Tag: chemistry
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Agencies Use Robotics to Test Chemicals for Toxicity
National Institutes of Health (NIH) today unveiled a new robotic screening system that will test 10,000 different chemicals for potential toxicity. The system is a result of a collaboration among several federal agencies known as Tox21. The system is located at NIH’s Chemical Genomics Center in Rockville, Maryland. Tox21 is a joint effort started in…
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Chemistry Prof. Commercializes Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology
A chemistry professor at Michigan State University in East Lansing developed a process for making inexpensive hydrogen fuel cells to generate cheap electrical power, and helped start a business to bring that technology to market. A company making portable device chargers has now licensed the technology and unveiled its product this week. James Dye has…
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Two Pesticides Linked to Higher Rates of Parkinson’s Disease
A new study by government and private research institutes shows higher rates of Parkinson’s disease among people using the highly restricted pesticides rotenone and paraquat. The findings were published recently in an online issue of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. The research team found that people who used either pesticide developed Parkinson’s disease about 2.5…
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Greener Process Developed for Producing Industrial Chemical
A U.S.-U.K. chemistry and engineering team has developed a more environmentally friendly process for producing benzyl benzoate, a common chemical found in food additives, insecticides, fragrances, and used in other industrial chemical processes. The research was partially funded by the Dow Chemical Company and the findings are published in this week’s issue of the journal…
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National Lab, University Develop Tougher, Stronger Glass
A group of engineering and materials scientists have developed a new type of damage-tolerant metallic glass, demonstrating a strength and toughness that they say goes beyond that of any known material. The team had members from California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California.…
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Study: Scented Products Stink with Unlisted Chemicals
A study by an engineering professor at University of Washington (UW) in Seattle found that 25 commonly used scented products emit an average of 17 chemicals each, including some toxic substances. Only in a few instances were the potentially dangerous chemicals disclosed on the product labels. All were widely used brands, with more than half…
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Prof Creates High-Value Chemicals from Biomass
An Iowa State University researcher in Ames, Iowa has discovered a method for producing chemicals such as ethylene glycol and propylene glycol from biomass rather than petroleum. Both chemicals are used in a variety of commercial and industrial products. Walter Trahanovsky, an Iowa State professor of chemistry was looking to produce sugar derivatives from cellulose…