Lead South Pacific

Approximately 2.5 million t of viscose process regenerated ceUulose fibers were produced in 1990 (Table 1). Measured by production capacity in 1990, the leading producers of filament yams in 1990 were the Soviet Union state-owned factories (255,000 t capacity) and Akzo Fibres in Europe (100,000 t). The leading producers of staple fiber and tow were Courtaulds with 180,000 t capacity spUt between the UK and North America Formosa Chemicals and Fibres Co. with 150,000 t in Taiwan Tenzing with 125,000 t in Austria, and a 40% stake in South Pacific Viscose s 37,000 t Indonesian plant and Grasim Industries in India (125,000 t). BASF s U.S. capacity of 50,000 t was acquired by Tenzing in 1992. 

Unlike other vegetable oils, oils from palm and coconut trees are very high in saturated fats. Considerable evidence currently suggests that diets high in saturated fats lead to a greater risk of heart disease. For this reason, the demand for coconut and palm oils has decreased considerably in recent years, and many coconut plantations previously farmed in the South Pacific are no longer in commercial operation. 

Figure 8 Vertical profiles of dissolved lead in the central North Atlantic (34° 15 N, 66° 17 W data from Schaule and Patterson, 1983), the central North Pacific (32°41 N, 145°W data from Schaule and Patterson, 1981), and the central South Pacific (20°S, 160°W source Regal and Patterson, 1983). Estimates of the atmospheric input at the time of sampling and in ancient times prior to the large anthropogenic lead input are also shown (Flegal and...

Acute effects of kava drink, as prepared in the South Pacific countries, may lead to such reversible conditions as anesthesia of the mouth (especially the tongue and oral... 

Tsunogai and Nozaki [6] analysed Pacific Oceans surface water by consecutive coprecipitations of polonium with calcium carbonate and bismuth oxychloride after addition of lead and bismuth carriers to acidified seawater samples. After concentration, polonium was spontaneously deposited onto silver planchets. Quantitative recoveries of polonium were assumed at the extraction steps and plating step. Shannon et al. [7], who analysed surface water from the Atlantic Ocean near the tip of South Africa, extracted polonium from acidified samples as the ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate complex into methyl isobutyl ketone. They also autoplated polonium onto silver counting disks. An average efficiency of 92% was assigned to their procedure after calibration with 210Po-210Pb tracer experiments. 

Another convention is the Patent Co-operation Treaty, to which the United Kingdom is a party along with members in both North and South America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, as well as most of the EPC countries and other European countries. This facilitates, making many national applications by filing in the single Patent Office. Thereafter, the individual national procedures operate independently, leading again to separate national patents. 

The usage of biocides for all purposes, including wood treatment (not just plastics) is highly region-dependent, with North America in the lead, followed by Japan. Western Europe and Asia-Pacific come joint-third, followed by South America. 

---