ChemMonthly January 2019

Article | March 11, 2020

Despite the common assumption that adverse drug reactions only affect the kidney and liver, more than 600 medications inducing lung toxicity have been reported.1 Lungs are susceptible to toxicity due to their large surface area and metabolism of certain substances2, such as antibiotics and anti-inflammatories, and specialist drugs targeting the cardiovascular system and tumours. This has resulted in 4-10% of patients developing pulmonary toxicity.

Article | March 11, 2020

A Raman microscope combines a Raman spectrograph and a light microscope to gain chemical and structural information from materials down to the micron scale. Raman spectroscopy observes when the wavelength of light changes as it interacts with a molecule. The different wavelengths seen in Raman scattering can identify and study vibrational, rotational, and bending forces within chemical bonds of a molecule.

Article | March 11, 2020

Smart use of your plant’s data can take process efficiency to a higher level. Hybrid models driven by artificial intelligence deliver the best results for the least effort. And you don’t need a data science degree to enjoy them. Data is everywhere these days – and the volumes of it are growing exponentially all the time. We’re used to smart uses of it in our everyday lives. Like Amazon and Netflix using our past behavior to tempt us with new products or shows, even making them more appealing by tailoring how they look based on carefully constructed, data-driven profiles of our tastes. Much of that heavy lifting is done by artificial intelligence (AI). In chemical production, process control systems have been collecting data measurements during continuous or batch manufacturing for decades.

CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY

Article | March 11, 2020

IN 2015, a global agreement was reached that 8m tonnes a year of plastic waste entering the oceans was unacceptable, according to this September 2020 article in The Conversation. This was the amount of plastic that was estimated to have ended up in the oceans in 2010. “Several international platforms emerged to address the crisis, including Our Ocean, the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the G7 Ocean Plastic Charter, among others,” continued the article. But in 2020, an estimated 24m-34m tonnes of plastic waste was forecast to enter our lakes, rivers and oceans. This could reach as much as 90m tonnes in 2030 if the current trajectory continued, said The Conversation. This is the type of information out there, free to view on the internet and accessible via a very quick Google search, representing a major challenges for our industry. I cannot of course verify the numbers. But they are out there. Also out there is a May 2019 article by the World Economic Forum (WEF), which provided a good summary of research into what experts believed was the scale of the waste problem in the developing world.