Earth Wise

A look at our changing environment.

You are here: Home / Archives for benzene

benzene

Repurposing used tires

By Leave a Comment

Every year, millions of tires from cars and trucks end up in landfills.  Just in the U.S., more than 270 million tires were scrapped in 2021 and more than 50 million of them ended up in landfills.  Discarded tires take up huge amounts of space but, more importantly, create environmental hazards.  They leach chemicals into the environment and are a serious fire hazard.

Some tires are chemically recycled via pyrolysis, which is a high-temperature process to decompose the materials in the tire.  But that process introduces harmful byproducts like benzene and dioxins. 

Researchers at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill have introduced a new chemical method for breaking down rubber waste.  The process transforms discarded rubber into valuable precursors for epoxy resins.

Rubber – either natural rubber or the synthetic kind used in tires – is made of polymers cross-linked together to form a tough, flexible, and durable material.  These very desirable properties make it difficult to break down rubber.

The new research has led to a two-step chemical process that breaks down the rubber into functional materials that be used to produce epoxy resins.  The method does not require extremely high temperatures, uses aqueous media, and takes only six hours.   It represents an efficient, scalable solution for repurposing rubber waste which, even as many other aspects of motor vehicle are changing for the better, remains a continuing environmental problem associated with driving.

This new research marks a significant step towards greener recycling technologies.

**********

Web Links

A Cleaner Future for Tires: Scientists Pioneer Chemical Process to Repurpose Rubber Waste

Photo, posted May 5, 2011, courtesy of TireZoo via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Artificial intelligence and lost oil wells

By Leave a Comment

There have been commercial oil and gas wells across the United States for 170 years.  Researchers estimate that there are between two and three million wells that have been abandoned.  There are hundreds of thousands of them, across 27 states, that are “orphaned,” meaning that they are uncapped, unproductive, and nobody is responsible to manage their leakage or pollution.

Many are undocumented orphaned wells – UOWs – that are not listed in formal records and are basically out of sight and out of mind.  Besides having nobody responsible for them, nobody even knows where they are.  But they are potential sources of oil and chemical leaks into nearby water sources and can send toxic substances like benzene and hydrogen sulfide into the air. 

Researchers are using modern tools like drones, laser imaging, and advanced sensors to try to locate UOWs.  But these wells are scattered over an area of more than three million square miles.

To better predict where to look for undocumented wells, researchers are combining historical topographic maps with artificial intelligence. The US Geological Survey has scanned 190,000 topographic maps made between 1884 and 2006.  AI is being used to find the symbols for oil and gas wells on the maps.  People can recognize these symbols easily, but there are just too many maps to look at.  The problem is equivalent to finding a needle in a haystack; there is just an awful lot of hay to look through.

Abandoned wells are a big problem and it will take lots of modern technology to try to solve it.

**********

Web Links

AI Helps Researchers Dig Through Old Maps to Find Lost Oil and Gas Wells

Photo, posted August 16, 2022, courtesy of Larry Syverson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

California’s Silent Health Hazard | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

For people in the Los Angeles area, it is a familiar sight to see oil wells pumping away on hillsides, in residential neighborhoods, and other places.  In fancier parts of town, oil wells are hidden behind facades located next door to dry cleaners and lamp stores.

Every year, more than 140 million barrels of oil are extracted from the state of California, coming from a vast subterranean formation that spans nearly the entire state along the coast and spreading inland as well.  About 30% of the state’s oil comes from the Los Angeles area.

The oilfields are mostly old, and their wells played out.  As a result, high-tech drilling and a slew of toxic chemicals are needed to extract the last dregs of crude oil.

Unlike more rural oil-producing states, where oilfields might be uninhabited except for the people who work on them, drilling in California happens to a large degree in residential settings.  Over the years, it has become increasingly clear that certain chemical byproducts of oil extraction, among them benzene and hydrogen sulfate, can cause a variety of health problems.  For example, recent research has found connections between exposure to oil and gas well sites and spontaneous pre-term births, low-birthweight babies, and other adverse birth outcomes.

Statewide, little is being done to protect residents and schoolchildren from any of the suspected consequences of living near an oil or gas well.  Regulations are weak and spottily enforced because the oil industry still wields a lot of political power in the state.  Environmental groups and justice advocates are actively seeking to create new protections for California citizens, but it remains an uphill battle.

**********

Web Links

The Oil Well Next Door: California’s Silent Health Hazard

Photo, posted July 11, 2017, courtesy of John Ciccarelli / Bureau of Land Management California via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Fumes From Gas Stations

By Leave a Comment

A study by environmental health scientists at Columbia University examined the release of vapors from gas station vent pipes and found that emissions were 10 times higher than the estimates used to establish setback regulations that determine how close schools, playgrounds, and parks can be to the facilities.

[Read more…] about Fumes From Gas Stations

WAMC Northeast Public Radio

WAMC/Northeast Public Radio is a regional public radio network serving parts of seven northeastern states (more...)