Chemistry – Page 20 – David Bradley

Atmospheric, Spectroscopic, Arsenic

Arsenic poisoning Remote arsenic assessment – A topic I’ve come back to again and again since I first covered for The Guardian the breaking news of arsenic contaminated tubewells on the Indian sub-continent in 1995. Now, an informatics approach to surface data could allow geologists and environmental scientists to identify regions of the world where people are at risk of exposure to arsenic in their drinking water without the need for widespread sampling to be undertaken. More…

Listening to tomographic tales – Researchers in the USA and The Netherlands have pieced together a picture of the most exquisite of molecular machines using electron-microscopic tomography. The team has for the first time obtained a three-dimensional structure of the gossamer-like filament of proteins found within the inner ear that gives us our sense of hearing and balance. More…

Atmospheric NMR – Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy has been used to study the kinetics of atmospheric pollutants in the gas phase for the first time. The method provides an empirical correlation between the atmospheric lifetimes of atmospheric pollutants and their relative reaction rates with chloro radicals at ambient temperatures. Read on…

Ebola spiked – An X-ray structure of the surface spike of the Ebola virus could explain how this lethal pathogen infects human cells and may help researchers devise preventative measures to stop the virus spreading during an outbreak. Full story…

Dirty Dozen Chemicals

Dirty dozen chemicals We live in an age of chemophobia, an insidious disease that threatens our way of life, precludes R & D that might solve many of the environmental issues we face and prevents disease-stopping compounds being deployed where they are most needed in the developing world. Chemophobia is an irrational fear of all things chemical and is usually contracted by those already with naturophilia, the irrational love of all things natural.

It usually starts with a dose of nostalgia, pangs for a time when the world was simpler, and an aching for a natural world that we have long since lost. Unfortunately for sufferers, there never was a time of simplicity and natural living. In those halcyon days of yore, infectious disease was rife, infant mortality rates were high, and life expectancy was very low.

Natural, at that time meant, inept remedies for lethal diseases such as polio, tuberculosis, bacterial infections, and plague. It meant poor harvests and widespread famine, and if disease didn’t catch you young, only those who kept their heads very low were safe from interminable wars, rock-breaking on distant sun-bleached shores, or the hangman’s noose, guilty or otherwise. Today, we may have more obesity and diabetes and certainly fare more incidences of the diseases of old age, but that’s because we have more food to eat (in the developed world, at least) and live longer.

Certainly, natural does not equate to good for you – think snake venom, belladonna, and deadly toadstools, whereas most synthetic chemicals have a strong pedigree and have tested safety and toxicity. But throw in the fact that most chemophobics also have risk assessment blindness as well as dystatistica and we see pronouncements on all things chemical and synthetic as being bad.

It is from this, that the UNEP Dirty Dozen Chemicals list emerges. Not only has it a far too conveniently tabloid name to be believed, but several of the entries are not single chemicals but whole families.

Needless to say, several of these, while appearing to be the harbinger’s of doom media hyperbole would have us believe, are not necessarily as dangerous to us or the environment as you might think, and others, such as DDT could be used to help eradicate one of the biggest global killers. Indeed, the WHO now allows for the use of DDT to fight malaria-bearing mosquitoes.

Aldrin (pesticide)
Chlordane (pesticide)
DDT (pesticide, highly effective against malaria-carrying mosquitoes)
Dieldrin
Heptachlor
Mirex
Toxaphene
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs, a whole group of diverse compounds, each with
its own properties)
Hexachlorobenzene
Dioxins (a whole diverse group of compounds)
Furans (a whole diverse group of compounds, each with its own properties)

These compounds are now banned under UNEP, but were not used in manufacturing before this list was created.

There are other lists, such as the List of RoHO prohibited substances, which includes lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants, which is fair enough. And, industry-specific lists, such as the Volvo manufacturing black list, which lists all the compounds that may not be used in its production lines, including CFC cooling agents, the paint hardener methylenedianiline, and the previously discussed carbon tetrachloride

In a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Sustainable Manufacturing (2008, 1, 41-57), Jack Jeswiet, of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada and Michael Hauschild of the Danish Technical University, Denmark, argue the case that market forces need to inform environmental design. One can only assume that this should be one of the drivers rather than media scare stories, chemophobia and the simplistic blanket precautions of lists.

Greenhouse gas emissions, environmental impact, and toxic substances to be avoided must all be addressed by the EcoDesigner in any design situation, they say. The ecodesigner cannot control market forces, but must aware of them and rules should be followed to reduce the eco footprint.

At the time of writing, a news release from the UK’s Royal Society’s summer science exhibition presented findings from consumers tests being carried out during the event which is open to the public. The researchers involved, from the National Physical Laboratory, are working towards producing the world’s first model that will predict how we perceive “naturalness”. They claim that the results could help manufacturers produce synthetic products that are so good they seem “natural” to our senses and are fully equivalent to the “real thing”, but with the benefits of reduced environmental impact and increased durability.

Meanwhile, a new study shows that companies are significantly hijacking the language of environmentalists to their own marketing ends, presumably hoping to leverage the best out of the movement in selling their products.

Colour MRI, Agent Prion, Testing Testosterone

Martian minerals, courtesy of NASA I’ve got some wide-ranging research to report in this week’s SpectroscopyNOW, including mineral tests, colour MRI, the Agent Smith of prions, and a new approach to spotting doped athletes.

New insights offered by near infrared spectroscopy into the mineralogy of carbonate rocks could help improve the outlook for carbon capture and storage in efforts to reduce the effect of carbon dioxide emissions on the global climate. Although, personally I think the real relevance of this work will be in understanding the mineral found on Mars or other planets rather than some spurious and potentially misguided efforts to control the atmosphere.

Not everything is black and white, perhaps with the exception of MRI. Aside from the artificial colours that can be added by computer, MRI is a technique of contrasts and greyscales. However, that could all change soon thanks to the ongoing development of microscopic magnetic particles by researchers in the US who hope to bring a little colour to MRI.

Meanwhile, NMR spectroscopy (the original molecular MRI) has revealed significant difference between the infectious and non-infectious form of prions, errant proteins that replicate by converting other proteins into copies of themselves. The finding could lead to new insights into how prions cause brain diseases, such as CJD and may one day lead to a way to stop their spread.

Faster and more accurate testing of complex systems such as skin and other turbid media could soon be possible thanks to a laser boost for Raman spectroscopy. The technique has potential applications in pharmaceutical research, forensic science and security screening.

Another analytical boost comes with work being done at Argonne National Laboratory to develop a new super bright source of X-rays that are one hundred million times brighter than any currently operating laboratory source. The sources will open up new avenues in materials science such as the faster and more detailed analysis of high-temperature superconductors.

Finally, in the current specNOW issue, a new analytical approach to testing for testosterone and related steroids in body fluids could spot illicit doping of athletes at coming sports events.

Carbon Tet and Paradigm Shifts

Since tetrachloromethane is banned as an industrial solvent avoiding its formation as a byproduct of other chlorocarbons is important, this week, The Alchemist learns that a lanthanum chloride catalyst could help with the cleanup. A paradigm shift in drug discovery could be approaching as researchers working with proteins involved in Alzheimer’s disease have discovered an apparently novel approach to inhibiting disease. In organic chemistry, the Alchemist hears that molecules are not quite as diverse as we first thought, while an Olympic analysis could help sports officials spot dopey athletes. Princeton scientists are focusing on a new approach to making microchips and, finally, an astronomer with a chemical bent has had a cometary mineral named for him.

More on this and all the links in my Alchemist column on ChemWeb

Alcohol Causes Cancer

It’s quite illuminating that the following study has not yet reached the wider media. Without wishing to be too cynical, I do wonder whether that’s because the journal in which the work is published does not use a highly aggressive press office and marketing machine like so many other medical journals, which never seem to be out of the news. The results in this paper are just as important and the implications perhaps even more far reaching than many other results that attract instantaneous (under embargo) media attention. Anyway, take a look and judge for yourself, oh and let me know afterwards if you think the headline for this post is way off mark.

Alcohol blamed for oral cancer risk – A large-scale statistical analysis of mouth and throat cancer incidence over a long period of time has looked at possible correlations between exposure to industrial chemicals, dust and alcoholic beverages in a wide variety of individuals in different occupations across Finland. The perhaps surprising conclusion drawn is that alcohol consumption rather than industrial chemicals or dusts is the critical factor associated with this form of cancer. Get the full story in this week’s edition of my SpectroscopyNOW column here.

I suppose it’s a little ironic that in the same edition of Spec Now, I’m also writing about how to make beer taste fresher and last longer on the shelf. NMR spectroscopy, and a chromatography sniff test have yielded results that could help brewers improve the flavour and shelf-life of beer thanks to work by scientists in Venezuela. The team has identified alpha-dicarbonyls as important compounds that reduce beer’s flavour and point to a new approach to brewing beer that stays fresher, longer. Take a sip here…

Meanwhile, another subject of mixed messages regarding health benefits is that perennial favourite chocolate. To maintain the seductive and lustrous brown gloss of chocolate, so enticing to chocoholics the world over, food technologists must find a way to prevent fat bloom from forming on the surface and turning the surface an unappealing grey. Now, scientists from Canada and Sweden have found new clues to understanding the microstructure of chocolate and what happens when it turns grey with age. More…

Finally, some straight chemistry with absolutely no hint of biomedicine, health, or pharmaceutical implications (yet). A novel structure studied using X-ray crystallography hints at the possibility of a carbon atom that, at first site seems to be a little different from the conventional textbook view. Could the oldest rule of organic chemistry have been broken at last, or is low atomic separation being equated too keenly with the presence of a bond, or could there be something else afoot, as Steve Bachrach suggests? Read on…

Midsummer Alchemist

Midsummer alchemist First online in The Alchemist, this week, is an award for pioneering work in mass spectrometry and the study of molecules colliding with surfaces.

A way to create the thinnest polyethylene plastic bag ever has been devised by a team in Germany, while Australian researchers are hoping to defeat HIV by thickening the protective keratin layer of the penis using the female hormone estrogen. The Alchemist also learns that the Brits are turning to waste oil from that wondrous delicacy Fish & Chips to power up their cars.

Also in this week’s issue, Japanese chemists have synthesized what at first site looks to be a hexavalent carbon compound. Finally, with the long summer months stretching ahead of those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, The Alchemist cracks open a tinny and discovers that researchers in Venezuela have uncovered the secret to making beer last longer – add a little poison.

Grab all leads in my Alchemist column on Chemweb.com

Also live this week, the latest Intute Spotlight, covering rule-breaking quantum mechanics, exploiting pathological proteins in polymer science, and size does matter (on a planetary scale). Switch on the Spotlight. You may also like to check out the recent scientific discoveries archive on Sciencebase.

Lead Astray

Literal gun crime Reminiscences on a serious Stateside gun crime: You would think you wouldn’t find a less controversial topic to write about than the analysis of heavy metals using thermal ionisation mass spectrometry (TIMS). In some ways it must sound like the dullest topic in the world, beyond those who work with MS. However, when the metal in question is lead, and its source is ammunition then I should have been prepared for a flame-war from the US readership over one particular specialist publication for which I wrote on the subject a few years ago. The bottom line is: don’t make flippant remarks connecting guns and ill health unless you want to be shot down in flames.

Anyway, the article in question (Instruments and Applications – Lead astray, from the now defunct Today’s Chemist at Work, can be downloaded here as a PDF) discussed TIMS’ analytical prowess and the serendipitous discovery by Australian researchers that it is not only those looking down the barrel of a gun who can end up with a nasty dose of lead, but perhaps even those holding the shooters themselves. With that article, it seems I hit a rather raw nerve in ending my feature with a rather glib question asking whether this might be a “healthy argument against bearing arms.”

In finishing with this throwaway query I was apparently jeopardising the very US Constitution. At least that’s the impression I got when my Editor began to forward the deluge of letters of complaint. I was accused of ignorance (not the first time), of having a political agenda (never), and even of being a “liberal” (perish the thought). One shooting chemist emailed in all uppercase letters to show his indignation:

“THE LAST SENTANCE SHOW YOU TO BE A LIBERAL WHO THINKS THAT GUNS ARE AN EVIL.”

Iron-ically, or should I say lead-ingly, another correspondent critical of the inaccurate portrayal of guns in fiction came to my rescue: “Keep up the good work, and kudos to David Bradley for a well-written article!” he proclaimed. So everything I wrote wasn’t all bad, after all.

Spelling, grammar, capital errors, and green spidery ink aside, the comments received highlighted an issue on which many readers of the magazine were obviously very passionate. I must confess, nothing I have written before has generated quite so many letters.

Was I naÃ¯ve to throw scorn, albeit flippantly, on the idea of bearing arms? My Editor and her colleagues were as stunned as I at how many letters the article generated, especially given that the magazine was targeted at industrial chemists and not the general public. However, the 99,967 or so subscribers who didn’t write in obviously didn’t feel that the attitude gap between opposite sides of the Atlantic was quite as wide as the few who did.

Sunshine Monomer and the X-ray Sidestep

Sunny face A simpler, gentler eye test based on Raman spectroscopy could spot ocular infection and other problems without irritating patients, although they may be required to yawn during the procedure. Whichever way you look at them, whether through the emotional blur of crying or as lachrymal secretions ripe for analysis, tears are complex. Now, researchers in the UK, have taken a close look at this aqueous solution of proteins, metabolites, electrolytes and lipids using Raman spectroscopy and obtained results that would make any ocular enthusiast cry with joy. Read more about this today in a sneak preview of my SpectroscopyNOW column for June 1.

Also in the June 1 issue – Sunshine monomer – Australian researchers have built a model of the skin pigment that protects us from harmful ultraviolet rays, that could help explain how the pigment can absorb and dissipate the energy of 99.9% of solar UV. Meanwhile crystallographers in the USA may have found a way to side-step one of the most frustrating steps in obtaining a molecular structure using X-ray diffraction, the crystallisation process itself. Instead, they’re using lasers to align molecules in the gas phase so that they can get Bragg-like diffraction pattern with pulses of high-energy synchrotron X-rays. The work could open up protein science in an entirely unprecedented way allowing proteins that cannot be crystallised to be studied with atom-by-atom detail. More on that, here.

Heavy Metal and Alzheimer’s

Heavy metal bass More popular science news with a spectroscopic bent from the desk of David Bradley, this week: Heavy metal and Alzheimer’s – While the protein-like plaques that form in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease and in other tissues in a wide range of different disorders are well known, what is less well known is that fairly high concentrations of transition metal elements, including copper, iron, and zinc, are also present. Do these metals have a role to play in plaque formation or are they a side-effect. New research using X-ray and NMR spectroscopy could shed light on the issue and perhaps one day lead to new approaches to therapy based on controlling these metals.

Forgetful quanta – Researchers have, for the first time, monitored oscillations in a vanadium-based molecular magnet. These so-called Rabi oscillations are characteristic of the disturbances that have so far prevented scientists developing a viable quantum bit, or qubit, for use in the next generation of probabilistic computers and encryption devices. According to one independent commentator, the research represents the passing of a milestone on the road to quantum computers. Now that scientists understand the cause of this problem they might be able to address it by swapping atoms with spin for isotopes with zero spin and so cut down on the noise.

More spec news from DB and others on spectroscopynow.com

Recycling Science

Oleg Shpyrko speckle My Alchemist column on ChemWeb is live once again: This week’s award is for science that sheds light on a range of physical phenomena including liquid-metal surfaces and condensed matter. The recipient of the award, Oleg Shpyrko of the University of California San Diego, will receive the 2008 Rosalind Franklin Young Investigator Award from Argonne National Laboratory. I asked him what the award means to him:

“It is a great honor to have my research recognized in this way but credit should be shared between all of my collaborators, especially the Advanced Photon Source beamline scientists without whom the research simply would not be possible. What makes the APS a truly world-class facility is not just its unique X-ray beam characteristics, but also the outstanding group of scientists working here. The synergy between the users and APS scientists is an absolutely crucial component for the cutting-edge research performed there.”

Meanwhile, in straight chemistry news, nanotubes are feeling the heat of chilies and while analysts are musing on the lack of psychedelics in artists’ tipple absinthe. Also, this week, X-ray studies are helping in the redesign of novel anticancer compounds, while a connection the great British seaside holiday, kelp and iodine as an oxidant is revealed. Finally, plastic lasers could open the door for a new range of spectroscopic and medical diagnostics instrumentation. Get the full alchemical news here.

You may also be interested in science news with a spectroscopic bent where I report on how recycling old computers and electronics can be used to make a new type of feedstock oil for the petrochemical industry.

Recycling of a different kind in which parts from a CD-ROM drive have been scavenged for another purpose could help bring quick and inexpensive DNA diagnostics to the poorer parts of the world. More on that here.