This Week in Sustainability Podcast

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/  

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

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  

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 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 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 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

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

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.

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/  

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

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

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

In which we discuss safer, more efficient, and better rechargeability batteries with two experts, Professors Feng Lin and Lou Madsen of Virginia Tech. We discuss the basics of how electricity and batteries work, the components of a battery, the problems of conventional nickel-cadmium and lead-acid batteries, and the advantages of lithium ion batteries. Feng Lin describes his recent work on oriented microparticles for lithium ion batteries that lead to faster recharging and longer lifetime. Lou Madsen explains his invention of a solid-state electrolyte for lithium ion batteries that is more durable and non-flammable. Hosted by Felicia Etzkorn (Virginia Tech) and Jamie Ferguson  (Emory & Henry College), with music by Wendy Godley of The Kind. Feng Lin's paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-13884-x Lou Madsen's paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/adma.201505183

In which we discuss refrigeration, how it works (more or less), and the history of refrigerants, with their various advantages and disadvantages for the environment. Ammonia is toxic. Propane is flammable. Freons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) destroy the ozone layer and contribute to global warming. Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are also greenhouse gases, except for (HFO)-1234yf, which has a global warming potential (GWP) lower than carbon dioxide, but it is flammable and produces highly toxic and corrosive hydrofluoric acid (HF) or toxic trifluoroacetic acid. Finally, the greenest alternative is carbon dioxide itself, non-toxic, non-flammable, non-ozone depleting, and a relatively low GWP. The supercritical form of carbon dioxide is discussed, as well as its engineering advantages and disadvantages as a refrigerant. Hosted by Felicia Etzkorn (Virginia Tech) and Jamie Ferguson  (Emory & Henry College), with music by Wendy Godley of The Kind.

In which we discuss vitamins to sustain ourselves, fat-soluble and water-soluble, and the foods rich in certain vitamins. Then we take a deep-dive into Vitamin D3––the 7-dehydrocholesterol precursor, the UVB light required to synthesize it in our skin, dosage recommendations from the Institute of Medicine vs. the US Endocrine Society, health effects of not enough and too much. Finally, we talk a little about the biochemistry and testing methods. Stay for the haiku reading at the end! Felicia Etzkorn and Jamie Ferguson, with music written and performed by Wendy Godley. Most of this information can be found on Wikipedia and the references therein. US Endocrine Society Vitamin D Recommendations: https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/96/7/1911/2833671 Testing methods: https://www.mayocliniclabs.com/articles/vitamind/

In which I very briefly describe the sustainable features of a new brand of shoes from Brazil called Cariuma. Solo effort by Felicia Etzkorn. https://cariuma.com/pages/about-us-sustainability  

In which we discuss transparent wood windows that are 90% as clear, much stronger, and insulate 6 times as well as glass with Prof. Liangbing Hu of the University of Maryland and Invent Wood. Then we discuss radiative cooling thin films that can be used to reflect heat back into outer space in the frequencies not blocked by greenhouse gases, day or night, to pre-cool air-conditioning fluid with Prof. Shanhui Fan of Stanford University and Sky Cool. Transparent Wood: https://www.cnn.com/style/article/clear-wood-architecture/index.html Invent Wood: https://www.inventwood.com Radiative Cooling: https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2020/08/rooftop-radiative-cooling-system-produces-renewable-power-at-night/ SkyCool Systems: https://www.skycoolsystems.com  

In which we discuss different methods of disinfecting surfaces: UV light, quaternary ammonium salts, alcohols, chlorine bleaches, hydrogen peroxide and oxygen with an iron catalyst, ozone, and grapefruit seed extract. Far UV light for disinfection: https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-666/ Quaternary ammonium disinfectants: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/cen-09830-cover Dioxins: https://www.epa.gov/dioxin/learn-about-dioxin Iron-TAML oxidants, Terrence Collins: https://www.cmu.edu/chemistry/people/faculty/collins.html Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation by Dan Fagin: https://www.amazon.com/Toms-River-Story-Science-Salvation/dp/055380653X Living Downstream by Sandra Steingraber: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=living+downstream+sandra+steingraber&hvadid=77653144573568&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&tag=mh0b-20&ref=pd_sl_2p3lc51fzf_e  

In which we discuss the merits and demerits of various materials that go into making our clothes, from renewable resources to biodegradability. Coca Cola's 100% Plant-based Bottle: https://www.packaging-gateway.com/projects/-coca-cola-plant-based-bottle/ Waste by Katie O'Neill: https://earthbound.report/2019/08/19/book-review-waste-by-kate-oneill/ Tencel(TM) - lyocell: https://organicclothing.blogs.com/my_weblog/2005/11/tencel_sustaina.html Cariama Shoes: https://cariuma.com/pages/about-us-sustainability Blue River Documentary about blue jean production: http://riverbluethemovie.eco iPhone down-cycling, The One Device by Brian Merchant: https://www.amazon.com/One-Device-Secret-History-iPhone/dp/031654616X Natural Fiber Welding: https://naturalfiberwelding.com/technology/