Toyota Motor Corp. announced the development of a new technology on diesel after-treatment purification system that can sharply reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter simultaneously.

The technology was based on the technologies that are currently applied to gasoline engines to reduce NOx and other gases, and is works by using a revolutionary way to control the fuel injection system electronically.

According to Toyota, vehicles using the new system will emit 80% less nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. The new technology can be applied to both large and small vehicles. The system works primarily with low-sulfur fuels, but its effectiveness with high-sulphur fuels has yet to be established.

Beginning in November, the state of Maine in the US will reimburse residents who scrap their old polluting vehicles in a pilot program set up to encourage owners of old polluting vehicles to scrap their vehicles early.

Participating scrap yards will issue vouchers to vehicle owners turning in vehicles which were produced in 1987 or earlier and then scrap the vehicles. The vouchers can be used only towards the purchase of a vehicle produced in 1996 or later.

Under the pilot program, the state will pay U.S.$1,000 per automobile, U.S.$1,500 for 6-cylinder trucks and SUVs (sports utility vehicles), and U.S.$2,000 for 8-cylinder trucks.

The United States is moving to require more information from food makers before genetically modified (GM) foods go on sale, but it looks years away - if ever - from mandating special labels on food packages.

Rather than mandatory labelling, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. food regulator, plans to propose this fall that food developers must consult with it before bringing GM foods to the market. Consultations have been voluntary thus far and widely used.

FDA will also be developing guidelines for voluntary labelling of GM foods, also expected in the fall.

A new European Commission "green paper" discussed the possible measures to deal with the environmental impact of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) products. The green paper is designed to serve as a precursor to future legislation.

One of the most important issues concerns the use of PVC additives such as lead and cadmium, which are used as stabilizer in some PVC materials, as well as phthalates, which are used as plasticizers to manufacture flexible PVC products. Heavy metals in PVC are thought by some to be a source of health-damaging diseases, especially in children. The concern with phthalates arose because of its potential as an endocrine disrupting compound.

Another major concern was the management of PVC wastes. One of the most controversial threats is the potential for dioxin emissions from incineration of PVC waste.

The September issue of Environmental Science & Technology, a journal of the American Chemical Society reported that the catalytic converters, which have been credited with reducing pollutants from automobiles, may also be emitting large quantities of ammonia. Ammonia plays a key role in the formation of particulates in the atmosphere that cause haze, and has been targeted by the USEPA for control under the Clean Air Act.

The report was based on a research led by Robert Harley a professor at the University of California-Berkeley, who found high levels of ammonia in vehicle exhaust and attributed it to the catalytic converter. However, he added that poorly tuned engines could also contribute to ammonia formation.

Prof Harley explained that when nitrogen oxides from the engine's exhaust is "over-reduced," a complex chemical reaction ensues with the formation of ammonia gas, which is then emitted from the vehicle's tailpipe.

Canada has established a C$20 million (US$13.5 million) fund to help developing countries reduce the production of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) which are rapidly building up in the Canadian Arctic. High levels of POPs have been found in mothers' milk in the Arctic, as well as in the meat of seal and whale in remote areas.

Some of the POPs are transboundary pollutants and can travel huge distances through both water and air. These pollutants range from chlorinated pesticides such as DDT and the heat-exchange fluids PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) to industrial by-products such as dioxins and furans. They have been linked to cancer, birth defects and various genetic abnormalities.

The United Nations is presiding over a protracted series of talks to reduce the production of POPs in developing states but arguments over who should pay for the costs have stalled progress.

A prosecutor indicted 22 people and sought life sentences for five of them after they allegedly dumped cancer-causing toxic waste oil into a southern Taiwanese river, leaving millions of residents in the greater Kaoshiung area without water for several days. Prosecutors revealed that one toxic material found in the waste oil was identified as dimethyl benzene -- a cancer-causing agent.

The five for whom life sentences were sought were the chairman of the Eternal Chemical Co. and the president and vice president of Sheng Li Waste Disposal Co and two of their drivers. Sheng Li had been contracted to dispose toxic waste oil for Eternal Chemical and was alleged to have dumped it into the river instead of treating/disposing it.