From the ACS Press Room Four ways to reduce unwanted iodized table salt reactions when boiling pasta

“Overlooked Iodo-Disinfection Byproduct Formation When Cooking Pasta with Iodized Table Salt”

Environmental Science & Technology

Cooking pasta in chlorinated tap water with iodized table salt could produce potentially harmful byproducts, but four simple steps could reduce their formation. Iodized salt helps prevent iodine-deficiency disorders, including goiters and certain birth defects. Yet it’s unclear how this seasoning interacts with chloramine-treated drinking water if some of the disinfectant is left behind. Now, researchers in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology have demonstrated that cooking pasta in such water with iodized table salt could produce potentially harmful byproducts. But they also report four simple ways that people can reduce or avoid these unwanted compounds.

In most countries, drinking water is treated with chlorine or chloramine before it trickles out of kitchen or bathroom faucets. But small amounts of these disinfectants can end up in water used for cooking. Previous experiments showed that when wheat flour was heated in tap water that contained residual chlorine and seasoned with iodized table salt, potentially harmful iodinated disinfection byproducts could form. However, similar studies hadn’t been conducted with real foods and at-home cooking conditions. So, Susan Richardson and colleagues wanted to find out if this could happen in real-world situations, and how home cooks could minimize the formation of disinfection byproducts.

The researchers cooked elbow macaroni in tap water, which had been treated with chloramine, and salt. In the initial test, they boiled the pasta according to the package directions, but in other tests, they changed the cooking conditions and salt type. Then, the team measured the amounts of six iodinated trihalomethanes, which are potentially toxic compounds, in the cooked food and pasta water. They detected all of the iodinated trihalomethanes in cooked noodles and pasta water, but the cooking conditions significantly impacted the amounts.

Based on their results, the researchers identified four ways to reduce possible consumption of these substances:

• Pasta should be boiled without a lid.

• The noodles should be strained from the water that they’re cooked in.

• Iodized table salt should be added after the pasta is cooked. Continued on page 17

Judith (Judy) Giordan, PhD

2023 President of theAmerican Chemical Society

Interview for the Southwest Retort, Newsletter of the Dallas-Fort Worth Local Section of theACS

D. L. Merkle, PhD,

Interviewer

Thank you for interacting with us and sharing your insights and information regarding your Presidential year. We appreciate your taking the time to answer some questions about your ACS experiences.

How is your year so far? Is there anything that surprised you or was radically different than you expected? While it is only March, I was excited to start my initiatives in my Pres-Elect year 2022 and carry them into this year. Working with others to build and provide programming and opportunities for member engagement is always wonderful!

You've actively and effectively volunteered in a number of ACS roles. What is your favorite part of volunteering for ACS? Meeting people, networking, hearing what ACS and chemistry means for members’ lives and careers and doing my best to act on needs as best as I can.

How is serving as ACS president different from holding other ACS positions? It is a broader role – from meetings at the national, regional and local levels to putting together initiatives based on member needs and addressing questions and concerns – you never know what will come next!

Local Sections are important to the function of ACS, both in sharing knowledge with scientists and non-scientists, and in promoting the chemical community within the geographical areas encompassed by the Local Sections. What is your view on how ACS can best support Local Sections and their volunteers? There are many ways – but whatever they are starts with the needs and desires of the local section. No two sections are alike, and respecting that diversity is key for support. The Local Section Activities Committee chaired by Beth Lorsbach is a key way to stay involved, have your needs known and get resources. Please use the Speakers Directory both to schedule and find speakers and put up your own talk!

How would you describe ACS's current importance in the careers of chemists and chemically -focused scientists? What, if anything, would you like to improve? Do you feel the Presiden- tial role offers adequate opportunities to effect change in the organization? This is a multifaceted and not a single question. Let me focus on the importance of ACS – or any professional society – for careers, connections and just plain fun! I wrote a LinkedIn article https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/value-connections-staying-connected-professional-judy -giordan/ on just this topic back in 2021. And I restated my belief in the importance of participating and volunteering in a recent 2023 C&EN Comment. Everyone needs to find a place that resonates with them. For me, my NUMBER ONE location to volunteer and stay connected is the American Chemical Society! ACS combines science, career, professional development and friendship. For me, a great combination!

Entrepreneurship is a key focus of many current ACS programs, yet the relevance of ACS to some chemical industries has been on the wane for some time. What is the best way to decrease the disparity between the push to grow entrepreneurs within ACS and the difficulty in demonstrating the relevance ofACS to non-academic chemists? Again, a multi-faceted question. I’ll stick with the business part – with two points. First, I believe that the desire to start a business is a personal choice. And not all businesses are the same. And regardless of type, building a viable business is not easy. It requires skill, perseverance, a keen knowledge of the market and the ability to build a focused offering to address market gaps and needs with a market validated value proposition. So depending on the business, the ability of ACS to help can vary, but with the many connections that can be made through ACS the opportunity for help is large!

Second point, I am honored to be a co-sponsor with Wayne Jones, Chair of the Board Committee on Professional and Member Relations of a group of commercially aligned ACS members who are working to determine why commercially aligned chemists should/ could value ACS membership and how we can support and engage them. Stay tuned for their results!

How does membership inACS benefit those with academic careers? Are these contributions from ACS different than those for scientists with Non-traditional careers/career paths? The list of reasons to belong to ACS is as long as the list of member benefits – if you are someone who wants to be a member of a professional organization like ACS! ALL chemists can contribute to ACS and the profession! That is the wonder and importance of truly respecting diversity in all its forms and of each of us working to include others across all STEM career paths and helping all of our fellow members to truly participate and volunteer –whether at the local or national levels; whether in local sections, committees or divisions and regardless how one contributes to the chemical enterprise. Benefits are there for all! Once you determine what you need.

And finally: What would you suggest to anACS member who wants to have a significant impact onACS and chemistry? What specific advice do you have for someone who aspires to be ACS president? VOLUNTEER! PARTICIPATE! Become active – or more active – in ACS at whatever level and in whatever way resonates with you! Committees, Divisions, Local Sections, Regionally. It’s all there, what matters is knowing what you want to accomplish and then aligning that with the myriad of options ACS presents. Thanks again, Dr. Giordan for participating in the Retort's e-interview.

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