Biopesticide regulations
Unfortunately, the EU and UK are still lagging behind in under-standing the difference between chemical pesticides and biopesticides, and they treat both types of products similarly.
Risky operation
In the last decade, many chemical process plants have been decommissioned having reached the end of their useful life. Many companies contract out the task to specialist companies. While so much has been written about operational safety and legislated for, decommissioning safety has not received much attention, except in the nuclear field and offshore oil & gas.
New climate for plastics
The Glasgow Climate Pact agreed at COP26 in November 2021 represents the most ambitious commitment yet to tackling human-caused climate change. Plastics will doubtless play a positive role in facilitating new technologies to meet those commitments.
Camera for plastics
A new camera technology has been developed to distinguish the 12 types of polymers that constitute most household plastic types.
Things to come
At the beginning of any new year, the desire to look back at the events of the previous year and to make predictions about the coming year seems to be a universal human trait – and 2022 is no exception. Forecasting is as much a part of a new year as New Year resolutions, although it is to be hoped they are more enduring, and more closely related to reality.
Seasonal SARS CoV2 claim
Could Covid-19 be a seasonal disease? A team of researchers in Illinois, US, propose there is a sensor within the virus spike protein that responds to seasonal patterns of environment and physiology.
Bulletproof polymer
A new method to improve the toughness of materials could lead to stronger versions of body armour, bulletproof glass and other ballistic equipment.
Hedgehogs and MRSA
A strain of methicillin-resistant Staph. aureus (MRSA) evolved in hedgehogs before the first clinical use of antibiotics, a new study shows.
AD diagnosis progress
Researchers have found a link between strains of misshapen, fast-replicating tau protein and accelerated cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) (Science Trans. Med., doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abg0253). They say the work could lead to changes in Alzheimer’s care, possibly giving patients and families more accurate prognoses.
Business digest
Read the latest business digest for C&I Issue 1 2022 with all the latest mergers and acquisitions in the chemical industry.