l’actualité chimique canadienne canadian chemical news ACCN
April|avril • 2010 • Vol. 62, No./n o 4
Malnutrition
Chemical engineering on the front lines of one of the world’s deadliest problems How Cosmic Chemistry is Contributing to Life on Earth Innovation or Bust: Phosphorus from Waste Water First in a three part series
AChemical PublicationInstitute of the Chemical Institute of Canada and its Constituent Societies / Une publication de l’institut de chimie du canada et ses sociétés constituantes of Canada
Contents
april|avril • 2010 • Vol. 62, No./n o 4
Features
First in a three part series 14 InnovationorBust: In Pursuit of P – Pulling phosphorus out of wastewater By Tim Lougheed
16 28 Departments 5
From the editor De la rédactrice en chef
7
Guest Column Chroniqueur invité
23 With a Grain of Salt 18 All How chemical engineering could help eradicate malnutrition
Pour obtenir la version française de cet article, écrivez-nous à magazine@accn.ca
Remarks by Peter Singer
9
Chemical News Actualité chimique
Society News 27 Nouvelles des sociétés
30
Chemfusion
By Joe Schwarcz
Gravity Gets in the Way 22 When Four Canadian research projects in microgravity By Alison Palmer
From the editor De la rédactrice en chef
ACCN Executive Director/Directeur général Roland Andersson, MCIC Editor/Rédactrice en chef Jodi Di Menna Graphic Designer/Infographiste Krista Leroux Communications manager/ Directrice des communications Lucie Frigon Marketing Manager/ Directrice du marketing Bernadette Dacey Staff Writer/rédactrice Anne Campbell, MCIC
“
E
ngineers solve problems.” It’s a simple and common statement, easily accepted as truth. What compels engineers to find solutions to the world’s many technical hurdles is somewhat harder to pin down. Like in any field, motivations are as varied as personality types. For some, perhaps, it’s purely the intellectual challenge, for others, the gratification of seeing their work in action. Sometimes it’s altruism and a sincere wish to see humanity prosper. For Levente Diosady, whose work as a chemical and food engineer has begun to chip away at the devastating affliction of malnutrition in the developing world, it’s not hard to imagine what drives him forward. In this issue’s Q and A we talked to Diosady about how something as simple as micronutrient supplements can solve so much. Also in this issue: When it comes to innovation, Canada has hardly been top of the class. On page 14 we kick off a three-part series that examines how chemical scientists in Canada are traversing the proverbial valley of death that lies between a good idea and a profitable business venture. We then take a look at how Canadian researchers have been taking advantage of the microgravity environment in space to answer questions that could effect our lives on Earth. ACCN
Awards and Local Sections Manager/ Directrice des prix et des sections locales Gale Thirlwall Editorial Board/Conseil de rédaction Joe Schwarcz, MCIC, chair/président Cathleen Crudden, MCIC Milena Sejnoha, MCIC Bernard West, MCIC Editorial Office/ Bureau de la rédaction 130, rue Slater Street, Suite/bureau 550 Ottawa, ON K1P 6E2 T. 613-232-6252 • F./Téléc. 613-232-5862 magazine@accn.ca • www.accn.ca Advertising/Publicité advertising@accn.ca Subscription Rates/Tarifs d’abonnement Non CIC members/Non-membres de l’ICC : in/au Canada CAN$60; outside/à l’extérieur du Canada US$60. Single copy/Un exemplaire CAN$10 or US$10. ACCN (L’Actualité chimique canadienne/Canadian Chemical News) is published 10 times a year by the Chemical Institute of Canada / est publié 10 fois par année par l’Institut de chimie du Canada. www.cheminst.ca.
I hope you enjoy the read!
Recommended by the Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC), the Canadian Society for Chemistry (CSC), the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering (CSChE), and the Canadian Society for Chemical Technology (CSCT). Views expressed do not necessarily represent the official position of the Institute or of the societies that recommend the magazine.
Jodi Di Menna Editor
Write to the editor at magazine@accn.ca
Recommandé par l’Institut de chimie du Canada, la Société canadienne de chimie, la Société canadienne de génie chimique et la Société canadienne de technologie chimique. Les opinions exprimées ne reflètent pas nécessairement la position officielle de l’Institut ou des sociétés qui soutiennent le magazine. Change of Address/ Changement d’adresse circulation@cheminst.ca Printed in Canada by Delta Printing and postage paid in Ottawa, Ont./ Imprimé au Canada par Delta Printing et port payé à Ottawa, Ont. Publications Mail Agreement Number/ No de convention de la Poste-publications : 40021620. (USPS# 0007-718) Indexed in the Canadian Business Index and available online in the Canadian Business and Current Affairs database. / Répertorié dans le Canadian Business Index et accessible en ligne dans la banque de données Canadian Business and Current Affairs. ISSN 0823-5228
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ď‚š
Chemical Institute of Canada
Guest Column Chroniqueur invité
From Blue Helmets to White Lab Coats
T
[
he] fundamental premise — that science and innovation are essential to the future of Canada, our prosperity and our foreign policy — is one that I think needs to be better understood across society. It’s been almost fifty years since Lester Pearson won a Nobel Peace Prize for his role in resolving the Suez crisis. Pearson’s proposal — the creation of peace keeping forces wearing the blue helmets of the United Nations — revolutionized international relations, revitalized the U.N. and cemented Canada’s reputation in global affairs. It was a time when Canada’s foreign policy mattered. To us. And to the world. I believe it’s time for Canadian foreign policy to matter again. It’s time to propose a new vision, one that will contribute to building a better, safer world. Just as this country formulated a new way to address global conflict through peacekeeping, today we have the opportunity to address global challenges through science. Think of it as Francis Collins recently described global health, “the chance to be more of a doctor to the world than a soldier to the world.” We live in a world where 10 million children die before their fifth birthday, more than a billion people go hungry every day and extreme weather events are devastating communities. Can science help address these global challenges? Absolutely! Just look at malaria — a disease that kills one million children in Africa every year and for which there is currently no vaccine. Today? We have three malaria vaccine candidates in the pipeline. And we are well on the way to developing a drought tolerant maize for Africa, so important in a year when drought has ravaged East Africa. Science is delivering results and there are tremendous opportunities to make a difference. Those opportunities hold the key not only to the progress of developing countries, but to our own prosperity here in Canada.
Think of what projecting our science and technology internationally could mean to Canadian businesses; To companies wanting to reach new customers; To entrepreneurs seeking new partners; Developing new markets; Increasing trade; Creating more jobs for Canadians. Canada needs to redefine its role, reestablish its relevance. Imagine what could happen if every international development agency also funded science. Think of what that could mean to global health, to food and energy security, to climate change and the environment, to the creation of a safer and more equitable world. So for Canada, expanding beyond blue helmets to white lab coats brings significant benefits — to brand our foreign policy based on helping others through science. Solving big problems. Driving Canadian innovation. Opening new markets. Helping countries to develop. Promoting diplomacy. And carving a niche for ourselves in the emerging G20. Canada is not a country of small dreams, modest ambition, limited vision. The proposal I make builds on our strengths, honours our past and points us to a larger — and better — future. Around the same time that Lester Pearson won that Nobel Peace Prize, there was another significant event in this country — the cancellation of the Avro Arrow. Whatever the reasons behind that decision, there is no question that it is now remembered as an opportunity lost, as a time when the genius of our people was not matched by our vision. Let’s not make the same mistake, fifty years later. Let’s seize this moment, this unique confluence of Canadian expertise and international need to project Canadian science and innovation internationally to help solve global challenges. ACCN Excerpted from a speech given by Peter Singer, Director of the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health, at the Canadian Science Policy Conference in Toronto in October 2009.
Want to share your thoughts on this article? Write to us at magazine@accn.ca
april 2010 Canadian Chemical News 7
Chemical Institute of Canada
Get Involved in IYC 2011 now! Share your ideas with the Chemical Institute of Canada Contact your Local Section Talk to your local industries and to departments at universities and colleges Touch base with your local high schools Think of media in your area that might be interested For details about IYC in Canada, visit
www.cheminst.ca/iyc
CIC
8 L’Actualité chimique canadienne
avril 2010
Chemical News Actualité chimique
Mapping Knowledge They’re not your typical cartographers. Researchers from the National Research Council’s Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (NRC-CISTI) and Carleton University have produced a map of science that aims to make it easier to navigate through millions of scientific research articles. Created using NRC-CISTI’s large collection of digital scientific, technical and medical (STM) articles, this map marks the first time document contents alone have been used to produce a viable map of science. Millions of articles were semantically analyzed and their similarities — and the similarities of their respective journals — were used to create a two-dimensional visualization. These types of maps can provide insights into the nature of science itself and are often used for high-level overviews of what is going on in science and how different disciplines relate to one another. The researchers’ primary focus in this case, however, is visualizing individual user search results to support the search experience. “This work is the basis for a service we are working on, where users submit a search and their results are overlaid on the map, providing context and the ability to identify and explore nearby relevant articles,” says Glen Newton, NRC-CISTI researcher and the project’s principal investigator. “Our next step is to work on implementing this process to improve and facilitate knowledge discovery for users.” This research is an important example of how Carleton and NRC-CISTI are working to advance research by providing access to high-value information services. Developing these types of visualization and analysis tools will help users interpret and use STM information more efficiently to speed up the innovation process. “Being able to build and navigate high quality, interactive maps of science from full text articles is a key outcome of leveraging Canada’s emerging cyberinfrastructure,” adds Michel Dumontier, project collaborator and associate professor in Carleton’s Department of Biology and School of Computer Science. “Future integration with our Semantic Web enabled knowledge discovery platform will create new and exciting opportunities for Canadians to explore and discover interesting knowledge emerging from their investments in basic and applied research.” Carleton University
Petroleum Money Funds Pollution Research Carleton Engineering Professor Amir Hakami has received funding from the American Petroleum Institute (API) to help develop better tools for understanding air pollution. “This is very exciting as our research will enable policymakers and industries to devise and adopt targeted strategies to improve air quality,” says Hakami, principal investigator on the project. “The new tools will provide answers to important questions such as how air quality is affected by various industrial sources and how to quantify pollution transported from far away.” The researchers are developing mathematical methods and models to estimate the response of the atmosphere to man-made changes. “These estimates are essential so environmental managers and industries can make reliable, science-based decisions to reduce pollution,” says Hakami. The tools that will be developed will also be useful in many other applications such as air quality forecasting, integration of air quality models and satellite observations and the performance evaluation of emission trading systems.
The project is a collaboration among Carleton University, Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Colorado, with Carleton serving as the lead institution. The project will also allow the research team to embark on a wider effort with other researchers from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Virginia Tech, University of Iowa and the Institute of Computer Science of Czech Republic. The American Petroleum Institute is the only American trade association that represents all aspects of America’s oil and natural gas industry. API represents about 400 corporate members, from the largest major oil company to the smallest of independents, from all segments of the industry. The tools and models developed with API funding will become part of a publicly available air quality modeling system that is used extensively around the globe. “API should be commended for its proactive commitment to environmental research,” Hakami says. “The tools we will develop with this funding will afford higher flexibility and cost savings to industries while adequately addressing concerns of air quality managers and environmental agencies and advocates.” C.U
ACCN
april 2010 Canadian Chemical News 9
Canadian Society for Chemistry
Nominations are now open for the
CanadianSociety for Chemistry
2011AWARDSAct now!
Do you know an outstanding person who deserves to be recognized?
The Rio Tinto Alcan Award is presented to a scientist who has made a distinguished contributionin the fields of inorganic chemistry or electrochemistry while working in Canada. Sponsored by Rio Tinto Alcan. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize and travel expenses. The Alfred Bader Award is presented as a mark of distinction and recognition for excellence in research in organic chemistry by a chemist who is currently working in Canada. Sponsored by Alfred Bader, HFCIC. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize and travel expenses. The Strem Chemicals Award for Pure or Applied Inorganic Chemistry is presented to a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant who has made an outstanding contributionto inorganic chemistry while working in Canada, and who is within ten years of his or her first professional appointment as an independent researcher in an academic, government, or industrial sector. Sponsored by Strem Chemicals Inc. Award: A framed scroll and travel expenses for a lecture tour. The Boehringer Ingelheim Award is presented to a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant whose PhD thesis in the field of organic or bioorganic chemistry was formallyaccepted by a Canadian university in the 12-month period preceding the nominationdeadline of July 2 and whose doctoral research is judged to be of outstanding quality. Sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize and travel expenses. The Clara Benson Award is presented in recognition of a distinguished contribution to chemistry by a woman while working in Canada. Sponsored by the Canadian Council of University Chemistry Chairs (CCUCC).
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Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize and travel expenses.
The Maxxam Award is presented to a scientist who has made a distinguished contribution in the field of analytical chemistry while working in Canada. Sponsored by Maxxam Analytics Inc. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize and travel expenses. The R. U. Lemieux Award is presented to an organic chemist who has made a distinguished contribution to any area of organic chemistry and who is currently working in Canada. Sponsored by the Organic Chemistry Division. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize and travel expenses. The Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research Award is presented to a scientist residing in Canada, who shall not have reached the age of 40 years by April 1 of the year of nomination and who has made a distinguished contribution in the fields of organic chemistry or biochemistry while working in Canada. Sponsored by Merck Frosst Canada Ltd. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize and travel expenses. The Bernard Belleau Award is presented to a scientist residing in Canada who has made a distinguished contribution to the field of medicinal chemistry through research involving biochemical or organic chemical mechanisms. Sponsored by Bristol Myers Squibb Canada Co. Award: A framed scroll and a cash prize. The John C. Polanyi Award is presented to a scientist for excellence in research in physical, theoretical or computational chemistry or chemical physics carried out in Canada. Sponsored by the Physical, Theoretical and Computational Division. Award: A framed scroll.
The Fred Beamish Award is presented to an individual who demonstrates innovation in research in the field of analytical chemistry, where the research is anticipated to have significant potential for practical applications. The award is open to new faculty members at a Canadian university. They must be recent graduates with six years of appointment. Sponsored by Eli Lilly Canada Inc. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize, and travel expenses. The Keith Laidler Award is presented to a scientist who has made a distinguished contributionin the field of physical chemistry while working in Canada. The award recognizes early achievementin the awardee’s independent research career. Sponsored by the Physical, Theoretical and Computational Division. Award: A framed scroll. The W. A. E. McBryde Medal is presented to a young scientist working in Canada who has made a significant achievement in pure or appliedanalytical chemistry. Sponsored by MDS Analytical Technologies. Award: A medal and a cash prize.
Deadline The deadline for all CSC awards is July 2, 2010 for the 2011 selection.
Nomination Procedure Submit your nominations to: Awards Manager Canadian Society for Chemistry 130 Slater Street, Suite 550 Ottawa, ON K1P 6E2 T. 613-232-6252, ext. 223 F. 613-232-5862 awards@cheminst.ca
Nomination forms and the full Terms of Reference for these awards are available at www.chemistry.ca/awards.
Chemical News Actualité chimique
Special Delivery A team of McGill Chemistry Department researchers led by Hanadi Sleiman has achieved a major breakthrough in the development of nanotubes — tiny “magic bullets” that could one day deliver drugs to specific diseased cells. Sleiman explains that the research involves taking DNA out of its biological context. So rather than being used as the genetic code for life, it becomes a kind of building block for tiny nanometre-scale objects. Using this method, the team created the first examples of DNA nanotubes that encapsulate and load cargo, and then release it rapidly and completely when a specific external DNA strand is added. One of these DNA structures is only a few nanometres wide but can be extremely long, about 20,000 nanometres. Until now, DNA nanotubes could only be constructed by rolling a two-dimensional sheet of DNA into a cylinder. Sleiman’s method allows nanotubes of any shape to be formed and they can either be closed to hold materials or porous to release them. Materials such as drugs could then be released when a particular molecule is present. One of the possible future applications for this discovery is cancer treatment. However, Sleiman cautions, “we are still far from being able to treat diseases using this technology;
this is only a step in that direction. Researchers need to learn how to take these DNA nanostructures, such as the nanotubes here, and bring them back to biology to solve problems in nanomedicine, from drug delivery, to tissue engineering to sensors,” she said. McGill University
River Woe Kingston, Ont.’s Inner Harbour on the Cataraqui River has mercury levels in sediment more than two times the federal government’s most severe effect limits, according to a Queen’s University study. “Mercury levels in this part of the river have never been studied before,” says biology professor Linda Campbell. “Now we know the sources of the problem and just how widespread it is.” Most of the western shore of the Cataraqui River south of Belle Park and above the LaSalle Causeway Bridge had levels of contamination, with the worst area around the Cataraqui Canoe Club, just south of the former Davis Tannery. Over the past century, the area has been home to many industries, such as a coal gasification plant, tannery and lead smelter, municipal dump, textile mill and fuel depot.
The report found rain is washing contaminated shoreline soil near the canoe club into the river, adding to the sediment already contaminated by decades of industry. The mercury comes in two forms, mercury and its organic and more toxic form, methylmercury. Right now, most of the mercury around the rowing club seems to be associated with the sediment in its inorganic form, with very little if any actually being mobile in the river water. Rowers and canoeists don’t have to be too concerned about the high mercury levels because they don’t drink the water or spend long periods of time swimming there. But more studies will be needed to determine the impact on marine life. Allison Rutter, director of the Analytical Services Unit in the Environmental Studies department worked on the study with Campbell. “People have always been worried about lead, chromium and PCBs in the Cataraqui River,” says Rutter. “This study looked at mercury. We need to know what and where the major sources of contamination are before we can make a decision on how to solve the problem.” The City of Kingston and Ontario Ministry of Environment have received the study results for consideration when making future decisions about contaminants in the river. Queen’s University
Canadian Society for Chemistry
Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC) presents the Spring 2010 CIC Career Fair at the 93rd Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition
Spring 2010 CIC Career Fair Metro Toronto Convention Centre
Toronto, On • May 29–June 2, 2010
www.csc2010.ca april 2010 Canadian Chemical News 11
Chemical Insititue of Canada
Nominations are now open for the
ChemicalInstitute of Canada
2011AWARDSAct now!
Do you know an outstanding person who deserves to be recognized?
The Chemical Institute of CanadaMedal is presented as a mark of distinctionand recognition to a personwho has made an outstanding contributionto the science of chemistryor chemical engineering in Canada. Sponsored by the Chemical Institute of Canada. Award: A silver medal and travel expenses.
Environment Division Research and Development Award is
The
presented to a scientist or engineer residing in Canada who has made distinguished contributions to research and/or development in the fields of environmental chemistry or environmental chemical engineering. Sponsored by the CIC Environment Division. Award: A framed scroll, cash prize and travel expenses. The Montréal Medal is presented as a mark of distinction and honour to a residentin Canada who has shown significant leadership in or has made an outstandingcontribution to the professionof chemistryor chemical engineeringin Canada. In determining the eligibility for nominations for the award, administrative contributions
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avril 2010
within the Chemical Institute of Canada and other professional organizations that contribute to the advancement of the professions of chemistry and chemical engineering shall be given due consideration. Contributions to the sciences of chemistry and chemical engineering are not to be considered. Sponsoredby the Montréal CIC Local Section. Award: A medal and travel expenses.
Macromolecular Science and EngineeringAward is presented
The
to an individual who, while residing in Canada, has made a distinguished contribution to macromolecularscience or engineering. Sponsored by NOVA Chemicals Ltd. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize, and travel expenses. The CIC Award for Chemical Education is presented as a mark of recognitionto a personwho has made an outstanding contribution in Canada to education at the post-secondary level in the field of chemistry or chemicalengineering. Sponsoredby the CIC Chemical Education Fund. Award: A framed scroll and a cash prize.
Deadlines
The deadline for all CIC awards is July 2, 2010 for the 2011 selection.
Nomination Procedure Submit your nominations to: Awards Manager Chemical Institute of Canada 130 Slater Street, Suite 550 Ottawa, ON K1P 6E2 T. 613-232-6252, ext. 223 F. 613-232-5862 awards@cheminst.ca
Nomination forms and the full Terms of Reference for these awards are available at www.cheminst.ca/awards.
Chemical News Actualité chimique
International Wire The American Chemical Society held its spring meeting in March. Here are just a few highlights from the research presented: • A method of non-destructive carbon dating that works by placing an artifact in a plasma chamber and gently oxidizing the surface to produce carbon dioxide for C-14 analysis. The method is an improvement on conventional carbon dating because it avoids extracting a portion of the artifact, thus opening the door for dating objects too small, delicate or precious to be subjected to the old method. • A study revealing that the notion of going veggie to save the planet is flawed. It has been commonly suggested that raising livestock for meat and dairy products contributes up to 18 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions measured in carbon dioxide equivalents. A closer examination of the numbers shows that raising pigs and cattle for food accounts for only about 3 per cent of emissions. • A method to convert soybean oil into an active ingredient in bio-based sunscreen, creating an alternative to some of the petroleum-derived ingredients in existing sunscreens that may pose health risks. For example, oxybenzone, a mainstay in many sunscreens, is a suspected hormone disruptor that could have an impact on the reproduction of aquatic species. The newly developed process incorporates ferulic acid into soybean oil, producing water-resistant feruloyl soy gylcerides capable of absorbing UVA and UVB light. • An ultra-rapid acting mealtime insulin inhaled and absorbed through the lung. The quick absorption means the insulin mimics normal early insulin response seen in healthy individuals more closely. Patients use a small device to inhale a dry powder which dissolves immediately. ACCN
Industrial Briefs Chile’s devastating earthquake in February produced a silver lining for Canada’s beleaguered forest products sector. Several Chilean mills, located near the epicenter of the quake, were destroyed. In addition, disruptions in supplies of electricity, water, wood fibre and chemicals have forced many Chilean companies to halt production indefinitely. Meanwhile, Finland suspended work at several plants in March because pulp exports were disrupted as a result of a dock workers’ strike. With these two major global players — which together account for more than 10 per cent of the world’s pulp market — out of commission, pulp prices rose and Canada’s industry happily stepped into the void. The opportunity is all-the-more timely with China ramping up demand for pulp to feed its growing papermaking capacity. Pulp prices in March approached the record set in 1995 of $1,000 per tonne. Canada’s maple syrup producers could be on the cusp of finding a new niche in the food sciences sector with new research that suggests the nation’s favourite pancake-topper has significant health benefits. Maple syrup and maple water has been shown to contain polyphenols and exhibit oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) values which compare to commonly eaten fruits and vegetables such as broccoli. Quebec researchers have shown that both products contain equally important quantities of terpenes, in particular, abscisic acid, a phytohormone. Abscisic acid in maple water and maple syrup occurs as a conjugate along with certain metabolites at concentrations that are therapeutic, according to a U.S. study. Among other things, abscisic acid stimulates insulin release through pancreatic cells and increases sensitivity of fat cells to insulin. Pursuing the health benefits of maple products is a strategic step for the industry. ACCN
Poppy Painkillers Researchers at the University of Calgary have discovered the unique genes that allow the opium poppy to make codeine and morphine, thus opening doors to alternate methods of producing these effective painkillers either by manufacturing them in a lab or controlling the production of these compounds in the plant. “The enzymes encoded by these two genes have eluded plant biochemists for a halfcentury,” says Peter Facchini, professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. “In finding not only the enzymes but also the genes, we’ve made a major step forward. It’s equivalent to finding a gene involved in cancer or other genetic disorders.” Codeine is by far the most widely used opiate in the world and one of the most commonly used painkillers. Codeine can be extracted directly from the plant, though most codeine is synthesized from the much more abundant morphine found in opium poppy. Codeine is converted by an enzyme in the liver to morphine, which is the active analgesic and a naturally occurring compound in humans. Canadians spend more than $100 million every year on codeine-containing pharmaceutical products and are among the world's top consumers of the drug per capita. Despite this, Canada imports all of its opiates from other countries. “With this discovery, we can potentially create plants that will stop production at codeine. We are also working toward the synthesis of codeine and other opiate drugs more efficiently and economically in controlled bioprocessing facilities,” says Facchini. “Our discovery now makes it possible to use microorganisms to produce opiate drugs and other important pharmaceuticals.” One of the next steps for the research team is using the codeine gene to produce pharmaceuticals in yeast or bacteria. Jillian Hagel, a post-doctoral scientist in Facchini’s lab used leading-edge genomics techniques that helped her sort through up to 23,000 different genes and ultimately find a gene called codeine O-dementhylase (CODM) that produces the plant enzyme converting codeine into morphine. ACCN University of Calgary
april 2010 Canadian Chemical News 13
Industry: Innovation
InnovationorBust In February, the Conference Board of Canada issued a report card on innovation, or more specifically “the ability to turn knowledge into new and improved goods and services.” We flunked. Out of 17 countries, we ranked fourteenth, our economy was found to remain a below-average performer on its capacity to innovate and were slapped with a dismal “D” grade. We’re also at the bottom of the class (ranking second to last) when it comes to measuring trademarks by population, a new indicator. Our improvements on the export market share of our aerospace industry and in the number of scientific articles published were all that came between Canada and a dunce cap. The Board offered this bit of tutelage: “Countries with the highest overall scores not only spend more on science and technology but also have policies that drive innovation supply and demand.” It goes on to warn that “Innovation is essential to a high-performing economy. It is also critical to environmental protection, a high-performing education system, a well-functioning system of health promotion and health care, and an inclusive society. Without innovation, all these systems stagnate and Canada's performance deteriorates relative to that of its peers.” This is the first in a three part series in which writer Tim Lougheed looks at how chemical scientists are tackling the hurdles to innovation in this country.
In Pursuit of P Tim Lougheed
By perfecting the process of pulling phosphorus out of wastewater, UBC researchers are providing a new source for the vital element while curbing pollution and making a profit.
A
s natural elements go, phosphorus (P) is more important to us than most. We depend on it at the most fundamental organic level, as do the plants and animals that nourish us. It serves as an irreplaceable agricultural input, a primary ingredient of commercial fertilizers. At the same time, P can pose serious environmental hazards. Phosphate runoff from cities and farms contaminates nearby soils or waterways, causing bacteria and algae to thrive at the expense of anything else living there. Over the last decade, the multi-faceted importance of phosphorus has driven a Canadian innovation. Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies, based in Vancouver, B.C., has developed a technology to recycle P from municipal wastewater streams. Besides reducing a source of pollution, the resulting extract — which goes by the trade name Crystal Green® — is sold as a renewable and environmentally friendly fertilizer to waiting markets. The system is based on research conducted at The University of British Columbia in the 1990s. A 2001 pilot operation in Penticton, B.C.,
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General process schematic showing Ostara’s PEARL Nutrient Recycling Process demonstrated the potential of capturing as much as 90 per cent of all the phosphorus passing through the city’s wastewater plant. That came as welcome news to the operators of such plants, who constantly cope with the build-up of a crystallized phosphate mineral on the inner walls of drainage pipes. These deposits consist of struvite (MgNH4PO4•6H2O), named after the German investigator Heinrich Christian Gottfried von Struve, who first
A biological bottleneck
Crystal Green’s crystalline structure has created a completely new chemistry for the fertilizer industry – it is the only slow release fertilizer with a combination of nitrogen, phosphorus and magnesium (5-28-0 +10Mg). identified it in the 19th century. Struvite has likely plagued sewer lines throughout human history, since it derives from the phosphorus found in human urine. Every flush of a toilet feeds formations that become as solid and stubborn as concrete, ultimately clogging pipes and forcing their replacement. The Penticton trial showcased how a magnesium ammonium phosphate fluidized bed crystallizer could prevent this outcome. A coneshaped reactor tower, some five metres high, extracted struvite from an anaerobic digester supernatant. The changing diameter of the tower maintained turbulent eddies at different levels inside; with the injection of MgCl and NaOH, the interaction yielded white particles 0.5-1.8 mm in size, the struvite labeled as Crystal Green. Buoyed by this success, UBC’s UniversityIndustry Liaison Office sought entrepreneurs
to act on the technology’s commercial potential. Among them was Phillip Abrary, who spent a full year studying the prospect before becoming Ostara’s chief executive officer and director. “It was a very tangible opportunity,” he recalls, citing the potential for improving municipal wastewater treatment as well as producing a saleable byproduct. “The only missing ingredient was a real business with a viable business plan to make it happen.” Ostara was founded in 2005 and quickly developed a high profile among the various parties with an interest in phosphorus. That now includes the prominent American environmental lawyer Robert Kennedy Jr., who was added to the company’s board of directors early in 2009. Last fall the firm made it to a list of 100 of the world’s most promising
Although phosphorus itself is far from rare, the common form of PO43- is in high demand by the world’s plant and animal populations. It serves as a building block for fundamental organic molecules like DNA and RNA. It is a vital constituent of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the workhorse enzyme that cells use to store energy. The membranes of those same cells rely on phospholipids for structural integrity. Your body may contain as much as a kilogram of the stuff, mostly in teeth and bones. You need to take in about a gram of phosphorus each day, with your kidneys taking care of any excess by excreting it in urine. And if all of this does not make you cherish phosphorus a bit more, consider the celebrated science writer Isaac Asimov’s description of the element as “life’s bottleneck.” He noted that plants can retain proportions of phosphorus several times higher than the levels found in the soil around them. Using the example alfalfa, Asimov calculated that the average soil was made up of 0.12 per cent phosphorus, while the plant itself contained 0.7 per cent phosphorus. This represents a “concentration factor” of almost six times. Similar calculations for other elements making their way from soil to plant, such as sulphur or chlorine, achieve concentration factors no higher than two. In other words, the vegetation life cycle concentrates P more than any other element, making this a crucial, irreplaceable input for any kind of agricultural success. Or, to put it more simply, no phosphorus, no food. T.L.
april 2010 Canadian Chemical News 15
Industry: Innovation
A barnyard bottleneck Municipal wastewater is not the only source of phosphorus entering the environment. Large agricultural operations, such as cattle or pig farms, make a similar contribution through animal waste. Unfortunately, this rural output is more dispersed than it is in urban settings, which usually support dedicated facilities for handling liquid and solid wastes. Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies has tailored its equipment to interact with equipment that is already being used by municipal water treatment operators. That kind of solution will have no place on the many farms that will lack these kinds of sophisticated facilities, or are simply too small to warrant such a major investment in infrastructure. Researchers at the University of Guelph have therefore offered a very different strategy for reducing the phosphorus footprint of farms. In 1999, they transferred some key genetic material from mice into Yorkshire hogs. This transgenic animal, named the Enviropig, passes manure that is 30 to 65 per cent lower in phosphorus than the manure of typical pigs. Scientists are still studying the Enviropig, but it passed a major regulatory hurdle in February. A joint statement by Environment Canada, Health Canada, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency declared that the animals are not toxic to the environment under the terms of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. This step means farmers across Canada will be allowed to raise Enviropigs like any other livestock, although they are not yet allowed to bring these ones to market as food. Even if that approval is eventually achieved, sales of this pork will have to contend with how well the Canadian public accepts genetically modified meat. However, if that meat can also be endorsed for putting less phosphorus into our land and water, such acceptance might come more readily. T.L.
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avril 2010
Two of the three PEARL reactors at Ostara’s Nutrient Recycling Facility at a wastewater treatment plant in Tigard, Oregon.
environmental enterprises, as compiled by the British newspaper The Guardian. Meanwhile, the cornerstone journal Nature cited Ostara in an article intended to raise a new awareness of phosphorus. Although the company still employs under two dozen people, it has now installed two full-scale commercial facilities in Tigard, Oregon, where environmental passions run high, and Edmonton, Alta., which is planning to enhance most of its wastewater facilities with Ostara’s design. There are also several pilot plants demonstrating the technology in North America, Europe and Asia, and fullscale commercial plants will be launched this summer in Suffolk, Va. and York, Pa. “This is a global, almost unlimited opportunity,” says Abrary, who is bracing for a mounting global demand as the technology continues to prove itself in practice. He witnessed the proportions of that demand last spring, at an international conference in Vancouver on nutrient recovery. Among the organizers of the event was Don Mavinic, the UBC civil engineer who spearheaded the early work on magnesium ammonium phosphate crystallization. He was struck by the relative lack of interest in this subject from Canadian quarters, which contrasted sharply with the pointed attention it received from elsewhere.
“Everybody’s starting to recognize that they have a valuable resource,” he explains. “If it’s clean and it’s economically recoverable, it’s rising in price. This high quality fertilizer struvite is worth its weight in gold.” Mavinic confesses that he did not fully appreciate the significance of phosphorus when he initially tackled the challenge of extracting it from watercourses. He was originally contracted by BC Hydro, which was responding to criticism that the water behind its dams was retaining too much phosphorus, so that lakes and rivers downstream wound up with too little to sustain plant life. The recovered struvite could subsequently be used to restore the vitality of these aquatic environments. Since then, he has learned much more about the economic implications of phosphorus, which has become an essential part of the fertilizer industry. More specifically, he was surprised at how few places offer access to this seemingly common element. It is obtained by strip-mining reserves of phosphorus-rich ore, with four countries — Morocco, China, South Africa, and the U.S. — holding more than 80 per cent of the world’s supply. Even in the United States, some two-thirds of the domestic production comes from a single operation in central Florida. Canada, which is rich in so many other minerals, can boast of just one phosphate mine in Kapuskasing, Ont.
In fact, once-prominent sources of phosphates have already been exhausted. The tiny Pacific Island of Nauru, whose small population grew wealthy by serving as a major exporter of this product, saw its output grow steadily until the 1970s, when it started a decline that left nothing by 2005. Such examples have prompted discussion of “peak phosphorus,” a concept similar to “peak oil,” the point at which such non-renewable resources begin to vanish once and for all. Some critics reject this idea, insisting that the world still has decades’ worth of good phosphate reserves, and we have not even begun to consider how to take advantage of less-than-ideal sources. According to University of Guelph soil researcher Paul Voroney, the disposal of phosphorus-laden wastes has so saturated land in heavily farmed regions like southern Ontario, a fertilizer like struvite could only make things worse.
He nevertheless acknowledges the virtue of removing phosphorus from wastewater, thereby reducing pollution. And even if he dismisses the need to sell struvite in Canada, others will gladly take it. Peter van Straaten, another Guelph soil expert, describes how tropical agricultural production suffers because these soils are typically phosphorus-poor. Ostara could enable tropical urban centres to find this resource in their own wastewater, thereby reducing its environmental impact. Some countries have even set the stage for Ostara. In 2002, Sweden’s Environmental Protection Agency established a target of recycling 60 per cent of wastewater phosphorus by 2015. Germany and the Netherlands have been discussing similar plans. And China, with a substantial portion of all known phosphate reserves, has recently raised the export tax on its export of fertilizer products by more than 100 per cent. That kind of price increase should
give pause to any trading partners who find themselves highly dependent on such foreign supplies to maintain their domestic agricultural production. From Phillip Abrary’s perspective, these trends confirm the enticing business model that led him to Ostara in the first place. “It’s an interesting position we’re in here,” he says. “The wastewater business is entirely different from the fertilizer industry, and we bridge that gap. That’s what our customers view as the unique value that Ostara brings. “We haven’t seen anything to date that can compare with the quality of product that we can offer with this process,” concludes Abrary. “The competitive landscape will become more crowded. We always have to continue to innovate and make sure we’re ahead of the pack.” ACCN
Chemical Institute of Canada
The Canadian Green Chemistry and Engineering Network (CGCEN) introduces three new awards: • Canadian Green Chemistry and Engineering Network Award (Individual) Sponsored by GreenCentre Canada
• Ontario Green Chemistry and Engineering Network Award (Individual)
Sponsored by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment
• Ontario Green Chemistry and Engineering Network Award (Organizational) Sponsored by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment
The awards will be presented at the 3rd International IUPAC Conference on Green Chemistry, August 15–18, 2010 and will showcase top performers in green chemistry and engineering. Nominations for these awards are being accepted now. Deadline:
May 31, 2010
Visit www.cheminst.ca/greenchemistryawards for more details contact awards@cheminst.ca. The Canadian Green Chemistry and Engineering Network is a forum of the Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC). CIC
april 2010 Canadian Chemical News 17
Chemical Engineering: Food
QA &
Q & A with
Levente Diosady
All with a grain of salt
Chemical engineer Levente Diosady seeks technical solutions to one of humanity’s most heartbreaking afflictions
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alnutrition and associated micronutrient deficiencies — a condition that causes impaired development, disease and death — affects one out of every three people on the planet. Two million children may die unnecessarily each year due to a lack of vitamin A, zinc or other nutrients; 18 million babies are born mentally impaired due to iodine deficiency each year; 50, 000 women die each year during childbirth because of micronutrient deficiencies like severe anemia. When women and children are deprived of the micronutrients critical to health and development, the empowerment of women and the productivity and economic growth of developing nations is constrained. Global poverty is exacerbated. It’s a broad and alarming problem. Enter cool-headed chemical engineer, Levente Diosady, and his firm reassurance that a big part of the solution lies in technology. Not only that, the technology is cheap and not overly complicated. Diosady is professor at the University of Toronto and this year’s recipient of the Engineering Institute of Canada’s prestigious K.Y. Lo Medal which recognizes his work with micronutrients. ACCN spoke with him to find out what is happening on the front lines of fighting malnutrition in the developing world.
ACCN: Your research spans several areas of food engineering: salt fortification, processing of vegetable oils, minimizing trans-fats in foods and nitrite-free meat curing. Is there an overarching goal in what you do? L.D.: Engineers solve problems. Food engineers solve problems both in food safety and nutrition. The overarching goal is to develop processes that will provide products that are both safe and nutritious.
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ACCN: Tell me first about your work with salt fortification. L.D.: It came about strictly by accident. I was approached to do some chemical tests. The original idea for the double-fortification of salt with iodine and iron came from Venkatesh Mannar who since then became the president of the Micronutrient Initiative [an Ottawa-based not-for-profit dedicated to eradicating malnutrition]. He asked if we could do a quick and dirty laboratory test to see if this would work. We did and it didn’t work. So we looked into the theory a little bit and it was pretty obvious why it didn’t work. We ended up starting up a relatively big program where we looked at everything from stability of iodine on regular salt, storage conditions and so on until we actually started focusing in on how to prevent an interaction between iodine and iron. ACCN: What was driving all this? L.D.: Initially it was Mannar’s interest. He is a sixth-generation salt producer and Indian-Canadian. He was working with UNICEF on the salt-iodization program, a simple iodization which is now in about 75 per cent of the world. He was quite interested in the health of Indians and poor people everywhere. He had decided anemia could be tackled in the same way. So that was the initial impetus and it got me on board. I was just a follower at the beginning. Afterwards, the technical curiosity was the driver.
ACCN: Is it purely technical curiosity that motivates you?
ACCN: With all of that, it’s still accessible in the digestive system?
L.D.: No, not really. As an engineer, you want your work to be
L.D.: Yes. We coat it with a fully hydrogenated fat. The solid fat is digestible but also, if you throw it into a soup, for example, at the higher temperature it melts and releases the active ingredient into the food.
relevant, and so we try to solve a problem that’s very real and has farreaching consequences. What we are trained to do as engineers is deal with the technical aspects of this. My driving force was to do something about this major problem. There are 2 billion people afflicted by iodine and iron deficiencies in the world and these contribute hugely to disease, to maternal death, to infant mortality, and also work capacity. So the effects of these things are very far-reaching both economically and in terms of health. So, no, I’m not just interested in the technology and the technique of doing this but that’s where my input can be. I have to work with other people who know about nutrition and who know about medicine and things of that nature, I just have to make sure that I can present the technical solution that they require to do their work.
ACCN: Adding iron to salt seems like it would be fairly simple. L.D.: It looks simple and indeed everybody thought it would be simple until we started doing it. And the problem is the chemistry. Since iron reacts with potassium-iodate to form iodine and iodine sublimes, as soon as you have the two of them in the same place, the iodine evaporates off of the salt and you lose all its beneficial effects. ACCN: What was the trick? L.D.: The whole solution to the problem was to create a physical barrier between the reacting species, between the iron and iodine. So we [could] encapsulate either the iron or iodine. Encapsulating the iron is more practical because iodization is now widely used, and the equipment for it is in place. It’s easier to work with iodized salt and just add the iron premix to it. And of course the other part of the trick is that it has to be not only chemically protected, it has to be released either in the food or in the body. It also has to match the size and the colour and the flavour of the salt particles so that the average consumer doesn’t even notice that it’s there. Otherwise you have a huge problem in acceptability. ACCN: Was that approach easy to do? L.D.: Not really because you try to make little salt-grain sized particles that contain the ferrous fumarate which is reddish-brown in colour, which is then essentially painted with titanium dioxide, and overcoated with an edible coating that will prevent moisture from getting in and stop the iodine ions from moving across the barrier. ACCN: What technique do you use? L.D.: The process is done in two steps. First the ferrous fumarate powder is agglomerated to form salt-grain sized particles. This can be done in a fluidized bed (Wurster agglomerator) or by extrusion. Next the particles are dusted with titanium dioxide, and then spray-coated by molten fat in a fluidized bed.
ACCN: Several years ago, Stanley Zlotkin, your colleague at the University of Toronto, introduced Supplefer, which is a powdered form of iron that can be sprinkled on food. How is your double-fortified salt different? L.D.: Stan’s thing is sprinkles which contain a whole bunch of micronutrients — minerals and vitamins — and they’re in a little sachet which is like what you get for sugar for coffee. These little sachets are weatherproof, they’re plastic and they’re done in exactly the same machinery that does these food service items. The mother opens up these sachets and sprinkles the sprinkles on to the food of an infant. The whole sprinkles program is designed for weaned infants that are only partially on mother’s milk or not at all on mother’s milk. The idea is that the mother’s powerful love for the child will force her to do this regularly. Otherwise, this would be exactly the same as if you took a multi-vitamin tablet, but doing that requires a different type of education, a different type of commitment. So this works very well with infants but it will not work well with older children or adults. Zlotkin’s work targets specifically infants up to the age of two years. It’s a wonderfully effective program. We’re trying to get our own encapsulated iron into the sprinkles.
ACCN: So your encapsulated iron would be the iron component of the sprinkles? L.D.: That’s right, instead of putting them into salt, they would go into the sprinkles bag and they would get into the food that way. ACCN: Does the developing world need both? L.D.: Yes it does, because you need to be able to hit the average population. The double-fortified salt will provide 100 per cent of the iodine requirement and about a third of the daily iron requirement because you assume that some of the food still contains a fair bit of iron. But at the same time, growing children need a little bit more than adults, so it makes good sense to have both. ACCN: You’re currently looking for ways to fortify salt further by adding folic acid, zinc or Vitamin A. What are the hurdles to triple-fortification? L.D.: The hurdles to all of these is the interactions between the different micronutrients. Micronutrients, by their nature, tend to be fairly reactive. Vitamin A is highly reactive to light, to oxygen — it reacts with a whole bunch of reducing and oxidizing agents. You need to be able to maintain all of these micronutrients in their bioactiveforms. And so, the question is, how do you stabilize them? Do you stabilize them by adding something to them, or do you april 2010 Canadian Chemical News 19
Chemical Engineering: Food stabilize them by encapsulating them? These interactions are the key problem and that’s what the research is all about.
ACCN: How’s that coming? L.D.: There have been a variety of things. Zinc is fairly easy to do, folic acid is more intractable than expected but it’s slowly coming along. Vitamin A is doable but it’s probably not worth doing because there are better vehicles for it. ACCN: If you succeed, what do you anticipate the impact will be for the developing world? L.D.: If I succeed it’s not enough. The whole process of delivering this and incorporating it into the day-to-day diet is required before any impact is going to be felt. However, if my colleagues at the Micronutrient Initiative and others get together to put this in place, in effect we have the ability to reduce or eliminate these micronutrient deficiencies at a very reasonable cost. The cost per person is ridiculously low. For example, for 80 years of iodine fortification, the total cost of iodine is something like 4 cents U.S. The problem is, how do you make sure people get it at the right rate, at the right place, at the right time? ACCN: How will people in the developing world actually feel the impact? L.D.: Iodine deficiency is the one we’re closest to fixing with iodization itself and I take no credit. But, as an engineer, I’m absolutely floored by the fact that a child’s development in the absence of iodine, or with very low levels of iodine, means his or her IQ could be decreased by 70 points. So that means, instead of having a university student with an IQ of 125, you get somebody who has the mental ability of a three or four year old. It’s extremely dramatic. In terms of iron, there is probably about a half-million cases of maternal death due to low iron. Also, low iron decreases physical work capacity by up to 40 per cent. This is in societies where most of the labour is physical labour. So if you don’t have the iron in your diet, then you can’t work as well, so your diet gets worse and eventually this poverty cycle repeats itself, it feeds on itself. Bad health feeds poverty and poverty feeds bad health. If you can get into that cycle and fix the health end of it, then the other things are going to improve as well. If it means you can make 40 per cent more money, it would be a significant change in standard of living. ACCN: Describe for me what a folic acid deficiency would mean for someone. L.D.: The lack of folic acid is the biggest source of birth defects. Canada
L.D.: The worst result is blindness. It’s required for vision. Right now, because of vitamin A deficiencies in diet, over half a million kids go blind. It’s the largest single reason for blindness in the world. Out of these half-million kids that go blind, half of them will die within a year due to lack of infrastructure. ACCN: What about zinc? L.D.: Zinc is required in a number of things. It compliments a number of vitamins, especially D vitamins so it’s a critical micronutrient that’s required in very small amounts. It’s also white, so for us it seems like a nice thing to incorporate into salt because it fits in easily. ACCN: Is there a limit to how many things you can add to salt? L.D.: The limit to putting stuff in salt is that eventually you get to the point where there’s more stuff than salt. It then becomes obvious to the customer and more difficult to deal with. You want to keep all of these additives down to one per cent or less. You are limited to things that are required in very small quantities, so in the micrograms, as opposed to milligrams or grams, because you only eat somewhere between seven and 10 grams of salt per day. ACCN: What is it about micronutrients that compels you? L.D.: The fact that so little can do so much. For a very small amount of money and a small amount of processing you can have a huge impact on health, and, as a result, on economic and social development. I don’t think there’s any other field in which the bang for the buck could be as big as in this area.
ACCN: When your double-fortified salt was tested in India, some one million children were cured of anemia, a disease that could have had lifelong consequencesfor their mental and physical development. Not every scientist is able to make that kind of difference or see the impact of his or her work so clearly. Do you consider yourself an altruist? L.D.: Not really. I consider myself lucky in the sense that I’ve been dragged into this and that I was able to contribute. It’s always nice to have your work have a positive effect.
ACCN: Have you been to visit any of these places where your double-fortified salt is being used? L.D.: I’ve been to India, Bangladesh, Philippines, Indonesia.
has been putting folic acid in flour for the past decade or so and this has resulted in a dramatic decrease in birth defects, especially neural tube defects. And this is known. What wasn’t known was that it also resulted in a decrease of certain types of cancer which was unexpected.
ACCN: Does it have an effect on you to see your work in action?
ACCN: A vitamin A deficiency?
L.D.: Oh absolutely, it’s delightful to see that.
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ACCN: You also do work on vegetable oils. In your bio you make a point of saying you consider it unethical to divert staple food crops to fuel. Are you passionate about this? L.D.: Yes, I am. I think [it is unethical], especially if you ever meet people who have gone through need or have experienced it yourself, like my parents after the war. I don’t remember [the war], but I remember food shortages. People my age, [who grew up] in Europe all know that. I was growing up with my parents telling me that you have to eat your food, you can’t waste it because people in China are starving, and people in China were starving. So there is a certain morality about wasting food. You should especially not take away food from poor people, just for profit or for doing something else. ACCN: What’s the alternative to food for fuel? L.D.: I think there are proper technical solutions and proper social solutions that allow both of these needs to be met. For us in Canada, I think it’s relatively easy. We have crops that can produce both food and fuel. For example, take mustard. The mustard oil is not really suitable for food consumption but it’s superb for biodiesel, so we can take the protein and use that as food and we can take the oil and use that as fuel and meet both demands. I think taking corn and making ethanol out of it and raising the price of corn in Mexico where it’s a staple is not really a proper moral alternative. But if you take the straw, or the non-food part of it and make fuel out of it, that is a superb bit of engineering and it’s a good thing to do.
ACCN: It strikes me, the contrast between your work with salt fortification and your work with trans-fats. One seeks to combat malnutrition, a disease largely of the developing world, the other seeks to combat cardiovascular disease, a problem that is characteristic of the developed world. Does one give you more satisfaction? L.D.: The technology in the trans-fats area is more difficult and more interesting,
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but at the same time the impact is orders of magnitude less. Being in the food industry, you’re always involved in nutrition and consumer satisfaction, and technical problems. All of them give satisfaction to a chemical engineer. The impact is what differentiates those two.
the CIC’s Laboratory Health and Safety
ACCN: Did you enter chemical engineering expecting that it would lead you to this kind of work?
of chemical laboratories, managing
L.D.: I had no clue. I did my PhD in catalysis. I would have been perfectly happy
laboratories and chemical plants. During
to work in the petro chemical industry. [The company I worked for] was doing more and more work in the food area and I was enlisted to become a food engineer. I find that area to be both fascinating and an excellent outlet for chemical engineering in theory and in practice.
ACCN: Would you have it any other way? L.D.: I wouldn’t have it any other way. ACCN
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april 2010 Canadian Chemical News 21
Chemistry: microgravity
When Gravity Gets in the Way In the microgravity environment of space, Canadian scientists are conducting experiments in ways our earthly labs won’t allow.
By Alison Palmer
Sorting Out Soret One component at a time, the SCCO experiment should help to improve the efficiency of oil extraction — without the detrimental impact of digging.
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magine being able to examine the quality and quantity of crude oil in a given well, without breaking ground and having a detrimental environmental impact,” says Ziad Saghir, a mechanical engineer at Ryerson University. This is his goal. The key to figuring out how to do this begins on a satellite floating in outer space. By conducting studies in space, where the lack of gravity allows scientists to observe oil dispersion with greater precision, Saghir and his collaborators from Europe are working to be able to predict the behaviour of various components in an oil well, with the ultimate goal of creating efficient digital simulators for the petroleum industry. Thermodiffusion in an oil well causes heavier components to rise while lighter ones sink. Throw in gravity, which has the opposite effect, and the distribution of petroleum components in a given well is neither consistent nor predictable. The key to addressing the challenge of prediction is to quantify thermodiffusion, also referred to as the Soret effect. This distribution process occurs when particles in a freely moving mixture experience a force in the direction of the temperature gradient. In the microgravity environment of space, the diffusion coefficients of the different oil components are constant and the Soret effect is the main factor affecting oil dispersion.
Saghir's project, called the Soret Coefficient in Crude Oil experiment (or SCCO), aims to determine the Soret coefficient for mixtures of oil. The experiment was flown in late 2007 on a Russian satellite and monitored from the ground. At high pressure (to ensure the samples are in a liquid state), a temperature gradient was applied to the oil samples and data was collected. Due to thermodiffusion, some components migrated to the hot side and others to the cold side. The ratios of migration yielded the desired coefficient. “Fifty years ago, theory proved that the Soret coefficient was useful for simulating oil dispersion. That theory worked for a two component system. Now, we have succeeded in checking the theory for a three component system made of methane, dodecane and n-butane,” explains Saghir. “We hope to fly SCCO again to test a four component system in the future.” By addressing how an oil well is affected by the heaviest components, which push up and displace the gaseous top layer of a well, Saghir and his collaborators are giving oil prospectors the tools to more efficiently determine the caliber of oil in a given well and how long the reserves will last. One component at a time, the SCCO experiment should help to improve the efficiency of oil extraction — without the detrimental impact of digging. Saghir also hopes to use SCCO to address the challenge of greenhouse gas storage. Another future project involves measuring the diffusion coefficient of samples containing carbon dioxide. The diffusion coefficient should indicate whether, and on what time scale, carbon dioxide diffuses back to earth after being stored.
Vexatious Vibrations the foundational knowledge that the SODI-IVIDIL experiment creates, coupled with the microgravity environment in space, are sure to help change the way we understand thermodiffusion.
The IVIDIL bench sits on its track as part of the Microgravity Science Glovebox. The Glovebox is an enclosed work area on board the International Space Station in which experiments can be run through glove ports by the crew or through real-time data links and video by ground-based scientists.
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nother chemical phenomenon that the microgravity environment of space can help investigate is the effect of vibrations on thermodiffusion. The International Space Station (ISS) might lack gravity, but it does have residual vibrations, also known as g-jitter, caused by aerodynamic forces, onboard equipment and crew movements. Researchers suspect that these vibrations affect the diffusion process. To better understand how diffusion works, and to ensure that future experiments running on board the ISS are successful, researchers are studying the mechanisms that influence diffusion effects in the presence of vibrations. Ziad Saghir is also the lead researcher on this experiment. He has been studying thermodiffusion in liquid mixtures for over fifteen years. Together with collaborators from Belgium, he is now involved in the SODI-IVIDIL experiment, which stands for “Selectable Optical Diagnostic Instrument - Influence of Vibrations on Diffusion of Liquids”. “The beauty of this experiment is that it's fully automated, with an integrated optical system for examining diffusion effects. It collects data on the ISS but is run from the ground,” explains Saghir. His research team is testing the diffusion effects on board the ISS in a simple, two component water and alcohol mixture to start. Unlike the mixtures used in his previous space experiment, SCCO, which were composed of methane, dodecane and n-butane and required high pressures to liquify, this mixture is a liquid at atmospheric pressure, which means it is safe for testing on the ISS.
By adjusting the strength and frequency of vibrations, he and his research team are able to collect data on the mixture's temperature, concentration gradient, and progress of diffusion over time. In addition to investigating the effect of vibrations, this data will also help determine whether the findings of Saghir's SCCO experiment, which applies to oil extraction and developing digital simulators for the petroleum industry, work for water systems. Because water is one of the components in underground oil reservoirs, an understanding of its diffusion behaviour is crucial to predicting oil extraction. “We had developed a strong theory for thermodiffusion in hydrocarbons, so we asked ourselves, does this theory apply to a water system? Water is much more complex to study,” says Saghir. The data has yet to come in, but Saghir is excitedly planning the next steps: investigating a three component system, then four etc. Theory shows that the more components a mixture has, the more unstable it is. But the foundational knowledge that the SODIIVIDIL experiment creates, coupled with the microgravity environment in space, are sure to help change the way we understand thermodiffusion.
april 2010 Canadian Chemical News 23
Chemistry: microgravity
Cosmic Colloids the unique testing environment of the ISS is helping to make colloidal engineering a reality.
With Earth as a backdrop, the BCAT-5 apparatus, containing 10 colloidal samples, sits aboard the International Space Station.
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simple colloid experiment the size of a laptop is collecting data in space and helping researchers to better understand the complex properties of matter. A better understanding of the nature of colloidal materials has implications for the food, pharmaceutical and personal care industries that make extensive use of these materials and strive to improve them. Colloidal suspensions are also powerful models of atoms and molecules. “But while you can carefully tune the interactions between colloids experimentally, you encounter problems with gravity,” explains Barbara Frisken, a physicist based at Simon Fraser University. She and her research team sent several colloid samples up to space as part of what's called the “Binary Colloidal Alloy Test.” Conditions on Earth prevent many interesting colloidal materials from being studied because gravity causes colloid sedimentation. To better understand these colloidal systems, scientists are using the microgravity environment of the International Space Station (ISS), where the gravitational pull is one millionth of that on Earth. Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk participated in the colloid experiments while he was on board the ISS. His role involved setting up the samples and taking pictures of their phase separation and crystallization behaviour. By analyzing the images generated, which are taken on a digital SLR camera, researchers here on Earth are able to study the structures that form. “We were quite fortunate that the images Bob took gave us quantitative data. We’ve
been able to measure the domain size, the growth, and also the size of the crystals in our three phase system,” says Frisken. The colloid system that she and her team studies is composed of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) particles, which are sterically stabilized and suspended in a decalin and tetralin solvent mixture, then balanced with a bigger polymer, polystyrene (PS), that causes attraction through a depletion interaction. Results collected on this system thus far show that in space, the samples begin to phase separate in a manner similar to the way they separate on Earth. However, the system stops evolving before phase separation is complete; the phase separation process becomes arrested and small crystals span the fluid-like regions. Frisken and her research team are not yet sure why this happens, but they know that arrested phase separation is important to gel formation. Typically, though, there is no long-range order in the denser phase. “An arrested crystal network has never been observed on Earth. It's created a whole new structure,” says Frisken. “This should help us better understand phase separation and crystal structure formation in colloids.” In other words, the unique testing environment of the ISS is helping to make colloidal engineering a reality.
Making Sense of Marangoni
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The true nature of Marangoni convection needs to be studied in microgravity because gravity and the density-driven, rising and falling convection effects are absent.
Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk displays the core hardwareof the Marangoni Experiment in Space aboard the International Space Station.
aking the semiconductors that store and manipulate data, and drive the electronics of our digital lifestyles, involves a process strongly affected by surface tension and gravity. Many materials scientists and physicists — and also astronauts — are currently working to improve the process through experiments in the microgravity environment of space. One of the physical phenomena of semiconductor production that researchers are attempting to better understand is “Marangoni convection.” This phenomenon is described as the movement of a liquid surface due to a sort of invisible spoon, the gradient of surface tension. Researchers struggle to study this effect on Earth because gravity induces a density driven convection that is much stronger than the surface tension driven Marangoni effect. In order to make sense of the phenomenon and to pave the way for higher quality, more efficiently-produced semiconductor crystals, an international project was organized by the Japanese Space Agency. A team of researchers, including Masahiro Kawaji of the University of Toronto, are conducting a major experiment aboard the International Space Station (ISS). “Our digital technology depends on high quality semiconductors, which are formed by an industrial process of crystallization from liquids. The Marangoni Experiment in Space (MEIS) allows scientists to study the behaviour of liquids in the absence of gravity, thus making it possible to zero in on liquid behaviour that is normally hidden,” says Perry Johnson-Green, senior program scientist of Life and Physical Sciences at the Canadian Space Agency. “The knowledge gained will improve our understanding of the behaviour of liquids during the crystallization process.” Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk recently conducted the Marangoni experiment on board the ISS. The experiment involves two solid disks, one cold and one hot, with a liquid bridge suspended between
them. (Liquid bridges of molten silicon are commonly used to produce semiconductor crystals.) Temperature gradients naturally form between the top and bottom disk surfaces, creating a surface tension gradient along the liquid bridge surface. This gradient energizes and moves the liquid molecules along the surface and away from regions of low surface tension, creating a Marangoni convection effect. If the temperature gradient is too strong, steady Marangoni convection would change to an oscillatory flow, which can cause defects in the semiconductor crystals. The true nature of Marangoni convection needs to be studied in microgravity because gravity and the density-driven, rising and falling convection effects are absent. Kawaji is a key collaborator on the Marangoni experiment. Although the apparatus was built by a Japanese space agency, Kawaji has contributed a technique that accurately measures the velocity of the liquid on the surface. His technique adds a photosensitive dye to the liquid, which is activated by an ultraviolet laser, to allow the researcher to follow the movement of dark dye traces and measure the liquid's surface velocity. Then, using a mathematical model, he can study the stability of the Marangoni convection in the liquid bridge under different temperature gradients. Kawaji is also interested in studying the effects of the space station’s vibrations on the liquid bridge. “Results indicate that the liquid bridge is much more sensitive to vibrations than expected. This tells us that in future, any fluids experiment will be affected, so any scientist planning to do these experiments on the space station should be prepared,” says Kawaji. “Researchers might even need to wait until the astronauts go to sleep to start collecting data.” The next step is to analyze the Marangoni convection behaviour, which will paint a clearer picture of how instabilities form in the interface between solids and liquids. This knowledge is poised to improve the way semiconductor crystals are produced on Earth.
ACCN april 2010 Canadian Chemical News 25
Become a Certified Chemical Technologist (cCT) cCT certification offered by the Canadian Society for Chemical Technology (CSCT) • Is recognized nationally by employers • Is based on Canada-wide technology standards • Allows for greater career mobility CSCT members in good standing who have attained the required combination of education and experience in chemical technologyneed only apply once for the cCT and pay the onetime fee of $25 plus tax. Certification remains valid as long as CSCT membership is maintained. For more information or to apply go to www.chem-tech.ca/cct or contact Kevin Ferris, CSCT Certification Director at kferris@ ferrischemicals.com.
Leaving a legacy
From one generation to the next Do you want to ensure that the next generation will contribute chemistry solutions to tomorrow’s global challenges? Do you want to be part of their discovery of the wonders of chemistry? Through the CSC Legacy Fund, you can now leave a gift, either outright or deferred (in a will), to support projectsand initiatives that help the Canadian Society for Chemistry pursue its mandate of education-related projects. Find out how you can make a gift by visiting www.chemistry.ca/legacy.
The CSC Legacy Fund is a charitable fund initiated by the CSC and created in collaboration with the CIC Chemical Education Fund (CEF). It is held and administered by the CEF.
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Society News Nouvelles des sociétés Advocacy
Awards
We spoke, they listened … a little
Green Accolade
Roland Andersson, CIC executive director and acting chair of the Canadian Consortium f o r Re s e a rc h ( C C R ) , a l o n g w i t h C C R representatives, met with minister of Finance Jim Flaherty in October 2009 in anticipation of the 2010 federal budget. During the meeting, CCR presented Flaherty with its Brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance which detailed a number of recommendations supporting increase of funding for basic research and the Indirect Costs of Research Program. CCR was encouraged that elements of the budget presented March 4, 2010 recognized in principle the value of basic research despite the current economic situation. The granting councils saw their base budget increased by $32 million and the Indirect Costs of Research Program received a modest increase of $8 million. In its communiqué, the CCR emphasized that further increases in research funding are essential for Canada’s long-term prosperity. Read the press release by visiting www.cheminst.ca/media.
In response to the rapid evolution of the field of Green Chemistry and Chemical Engineering — a discipline that focuses on sustainability, both from an environmental and from an economic perspective by reducing waste and the use of toxic materials and energy in industrial processing — the CIC created the Canadian Green Chemistry and Engineering Network (CGCEN) in 2007. The mandate of the network is to promote green chemistry and engineering to protect human health and the environment while enhancing the economic prosperity of the community. Now, the CGCEN furthers that commitment by announcing three new green chemistry awards. By showcasing individuals and organizations working in this area, CGCEN aims to promote the principles of green chemistry and chemical engineering. The awards are: The Canadian Green Chemistry and Engineering Award (Individual) sponsored by GreenCentre Canada for an individual working in Canada who has made significant contributions to advance green chemistry and/or engineering, including the technical, human health and environmental benefits. The Ontario Green Chemistry and Engineering Award (Organization) and The Ontario Green Chemistry and Engineering Award (Individual) both sponsored by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. Nominees must be based in, or have significant investment in Ontario and have made significant contributions to the field of green chemistry and engineering, including the technical, economic, human health and environmental benefits. These awards will be presented at the 3rd International IUPAC Conference on Green Chemistry in Ottawa, Ont., August 15-18, 2010. Learn more by visiting www.cheminst.ca/greenchemistryawards.
Members respond Unfortunately the budget also includes the sale of the CANDU reactor Division of AECL, in all likelihood to a foreign corporation. This will lead to loss of the remainder of the nuclear power generation research in Canada. Nuclear power will be a part of Canada's energy future, but the technology will now have to be imported at premium prices. Properly managed, the CANDU business would have produced income to offset the cost of research. The loss of the CANDU business will end up something similar to the loss of the AVRO jet aircraft program. At the time it was said we would never need jet aircraft, but we are still spending billions on imported jet aircraft for the military, with no offsetting hi-tech job creation. Canada is now positioned to exit yet another technological leadership position developed by Canadian scientists. John Purdy, MCIC
National Office
2009 Financial Statements By mid-April 2010, the complete audited financial statements of the CIC, CSC, CSChE and CSCT will be available in both official languages on the CIC website and on request from the executive director. The statements will also be available at the annual general meetings of the Institute and the Constituent Societies.
États financiers 2009 Dès la mi-avril 2010, les états financiers vérifiés de l’ICC, de la SCC, de la SCGCh et de la SCTC seront disponibles dans les deux langues officielles sur le site Web de l’ICC et sur demande auprès du directeur général. Les états seront aussi disponibles aux assemblées générales annuelles de l’Institut et de ses sociétés constituantes. Find the financial statements by visiting www.cheminst.ca and clicking on “About” for each of the societies.
april 2010 Canadian Chemical News 27
Upcoming Events
Students
May 6-8, 2010: Western Canadian Undergraduate Chemistry Conference (2010 WCUCC) University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alta. www.wcucc.com May 13-15, 2010: 35th APICS/CIC Undergraduate Chemistry Conference (ChemCon 2010) Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S. www.apics.dal.ca/chemistry/conference.html May 29-June 2, 2010: 93rd Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition Toronto, Ont. www.csc2010.ca June 27-June 30, 2010: Balticum Organicum Syntheticum (BOS2010) Riga, Latvia www.boschem.eu
Ranking of crystals for 2009 Best Overall Crystals
Crystal Cultivators The challenge: grow the largest, clearest, best quality single crystal. The challengers: high school students and their science teachers from across the country. The competition: Canada’s National Crystal Growing Competition. Students are given five weeks to grow the largest, best quality crystals in September/October of each year. The teachers now compete along with the students but in a category of their own. Each school sends in their best crystals which are then evaluated by teams of judges from 18 regions plus our home schooler category. The winners of the regional competitions send in their best quality and best overall crystals for national judging in December. Judging includes weight and mass of the crystals plus a look at the quality. Factors in judging quality are: a) match/mismatch with crystal type; b) presence/absence of occlusions; c) intact/ broken edges; d) well formed/misformed faces; and clarity/muddiness. In 2009, the students were challenged to grow crystals using a maximum of 100 grams of aluminum potassium sulphate with the aim to grow the clearest ice-like crystals. National coordinator, Denis Bussières, FCIC from Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, and his team of judges determined the results. Winners receive cash prizes for their schools and individual certificates. The following were the top winners in overall crystal (weight, quality and shape), best quality crystal and best crystal grown by a teacher.
Best Overall Crystals First place ($300): Marie-Andrée Bernier, École Mgr-Labrie, Havre-St-Pierre, Que.
August 15-18, 2010: 3rd International IUPAC Conference on Green Chemistry Ottawa, Ont. www.icgc2010.ca October 24-27, 2010: 60th Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference Saskatoon, Sask. Call for papers opens March 8, 2010 and closes June 14, 2010 www.csche2010.ca October 29, 2010: Colloque annuel des étudiantset étudiantes de 1er cycle en chimie Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Que. http://pages.usherbrooke.ca/colloque-chimie December 13-15, 2010: 2010 International Conference on Environment (ICENV 2010), Organized by the School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). Penang, Malaysia http://chemical.eng.usm.my/ICENV2010 December 15-20, 2010: 2010 International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies (Pacifichem 2010) Honolulu, Hawaii www.pacifichem.org
Second place ($200): Diana Ambatali, Angelini Ramharak and Katherine Vanderkruk, St-Joseph College School, Toronto, Ont. Third place ($100): Ranek Kiil, Stephanie Bohaichuk and Ulysses Chin, Harry Ainlay High School, Edmonton, Alta.
Correction
Best quality crystal ($200): Alice Ye, Lisgar Collegiate Institute, Ottawa, Ont.
Walter Petryschuk, FCIC, is celebrating his 50-year membership in 2010. His name was left out in the March issue.
Best teacher grown crystal ($200): Aura Pombert, Harry Ainlay High School, Edmonton, Alta.
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Society News Nouvelles des sociétés Recognition
CIC and CSC 2010 Award Winners The 2010 winners of the CIC awards are: R. Stanley Brown, FCIC, Queen's University: Catalysis Award for his research in electrophilic bromination, amide hydrolysis mechanisms, catalysis and model enzyme chemistry. Tom Ziegler, FCIC, University of Calgary: CIC Medal for his work with the development of density functional theory as a practical tool in transition metal chemistry and homogeneous catalysis. Scott Mabury, University of Toronto: Environment Division Research and Development Award for his research interests with heavy emphasis on the environmental chemistry, fate, disposition, and persistence of organofluorine compounds. Steven Holdcroft, FCIC, Simon Fraser University: Macromolecular Science and Engineering Award for his contributions to the study of π-conjugated polymers and ion conducting polymers. Joseph Schwarcz, MCIC, McGill University: Montréal Medal for his contributions to the chemical community through his many books, weekly newspaper column, weekly radio shows and frequent segments on the Discovery Channel Canada. He is the director of McGill's Office for Science and Society, which is dedicated to demystifying science for the public. Andrew Dicks, MCIC, University of Toronto: CIC Award for Chemical Education for his work in training and mentoring high school students for the International Chemistry Olympiad, work with undergraduate studies and for his ongoing interest in improving the student experience in his department. The 2010 winners of the CSC awards are: Tomas Hudlicky, MCIC, Brock University: Alfred Bader Award for his work on the development of enantioselective synthetic methods, bacterial dioxygenase-mediated degradation of aromatics, design and synthesis of fluorinated inhalation anesthetic agents, synthesis of morphine and amaryllidaceae alkaloids and their medicinally useful derivatives, and design of unnatural oligo-saccharide conjugates with new molecular properties.
Martin Tanner, FCIC, The University of British Columbia: Bernard Belleau Award for his work in the study of enzyme mechanisms, biosynthetic pathways, and inhibitor design. Luke Lairson, for his research at The University of British Columbia, now at Scripps Research Inst.: Boehringer Ingelheim Award for graduate work focused on understanding the mechanisms of glycosyltransferases and engineering their substrate specificities in order to expand their utility in chemical synthesis. Michael J. Katz, MCIC, for his research at Simon Fraser University, now at Northwestern University: CCUCC Chemistry Doctoral Award. His thesis focused on the preparation and characterization of [Au(CN)2]- based heterometallic coordination polymers that show vapochromic or birefringent properties. Parisa Ariya, McGill University: Clara Benson Award for her work on fundamental and applied homogeneous and heterogeneous studies of (photo)chemical atmospheric reactions involving metal-organic interactions. André Simpson, University of Toronto — Scarborough: Fred Beamish Award for his work on developing nuclear magnetic resonance based methods to study the structure and interactions in complex environmental mixtures. Tsun-Kong Sham, MCIC, The University of Western Ontario: John C. Polanyi Award for his work on the development and application of synchrotron radiation-based techniques in chemistry. Ruth Signorell, MCIC, The University of British Columbia: Keith Laidler Award for her work in spectroscopic investigations of aerosols, clusters, and nanoparticles combining experiment and modelling on a molecular level. Eric Reiner, Ontario Ministry of the Environment: Maxxam Award for his work in the analysis of dioxin-like and other emerging toxic organics as well as advanced analytical techniques. Andrei Yudin, MCIC, University of Toronto: Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research Award. His current work is directed towards reagents and catalysts that enable chemoselective synthesis of complex bioactivemolecules. Jeff Dahn, Dalhousie University: Rio Tinto Alcan Award for his work in the field of advanced lithium batteries.
Derrick L.J. Clive, FCIC, University of Alberta: R.U. Lemieux Award for his work in synthetic methods — involving mainly selenium chemistry and radical cyclization — and the synthesis of complex natural products with significant biological properties. Daniel B. Leznoff, MCIC, Simon Fraser University: Strem Chemicals Award for Pure or Applied Inorganic Chemistry for this work in the synthesis and characterization of heterometallic cyanometallate (especially gold) coordination polymers for materials applications, paramagnetic organometallic chemistry and actinide chemistry. Xing-Fang Li, MCIC, University of Alberta: W. A. E. McBryde Award for his work with analytical technology development and detection of microbial pathogens, proteins, chemotherapeutics, and water contaminants. Read the full biographies of our winners by visiting www.cheminst.ca and clicking on “Awards.”
Other awards Danny Puzzo, University of Toronto is the winner of the Division of Inorganic Chemistry’s (DIC) 2010 DIC Award for Graduate Work in Inorganic Chemistry. Presented for exceptional PhD thesis research in a field of inorganic chemistry, the award recognizes Puzzo’s work on the integration of novel photonic crystal architectures as well as conjugated polymers and nanocrystals into conventional optoelectronic devices such as LEDs, lasers, photovoltaics and transistors. Levente Diosady, FCIC, University of Toronto, Department of Chemical Engineering, won the Engineering Institute of Canada’s K.Y. Lo Medal in recognition of his work in food engineering and micronutrients to improve the health of people in the developing world. Larry Seeley, MCIC, president of the CSChE, was named a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada. Michel Gravel, MCIC, University of Saskatchewan, Christian Pellerin, MCIC, Université de Montréal, Michael Shaver, MCIC, University of Prince Edward Island, Michael Serpe, University of Alberta and Hongbin (Tony) Yan, MCIC, Brock University, are the 2010 winners of the Canadian National Committee for the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry Travel Awards. ACCN
april 2010 Canadian Chemical News 29
Chemfusion Joe Schwarcz
S
Snake Oil and Water
ometimes you run into a situation where words just fail you. Absurd, ridiculous, ludicrous, preposterous, comical0 and farcical come to mind, but they still don’t quite seem to capture the extent of the mindnumbing nonsense. And what nonsense is that? “Ionized Alkaline Water!” People, seduced by the outlandish promotional drivel, are spending thousands of dollars for a device that produces this liquid malarkey. Some promoters just blather mindlessly about increasing energy, reducing weight, reversing aging, boosting immunity, controlling blood pressure, cleansing the colon or eliminating body odour. More disturbing are the ones who speak of preventing cancer and increasing
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life expectancy. And how is alkalized water supposed to accomplish these miracles? Well, you see, according to one website “all electrons in water either spin to the left or the right and high speed of the left spin of electrons is considered to substantiate that the water is vital and alive. Only ionized water has this quality.” Uh huh. There’s more. “Ionized water oxygenates the body via an increase in the oxygen–hydrogen angle. All other water is void of this benefit.” Yeah, sure. “Ionized water has positive polarity. Almost all other waters are negative in their polarity. Only positive polarity can efficiently flush out toxins and poisons in the body at the cellular level.” There’s still more. The amazing water ionizer produces “smaller water molecule clusters which enables every nook and cranny of your body to be super-hydrated.” Makes your head swim. All this rubbish does have an effect. It makes anyone who knows anything about chemistry want to tear their hair out. Of course, the promoters of ionized alkalized water have an answer to that too. They claim the water has a calming effect and can even grow hair. Not only is there not an iota of scientific evidence for any of the claims, the term “ionized alkaline water” is scientifically meaningless. What then does an “ionizer” actually do? The same thing that high school students do in chemistry labs when they stick a couple of electrodes in water and pass a current between them in a classic “electrolysis” experiment. As water molecules break down at the negative electrode to release hydrogen gas, they leave behind hydroxide ions. This is what makes a solution “alkaline.” Basically what this means is that as electrolysis proceeds, a dilute solution of sodium hydroxide is produced around the negative electrode and can be drawn off as “alkaline” or “ionized” water. But you don’t need an exorbitantly expensive device to produce a dilute sodium hydroxide solution. A couple of pellets of drain cleaner in a litre of water will do the job. So will a spoonful of baking soda. Of course these solutions will not produce any medical miracles. But neither will the silly alkaline water. What this expensive water does produce is a bevy of daft claims. Here is the most popular one: “It is well known in the medical community that an overly acidic body is the root of many common diseases, such as obesity, osteoporosis, diabetes, high blood pressure and more.” Poppycock! There is no such thing as an “acidic body.” That, though, doesn’t
stop the hucksters from treating it. How? By neutralizing the acidity with their alkaline water. “The alkaline water will restore your body to a healthy alkaline state,” they say. “It counteracts the acidic food you eat and the effects of the harsh elements in your environment in order to bring about the natural balance your body needs. Change your water and change your life.” The only thing you’ll change is your bank balance. Now, even if there were such a thing as an acidic body, and even if this signaled illness, it could not be countered by drinking alkaline water. To “alkalize the body” one would have to alkalize the blood. But our body maintains the pH of the blood between 7 and 7.4, which is already alkaline. If you were to alkalize it further, you would not have to worry about illness because you would be dead. Don’t worry, though, about alkaline water killing you. Our stomach is strongly acidic and any base that enters is immediately neutralized. The still acidic contents of the stomach then pass into the intestine where they are neutralized by alkaline secretions from the pancreas. So all of the water we drink ends up being alkaline anyway! Another seductive claim is that alkaline ionized water is an antioxidant and neutralizes free radicals. This is often demonstrated by immersing an Oxidation-Reduction Potential (ORP) probe into the water and pointing out that the needle moves into the negative millivolt region, while ordinary water shows a positive reading. An ORP probe is useful in determining water quality in a swimming pool, but is meaningless for drinking water. The slightest amount of dissolved hydrogen, as you have in alkalized water, will result in a negative reading. This has absolutely no relevance to any effect on the body. Aside from the chemical gibberish, there is a very disturbing side to “alkaline water.” With their claims of curing serious disease, promoters prey on the desperately ill, offering extremely expensive false hope. The scientific community and Health Canada needs to swing into action. Oil may not mix with water, but it seems snake oil surely does. ACCN Joe Schwarcz is the director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society.
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