
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 23, 1991                   TAG: 9102230110
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: SAN DIEGO                                LENGTH: Short

NYLON PRODUCTION ADDS TO `GREENHOUSE EFFECT'

Emissions from the manufacture of nylon, used in everything from stockings to tires, are eating away at the Earth's protective ozone layer, according to a study published Friday.

Nylon manufacturing also releases emissions that aggravate warming of Earth's climate by the "greenhouse effect," according to the report by researchers at the University of California at San Diego.

Chemists William Trogler and Mark Thiemens published their findings in Science, the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Trogler and Thiemens said they found that large quantities of nitrous oxide are being released into the atmosphere as a byproduct of nylon manufacturing.

They said their findings provide the first significant example of how industrial activity has influenced the level of airborne nitrous oxide, a naturally occurring gas that normally helps regulate the Earth's climate. The substance is commonly known as "laughing gas" when used as a dental anesthetic. - Associated Press

by CNB