Letters

The green blues
It was with interest that I read “A Greenprint for Your Life” [April]. After reading through the list, I came to the opinion that the most important recommendation was left out. Number one: Do not procreate. In the end it is too many people that is the root of all the environmental problems we face today. My “carbon footprint” has only two feet: my own.
Federico Santi
Newport

The otherwise informative guide to health and the environment, “Greenprint for Your Life,” included at least one erroneous and misleading recommendation: to shower “PVC-free.” Use of PVC shower curtains does not cause the release of dioxins or mercury, nor is there any evidence that use causes cancer or reproductive harm. The odor may or may not be pleasing, but it can be reduced or eliminated by placing a new product in the sun to air out.

PVC is an enormously versatile material used in life-saving blood bags and medical tubing, pipes delivering safe drinking water, and energy-efficient window frames, to name a few of its healthy, environmentally beneficial applications.
Tim Burns
President, The Vinyl Institute
Arlington, Virginia

From the editor: Perhaps we should have spelled this out more clearly. Dioxins and mercury are not released into your home directly from shower curtains made from PVC; these poisonous chemicals are, however, released into the environment during the production and/or disposal of PVC shower curtains. In 1999, the federal government measured dioxins in blood samples taken from twenty-eight residents who lived near PVC facilities in Louisiana. The testing revealed that the average resident there had three times more dioxins in his/her blood than the average U.S. citizen. The EPA has classified vinyl chloride, one of the primary chemicals used to make PVC plastic and vinyl products, as a known human carcinogen. Vinyl chloride has been found in groundwater and wells near PVC plants.

But back to the shower curtain itself: PVC contains numerous toxic additives that are released during its use, resulting in elevated human exposure. One EPA study showed that vinyl shower curtains can cause elevated levels of dangerous air toxins, which can persist for more than a month. One of these toxins, toluene, is listed under California Proposition 65 law, as a developmental toxin, and another, ethylbenzene, is listed as a carcinogen.

A bit of Grays haze
Thank you for Bob Wyss’s splendid article on the Providence Grays Vintage Base Ball Club [“Diamonds Are Forever,” April 2007]. The article stated that I started the vintage Grays after reading about a similar team in Boston. This is incorrect. I was motivated to form a team in Rhode Island after reading an article in the Boston Globe in 1998.

The article wrote about vintage base- ball players in Bethpage, New York. These Long Island teams were vital because they provided our first competition and were incredibly generous with their knowledge and expertise on the nineteenth-century game. This is important to note because it is only through the help of other teams that new clubs are able to take root and flourish.
Tim Norton
Founder and President
Providence Grays Vintage Base Ball Club
Rumford

Local and innovative
My hat’s off to RISD instructor Don DeLuca and his students for working on new boat designs [“Sea Worthy,” January]. Any field can use fresh ideas, and you couldn’t find a better source than the minds at RISD.

However, I was a little shocked by Mr. DeLuca’s contention that Rhode Island “hasn’t had much to brag about since naval architect Nat Herreshoff made radical changes in yacht design at the turn of the twentieth century.”

My firm (Bay Marine) designed a state-of-the-art oceanographic research vessel for the University of Delaware over the past few years. The R/V Hugh R. Sharp is in a class by itself among U.S. research vessels. The Sharp  is so quiet, it is virtually indistinguishable from the background noise of the ocean. She is quieter than fish or clicking shrimp. This makes her a better platform for using sonar to not only count fish, but to distinguish between species of fish. With fish stocks and fishermen under intense pressure, the Sharp is one of very few ships we have that can improve stock assessments.
Bay Marine isn’t the only source of unique boat designs in Rhode Island. There are many other names in the state that are synonomous with innovation!
Dave Bonney
President, Bay Marine, Inc.
Barrington