The World Bank Group and the Environment since the Rio Earth Summit

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diffusion tubes can be related to the hourly means determined using chemiluminescence detectors. Nitrogen oxide concentrations in residential areas are generally in the range 20-40 g/m3. Elevated levels are found adjacent to major roads and under inversion conditions. The nitrogen dioxide diffusion tube sampler consists of a polycarbonate tube sealed at one end with a coloured polyethylene cap containing stainless steel discs impregnated with a nitrogen dioxide absorbing agent. The other end of the tube is sealed with a removable white cap which is removed when the tube is being exposed. In this study, asthmatic and normal children wear diffusion tube samplers for a period of one week. Their home environment is also monitored for nitrogen dioxide over a two weekly period using additional diffusion monitors. The tubes are returned to GMSS Ltd for analysis. The children document daily on a symptom card their peak expiratory flow rate (PEF) and any upper and lower respiratory symptoms. Doctors from the University of Southampton Medical School will attempt to collate the children’s nitrogen dioxide exposure with falls in PEF, and changes in symptom scores. Nasal aspirates from the children will also be taken and subjected to a polymerised chain reaction, which is a novel method of identifying viruses by amplifying their genetic material by up to one million times. There is a growing concern that nitrogen dioxide is one of the factors contributing to the rising prevalence and morbidity of asthma in industrialised countries. It has also been incriminated in acute respiratory infections in children possibly by impairing the lung’s immune defences. Animal studies have demonstrated that exposure to high concentrations of nitrogen

applied catalysis B: environmental

dioxide impairs resilience to bacteria and viruses, Humans exposed to high concentrations of nitrogen dioxide even for short periods have depressed macrophage elimination of influenza virus and an increased infectivity rate for nasally instilled influenza-A vaccine virus. EUROPACAT IV The Council of the European Federation of CatalysisSocieties (EFCATS), during its last meeting of September 1995 at Maastricht, assigned unanimously to Italy the organisation of the fourth congress EUROPACAT IV, to be held in Bologna, in 1999. The Council of the Catalysis Group of the Italian Chemical Society, in its last meeting of 30 November 1995, decided to organise such a Congress from Sunday, 5 Septembertill Friday, 10 September, 1999. Further information will be provided through the First Circular, to be distributed after EUROPACAT Ill, Cracow, Poland, September 1997. For further information contact Professor F. Trifiro at the address given in the Calendar. L Forni The World Bank Group and the Environment since the Rio Earth Summit. The report describes progress in the way the World Bank assists its client countries in addressing environmental problems. The following challenges are anticipated for the coming three to five years: Implementing

the portfolio

of environ-

mental projects

The majority of projects in the currently active portfolio of $10 billion in sixty-two countries are new, and $8 billion is scheduled to be disbursed over the next few Volume 8 No. 1 - 29 February 1996

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years. Ensuring that these projects continue to perform well and that lessons from their innovative approaches are learned and disseminated will be major challenges Moving beyond project-specific environmental assessment The past few years have seen a remarkable deepening in the effectiveness of the Bank’s environmental assessment work. It is necessary now to broaden the focus to apply these techniques at the sectoral and regional levels. Such approaches are already being piloted to good effect, Improving the monitoring of on-theground impacts Information on environmental trends remains very weak. This undermines the ability of policymakers to set priorities and monitor the impact of programs. The Bank’s new efforts to develop and implement indicators of progress will need to be deepened. Addressing the social dimension of environmental management Ensuring that stakeholders are involved in the design and implementation of projects, that cultural issues are taken into account, and that the social costs and benefits of interventions are carefully discussed and addressed will need to receive greater attention in the future. Developing and app/ying global overlays There is a growing urgency for integrating global environmental objectives into national strategies and action plans for sustainable development (that is, global overlays). Extensions will be made to country economic and sector work with developing partners. [‘Mainstreaming the Environment’ The World Bank Group and the Environment applied catalysis B: environmental

since the Rio Earth Summit, Fiscal 1995, Summary, The World Bank, Washington, D.C.] Butyrolactone by the Carbonylation of Ally1 Alcohol R.A. Grey and D. Armstead at Arco report that butyrolactone can be produced by the carbonylation of ally1 alcohol (U.S. Patent 5 401 857). Ally1 alcohol reacts in a 10% toluene solution with CO (300 psi) producing butyrolactone in 43% selectivity at 32% conversion after 12 h at 60°C over RH6(CO)1,+methylaminopyridine a (1/580,M/M) catalyst system. Propionaldehyde is the main by-product. The process appears to be an extension of Arco’s system to produce 1,Cbutanediol by hydroformylation of ally1 alcohol. Butyrolactone is principally used to produce NMP and its analogues. NMP ($1.67/b) demand has grown rapidly in the United States; consumption is currently about 100 million lb/year. Its strongest growth is in the electronic markets, because its low toxicity is important in cleaning silicon chips and stripping polyamide photoresists. Another area of potential growth is as a replacement for certain chlorinated solvents (e.g., 1,1,1-trichloroethane) that are being phased out because of their toxicity. (Source: Chemtech, November 1995) Recent Publications in Environmental Catalysis A number of relevant environmental catalysis papers have appeared that may be of interest to Newsbrief readers. Advances have been made with envirocats, a class of environmentally friendly Lewis Acid catalysts. James Clark et al. have prepared a highly active form of immobiVolume 8 No. 1 - 29 February 1996