Farm Families Alive and Well, October 2010, Vol. 16, no.4

News from Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (I-CASH)

Farm Families Alive and Well, September 2007, Vol. 13, no.4

News from Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (I-CASH)

Farm Families Alive and Well, Vol. 10, issue 4, 2004

News from Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (I-CASH)

Farm Families Alive and Well, September 2006, Vol. 12, no.4

News from Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (I-CASH)

Farm Families Alive and Well, September 2009, Vol. 15, no.4

News from Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (I-CASH)

Farm Families Alive and Well, September 2011, Vol. 17, no.4

News from Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (I-CASH)

Farm Families Alive and Well, September 2013, Vol. 19, no. 4

News from Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (I-CASH)

Farm Families Alive and Well, Vol. 9, issue 4, 2003

News from Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (I-CASH)

Development of Bio-Based Polymers for Use in Asphalt, TR-639, 2014

Asphalt binder is typically modified with poly type (styrene-butadiene-styrene or SBS) polymers to improve its rheological properties and performance grade. The elastic and principal component of SBS polymers is butadiene. For the last decade, butadiene prices have fluctuated and significantly increased, leading state highway agencies to search for economically viable alternatives to butadiene based materials. This project reports the recent advances in polymerization techniques that have enabled the synthesis of elastomeric, thermoplastic, block-copolymers (BCPs) comprised of styrene and soybean oil, where the “B” block in SBS polymers is replaced with polymerized triglycerides derived from soybean oil. These new breeds of biopolymers have elastomeric properties comparable to well-established butadiene-based styrenic BCPs. In this report, two types of biopolymer formulations are evaluated for their ability to modify asphalt binder. Laboratory blends of asphalt modified with the biopolymers are tested for their rheological properties and performance grade. Blends of asphalt modified with the biopolymers are compared to blends of asphalt modified with two commonly used commercial polymers. The viscoelastic properties of the blends show that biopolymers improve the performance grade of the asphalt to a similar and even greater extent as the commercial SBS polymers. Results shown in this report indicate there is an excellent potential for the future of these biopolymers as economically and environmentally favorable alternatives to their petrochemically-derived analogs.

Farm Families Alive and Well, April 2014, Vol. 20, no.2

News from Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (I-CASH)

Farm Families Alive and Well, June 2014, Vol. 20, no. 3

News from Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (I-CASH)

The importance of environmental exposures to physical, mental and social well-being

"Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" states the WHO. However, the current focus in this important area seems to be on reducing diseases, while less attention is paid on aspects how to increase the well-being of populations. This paper reviews three examples where well-being has drawn attention of the public and policy makers, and compares the policies of two wealthy countries. The first example is noise. Noise can reduce sleep quality and cause physiological, mental, and social effects. In Switzerland, noise receives a lot of attention by the public. Swiss laws are extensive, e.g., they prohibit trucks and planes from traveling at night. In the USA, there is little public attention and no national strategy against environmental noise. The second example is aesthetics and recreation. Many humans seek contact with the beauty of nature. The USA and Switzerland have similar strategies for achieving clear waters, while the protection of scenic views is approached very differently. Lifestyle is the last example. In the USA, the desire for individual freedom is a leading cause for suburban sprawl, a car-dependent sedentary lifestyle resulting in obesity, asthma and loss of community spirit. In Switzerland, a strict land use planning seeks to balance individual and public interests and stresses public transportation, which seems to be a more promising approach. Paying attention to aspects of well-being while developing political strategies might be a promising model to tackle environmental problems. Successful strategies employed so far seem to include the public, local authorities, politicians and scientists in this process, which might have been a key for their success. [Authors]

Farm Families Alive and Well, September 2014, Vol. 20, no. 4

News from Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (I-CASH)