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Phasing out the toxic chemicals in children's clothing

No parent would want toxic materials in their children's clothing. Yet according to a new Greenpeace study a range of hazardous chemicals is being used in the production of kids' wear from top fashion brands.

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Petro-Canada

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Chemical Management

The supply-chain inflation threat to petrochemicals demand

Article | July 8, 2022

Petrochemicals themselves remain in short supply. This is partly because of reduced feedstock from refineries, a consequence of the pandemic-related collapse in transportation fuels demand.Global petrochemical supply is still edging back to something like normal following the US winter storms in February, during which most US capacity was shut down. A point of discussion is whether containers will become available in the right places at the right prices to relieve tightness in the European polyethylene (PE) market, once US supply has normalised. The container issue is making it difficult to move PE and polypropylene (PP) cargoes from Asia to Europe.Market intelligence from the US-based ICIS CDI team indicates that enough container freight space will be available to resume significant shipments of US PE to Europe, albeit at high prices. It will be several more weeks before domestic pipelines have been refilled, enabling US producers to refocus on exports, added CDI.

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Chemical Management

Closing the loop: Real-time measurement of oil in water for process facilities

Article | July 22, 2021

When an oilfield’s reservoir pressure is depleted during primary recovery, additional oil can be recovered by recycling the produced water and injecting it back into the reservoir. Water management is critical for such water and water-alternating-gas (WAG) floods. In its Permian basin operations, Occidental recovers, recycles, and re-injects large volumes of water for its enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operations. With real-time monitoring of oil in water (OiW) delivering reliable and continuous data, Occidental identified a way to optimize the recovery process and is working with NOV to expand the use of OiW monitoring equipment.

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Chemical Management

Petrochemicals markets complexity is only going to grow and grow

Article | July 13, 2021

NICE WORK, if you get can get it. A trucking company in Fort Worth, Texas, is offering to pay experienced drivers $14,000 a week – $728,000 a year – as the US struggles with a nationwide shortage of truckers or lorry drivers. This reminds me of perhaps an apocryphal tale, from the height of the last Australian mining boom. Before iron ore prices collapsed in late 2014, there was a story about workers at mining site road junctions who operated manual “Stop and Go” signs. They were said to be earning more than Australian dollar (A$) 200,000 a year. Before you pack in your job as, say, a petrochemicals sales manager and head to Texas or mine sites in Western Australia, there is the risk that when you arrive at the door of your new prospective employer, the bubble might have already burst. This is assuming we are in bubble conditions.The pressure is clearly building in petrochemicals and other commodity markets as prices in some regions remain at record highs or continue to rise. Today’s prices are the results of shortages of commodities supply (for example in petrochemicals, an outcome of the US winter storms), very strong demand and supply chain disruptions.I am beginning to believe that the latter is the biggest reason for commodity price inflation which is feeding through into sharp rises in the cost of finished goods – and a lack of goods availability. It is delivering and manufacturing enough stuff that seems to be at the heart of today’s problems due to shortages of everything from container freight space and semiconductors to wooden pallets, tin cans, metal drums, cardboard – and US truck drivers.

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Chemical Technology

Resin and Polymeric Binders for Inks

Article | May 19, 2021

The market size for polymeric and resin binders in the global printing ink marketwas estimated to be over 1,200,000 MT in 2020, with a CAGR of about five percent. A major driver of this growth comes from the packaging industry, due to increases in consumer spending and online shopping, as well as demand for processed and packaged foods and beverages. In addition, increased use of water-based inks is promoting market growth, off-setting environmental and health concerns regarding solvent-based inks in addition to strict environmental protection policies. Water-based inks are projected to overtake solvent-based inks due to environmental regulations, the reduction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the pressroom, and improvements in overall print quality. Ink formulations are complex mixtures, consisting of four basic component classes: pigments, polymeric binder resins, solvents or an aqueous dispersant media, and additives, such as surfactants, waxes, and rheology modifiers that enhance print quality. The purpose of the resin binder is to disperse and carry the ink pigment to the substrate, stabilize the pigment and additives dispersion to prevent settling, and provide print properties such as ink transfer behavior, setting, and drying characteristics. The binder also contributes surface appearance and gloss, strength and flexibility, chemical and solvent resistance, and also rub resistance. Ink binders can be categorized into the following polymer and resin types: acrylics, polyurethanes, polyamides, modified resins, hydrocarbon resins, and modified cellulosics.

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Chemical Management

The Future of Supply Chain Management for Chemical Companies

Article | July 8, 2022

Petrochemicals themselves remain in short supply. This is partly because of reduced feedstock from refineries, a consequence of the pandemic-related collapse in transportation fuels demand.Global petrochemical supply is still edging back to something like normal following the US winter storms in February, during which most US capacity was shut down. A point of discussion is whether containers will become available in the right places at the right prices to relieve tightness in the European polyethylene (PE) market, once US supply has normalised. The container issue is making it difficult to move PE and polypropylene (PP) cargoes from Asia to Europe.Market intelligence from the US-based ICIS CDI team indicates that enough container freight space will be available to resume significant shipments of US PE to Europe, albeit at high prices. It will be several more weeks before domestic pipelines have been refilled, enabling US producers to refocus on exports, added CDI.

Read More
Chemical Management

Pandemic’s third wave seems unlikely to damage global petrochemicals demand

Article | July 22, 2021

When an oilfield’s reservoir pressure is depleted during primary recovery, additional oil can be recovered by recycling the produced water and injecting it back into the reservoir. Water management is critical for such water and water-alternating-gas (WAG) floods. In its Permian basin operations, Occidental recovers, recycles, and re-injects large volumes of water for its enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operations. With real-time monitoring of oil in water (OiW) delivering reliable and continuous data, Occidental identified a way to optimize the recovery process and is working with NOV to expand the use of OiW monitoring equipment.

Read More
Chemical Management

Southeast polyolefins demand growth could be negative again in 2021

Article | July 13, 2021

NICE WORK, if you get can get it. A trucking company in Fort Worth, Texas, is offering to pay experienced drivers $14,000 a week – $728,000 a year – as the US struggles with a nationwide shortage of truckers or lorry drivers. This reminds me of perhaps an apocryphal tale, from the height of the last Australian mining boom. Before iron ore prices collapsed in late 2014, there was a story about workers at mining site road junctions who operated manual “Stop and Go” signs. They were said to be earning more than Australian dollar (A$) 200,000 a year. Before you pack in your job as, say, a petrochemicals sales manager and head to Texas or mine sites in Western Australia, there is the risk that when you arrive at the door of your new prospective employer, the bubble might have already burst. This is assuming we are in bubble conditions.The pressure is clearly building in petrochemicals and other commodity markets as prices in some regions remain at record highs or continue to rise. Today’s prices are the results of shortages of commodities supply (for example in petrochemicals, an outcome of the US winter storms), very strong demand and supply chain disruptions.I am beginning to believe that the latter is the biggest reason for commodity price inflation which is feeding through into sharp rises in the cost of finished goods – and a lack of goods availability. It is delivering and manufacturing enough stuff that seems to be at the heart of today’s problems due to shortages of everything from container freight space and semiconductors to wooden pallets, tin cans, metal drums, cardboard – and US truck drivers.

Read More
Chemical Technology

Resin and Polymeric Binders for Inks

Article | May 19, 2021

The market size for polymeric and resin binders in the global printing ink marketwas estimated to be over 1,200,000 MT in 2020, with a CAGR of about five percent. A major driver of this growth comes from the packaging industry, due to increases in consumer spending and online shopping, as well as demand for processed and packaged foods and beverages. In addition, increased use of water-based inks is promoting market growth, off-setting environmental and health concerns regarding solvent-based inks in addition to strict environmental protection policies. Water-based inks are projected to overtake solvent-based inks due to environmental regulations, the reduction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the pressroom, and improvements in overall print quality. Ink formulations are complex mixtures, consisting of four basic component classes: pigments, polymeric binder resins, solvents or an aqueous dispersant media, and additives, such as surfactants, waxes, and rheology modifiers that enhance print quality. The purpose of the resin binder is to disperse and carry the ink pigment to the substrate, stabilize the pigment and additives dispersion to prevent settling, and provide print properties such as ink transfer behavior, setting, and drying characteristics. The binder also contributes surface appearance and gloss, strength and flexibility, chemical and solvent resistance, and also rub resistance. Ink binders can be categorized into the following polymer and resin types: acrylics, polyurethanes, polyamides, modified resins, hydrocarbon resins, and modified cellulosics.

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Spotlight

Petro-Canada

As a Suncor business, Petro-Canada is proudly Canadian, with a leading national network of retail stations, Petro-Pass cardlocks and bulk facilities.

Related News

US, Canada outline plans to align hazcom standards

Chemical Watch | March 11, 2020

Regulators from the US and Canada have laid out plans to coordinate efforts on workplace hazard communication standards as the two countries implement updates to the UN's Globally Harmonized System of classification and labelling of chemicals (GHS). According to the US-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) 2019-20 workplan, released this week, the council expects to roll out joint guidance on the implementation of GHS and interpreting requirements for safety data sheets (SDSs) and communicating product hazards across the two jurisdictions. Another primary goal, highlighted in the RCC workplan, is to have "one label and one SDS" that is acceptable in both countries. US and Canadian regulators also will continue to work together to push for a common position on the GHS at future UN meetings and plan to hold a stakeholder meeting this summer.

Read More

Protecting people from chemical hazards — another EPA failure in the making

TheHill | November 25, 2019

Most Americans assume that the chemicals in the consumer products we buy, such as that long list of unpronounceable ingredients in your bathroom cleaner or laundry detergent, have been tested and found safe for people and the environment. The truth is, not so much. And Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is missing an important opportunity to make those products safer. For decades, efforts to ensure chemical safety were stymied by an ineffective regulatory regime: the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976, which regulated household and industrial compounds, was widely regarded as toothless. During my 20-plus year career at EPA, I served as a senior manager in the agency’s toxics program from 1987 to 1989. The weakness of the original TSCA was a key factor in my decision to leave that position.

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Tiny gels sop up intestinal toxins

phys.org | March 20, 2018

Bacterial infections that target the intestine can cause conditions that range from uncomfortable to deadly. While it's easy to blame the bacteria, it's actually the toxins the bacteria produce that trigger inflammation, diarrhea, fever and cramps. Treatment strategies typically include indiscriminate antibiotics that slaughter health-promoting gut bacteria along with disease-causing microbes. Researchers now report the development of a microgel scavenger that targets toxins instead of bacteria. The researchers will present their work today at the 255th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS)."We want to develop a new therapy that is based on scavenging the toxins rather than killing both the good and bad bacteria," says Alexander Kuehne, Ph.D. "This way inflammation can be reduced while supporting the natural intestinal flora and holding the bad bacteria at bay."About three decades ago, Kuehne says, scientists developed a particle that used electronic charge to bind toxins in the intestine. It made it to the clinical testing stage, he says, but had too many non-specific targets for further development. This idea was the basis, though, for Kuehne's team's current project.

Read More

US, Canada outline plans to align hazcom standards

Chemical Watch | March 11, 2020

Regulators from the US and Canada have laid out plans to coordinate efforts on workplace hazard communication standards as the two countries implement updates to the UN's Globally Harmonized System of classification and labelling of chemicals (GHS). According to the US-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) 2019-20 workplan, released this week, the council expects to roll out joint guidance on the implementation of GHS and interpreting requirements for safety data sheets (SDSs) and communicating product hazards across the two jurisdictions. Another primary goal, highlighted in the RCC workplan, is to have "one label and one SDS" that is acceptable in both countries. US and Canadian regulators also will continue to work together to push for a common position on the GHS at future UN meetings and plan to hold a stakeholder meeting this summer.

Read More

Protecting people from chemical hazards — another EPA failure in the making

TheHill | November 25, 2019

Most Americans assume that the chemicals in the consumer products we buy, such as that long list of unpronounceable ingredients in your bathroom cleaner or laundry detergent, have been tested and found safe for people and the environment. The truth is, not so much. And Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is missing an important opportunity to make those products safer. For decades, efforts to ensure chemical safety were stymied by an ineffective regulatory regime: the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976, which regulated household and industrial compounds, was widely regarded as toothless. During my 20-plus year career at EPA, I served as a senior manager in the agency’s toxics program from 1987 to 1989. The weakness of the original TSCA was a key factor in my decision to leave that position.

Read More

Tiny gels sop up intestinal toxins

phys.org | March 20, 2018

Bacterial infections that target the intestine can cause conditions that range from uncomfortable to deadly. While it's easy to blame the bacteria, it's actually the toxins the bacteria produce that trigger inflammation, diarrhea, fever and cramps. Treatment strategies typically include indiscriminate antibiotics that slaughter health-promoting gut bacteria along with disease-causing microbes. Researchers now report the development of a microgel scavenger that targets toxins instead of bacteria. The researchers will present their work today at the 255th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS)."We want to develop a new therapy that is based on scavenging the toxins rather than killing both the good and bad bacteria," says Alexander Kuehne, Ph.D. "This way inflammation can be reduced while supporting the natural intestinal flora and holding the bad bacteria at bay."About three decades ago, Kuehne says, scientists developed a particle that used electronic charge to bind toxins in the intestine. It made it to the clinical testing stage, he says, but had too many non-specific targets for further development. This idea was the basis, though, for Kuehne's team's current project.

Read More

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