and particulate nitrates, sul­fates, and ammonium (only 1995) were recorded, with observations

made by aircraft at sites in the east­ern and western Arctic. (Jaeschke, W., et al. "Measurements of Trace Substances in the Arctic Troposphere as Potential Precursors and Constitu­ents of Arctic Haze", /. Atmos. Chem. 1999, 34 (3), 291-319)

Climate policies. This paper examines the economic rationale behind both the quantitative targets and the flexi­bility mechanisms adopted in the Kyoto Protocol. (Ha-Duong, M., et al. "Dynamic Consistency Problems Be­hind the Kyoto Protocol", Int. J. Envi­ron. Pollut. 1999,11 (4), 426-446)

Ireland's emissions ceiling. Owing to their relative underdevelopment, the "cohesion" countries of the Euro­pean Union have been allowed to increase emissions above the 1990 base within the EU "envelope" and as an extreme case, this paper exam­ines Ireland, which has already reached its emissions ceiling. (Clinch, J. P.; Convery, E J. "Climate Change Policy in the Peripheral Countries of Europe: Ireland as a Case Study", Int. J. Environ. Pollut. 1999, 11 (4), 479-494)

Ozonation of hydrophobic acids. Several analyses, including 13C-NMR, UV absorbance, fluorescence, and hydrophobic/transphilic classifica­tion, were performed before and af­ter ozonation of hydrophobic or­

ganic acids obtained from an Antarctic lake and two U.S. river sys­tems. (Westerhof,, P., et al. "Ozone-Induced Changes in Natural Organic Matter (NOM) Structure", Ozone: Scii Eng. 1999, 21 (6), 551-570)

Health Wildlife diseases. Emerging infec­tious diseases (EIDs) of free-living wild animals have two major biolog­ical implications: first, many wildlife species are reservoirs of pathogens that threaten domestic animal and human health; second, wildlife EIDs pose a substantial threat to the con­servation of global biodiversity. (Daszak, P., et al. "Review: Wildlife Ecology: Emerging Infectious Dis­eases of Wildlife Threats to Biodiver­sity and Human Health", Science 2000, 287 (5452), 443-449)

Metals House paint. The effectiveness of low-cost, house paint abatement methods to reduce children's blood lead levels is assessed, and after ad­justing for seasonality and age, the mean decline for control children was 1.6 mg/dL, or 1.8%. (Taha, T, et al. "Low-Cost Household Paint

PCBs and diet Correctly interpreting trends in levels of persistent organic pollutants is critical in assessing progress toward eliminating these contaminants from the environment. C. Hebert and co-workers found that along Lake Erie, temporal changes in herring gull diet likely resulted from a decline in the availability of prey fish brought about by recent changes in the lake's ecosystem. Increased rates of PCB decline in her­ring gull eggs in more recent years therefore may not reflect changes in environ­mental loadings but instead reflect changes in exposure mediated through shifts in diet composition. The authors suggest that this decline should be interpreted care­fully. Observed trends may not be indicative of lakewide declines in PCB bioavail­ability, but only reflect changes in dietary exposure brought about by alterations in food web structure. (Environ. Sci. Technol.. this issue, ,p. .609--614)

MAY 1, 2000 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / NEWS • 2 2 7 A