EnviroMapper, a dynamic way to use maps to see environmental information on the World Wide Web ( http://www.epa.gov/ceisweb1/ceishome/atlas/enviromapper/).

NIMBY--Not in My Back Yard! This battle cry will send voters to the ballot box, to City Hall, and to protest in the street. This includes your students. Introduce them to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) EnviroMapper at http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/em/index.html. EnviroMapper is a dynamic way to view and query environmental information using an interactive Geographic Information System (GIS) functionality. Types of environmental information include drinking water, toxic and air releases, hazardous waste, and Superfund sites. You can take many avenues from the EnvironMapper page. Here is one path I took.

The EnviroMapper Index Page displays five maps as starting points. Click on the Map labeled CEIS (Center for Environmental Information and Statistics) EnviroMapper. This will take you to a large map of the United States at http://www.epa.gov/ceisweb1/ceishome/atlas/enviromapper/. Enter your zip code near the top of this page and then select "Go". Of course at this point, each student should enter his or her zip code.

My personalized EnvironMap initially displays information by default, but changes are easily made. Click on your personalized EnviroMap--a zoom version of the EnviroMap will appear, centered around the location where you clicked. You should now be able to identify your own back yard.

There is a green square near my homea Hazardous Waste Handler. Yes, I am curious about what that is! Click on the circle next to "Hazardous Waster Handler" from the Mapping Features column. Now choose the button at the right of the map labeled "Identify" and then click on the colored icon of interest on the map. The exact name of the Hazardous Waster Handler pops up. It turns out to be the gas station where I usually fill up my car.

Follow this path with your students--they will be interested in exactly what occurs within a block of his or her house that causes the EPA to have data on that site. Remember to point out to your students that the facilities identified on EnviroMapper are not violators of EPA policy, but rather are subject to EPA rules and regulations.

Now just what is that service station near my home handling that is classified as Hazardous Waste? How can I find out? I went to the EPA Home Page at http://www.epa.gov/. Next, I went to "Search: Browse by Subject" at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/browse.htm to get a very comprehensive list. Then I chose "Ground Water" and ended up at http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/, the home page for the EPA Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water. Here, I chose "Source Water: Surface and Ground Water" at http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/protect.html. From this page, I went to the "Drinking Water Contaminant Source Index Introduction" at http://www.epa.gov/OGWDW/swp/intro4.html. I chose "Potential Source Index" at http://www.epa.gov/OGWDW/swp/sources1.html to receive a list of Potential Sources of Drinking Water Contamination, organized by facility type. This is great!

That service station near my home could fit several categories: Automobile, Body Shops/Repair Shops; Gas Stations; or Aboveground Storage Tanks. About 20 different chemicals appear in these three categories as potential contaminants of ground water. Now your students have another good reason to learn nomenclature--so that they can understand what is in their back yards. I decided to investigate one of the chemicals that was common to all three categories, TCE or trichloroethylene. I must confess that I also chose TCE because I decided that any chemical known by an acronym must be special.

Now go back to where we started: the EnviroMapper Index Page at http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/em/index.html. This time, choose the access point to the data itself, Envirofacts Warehouse at http://www.epa.gov/enviro/index_java.html. From the pop-up menu under Queries, Maps and Reports, I chose "Chemicals" at http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/emci/emci_query.html. Now we are at the EMCI (Envirofacts Master Chemical Integrator) Query Form that allows you to obtain the acronyms, chemical identification numbers, and chemical names reported by several Envirofacts databases. Make no mistake--this is a big deal!

Search for the chemical by name, partial name, or CAS number. I entered "trichloroethylene" under the Chemical Name Option. The next page listed the findings by Database for TCE and also the CAS number (#79-01-6). After selecting the CAS number, I was sent to http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/emci/chemref/79016.html, a Chemical Reference Page from the Envirofacts Warehouse.

Here I was given the IUPAC name for my chemical, its CAS number, and several databases for further information about trichloroethylene. I chose the "Fact Sheets" option at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/uatw/hlthef/tri-ethy.html, which describe the effects on human health of substances that are defined as hazardous by the 1990 amendments of the Clean Air Act. (See http://www.epa.gov/ttn/caaa/siteindx.html for detailed information about the Clean Air Act.) Health hazards attributed to the inhalation of TCE include effects on the central nervous system (CNS), gastrointestinal system, liver, kidneys, and skin. The cancer risk assessment guidelines for trichloroethylene are under review by the EPA.

I can also choose to leave the EPA for further information. Go back to the Chemical Reference Page at http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/emci/chemref/79016.html and leave the EPA site by choosing "Public Health Statements" at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ToxProfiles/phs8824.html. Public health information specifically for TCE is given by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry of the Department of Health and Human Services. Here, I find that trichloroethylene is a colorless liquid at room temperature with an odor similar to that of ether or chloroform. It is a man-made chemical mainly used as a solvent to remove grease from metal parts and as a general solvent. Various federal and state surveys indicate that between 9 and 34% of the water supply sources in the United States may be contaminated with trichloroethylene.

Another source of information about risks to health can also be reached by going back to the Chemical Reference Page at http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/emci/chemref/79016.html. This time, choose the "Chemical Scorecard of the Environmental Defense Fund" at http://www.scorecard.org/chemical-profiles/summary.tcl?edf_substance_id=79-01-6.

This wealth of information is well-organized. We find that TCE is a high-volume chemical with over 1 million pounds produced annually and is ranked as one of the most hazardous compounds (worst 10%) to ecosystems and to human health.

Now I have learned a lot about my chemical, trichloroethylene. In truth, I have not even touched the data within the EPA sites and references. I must also admit that a road map is helpful because the journey through the EPA can be confusing. With EnviroMapper as a guide, your students can learn a lot about chemicals and their environmental impact--and begin to have some curiosity at least about chemicals in their back yards.

Another way for your students to learn about environmental issues is to schedule an Online Special Topics course for upper-class chemistry students at your college during Spring 2000. An Online course, OLCC-IV Environmental and Industrial Chemistry at http://www.ched-ccce.org/olcc/beard1999.html, is sponsored by the American Chemical Society Division of Chemical Education's Committee on Computers in Chemical Education (CCCE at http://www.ched-ccce.org/index.html). Sylvia Esjornson of Southwestern Oklahoma State University and James Beard of Catawba College are working jointly with many others to make this fourth offering of Online Special Topics in Environmental Chemistry possible.

Let's bring chemistry into the lives of our students. Confront them with the evidence that we all need to educate ourselves about important environmental issues--and that understanding of environmental issues must be built on a foundation of chemical knowledge.

World Wide Web Addresses

EPA Sites

The EnviroMapper Index Page
EPA Home Page
EPA Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water Home Page
Source Water Protection: Surface and Ground Water
Drinking Water Contaminant Source Index Introduction
Potential Contaminant Source Index
Envirofacts Warehouse
EMCI (Envirofacts Master Chemical Integrator) Query Form
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/caaa/siteindx.html

Non-EPA Sites

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry of the Department of Health and Human Services Toxicological Profile Information Sheet
Chemical Scorecard of the Environmental Defense Fund
Online course, OLCC-IV Environmental and Industrial Chemistry
Committee on Computers in Chemical Education (CCCE)

access date for all sites: October 1999