Environmentally active chemicals

One such system is at present being implemented under a research contract with a public agency with the purpose of detecting sources of environmentally active chemicals among chemicals regarded as harmless, themselves. 

The formulation of a carrier depends on four considerations (/) the carrier-active chemical compound (2) the emulsifier (J) special additives and (4) environmental concerns. Additional parameters to be considered in the formulation of a carrier product with satisfactory and repeatable performance arise from the equipment in which the dyeing operation is to be carried out. The choice of equipment is usually dictated by the form in which the fiber substrate is to be processed, eg, loose fiber, staple, continuous or texturized filament, woven or knot fabric, yam on packages or in skeins (see Textiles). 

Direct conversion of methane to ethane and ethylene (C2 hydrocarbons) has a large implication towards the utilization of natural gas in the gas-based petrochemical and liquid fuels industries [ 1 ]. CO2 OCM process provides an alternative route to produce useful chemicals and materials where the process utilizes CO2 as the feedstock in an environmentally-benefiting chemical process. Carbon dioxide rather than oxygen seems to be an alternative oxidant as methyl radicals are induced in the presence of oxygen. Basicity, reducibility, and ability of catalyst to form oxygen vacancies are some of the physico-chemical criteria that are essential in designing a suitable catalyst for the CO2 OCM process [2]. The synergism between catalyst reducibility and basicity was reported to play an important role in the activation of the carbon dioxide and methane reaction [2]. 

The purpose of chemical processes is not to make chemicals the purpose is to make money. However, the profit must be made as part of a sustainable industrial activity. Chemical processes should be designed as part of a sustainable industrial activity that retains the capacity of ecosystems to support both industrial activity and life into the future. Sustainable industrial activity must meet the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations. For chemical process design, this means that processes should use raw materials as efficiently as is economic and practicable, both to prevent the production of waste that can be environmentally harmful and to preserve the reserves of raw materials as much as possible. Processes should use as little energy as economic and practicable, both to prevent the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels and to preserve reserves of fossil fuels. Water must also be consumed in sustainable quantities that do not cause deterioration in the quality of the water source and the long-term quantity of the reserves. Aqueous and atmospheric emissions must not be environmentally harmful, and solid waste to landfill must be avoided. 

Within the broad framework of sustainable development, we should strive to maximize resource efficiency through activities such as energy and nonrenewable resource conservation, risk minimization, pollution prevention, minimization of waste at all stages of a product life-cycle, and the development of products that are durable and can be re-used and recycled. Sustainable chemistry strives to accomplish these ends through the design, manufacture and use of efficient and effective, more environmentally benign chemical products and processes". 

There is a continuing effort to extend the long-established concept of quantitative-structure-activity-relationships (QSARs) to quantitative-structure-property relationships (QSPRs) to compute all relevant environmental physical-chemical properties (such as aqueous solubility, vapor pressure, octanol-water partition coefficient, Henry s law constant, bioconcentration factor (BCF), sorption coefficient and environmental reaction rate constants from molecular structure). 

Environmental Quality. The abstracts come from journals or digests published by CSA on important issues including environmental pollution, toxicological studies of industrial chemicals, ecological impacts of biologically active chemicals, as well as health, safety, and risk management in occupational situations. The POLTOX CD-ROM contains over 200,000 records from these sources since 1981. 

The use of water instead of organic solvents is key to attaining the goal of environmentally benign chemical synthesis. In this context, organic reactions in water are now of great interest and much research effort has been devoted to pursuing efficient reactions in water [1-5]. Unique reactivity and selectivity have been often observed in aqueous media, but one of the big issues is the stability of catalysts in water. Many active catalysts are not stable in water but decompose in the presence of even a small amount of water. To overcome this, we searched for efficient catalysts that are stable and can work well in aqueous media. 

The effects of a chemical in a tissue frequently depend on the chemical s interaction with cell surface or cytoplasmic receptors. In some cases, a chemical interacts directly with the cell membrane and alters its permeability. The pharmacodynamic actions of drugs are usually mediated by interactions with a receptor, and a drug often competes with endogenous ligands of a receptor. The toxicity of environmental chemicals can also depend on and be mediated by interactions with receptors. In some cases, the responses are different for chemical exposures at different fetal stages of development, and it is possible to explain the different responses by the chronology of the development of fetal receptor systems. The fetus may develop receptor systems for a compound before it develops the ability to metabolize that compound thus, a low level of an active chemical can have greater and more persistent effects in the fetus than in the mother, whose metabolism limits the duration and extent of the effect. This is one mechanism for selective developmental toxicity of chemicals. 

While responses to environmental and workplace standards frequently stimulate considerable innovative activity among the environmental and chemical engineers, such activities are not without their technological penalties. Compliance with regulatory requirements frequently requires the diversion of financial resources and technical manpower from other activities, including innovative activities directed to product or process improvements. 

Voluntary Environmental Activities of Large Chemical Companies to Assess and Control Industrial Chemicals, Environmental Protection Agency, 560/4-76-009, September 1976. 

The current understanding ofhow to design safer chemicals is an emerging field of research and application. Prior to this volume, there have been foundational treatments of the topic that laid the conceptual framework for how this idea can be developed and implemented. It is the hope of the editors and chapter authors that this text is built upon by others with further explorations that demonstrate how commercial chemicals can be rationally designed to minimize biological and environmental activity. 

Herbicides are the biocides most likely to affect the metabolism of plants, including secondary metabolism [107]. The synthesis of hydroxyphenolics and anthocyanin in plants can be influenced by a variety of environmental and chemical stimuli. Some herbicides were found to raise the levels of these compounds in plants [108] whilst others had the opposite effect [109]. The products of secondary metabolism are controlled by enzymes, including PAL and chalcone isomerase (Cl), and several herbicides appear to intensify the activities of those enzymes involved in the accumulation of hydroxyphenolic compounds and anthocyanin biosynthesis in several plant species [109-111] whereas others depress this activity [112]. For example,... 

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