British Industrial Solvents

Invented by K. Roka at Holzverkohlungs-Industrie in 1924 and operated by British Industrial Solvents at Hull, UK, in the 1930s. 

The ethyl lactate should be of good quality, as its impurities tend to appear in the final product. The submitter used a good commercial grade supplied by British Industrial Solvents, Ltd. Its specification included an ester content of not less than 99% (calculated as ethyl lactate). 

Lawrence, A.R., Foster, S.S.D. (1987) The Pollution Threat from Agricultural Pesticides and Industrial Solvents. Hydrogeological Report No. 87/2, British Geological Survey, Wallingford, Oxfordshire. 

Juntunen J, Antti-Poika M, Tola S, et al Clinical prognosis of patients with diagnosed chronic solvent intoxication. Acta Neurol Scand 65 488-503,1982 Kandel E, Freed D Long term exposure to industrial solvents (letter). British Journal of Industrial Medicine 46 750,1989... 

Between 1914 and 1918, solvent and general chemical production had been geared to the needs of war. At war s end, the chemical surpluses included, in addition to phenol and cellulose acetate, the acetone and butanol from the Weizmann fermentation process and chlorine from poison gas production. The latter, made by electrolysis of sodium chloride solution, became the basis of the British chlorinated solvents industry. Here the outstanding firm was Albright Wilson, which began manufacture of carbon tetrachloride in 1925. Cleaning and degreasing processes led to production of trichloroethylene, for which demand increased dramatically between 1928 and 1936. The principal manufacturer was Weston Co., later taken over by ICl. 

Ionic systems consisting of salts that are liquid at ambient temperatures can act as solvents for a broad specbum of chemical processes. These ionic liquids, which in some cases can serve as both catalyst and solvent, are attracting increasing attention from industry because they promise significant environmental benefits, according to American, British, and French researchers. 

The molar absorptivity (e) of a known molecule is constant under identical conditions of solvent, concentration and path length, and can be used to quantify the amount of a particular pharmaceutical in a tablet. Such assays form the basis of many quality assurance procedures in the pharmaceutical industry, and have been extensively used by the British Pharmacopoeia (B.P.). More recently, however, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has replaced UV analysis in many B.P. assays, as most industrial analyses routinely use HPLC. 

In 1855, the moldable features of collodion were exploited by the British inventor and chemist Alexander Parkes, who marketed the material as Parkesine. Combs, earrings, buttons, bracelets, billiard balls, and even false teeth were manufactured in his factories. Parkes chose to focus more on quantity than on quality, however. Because he used low-grade cotton and cheap but unsuitable solvents, many of his products lacked durability, which led to commercial failure. In 1870, John Hyatt, a young inventor from Albany, New York, discovered that collodions moldable properties were vastly improved by using camphor as a solvent. Hyatts brother Isaiah named this camphor-based nitrocellulose material celluloid. Because of its greater workability, celluloid became the plastic of choice for the manufacture of many household items. In addition, thin transparent films of celluloid made excellent supports for photosensitive emulsions, a boon to the photography industry and a first step in the development of motion pictures. 

Johnson et al. (15) reported the first attempt to synthesize PEEK by polycondensation of bisphenolate with activated dihalides using DMSO as a solvent and NaOH as a base. High molecular weight polymers were difficult to obtain due to the crystallinity and the resulting insolubility of polymers in DMSO. To circumvent the solubility problem, Attwood and Rose (16) used diphenyl sulfone as a solvent, and the polymerization was carried out close to the melting point. Victrex PEEK was commercialized by the British company ICI in 1982 using this method. Since its commercialization, this thermoplastic polymer has been used in a wide range of applications, from medicine to the electronic, telecommunications and transport industries (automobile, aeronautic and aerospace) (17,18). 

Acetic acid is used in the manufacture of a wide variety of products including adhesives, polyester fibres, plastics, paints, resins and solvents. About 40% of the acetic acid made industrially is used in the manufacture of vinyl acetate monomer for the plastics industry other large uses are to make cellulose acetate, a variety of acetate esters that are used as solvents, as well as monochloracetic acid, a pesticide. Acetic acid is also used as a solvent for the oxidation of p-xylene to terephthalic acid, a precursor to the important polyester, polyethylene terephthalate (PET). A minor, but important use is as non-brewed condiment, a vinegar substitute widely used in British fish and chip shops this is made using food-grade industrial acetic acid and is less expensive than fermentation vinegar. 

Edling, C., Ekberg, K., Ahlborg, G., Jr., Alexandersson, R., et al. 1990. Long-term follow-up of workers exposed to solvents. British Journal of Industrial Medicine 47(2) 75-82. 

Maizlish NA, Langolf GD, Whitehead LW, et al Behavioural evaluation of workers exposed to mixtures of organic solvents. British Journal of Industrial Medicine 42 579-590, 1985... 

Bergamaschi E, Smargiassi A, Mutti A, et al Peripheral markers of catecholaminergic dysfunction and symptoms of neurotoxicity among styrene-exposed workers. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 69 209-214,1997 Challenor J, Wright D Aggression in boat builders a search for altered mood states in boat builders exposed to styrene. Occup Med (Lond) 50 185-192, 2000 Cherry N, Rodgers B, Venables H, et al Acute behavioural effects of styrene exposure a further analysis. British Journal of Industrial Medicine 38 346-350, 1981 Cherry N, Hutchins H, Pace T, et al Neurohehavioural effects of repeated occupational exposure to toluene and paint solvents. British Journal of Industrial Medicine 42 291-300, 1985... 

Cherry N, Venables H, Waldron HA British studies on the neuropsychological effects of solvent exposure. Scand J Work Environ Health 10 (suppl 1) 10-12, 1984 Cherry N, Hutchins H, Pace T, et al Neurobehavioural effects of repeated occupational exposure to toluene and paint solvents. British Journal of Industrial Medicine 42 291-300, 1985... 

Axelson O, Hane M, Hogstedt C A case-referent study on neuropsychiatric disorders among workers exposed to solvents. Scand J Work Environ Health 2 14-20, 1976 Baelum J, Andersen I, Molhave L Acute and subacute symptoms among workers in the printing industry. British Journal of Industrial Medicine 39 70-75, 1982 Baker EL, White RF, Murawski BJ Clinical evaluation of neurobehavioral effects of occupational exposure to organic solvents and lead. International Journal of Mental Health 14 135-158, 1985... 

Dager SR, Holland JP, Cowley DS, et al Panic disorder precipitated by exposure to organic solvents in the work place. Am J Psychiatry 144 1056-1058,1987 Daniell W, Stebbins A, O Donnell J, et al Neuropsychological performance and solvent exposure among car body repair shop workers. British Journal of Industrial Medicine 50 368-377, 1993... 

Escalona E, Yanes L, Feo O, et al Neurobehavioral evaluation of Venezuelan workers exposed to organic solvent mixtures. AmJInd Med 27 15-27, 1995 Eskenazi B, Gaylord L, Bracken MB, et al In utero exposure to organic solvents and human neurodevelopment. Dev Med Child Neurol 30 492-501, 1988 Feldman RG, Ratner MH, Ptak T Chronic toxic encephalopathy in a painter exposed to mixed solvents. Environ Health Perspect 107 417 22,1999 Fidler AT, Baker EL, Letz RE Neurobehavioural effects of occupational exposure to organic solvents among construction painters. British Journal of Industrial Medicine 44 292-308, 1987... 

Hanninen H, Antti-Poika M, juntunen j, et al Exposure to organic solvents and neuropsychological dysfunction a study on monozygotic twins. British Journal of Industrial Medicine 48 18-25, 1991... 

Kraut A, Lilis R, Marcus M, et al Neurotoxic effects of solvent exposure on sewage treatment workers. Arch Environ Health 43 263-268,1988 Kukull WA, Larson EB, Bowen JD, et al Solvent exposure as a risk factor for Alzheimer s disease a case-control study. Am J Epidemiol 141 1059-1071, 1995 Labreche FP, Cherry NM, McDonald JC Psychiatric disorders and occupational exposure to solvents. British Journal of Industrial Medicine 49 820-825, 1992 Lagakos SW, Wessen BJ, Zelen M An analysis of contaminated well water and health effects in Woburn, Massachusetts. Journal of the American Statistical Association 81 583-596, 1986... 

O Flynn RR, Monkman SM, Waldron HA Organic solvents and presenile dementia a case referent study using death certificates. British Journal of Industrial Medicine 44 259-262,1987... 

The British chemical industry was occasionally assisted by legislation based on lessons of the pre-1918 period. Thus the Safeguarding Industries Act of 1932 placed a customs duty of 33 A per cent on imported synthetic organics. This was known as the Key Industry Duty. Originally designed to protect the synthetic dye industry, it had the effect of encouraging manufacture of other organic chemicals in Britain. This had a considerable impact on the raw material question, especially for novel solvents. 

Two other synthetic materials quickly followed. Dacron, a useflil high-melting and insoluble polyester, was developed by the British chemists Rex Whinfield and James T. Dickson and marketed in Britain by Imperial Chemical Industries as Terylene. In Germany chemists of the I. G. Farben developed polyurethane foams, and in the United States Roy J. Plunkett, a Du Pont chemist, 2 years beyond his Ph.D., discovered Teflon when he opened a gas cylinder supposed to contain a fluorinated hydrocarbon but nothing came out. He became curious, and after inserting a wire through the valve to make sure the tank was indeed open, he cut the tank in half and found a waxy white powder in the bottom. He tested the properties of the material, found it was inert to acids, bases, heat, and solvents, and very slippery. 

---