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Issue 5
8th
May 2012
C&I Magazine
C&I MagazineThe leading source of news and opinion in the arena of chemical technology
Cover Story
Insect-protected transgenic crops, also known as Bt crops, have been grown commercially for more than 15 years and, in 2010, global production exceeded 58m ha
News
Cath O'Driscoll,
08/05/2012
Widespread adoption of paints and coatings containing photocatalytic titanium dioxide could improve air quality and health, both indoors and outdoors, according to researchers
Elisabeth Jeffries,
08/05/2012
Chemical companies now have the tools to disclose their carbon footprint following the publication of two major international standards
Features
Neil Eisberg,
08/05/2012
Miniature mass spectroscopy for the masses is a dream of Graham Cooks, Henry B. Hass professor in analytical chemistry at Purdue University, Indiana, US
Andy Towns,
08/05/2012
The summer of 2012 should be a momentous one for the UK whatever the weather. Years of planning will see the focus of the sporting world centre on London
Editor's Blog
Dose of poison
Agree or disagree? Post your views below
According to Paracelsus, ‘The dose makes the poison’; in other words, what matters is not so much the substance but how much of it is present. In modern usage, international regulators and scientific authorities have interpreted this by assigning to different chemicals so-called threshold values related to their observed or projected toxicities, below which doses we are led to believe they may be safely used and applied. LD50 values, at which concentration of substance half of the cells in a population will die, are another measure adopted to instil confidence that we have some handle on safety.
But can we be sure that staying below the recommended levels will keep us safe from adverse effects? With so many chemicals now circulating in the environment, is it wise to simply assume we are safe below a pre-assigned dose of any one of these without taking account of potential interactions with others?