They used solvents to coax relatively high levels of organic chemicals out of the different types of plastic pollution and then assayed whether they activated gene-expression-regulating proteins called transcription factors in the cells. Their goal was to identify biological pathways that might be activated by exposure to the plastic and assess whether burnt and unburned plastic from the spill had different effects.
by Katherine Bourzac | January 22, 2023
—Circa signs another customer for its biobased solvent Cyrene “” Circa Group has agreed to supply the chemical distributor Oqema with several thousand metric tons per year of its dihydrolevoglucosenone solvent, to be made in a plant set to open in late 2023 in Carling Saint-Avold, France. The solvent, sold as Cyrene, is derived from cellulose and intended to replace petrochemical solvents such as N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone.
by Michael McCoy | January 21, 2023
PureCycle Technologies has selected the Port of Antwerp-Bruges as the location of the first European plant to use its solvent-based process to recycle polypropylene. The company’s first plant is under construction in Ironton, Ohio. Asahi Kasei, the National Institute of Technology in Kitakyushu, Japan, and the Tokyo University of Science have jointly developed a closed-loop recycling process for low-value carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics.
January 20, 2023
The EPA has nearly finished revising the assessments for the other 9 chemicals, except for the solvent 1,4-dioxane. The agency is completely redoing that one. “We’re working as quickly as we can to put measures in place to protect people from exposures to dangerous chemicals like trichloroethylene, methylene chloride, and asbestos,” Freedhoff told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in June 2022.
by Britt E. Erickson | January 11, 2023
Pohl Sponsor: MilliporeSigma Citation: For contributions to accelerated solvent extraction and synthesis of novel chromatographic stationary phases Current position: President, Cap Chromatography Education: BS, chemistry, University of Washington Pohl on the most rewarding part of his job: “Learning the skills necessary to make chromatographic materials with specific selectivity characteristics is the most rewarding part of my job.
by Nina Notman, special to C&EN | December 30, 2022