The CBNS Program

Center for the Biology of Natural Systems
Queens College, City University of New York

CBNS's Ground-Breaking Studies

1. Development of a computer model that tracks the long-range air transport of dioxin and other pollutants from numerous sources through the environment. The model, which uses actual weather patterns from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, is able to estimate the amounts of dioxin emitted by each of the sources that is deposited in receptors such as the Great lakes, or dairy farms in Vermont and Wisconsin. A version of this model has been used to track the movement of atrazine, an endocrine-disruptor, from numerous agricultural sources to drinking water reservoirs.
2. Participation, with the New York City Dept. of Sanitation, in large-scale pilot tests of intensive recycling in Park Slope and Starrett City, Brooklyn, that included the first curbside collection and composting of food garbage in any U.S. city.
3. A pilot test of intensive recycling of residential trash in the Town of East Hampton, Long Island, which demonstrated, for the first time, recovery and marketing of 84.4% of the trash. The full-scale system designed on the basis of this test has now been adopted by the Town.
4. A critique of cancer risk assessments of dioxins and furans emitted by trash-burning incinerators, which for the first time introduced new factors -- computation of the risk due to compounds other than 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin and to absorption through the skin -- later adopted as standard.
5. An analysis, for the New York State Weatherization Program, of the economic impact of weatherizing the residences of low-income and elderly families.
6. An analysis of the origin of dioxins and furans in trash-burning incinerators that, contrary to the then-current theory, proposed that these pollutants are synthesized in the incinerator flue gas; this was later confirmed by actual incinerator tests.
7. An analysis, for the government of the Region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy, of the eutrophication of the Adriatic Sea, which produced the first quantitative evaluation of the sources of nitrate and phosphate.
8. A computer analysis of changes in Midwest farming practices that can maintain current levels of food production and also yield sufficient ethanol to replace 25-30% of U.S. gasoline consumption.
9. The first comparative five-year study of matched conventional and organic farms in the Midwest with respect to yields and economic returns; organic farm yields averaged 8% less than those of conventional farms, but their economic returns per acre were identical.
10. The first quantitative analysis of the relation between the application of inorganic nitrogen fertilizer on Midwest farms and the resultant increase in the levels of nitrate in surface waters.
11. A computer analysis of changes in Midwest farming practices that can maintain current levels of food production and also yield sufficient ethanol to replace 25-30 percent of U.S. gasoline consumption.

CBNS
Queens College
City University of New York (CUNY)
Flushing, New York 11367-0904
718 670-4180 / 670-4100
WHPP at CBNS 1-888-241-1199
fax 718 670-4189
cbns@cbns.qc.edu
CBNS http://www.cbns.qc.edu/
WHPP http://www.pace-workerhealth.org/