In 1998 we published the results of a study suggesting an association between breast cancer and perchloroethylene (PCE; also called tetrachloroethylene) exposure from public drinking water. The present case-control study was undertaken to evaluate this association further. The cases were composed of female residents of eight towns in the Cape Cod region of Massachusetts who had been diagnosed w...

Microbiological degradation of perchloroethylene (PCE) under anaerobic conditions follows a series of chain reactions, in which, sequentially, trichloroethylene (TCE), cis-dichloroethylene (c-DCE), vinylchloride (VC) and ethene are generated. First-order degradation rate constants, partitioning coecients and mass exchange rates for PCE, TCE, c-DCE and VC were compiled from the literature. The ...

This paper discusses opportunities to promote pollution prevention technologies through public policy, describing the case of dry cleaning. The crisis in dry cleaning is associated with the industry's reliance on perchloroethylene (PCE), the chemical cleaning solvent used by the vast majority of cleaners. The limits to the current pollution control or end-of-pipe system of laws and regulations ...

New technologies are crucial in dealing with the problem of air and water pollution, which is an increasingly important issue with serious health and environmental consequences. Adoption of environmentally friendly technologies can be slow if the new technologies are not superior in terms of the firms’ private incentives, if firms have long equipment replacement cycles, or if firms do not have ...

Standard partial molal thermodynamic parameters for the aqueous chlorinated-ethylene species, perchloroethylene (PCE), trichloroethylene (TCE), 1,1-dichloroethylene (1,1-DCE), cis-1,2-dichloroethylene (cis-1,2-DCE), trans-1,2-dichloroethylene (trans-1,2,-DCE), and vinyl chloride (VC) have been estimated by using experimental gas-solubility data and correlation algorithms. The provided thermodyn...

There are over 450 000 sites contaminated by chemicals in the US. This large number of contaminated sites and the speed of subsurface migration of chemicals pose considerable risk to nearby residences and commercial buildings. The high costs for monitoring around these sites stem from the labor involved in placing and replacing the passive sorbent vapor samplers and the resultant laboratory ana...

The gram-negative, strictly anaerobic epsilonproteobacterium Sulfurospirillum multivorans is able to gain energy from dehalorespiration with tetrachloroethene (perchloroethylene [PCE]) as a terminal electron acceptor. The organism can also utilize fumarate as an electron acceptor. Prolonged subcultivation of S. multivorans in the absence of PCE with pyruvate as an electron donor and fumarate as...

Trichloroethylene (TCE)-transforming aquifer methanotrophs were evaluated for the influence of TCE oxidation toxicity and the effect of reductant availability on TCE transformation rates during methane starvation. TCE oxidation at relatively low (6 mg liter-1) TCE concentrations significantly reduced subsequent methane utilization in mixed and pure cultures tested and reduced the number of viab...

The definition of the respiratory input in experimental human exposure to volatile solvents was examined on theoretical grounds. The respiratory rate of input may be defined as the rate of uptake that equals the inhaled minus exhaled amount per minute. In the present paper the rate of respiratory input is defined as the rate of the functional intake (RFI) which equals the product of the inhaled...

Increasing concerns over health and ecological impacts of contaminated sites are leading to the development of cost effective remediation techniques for reducing the mass, mobility and/or toxicity of contaminated soils and groundwater. Amongst these, in situ chemical oxidation techniques are evolving as an effective way of remediating contaminated soil. In situ chemical oxidation involves the i...