In fact, the growth is already strong, according to Annie Morris, editor in chief of Made in CA, a Canadian consumer product magazine and economic data group. “With consumers increasingly looking for natural, nontoxic cleaning solutions, microbial probiotics have become a popular choice,” she says.
by Craig Bettenhausen | January 29, 2023
UNEP recommends finding more information about this part of the cargo, such as the epoxy’s material safety data sheet, to evaluate the risks. As of press time, company representatives had not responded to questions about the epoxy resin. Plastic pollution questions While reactive chemicals from the spill may have caused acute environmental damage, environmentalists and researchers are also concerned about potential long-term issues caused by the X-Press Pearl’s spilled plastics, which may persist in the environment for a long time.
by Katherine Bourzac | January 22, 2023
The researchers analyzed PFAS data collected from 2013–2015 by the US Environmental Protection Agency on more than 500 freshwater fish. They found an average of 9.5 ppb PFAS in fish from US rivers and streams and 11.8 ppb in fish from the Great Lakes. Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) was the most commonly found PFAS, averaging 74% of the total PFAS. For comparison, the scientists looked at data from the US Food and Drug Administration on PFAS in commercially relevant fish in 2019–2022. They report that the average amount of PFAS in freshwater fish was 280 times more than that found in commercially available fish sold in the US. The FDA has not established a safe level for PFAS in fish.
by Britt E. Erickson | January 18, 2023
We had just installed our benchtop small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) instrument, and I spent the summer with a postdoc and graduate student learning data collection, processing, and analysis. The learning process was fantastic and validated my decision to make this big life change. By fall, our first article featuring data from the SAXS was published in JACS.”
by Nina Notman, special to C&EN | December 30, 2022
—Massive tools advanced big chemistry in 2022 “Gigantic data sets and colossal instruments helped scientists tackle chemistry on a giant scale this year” Scientists made big discoveries with supersized tools in 2022. Building on the recent trend of chemically competent artificial intelligence, researchers made great strides, teaching computers to predict protein structures on an unprecedented scale.
by Ariana Remmel | December 15, 2022
Safety data for ink ingredients exist, but they were often collected in nontattoo contexts. Tattoo ink manufacturers formulate their products using ingredients originally intended for textiles, paints, and other manufacturing industries. So existing health data don’t account for these ingredients sitting in the skin for long periods. This data gap has left toxicologists and other health experts with questions about what factors cause some people with tattoos to experience adverse health events such as infections, allergic reactions, and other dermatologic problems. Existing data have already pushed some governments to act. This year, the European Union enacted new regulations that prohibit tattoo inks from containing substances that are known to harm human health.
by Ariana Remmel | December 02, 2022
—US EPA proposes raising TSCA fees paid by chemical manufacturers “Industry group wants substantiation of the agency’s plan” Under a Nov. 16 proposal, manufacturers would have to pay more for the US Environmental Protection Agency to review new chemicals and data about substances on the market that may present risks, under a Nov. 16 proposal.
by Cheryl Hogue | November 27, 2022