The Beat

SO 2 and NO X contribute to ground-level ozone and fine particle pollution and often cross state lines, ending up far from their provenance. The rule is projected to achieve up to $280 billion in annual health benefits by preventing avoidable illnesses, sick days at work, and premature deaths. Within three years the rule is expected to help reduce SO 2 emissions by 73% and NO X emissions by 54% over 2005 levels. Dishwasher interiors are extreme environments featuring high temperatures, high pH, and high salinity, supplemented by high organic content from the dirty dishes. A study of households on six continents has found several species of potentially pathogenic " extremotolerant " fungi growing in the rubber seals on household dishwashers. 2 The most commonly isolated fungi were Exophiala species, which can colonize the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis and occasionally cause fatal infections in healthy humans; these were found in over half the dishwashers sampled. The Japanese prefectures affected by the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami are struggling to recover, but the infrastructure for disposing of an estimated 21.83 million tons of debris is not yet available. According to Japanese news service Asahi Shimbun, some 35% of the disaster debris has been moved to temporary dump sites in an effort to clear space for rebuilding. 3 The land around Ishinomaki Commercial High School in Miyagi Prefecture is the site of a dusty, foul-smelling dump for more than 100,000 tons of concrete, wood, household goods, and tsunami sludge contaminated with unquantified chemical agents. 4 Students and staff at the school are reporting respiratory effects and eye irritation they attribute to the dump.