Chemical Education in Eritrea - International Union of ... and beer were founded. ... of the root show promising antibacterial and antifungal ... tory built by the Camboni Fathers

Chemistry International, 2001, Vol. 23, No. 4 97

This article was contributed by Dr. Peter G. Mahaffy(Department of Chemistry, The King’s UniversityCollege, 9125 50th Street, Edmonton, Alberta, CanadaT6B 2H3; E-mail: [email protected]), Cana-dian National Representative to IUPAC’s Commit-tee on Teaching of Chemistry (CTC), and Dr. BerhaneGirmay (Department of Chemistry, University ofAsmara, P.O. Box 1220, Asmara, Eritrea; E-mail:[email protected]), Chair of the EritreanChemical Society.

Introduction

Novel marine natural products are being found inpristine reefs along 1 100 km of Red Sea Coast inthe Horn of Africa. Traditional healers talk of herbsand plants they have used for generations formedicinal purposes. In Eritrea, one of the world’snewest countries, chemists and educators areprobing structures, learning from oral history, andequipping young people to understand and shapethe opportunities presented by new and existingchemical processes. Eritrean chemical education iscoming into its own in the new millennium,mirroring the emergence of the fledgling nation fromEuropean colonialism and Ethiopian annexation toindependence in 1993. Thirty years of war withneighboring Ethiopia before independence, and arenewed conflict in the past two years, have lefturgent infrastructure and development needs.Providing highly qualified human resources toaddress those needs and create new opportunities ishigh on the national agenda.

For science education, this situationrequires a concerted effort to enhancethe quality of teaching and research,and to ensure that students are equippedto produce knowledge-intensive goodsand services to meet immediate localneeds, and to set attainable long-termgoals. Chemistry plays a central role inmany of those basic human needs.Clean air, water, health care, food sup-ply, environment, agricultural productsand practices, pharmaceutical com-pounds, ceramics, and building mate-rials all have a critical chemical dimen-sion, and all require secondary school,technical school, public health, anduniversity graduates with sound back-grounds in basic chemistry and creativeproblem-solving abilities.

A snapshot of Eritrean chemical education activi-ties at the turn of the millennium reveals the follow-ing:

• Secondary school teachers draft papers on howto improve methodology in teaching chemistryand attend workshops on how to introduce prac-tical work and molecular models into the class-room.

• A curriculum development team prepares second-ary school chemistry textbooks that weave dis-cussions of the chemical principles used by localindustries such as the Massawa Salt ProcessingPlant, Eritrean Cement Factory, Denden Glass-works, Gejeret Silicate and Carton Factory, andthe Eritrea Match and Candle Factory into grades10 and 11 chemistry textbooks.

• An ambitious, interdisciplinary team, led by Uni-versity of Asmara chemists, collects and identi-fies Eritrean medicinal plants, to learn which partsof the plants are used by traditional healers, andfor what diseases. They then isolate and charac-terize the active components, with the assistanceof selective bioassays. The team includes expertsin chemistry, microbiology, botany, and pharma-cology, and has received some support fromUNESCO. This research effort is linked with thechemical education of university undergraduates.Several undergraduate chemistry and biology stu-dents have made significant contributions to theproject through senior-year research projects.

Chemical Education in Eritrea

Some members of the Eritrean Medicinal Plants Team. From left: Dr.Wezenet Tewodros (Microbiology), Dr. Azieb Ogbaghebriel (Pharma-cology), Dr. Gehebrehiwet Medhanie (Botany), and Team Leader, Dr.Berhane Girmay (Chemistry).

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98 Chemistry International, 2001, Vol. 23, No. 4

• The Eritrean Chemical Society, comprising about160 members from industry, government, and edu-cation, meets regularly for professional develop-ment, research conferences, to popularize chem-istry in schools, and to promote chemistry edu-cation and research.

• Partners from the Ministry of Education, Univer-sity of Asmara, and local schools wrestle with as-sessment issues—they seek ways to address lowpassing rates for secondary school certificate ex-aminations and high dropout rates among first-year university science students.

• External partners, such as the Italian and Swed-ish governments, contribute meaningfully to sci-ence and technical education with infrastructureand exchange programs.

Roots of Eritrean Science Education

The earliest forms of traditional education were in-formal, with the family being the earliest agent ofsocialization. In addition to learning tasks of cook-ing, brewing, and working the land, children weretaught the art of telling folk stories and proverbs.Present knowledge about Eritrean medicinal plantsattests to the value and strength of that oral tradi-tion.

The church and mosque planted the seeds of for-mal education in Eritrea, where goals to train priestsfor the church and read the Koran and memorize theSurah were met in part through instruction in read-ing and writing Geez (church) and Arabic (mosque).The study of plants and herbs may have been a partof the early curriculum. Inks were compounded fromherbs and charcoal, and “shebti” (phytolaccadodecandra) was regularly used for washing longbefore the introduction of commercial soaps. Swed-ish Evangelical and Catholic missions fertilizedthose early seeds by introducing practical subjects

in the languages of Tigre, Tigrinya, Kunama, andArabic.

Formal science education emerged from the fluxof five administrative periods in Eritrean history.Figure 1 shows the growth of schools, teachers, andstudents for those five periods.

Under Italian Colonialization (1890–1941), thecurriculum was expanded to include history, geog-raphy, language, hygiene, arts, and crafts. One pur-pose of education was “to indoctrinate Eritreans witha devotion for Italy and a respect for Italian cultureand civilization”. Schools were to assist Eritreansto become “worthy elements of the native troops,interpreters, clerks, telephone operators, and typ-ists”. The Eritrean child was to be a “conscious pro-pagandist of Italian civilization and so proselytizehis parents”. Languages of instruction were Italianand the dominant languages of Tigrinya, Tigre, andArabic.

Despite the legacy of indoctrination, solid edu-cational programs in this period prepared the wayfor formal instruction in chemistry and other sci-ences. Schools were constructed, primary educationwas offered, basic equipment and chemical reagentswere obtained, and important industries producingsoap and beer were founded. The period leading upto and during the Italian invasion of Ethiopia sawrapid expansion in education, and the incorporationof Tigray into Eritrea led to the opening of newschools in that region.

The British Military Administration (1941–1952)took over responsibility for schools after the Brit-ish invasion and defeat of Italian East Africa. Tigrayprovince went back to Ethiopian administration,along with the new Tigray schools. The main goalsof the British educational structure were to forceEritreans into a wage economy and to break up tribalsolidarity. Instruction was initially in the dominant

A medicinal plants team has recently characterized theproperties of Eritrean pumpkin (cucurbita pepo L) seedand the fatty acid composition of the seed oil.Y. M. H. Younis, et al. Phytochemistry, 54, 71–75 (2000).

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The Eritrean “kellau” plant. Extracts from the barkof the root show promising antibacterial and antifungalproperties.

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Eritrean language—Tigrinya for Christians and Ara-bic for Muslims. The first ministry of education wascreated in 1942, the first teacher training in college in1946, and teachers were recruited from graduates ofthe former Italian school. Elementary and middleschool students studied mathematics and science.

Under the period of Federation of Eritrea withEthiopia (1952–1962), the first secondary schoolswere opened, and education was given increasedpriority, with distinctive influences of the Ethiopiangovernment being evident. Secondary students nowstudied chemistry, as well as anatomy, biology, andphysiology. The Barka Secondary School in Asmarastill uses facilities, equipment, the chemistry labo-ratory, and even some reagents first supplied by theCamboni Fathers. The University of Asmara was of-ficially established on 20 December 1958 by the Mis-sionary Congregation Pie Madri della Nigrizia ofVerona, Italy. Courses were in Italian, to prepare stu-dents for the final year of study in an Italian Uni-versity to earn the “Laurea”.

After Eritrean “Annexation” to Ethiopia in 1962,Amharic became the language of instruction inEritrean schools, replacing Tigrinya and Arabic. Thenumber of primary and secondary schools increasedto over 200, and secondary schools were opened inevery district capital. Despite the rapid growth inschools, accessibility to education was limited. In1988, only 20% of the school-age population of Ethio-pia, which included Eritrea at the time, were in school.

Following Independence in 1991, the emerging na-tion of Eritrea gave high priority to education, so thatby 1998, more than 375 000 students, or 40% of theschool-age population, were enrolled in 726 schools.

Present State of EritreanChemical Education1

Elementary, Secondary, andTechnical Schools

Eritrean students receive theirfirst introduction to chemistry inelementary school general sci-ence, taught in grades 6 and 7.Formal coursework in chemis-try begins in secondary schoolgrade 8, and continues eachyear through grade 11. Studentswho are educated in technicalschools receive the same grades10 and 11 chemistry curriculumas secondary school students.Students are assessed throughthe Eritrean Secondary Educa-tion Certificate Examination

(ESECE) in chemistry and other subjects at the endof grade 11. A 1997 survey tallied about 100 chem-istry teachers in 29 secondary schools.

Chemistry teachers are a mix of Eritrean nation-als, many educated at the University of Asmara, andvisiting teachers, many from India. The vast major-ity of those teachers are well qualified, with a bach-elors or masters degree. Most face challenging teach-ing conditions. Student/teacher ratios are high, typi-cally about 40, and class sizes of 60 are not uncom-mon. Average weekly teaching loads are just over30 hours per week. Because of the shortage ofschools, most schools run two sessions each day forstudents, with one group studying in the morning,and one in the afternoon. As a temporary measure,owing to disruptions in the school year caused bythe recent conflict with Ethiopia, most secondaryschools now operate six days a week. Textbooks areoften in limited supply; practical work is not rou-tinely part of the secondary school curriculum; andchemicals, equipment, lab manuals, models, and tech-nical support are all hard to come by for many schools.The Asmara Barka school, for example, runs about 60sections of chemistry classes each week, with about60 students in each section—using the single labora-tory built by the Camboni Fathers for demonstrationpurposes.

Yet, despite those challenging conditions, teach-ers are working hard and constructively with theMinistry of Education and the University of Asmarato take steps to strengthen chemical education. Achemistry panel of the Ministry’s Curriculum Re-search and Development Center has producedEritrean textbooks for grades 8–11, which presentstandard chemistry curriculum, while placing con-cepts in the context of local industrial processes.

Fig. 1 Educational growth in Eritrea.

Italian (1896-1940) British (1941-

1951) Federation(1951-1962) Annexation

(1963-1991) Liberation(Since 1991)

Teachers (hundreds)

Students (thousands)

Schools

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Administrative Period


While further revision is necessary to make the textsmore student-friendly, these materials representunique examples of adapting chemistry curriculumto the local environment.

Recently, secondary school chemistry teachers setas one of their highest priorities the systematic in-troduction of practical work, learning by doing—through experiments, demonstrations, and field trips.And so they exchange ideas. They hope to maketeaching more student-centered, and to make stu-dents more active learners. And they are finding cre-ative ways to overcome barriers. Zinc metal can beharvested from old dry cells. Aluminum can be re-trieved from cigarette and gum foils. Students cancollect silica gel from shoe shops and sulfur fromlocal markets. Students can conduct many simpleexperiments at home2. Other chemistry teachers aresystematically evaluating methodology used in cur-rent chemical education practices, for presentationat an annual research conference of the EritreanChemical Society3.

Chemistry at the University of Asmara

The University of Asmara received its charter fromthe Ethiopian government in 1968. It granted its firstundergraduate degrees in chemistry in 1980, shortlyafter a troubling period in the institution’s history,when the university was closed after the Commu-nist revolution in Ethiopia. The early 1980s sawmajor growth for chemistry and other science pro-grams, as young, influential scholars, many fromIndia, East Germany, and elsewhere, contributed tobuilding the institution. The 1983–1984 Universitycatalog shows a sample program for chemistry stu-dents, taking coursework in all four main branchesof chemistry, along with other required courses, suchas Marxist thought and practice. Some chemical edu-cation debates change little over time, as noted bythe calendar rule that: “Calculating machines maynot be used during examinations unless permittedor required by the course instructor”4.

Since independence, the University has grown ex-plosively, to its present student population of over4 000—in a campus originally designed to accom-modate about 500. Undergraduate programs inchemistry continue to receive high priority, boostedby major linkages with Swedish institutions such asthe University of Uppsala and Stockholm Univer-sity. Interdisciplinary research programs rooted inchemistry, such as the Eritrean Medicinal PlantsProject and the Materials Science Project, which dealswith structure–property relationships of technologi-cally useful materials, are producing results and at-tracting attention. Those programs have had valuablespinoffs for chemical education, as they attract andretain gifted scholars with Ph.D. and postdoctoral

qualifications, keep chemists working across inter-faces with other disciplines, bring in research equip-ment, and involve senior undergraduate students inactivities. The chemistry department is currently inthe process of reviewing its undergraduate curricu-lum, looking at both content and pedagogy, and evalu-ating ways to introduce computer-assisted instructionand molecular modeling into the classroom effectively.

Eritrean Chemical Society

Eritrean chemists know the importance of buildingnetworks and lifelong learning, particularly whenworking in settings geographically separated frommajor global centers of excellence in chemistry.Immediately after independence, in November 1991,the Eritrean Chemical Society was founded in thecapital city of Asmara. It was legally recognized bythe government in 1993, and has been working ac-tively since then to achieve the following objectives:

• to develop and promote chemistry education andresearch

• to establish close relationships between chem-ists and other professionals engaged in chemis-try-related fields of activity so as to increase therole of chemistry in national development

• to popularize chemistry, especially in schools• to enhance participation and collaboration of

professional chemists in matters pertaining to na-tional policies, curriculum development, andtraining of chemists

• to promote the improvement of the qualificationof members

• to provide a forum for the exchange of ideasthrough professional publications, symposia, andregular meetings

• to establish and strengthen links with other so-cieties, national and international, that pursuesimilar aims

Several of those key objectives have been trans-lated into action. The society has about 160 mem-bers, from industry, government, and education. Itsponsors annual research conferences that bring to-gether local and international chemists, and it hasheld several significant workshops, where key stake-holders work to strengthen chemical education atthe secondary level.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Mr. Habtai Zerai from theDepartment of History, University of Asmara, forcontributing to and checking the historical section,and Dr. Ghebrebrhan Ogubazghi, Dean of the Col-lege of Science, University of Asmara, for provid-ing other materials and support for this project.


Long-Range Research Initiative (LRI) of theAmerican Chemistry CouncilThe following article was contributed by Dr. CarolJ. Henry (American Chemistry Council, Arlington,Virginia, USA) and Dr. James S. Bus (The DowChemical Company, Midland, Michigan, USA). Thisarticle was originally published in CIIT Activities,Vol. 20, No. 7, pp. 1–5, 2000, and is reprinted withpermission from the CIIT Centers for Health Re-search (formerly the Chemical Industry Institute ofToxicology).

Summary

In January 1999, the chemical industry committedover $100 million for a five-year period to sponsorhealth and environmental research related to chemi-cal use. The Long-Range Research Initiative (LRI)is a visionary program of the American ChemistryCouncil designed to increase knowledge about thepotential and actual effects of chemicals on the healthof human and wildlife populations and on the envi-ronment. The objectives of the LRI are to conductnew research through prominent scientific institu-tions; develop new testing and screening tools tosupport risk assessment; and support informed de-cision-making by government, industry, and citizens.CIIT will conduct much of the LRI research in itsareas of expertise—chemical carcinogenesis; endo-crine, reproductive, and developmental toxicology;neurotoxicology; and respiratory toxicology.

Introduction

In January 1999, the Board of Directors of theAmerican Chemistry Council approved the LRI,which committed over $100 million for the next fiveyears to sponsor research on the health and envi-ronmental effects of chemical use. The LRI repre-sents an expanded commitment to ResponsibleCare®, the industry’s voluntary continuous improve-ment initiative in health, safety, and environmentalperformance. The American Chemistry Council re-search initiative builds on the foundation of and

approach to research conducted at CIIT. Researchsupported by the LRI will advance knowledge aboutthe health, safety, and environmental effects of prod-ucts and processes. The LRI has a number of func-tions:

• identifying emerging health and environmentalissues

• aligning industry research efforts with public pri-orities

• developing improved risk assessment methods tosupport informed regulatory policies

• participating in global processes to demonstratethat the chemical industry is a partner in solvinghealth and environmental problems

• reducing uncertainty in risk assessment and im-proving risk-based decision-making

• reinforcing the industry commitment to openlyproviding information about chemicals and po-tential health and environmental effects

• establishing a leadership position through pro-active research

Development of the Long-Range ResearchInitiative (LRI)

Members of the Chemical Manufacturers Associa-tion voted in June 2000 to change the name of theorganization to the American Chemistry Council toreflect the significant business changes occurringin industry. Among these changes in industry are ex-panded commitments to research and testing; im-proved performance in environment, health, andsafety; and innovations in outreach, dialogue, andadvocacy. Within the last two years, the industry hasdemonstrated this commitment in several ways.

We have worked with the not-for-profit environ-mental advocacy organization Environmental De-fense and the United States Environmental Protec-tion Agency (U.S. EPA) to create a high-production-volume (HPV) testing program that will result in the

1Historical background summarized from:(a) Research provided by Mr. Habtai Zerai, University of

Asmara History Department, September 2000.(b) John Distefano and University of Asmara History Staff,

in “Joint Survey on the State of High School Educa-tion in Eritrea. A Compilation of Papers Presented at aWorkshop, February 1998”, University of Asmara andEritrean Ministry of Education, 1998, Dr. GhebrebrhanOgubazghi, Commission Chair.

(c) Asmara University General Catalog, 1983–84 Aca-

demic Year, Asmara, Ethiopia, January 1983.2“Report on the Proceedings of the Workshop on Integra-tion of Practical Activities Work in Teaching Chemistry inEritrean Secondary Schools”, Eritrean Chemical Society,December 1998.3Ghebrehiwet Mehari, “Some Aspects of Methodology inthe Teaching of Chemistry in Secondary Schools of Eritrea”,Ministry of Education, Zoba Maekel, 1999.4Reference 1(c), page 40.


investment of hundreds of millions of dollars to con-duct screening tests and to make the resulting datafully available to the public. A similar programimplemented by industry at the global level will goone step further and provide initial hazard assess-ments for 1 000 HPV chemicals by 2004. We havecreated the Long-Range Research Initiative (LRI),which strengthens industry’s commitment to Re-sponsible Care. We celebrated the 10-year anniver-sary of the award-winning Responsible Care initia-

tive and made a commitment to continuous progresstoward the vision of “no accidents, injuries, or harmto the environment.” The industry has also expandedjoint advocacy efforts with environmental groupson such issues as endocrine modulation.

The LRI is an expanded commitment drawing di-rectly from Responsible Care that is designed to in-crease knowledge of the potential effects of chemi-cals on the health of human and wildlife populationsand on the environment. LRI goals are to conductresearch through CIIT and other prominent institu-tions; to develop new testing and screening tools tosupport risk assessment; and to support informeddecision-making by government, industry, and citi-zens. For almost 25 years, 30–40 companies fromthe chemical industry have supported CIIT. Throughthe LRI, support for CIIT is being enhanced and con-solidated into sponsorship by the entire membershipof nearly 200 companies of the American Chemis-try Council. Approximately 60% of funds from theLRI will be used to support the research at CIIT.

The LRI was developed from a pilot programcalled the State of the Science Study that was con-ducted in 1997 (described in “The ChemicalIndustry’s Research Initiative and the State of theScience Study,” CIIT Activities, 1–6 June 1998). Re-search priorities were identified in the State of theScience White Papers published in January 1998 bythe Chemical Manufacturers Association (now theAmerican Chemistry Council) and CIIT. This docu-ment was produced through a collaborative effortwith scientists from government, academia, and in-dustry. The strategic questions identified by thesediverse collaborators underlie the LRI (Table 1). LRI

Table 1 Some of the strategic questions underlyingthe Long-Range Research Initiative (LRI).

Are children more susceptible to given chemical exposures andeffects than adults,thereby necessitating greater chemical con-trol measures?

What models or methods can be developed to assess humanand environmental exposures to chemicals more accurately?

Which animal models or test methods are most relevant forpredicting effects on human health from exposures to chemi-cals?

Are the high-dose effects seen in animal studies relevant topeople who are exposed to low doses?

How do we incorporate new scientific advances into our under-standing of the potential effects that chemicals may have onhumans and the environment?

How do we reduce the scientific uncertainties that can lead tooverly conservative regulations?

What risk assessment processes can be developed that wouldbe more readily understood and trusted by the public?

Fig. 1 Funding of the Long-Range Research Initiative (LRI) for fiscal year 2000 by scientific area.

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funding for fiscal year 2000 by scientific area isshown in Fig. 1.

Technical Implementation Panels

The Technical Implementation Panels (TIPs) of theAmerican Chemistry Council are organized to pro-vide technical support and assistance for each of 10scientific areas (Table 2). The TIPs consist of out-side experts working in partnership with scientificspecialists from member companies of the Ameri-can Chemistry Council to support the Long-RangeResearch Initiative (LRI). CIIT derives support fromthe LRI for research in chemical carcinogenesis;endocrine, reproductive, and developmental toxicol-ogy; neurotoxicology; respiratory toxicology; andrisk assessment methods. Other research organiza-tions are supported through an extramural, competi-tive, request-for-proposals process that addressesscientific issues in endocrine modulation and repro-ductive and developmental toxicology, epidemiol-ogy, exposure, immunotoxicology, neurotoxicology,and risk assessment. Requests for proposals areposted on the American Chemistry Council Web site(http://www.americanchemistry.com) under theoverview information on the LRI.

Operating Principles

The six research principles under which the Long-Range Research Initiative (LRI) operates reflect thecommitment of industry to scientific excellence:(1) studies will complement existing research bygovernment, academia, and others; (2) collabora-tions with key internal stakeholders, academia, and

government are emphasized; (3) experts fromacademia, government, and industry will participatein decision-making and provide advice on the qual-ity, direction, and value of the research conducted;(4) individual researchers will determine the meth-ods and procedures to be used in conducting the re-search; (5) rigorous scientific principles and labo-ratory practices will be used at all times; and (6) re-sults will be made public regardless of outcome.

The global LRI is coordinated through the Long-Range Research Initiative Steering Committee of theInternational Council of Chemical Associations(ICCA). The United States chemical industry is rep-resented at ICCA through the American ChemistryCouncil, the European chemical industry through theEuropean Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC), andthe Japanese chemical industry through the JapanChemical Industry Association (JCIA). Each orga-nization has the responsibility for implementingICCA principles, which address scientific excel-lence, open processes and results, fair and unbiasedconduct, and relevance to the chemical industry.

Selected Examples of Ongoing Projects

An overview of studies being conducted as part ofthe Long-Range Research Initiative (LRI) illustratesthe depth and breadth of industry efforts (Table 3).Some studies involve species extrapolation issues,such as the chloroform studies conducted at CIIT.CIIT research on the mechanism of chloroform tox-icity was extremely valuable in assessing the risk tohuman health from low-level environmental expo-sures to chloroform. The examples presented below

Table 2 Technical implementation panels of the American Chemistry Council.

Technical Implementation Panel Focus(TIP)

Atmospheric Chemistry TIP Explores the role of chemicals in atmospheric science that will increase our understanding of theprocesses affecting formation, transport, and removal of pollutants in the atmosphere.

Chemical Carcinogenesis TIP Examines the biological mechanisms and dose–response relationships involving cancers thatmay be associated with exposure to various substances. Extrapolation of results from animals tohumans, the role of biomarkers, and gene-related differences in biological responses areamong the issues explored.

Endocrine TIP Considers the effect that exposure to chemicals might have on the endocrine, reproductive, anddevelopmental health of human and wildlife populations.

Environmental TIP Addresses research on issues of environmental exposure assessment, ecological risk assess-ment and management, and ecosystem dynamics.

Epidemiology TIP Increases scientific understanding of the potential hazards of chemicals and improves epidemio-logical methods and their application in assessing human health risks.

Exposure Assessment TIP Addresses research designed to characterize human exposure to chemicals and reduce theuncertainty for quantitative estimates of exposures associated with the potential human healtheffects of chemicals.

Immunotoxicology TIP Sponsors research to develop animal models that predict the ability of chemicals to induce orexacerbate allergic and other immune responses.

Neurotoxicology TIP Examines biologically significant changes in the structure or function of the nervous system thatmay result from chemical exposure.

Respiratory Toxicology TIP Sponsors research to improve risk assessment methods of inhaled reactive gases, understandthe pathobiology and dosimetry of particles and fibers, and improve animal models ofparticulate-induced disease.

Risk Assessment Methods TIP Addresses research to advance human health risk assessment methodologies for chemicals.


describe research supported by the LRI at CIIT aswell as at other research organizations.

Alternative Bioassays

Shortcuts or replacements for long-term bioassaysused to determine the potential hazards of chemi-cals are being sought throughout the scientific com-munity. These alternative bioassays are needed tosave time and resources and reduce the number ofanimals used in toxicity testing. One of these newtechnologies, the p53 transgenic animal mousemodel, may reduce the time to detection of tumorsfollowing chemical treatment. Before the p53 model

Table 3 Selected highlights of projects funded by the Long-Range Research Initiative as of June 2000.

Project Objective Outcome Status

Chemical carcinogenesis: Determine the mechanism of Results showed that tumor The U.S.Environmental Protec-Study the potential health action for liver tumor formation in test animals is tion Agency has revised its riskeffects of trace amounts of formation. not relevant to chloroform assessment of chloroform.chloroform in drinking water. risk assessment.

Endocrine, reproductive, and Determine how the findings Studies are in progress. Three projects are under way.developmental toxicity: involving the response of oneDevelop models for species apply to humans andrepresentative species and other animals.determine whether they act asan indication for endocrine-active materials.

Environmental research: Collect data to validate Studies are in progress. Two projects are under way.Evaluate habitat use to existing or new habitatimprove exposure evaluation methods.assessment and evaluateemission rates for ambientexposure levels.

Epidemiology Examine mortality of 1 million Information on long-term This project has been completed.chemical workers. health effects was obtained. Peer review is under way.

Exposure modeling research: Establish better exposure Studies are in progress. Three projects are under way.Address the limitations of model for high-production-existing models used to volume and other chemicalspredict the occurrence of for which there will be healthhuman exposure through effects data.various pathways.

Immunotoxicology: Examine different Studies are in progress. Three studies have beenDevelop animal models that measurements in rodents sponsored, two by the Americanpredict the ability of chemical exposed to known respiratory Chemistry Council and one by theallergens to induce or allergens to determine the most European Chemical Industryexacerbate reactions in the accurate predictors of whether Council.respiratory tract. a chemical is capable of acting

as a respiratory allergen.

Respiratory toxicology: Develop, refine, and expand Studies are in progress. Collaboration is under way withStudy dosimetry and risk computational biological U.S. EPA scientists to refineassessment issues for inhaled models for the upper inhalation reference concentrationgases. respiratory tract. (RfC)methodology.

Risk assessment methods: Simulate airflow and regional Studies are in progress. There is the potential for theStudy the effects of gas uptake in nasal passages. development of several newinterindividual differences in human computational fluidhuman nasal anatomy on dynamics models based onrespiratory airflow and inhaled different nasal anatomies.gas uptake.

can be used in risk assessments, however, the datafrom the model must be understood and interpreted.CIIT is conducting research to determine the rel-evance of the p53 model in predicting human healthoutcomes. Current CIIT projects involve the inves-tigation of the carcinogenicity of benzene and thedrinking water by-product bromodichloromethane.

Atmospheric Chemistry

Research in the atmospheric sciences sponsored bythe LRI is intended to fill knowledge gaps and aidin the development of future environmental policies.The priority research themes include atmospheric


degradation pathways, aerosol microphysics andchemistry, and organic compounds in the global at-mosphere. For example, a project on the contribu-tion of biogenic emissions to urban ozone leveragesan existing research program of the CoordinatingResearch Council, a nonprofit organization that di-rects engineering and environmental studies on theinteraction between automotive equipment and pe-troleum products.

Epidemiology Studies

The chemical industry has historically conductedmany epidemiology studies to determine long-termmortality and cancer incidence in workers involvedin the manufacture of chemical products. The Ameri-can Chemistry Council has developed an inventoryof mortality and cancer incidence studies availablein the peer-reviewed literature. This worker popu-lation database is a valuable resource for the chemi-cal industry and for the scientific community at large.The Health Studies Inventory Summary Report isavailable on the American Chemistry Council website (http://www.americanchemistry.com), and thedatabase itself can be purchased by both Councilmembers and nonmembers. The inventory was usedfor an interpretive review to assess the overall bur-den of disease for the population of chemical manu-facturing workers.

Exposure Research

A critical issue for the chemical industry is in thearea of exposure. As the high-production-volume(HPV) testing program is developed and imple-mented and large amounts of chemical, animal, andhazard toxicity data are generated, exposure dataand models to predict patterns of exposure will beneeded to understand better the potential hazardsassociated with HPV chemicals. Research is inprogress to examine the limitations of existing mod-els used to predict the occurrence and extent of hu-man exposure. For example, the Exposure Assess-ment TIP is sponsoring research to examine modelsthat predict chemical exposures from oral and der-mal absorption as well as models that focus on anindividual’s personal environment, or microenviron-ment. The Exposure Assessment TIP will also over-see projects aimed at understanding and develop-ing a framework that focuses on combinations ofexposure pathways and sources and the accumula-tion of these exposures over time. Exposure model-ing is expected to lead to better exposure assess-ment for chemicals. Work on the exposure frame-work will help companies understand how a person’sexposure is influenced by activity patterns, age, gen-der, occupation, and other demographic factors.

Risk Assessment

The LRI is funding projects that address methods inrisk assessment. One of these projects involved as-sessment of the human health risks from formalde-hyde using benchmark dose analysis. The significanceof the project was recognized in 1999 when CIIT sci-entist Dr. Paul Schlosser received an award from theRisk Assessment Specialty Section of the Society ofToxicology for his poster presentation on “Formalde-hyde Risk Assessment by Benchmark Dose AnalysisUsing DNA-Protein Cross-Links as an Internal DoseMetric.” Other research projects address pharmaco-kinetic modeling, cumulative risks, inter- and intraspe-cies variability in extrapolation modeling, and low-dose extrapolation modeling.

Wildlife Studies

The LRI is sponsoring research involving wildlifestudies to develop animal models for detecting en-docrine-active materials. Field studies of songbirdreproduction and productivity are under way, andresearch is being conducted on fence lizards as apotential reptilian model for ecological assessmentof endocrine-active materials.

Conclusions

Environmental regulation and product stewardshiphave been very effective in the last 20 years at re-ducing exposures to manufactured chemicals.Through Responsible Care, workers in the chemicalindustry are 4.5 times safer than those in all othermanufacturing industries (calculated from tables inthe Monthly Labor Review, July 2000). The chemi-cal industry has also reduced EPA Toxic Release In-ventory emissions between 1988 and 1998 by 63%while increasing production over 27% and is talk-ing with its neighbors through some 300 Commu-nity Advisory Panels.

To understand the impact of chemicals on humanhealth and the environment, the chemical industryand downstream chemical users are engaged in pro-viding more information to improve understandingof how chemicals are manufactured, used, distrib-uted, and ultimately disposed of. What are the po-tential effects on the environment or on humanhealth associated with low-level exposures tochemicals? How can the scientific issues associatedwith sustainability and life-cycle analysis be iden-tified and developed? Such questions can only beanswered by effectively working with research com-munities in academia, government, and industry. Inalliance with CIIT, the Long-Range Research Initia-tive (LRI) is actively engaged in improving our un-derstanding about chemicals and finding answersto these questions.


Chemistry in Egypt

This article was contributed by Dr. A. S. Shoukry(S&T Company, 8 Osman Abdel Hafeez Street, 2nd

District, Nasr City, Cairo 11371, Egypt; E-mail:[email protected]), Chairman of the EgyptianNational Committee for IUPAC.

Introduction

Chemistry has been practiced in Egypt since the timeof the Pharaohs. Then, the practice of chemistry waslimited to priests and aimed at serving kings andrulers of the country. The practice of chemistry on abroader scale and the teaching of chemistry in Egyptare relatively recent phenomena.

Increased national chemical activities began bythe end of the 19th century with the establishment ofseveral governmental laboratories for chemicalanalysis and quality control of raw materials, water,industrial products, and several other imported orlocally produced items. Such laboratories servedgovernments and decision-makers by helping toregulate and enforce the import, export, and safe useof items.

Chemical Education in Egypt

Higher education in Egypt began effectively in theearly 20th century with the establishment in 1908 ofthe first university at Cairo, the Egyptian University,which was nongovernmental and was concernedmainly with arts. By 1925, the first governmentaluniversity, Cairo University, was founded. Itreplaced the Egyptian University and had facultiesfor arts, sciences, medicine, pharmacy, law, and otherdisciplines.

The chemistry department of the Faculty of Sci-ence at Cairo University was established accordingto the highest international standards. Teachingmethods practiced there have stemmed from the pio-neering achievements of the Leibig Teaching Labo-ratory in Germany during the late 19th century. Prof.Schonberg from Germany was the head of the chem-istry department at Cairo University until the mid-1950s. It is noteworthy that the implementation ofmicro-methods in teaching chemistry, which seem-ingly is thought to be a modern invention (or, rather,reinvention) was fully established in Cairo at thetime of the foundation of the chemistry departmentabout 1924. This fact is well documented in a bookby Prof. Egerton C. Grey, who was then a professorof chemistry at the Government Medical School inCairo. The preface of his book (Practical Chemistryby Micro-Methods, W. Heffer & Sons, Ltd., Cam-bridge, England, 1925) advocates widespread teach-

ing of elementary physical chemistry, qualitativeanalysis, volumetric analysis, and organic chemis-try using micro-methods.

The second university in Egypt was founded atAlexandria in 1942. The chemistry department ofAlexandria University was established on the basisof a strong link with high-level international insti-tutes. Prof. Flaschentrager from Germany was Pro-fessor of Biochemistry at Alexandria University fromthe mid-1940s until the late 1950s. The 1999 NobelPrize winner in chemistry, Prof. Dr. Ahmed Zewail,was a graduate ofthe Alexandria Uni-versity ChemistryDepartment, and hewas also awardedhis M.Sc. degree atthis university.

Ain-Shams Uni-versity was estab-lished in 1950. Prof.Mostafa El Sayed,the nanostructuredsystems pioneerand another pos-sible Nobel Prizecandidate, is agraduate. AssuitUniversity (1957),

Practical Chemistryby Micro-Methods

EGERTON CHARLES GREY,D.Sc., F.I.C., M.R.C.S.

Professor of Chemistry, Government Medical School,

Cairo

CAMBRIDGE:

W. HEFFER & SONS LTD

1925

Dr. Ahmed Zewail, EgyptianNobel Prize Laureate for

Chemistry, 1999

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as well as several regional universities at Mansouraand Tanta (1969), at Zagazig and Menia (1974), andothers, were founded during a period of rapid ex-pansion of chemistry education in Egypt. By 1964,Al Azhar University also had a Faculty of Science.At present, the 13 governmental universities inEgypt have about 2 million students. About 30% ofuniversity students are enrolled in chemistrycourses.

In addition to the governmental universities, thereare the American University in Cairo and two re-cently established private universities at Sixth ofOctober City near Cairo. The necessity for new uni-versities is dictated by increasing population and

the resulting overcrowding in existing universities,a situation that usually has a negative effect on thequality of higher education.

Chemistry instruction takes place in several fac-ulties. Chemistry departments deal mainly with ba-sic chemistry and its applications. In faculties ofmedicine and veterinary medicine, teaching focuseson biochemistry and vital biochemical processes.Pharmaceutical chemistry departments teach chem-istry of drugs and pharmaceuticals. Chemical engi-neering is given in faculties of engineering. Soilchemistry, pesticide chemistry, and food chemistryare principal disciplines in faculties of agriculture.

Chemistry departments are provided with labo-

Preface from Practical Chemistry by Micro-Methods

It must be evident to many that the time has comefor a change in some of the methods of teaching practi-cal chemistry. Classes seem to get larger every year,and the standard is being gradually raised. Much whichwas done in the first year of a university course must bepushed into the school’s curriculum. It follows that manyexperiments which could once be performed by eachindividual must perforce be omitted, and there is a ten-dency to meet the situation by adapting the practicalcourse rather to the convenience of the laboratory thanto the individual needs of the students. The majoritywho come to the chemical department today, are apply-ing themselves to the science as a means and not as anend, seeing how divergent these ends are, it is a pitythat the training must so often be the same. At the bestthis is but a compromise.

Organic chemistry, particularly, is neglected becauseof the expense of many reagents and the danger of work-ing with large quantities of inflammable materials.

The method of practical microchemistry is that ofworking with minute quantities of material, specks ofsolids, drops of liquids. With this method the difficul-ties which would hamper many a laboratory will be foundto vanish. A student, for example, may without dangerprepare a few ccs. of the gases, however inflammableor explosive, and he can study the properties of muchsolvents as school, ether, chloroform or benzene by theuse of drops without danger to himself or anxiety to histeacher.

There is nothing which at present is done by stu-dents with large apparatus that cannot be done with themicro-method, but there is much that can be done withsmall apparatus that is sheer waste when done on thelarger scale.

With small reagent bottles and small apparatus thebenches and general equipment of the laboratory maybe greatly simplified. Everything is easier to find and tohandle. A student’s whole outfit may be put upon a tea-tray, and with his laboratory thus all at hand the studentmay sit down to his work with consequent sparing offatigue to himself and to his teacher. The class room

whatever the stage of the work, becomes a place of peaceand quiet, and the foul atmosphere so often the result ofwork on a large scale, is avoided. This means a greatgain from the point of view of the student’s health, amatter which in science teaching is often sadly ne-glected.

The methods of micro chemistry are exceedinglyrapid, for example, by the use of the table on page 65,one of my staff was able to identify the bases of fifteenunknown simple salts in ten minutes with only onedoubtful case. This, I think, must be a record.

Such rapid work is the result of using drops, andemploying one glass slide instead of several test tubes.Several reactions may be viewed simultaneously, andby the aid of a pocket lens, studied with a care which isnot possible with the test-tube.

One drop of a solution divided into three parts suf-fices in many cases to characterise at once an unknownbase. After the reaction the slide is washed and dried ina second and ready for the next test.

With this sparing of time it follows that much morework can be got into the working hours, and in conse-quence studies which were once spread over many yearsmay be condensed into a few. The economy also in en-ergy and in expense is enormous, with the result that itis possible to cover a much broader field of study.

This book is intended for schools or for the earlierpart of a university course, and it covers the practicalwork required by the conjoint boards of the Royal Col-leges of physicians and surgeons. While describing themethods of micro chemistry, it indicates also how a prac-tical course may be broadened to include exercise, inelementary physical chemistry, qualitative analysis,volumetric analysis, and a brief introduction to organicchemistry is given. Sufficient to give the student a tastefor this fascinating subjects.

I would like, in concluding to express my thanks tomy colleagues, Mr. W. M. Colles, for his valuable help.

The Author wishes to thank Messrs. Baird & Tatlockfor so kindly providing the blocks for the illustrations.

EGERTON CHARLES GREYCAIRO, 1924


ratories for practical chemical education and withlibraries that contain relevant periodicals and sci-entific books. Information technology is now beingintroduced in all phases of teaching to enhance stu-dents’ educational resources through informationand research networks. Distance learning has re-cently been introduced in Egypt through the NileSat Television System, which covers all educationalstages.

The Egyptian Chemical Society

The Egyptian Chemical Society (ECS) was estab-lished in 1928 and is a member of the Society ofArab Chemists. It strives to foster chemical researchconnections among chemists and chemical engi-neers locally and regionally. It also encourages co-operation in the exchange of knowledge and ideas.The ECS publishes the Egyptian Journal of Chemis-try, which appears bimonthly and features originalresearch in different fields of pure and applied chem-istry. The ECS sponsors the Egyptian Chemical Con-ference, which is held regularly every three yearsand covers different fields of chemistry. The soci-ety gives support to young chemists through effec-tive cultural and scientific programs that includelectures, meetings, seminars, and scientific visitscovering various aspects of chemistry and chemi-cal industry.

One of the main objectives of the ECS is to raiseawareness of the importance of chemistry and toimprove its general public image. The ECS is en-

gaged in the development of programs with the aim“to enhance the public appreciation of chemistry andits positive contribution to everyday life”.

Chemistry in the Eyes of the Society and YoungStudents

In August 1999, the French Delegation, on behalfof the French Chemical Society at the IUPAC Gene-ral Assembly in Berlin, Germany, presented a paperconcerning the considerable changes in chemistrythat have occurred during the last ten years. Theimage of the chemical industry has been blurred bymergers and scissions and globalization of the ac-tivities of multinational companies.

These changes will have consequences in theeducation that young people will need in order tobe of use in the future and to get jobs.

One attitude would be to say that we do not haveto worry about this development, because the mar-ket will bring about the appropriate solution. Thismay have been true before the World Trade Organi-zation (WTO), General Agreement on Tariffs andTrade (GATT), and trade-related aspects of intellec-tual property rights (TRIPS), but not now.

The Egyptian National IUPAC Committee’sAction Steps

We concentrate on the bad image that chemistry hasin the public’s and the student’s eyes, in spite of theindustrious and costly attempts that have been madeto improve matters. In this respect, we are trying to

Cost-effective appliances for educative small-scaleschool chemistry experimentation. Courtesty M. K. El-Marsafy, S. Abdel-Moezz, and F. Ebeid, ChemistryDepartment, Faculty of Education, Ain Shams Univer-sity, Roxy Cairo, Egypt.

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Foreword from Microscale Chemistry

The use of microscale chemistry is gaining momen-tum worldwide and is now an integral part of coursesin North America, France and South Africa as wellas in the UK.

The advantages of microscale chemistry are evi-dent in terms of safety and convenience. Microscaleexperiments also require students to rethink approachto experimental technique and encourages increasedaccuracy and kill in carrying out procedures.

Microscale chemistry in the UK is currentlymainly confined to undergraduate teaching in uni-versities. However, the Royal Society of Chemistrybelieves that this publication will provide the basisto help establish microscale chemistry at the second-ary level.

promote the “Egyptian experiment”, which we thinkstill has a long way to go.

Systemic Approach in Teaching Chemistry

Our main concern is the students. First priority arethose between the ages of 10–14, and second arethe undergraduates.

Prof. Fahmy of Egypt and Prof. J. J. Lagowski ofthe University of Texas, Austin, Texas, USA, starteda campaign to replace the linear approach to teach-ing chemistry with a systemic one in 1997, and theresults presented at the IUPAC Committee on Teach-ing of Chemistry (CTC) meeting in Berlin in August1999 were encouraging.

A keynote lecture by Prof. Fahmy during the 16th

International Conference on Chemical Education (16th

ICCE) in Budapest, Hungary in August 2000 presentedapplications of the systemic approach to teaching andlearning organic chemistry for the 21st century.

Small-Scale Experiments

Another important innovation for raising the interestof young students is the design of simple, safe, andpractical chemistry kits that all students can afford.

This concept was introduced by Dr. M. K. El-Marsafy, the R&D manager of El-Nasr Pharmaceu-tical Chemicals Company, in 1975 during the 28th

IUPAC General Assembly at Madrid, Spain. He suc-ceeded in producing a compact chemistry kit andmanaged to market it to most of the secondaryschools in Egypt, thanks to the support of the Min-ister of Education, Prof. Mostafa Kamal Helmy, anda team of well-trained chemists for promotion andafter-sale services.

Unfortunately, this success persuaded privatesector companies to produce lower quality andcheaper kits, without having the means and experi-ence to service their products.

Other similar approaches were presented duringthe 16th ICCE as follows:

• “Hands-on practical chemistry for all”, J. D. Bra-dley, Department of Chemistry, University of theWitwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

• “Development of microscale chemistry during thelast ten years in China”, N. H. Zou, HongzhouTeachers College, 310012 Hangzhou, China

• “Small-scale laboratory for high school chemis-try”, K. Ogino, K. Shoji, K. Kon, T. Tajima, and T.Fujikawa, Japan

Cost-Effective Chemistry

Dr. El-Marsafy and his colleagues at the Faculty ofEducation, Ain Shams University, demonstratedcost-effective appliances for educative small-scale

school chemistry experimentation during the 15th

International Conference on Chemical Education(15th ICCE), sponsored by IUPAC and UNESCO andorganized by the Chemistry Department, Faculty ofScience, at Ain Shams University, 9–14 August 1998.This concept has also been presented internation-ally on several occasions, including at a conferenceorganized by the Wisconsin Institute of ChemicalEducation in August 1996.

The trend toward cost-effective chemistry hasbeen very much in focus in various chemistry edu-cation institutes in Egypt since 1924. The approachhas been tested over a 10-year period at the Facultyof Education in Ain Shams University, with empha-sis on two basic features, as follows:

• Students are required to procure and pay for allmicroscale appliances. The appliances include asimple two-pan balance and 1-ml syringes forquantitative experimentation, as well as vials andplastic dropper bottles to substitute for all con-ventional glassware in laboratory experiments.

• Students are instructed to perform all the experi-ments and to submit detailed reports, includingwritten results of their experimentation.

Prof. Grey’s book (see photo on p. 106) is of greatrelevance in bringing into focus the historical per-spective of the modern trend of advocating the prac-tice of these micro-methods internationally.

The preface of his book (see p. 107) is prescientin its advocacy of small-scale chemical experimentsas a pedagogical tool. The foreword of a bookMicroscale Chemistry, published by the Royal So-ciety of Chemistry (UK) in 1977 (see inset above),reinforces the value of these techniques, which arebeing promoted vigorously now by IUPAC’s CTC.


News from IUPACReflections on Three Decades of IUPACParticipation

Prof. Richard A. Durst (Professor of Chemistry andChairman, Department of Food Science and Tech-nology, Director of the Cornell Institute of FoodScience, Cornell University, Geneva, New York14456-0462 USA; E-mail: [email protected]), cur-rently a Titular Member of the Analytical ChemistryDivision (V) Committee, has provided the follow-ing reminiscences of his 30-year tenure as an activeIUPAC Member:

As my final IUPAC General Assembly ap-proaches, I would like to reflect briefly on my manyyears of service and participation in IUPAC activi-ties. As we all know, the membership rules werechanged some years ago to prevent my level of par-ticipation, but I somehow “fell through the cracks”.That is, by limiting the number of years one couldbe a member of IUPAC, it was hoped to bring in freshideas and enthusiasm, and perhaps also to dispel thenotion of an “old boys’ club” mentality. While I amobviously an example of an extreme case, I wouldlike to think that my enthusiasm for IUPAC activi-ties has not diminished in the slightest and that Ican still periodically come up with new ideas andworthwhile contributions. I expect that my associa-tion with the U.S. National Bureau of Standards (nowNIST) provided additional value to my efforts.

In hindsight, my earliest participation as an As-sociate Member of the Commission on Electrochem-istry (I.3) began in 1971 when I was elected at theGeneral Assembly held in Washington, DC, but I wasnot very active in this Commission until the 28th

General Assembly in Madrid in 1975. After ratherminimal contributions to this Commission, I waselected (or perhaps deported) in 1979 to the Com-mission on Electroanalytical Chemistry (V.5), wheremy expertise was more relevant to the ongoing andfuture projects. I eventually became Chairman of thisCommission and subsequently was elected to theAnalytical Chemistry Division (V) Committee, whereI have remained until my final function at the Gen-eral Assembly in Brisbane in July 2001.

It has been a wonderful experience for me to workwith some of the most outstanding chemists in theworld; first as a wide-eyed and awestruck youngscientist and, later, as a more mature (older?) scien-tist who was still impressed with his association withworld-class colleagues. While I have tried my bestto fulfill my various duties in IUPAC, I hope that mycontributions have justified my many years of ef-fort and participation.

I don’t know if my tenure in IUPAC is a longevityrecord or not; that is not important except perhapsfor the Guinness Book of Records. What is impor-tant is how my colleagues judge my contributionsto the objectives of IUPAC. As always, I have triedto do my best for IUPAC, and I wish all of you greatsuccess in the coming years. I shall continue to fol-low the activities of IUPAC closely and hope that Imay be called upon in the future to assist in theprojects of the Working Groups.

Report on International IUPACWorkshop on Fats, Oils, and OilseedsAnalysis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,21–22 November 2000

Dr. Regina C. A. Lago (CTAA/Embrapa Food Tech-nology, Avenida das Américas 29501, Guaratiba,23020-470 Rio de Janeiro-RJ, Brazil; E-mail:[email protected]), Titular Member of theIUPAC Commission on Food (VI.5), has submittedthe following report:

This workshop (Project No. 1999-042-1-600) wasthe first of its kind held by IUPAC in Brazil/LatinAmerica. It was organized by the National ResearchCenter for Food Technology of Embrapa, the Bra-zilian Agricultural Research Organization, and Dr.Regina Lago, of the Local Organizing Committee,which had as members Dr. Sonia M. Cabral deMenezes (Petrobrás, Titular Member of the IUPACCommission on Molecular Structure and Spectros-copy, I.5) and Dr. Rosemar Antoniassi (Embrapa).

Brazil is a well-known vegetable oil producer(mainly of soybean oil), and this workshop presenteda good opportunity for sharing industrial and aca-demic experiences. Despite the geographical diffi-culties of holding the event in Rio de Janeiro, whichis not a vegetable oil-producing or -processing state,the workshop attracted more than 80 participants,mostly from Brazil but also from Uruguay, Colom-bia, and Venezuela.

The program began with a general look at the im-portance of analytical data in fat technology, and itnext proceeded to a discussion of the main organiza-tions that develop/validate methods for lipid analysis(IUPAC, AOCS, and AOAC International). Because theorigin of fat differs from that of food samples, the prob-lem of lipid extraction from different matrices wastreated. Three topics related to nutritional aspects werealso considered on the first day: quality control of fry-ing fats, an oxidative stability index, and phytosterolsas nutraceutical products.


On the second day, instrumental analysis of fatsand oils was emphasized, including trans fatty aciddetermination by high-resolution GC, NMR appli-cations to lipid analysis, and ICP-MS for oilseedanalysis. Analytical criteria for quality and purityevaluation of olive oils were also discussed, as wellas the Codex and FOSFA requirements for storageand shipping of oils and fats and analytical meth-ods requirements.

The interlaboratory collaborative studies carried

out by the previous IUPACCommission on Oils, Fats,and Derivatives (previ-ously VI.6, and now mergedinto the Commission onFood, VI.5) resulting in theIUPAC Standard Methodsfor the Analysis of Oils,Fats, and Derivatives (nowundergoing revision thatwill lead to the 8th Edition)were stressed in most of theworkshop sessions. A sum-mary was printed and dis-tributed to all participants.

Supporters of the work-shop, in addition to IUPACand Embrapa Food Tech-nology, included FAPERJ(the Rio de Janeiro StateResearch Funding Agency),SBOG (Brazilian Society ofOils and Fats), SBCTA (Bra-

zilian Society of Food Science and Technology),Nestlé Brazil, and Bank of Brazil.

The workshop provided a timely opportunity topay homage to Dr. Leopold Hartman for his contri-bution to lipid chemistry. Dr. Hartman has been liv-ing in Brazil for more than three decades, and he isnow 96 years old.

According to many comments and messages re-ceived, the workshop was considered a success.

The Organizing Committee. From left to right, second row: Paul Kolodziejczyk,Carmen Dobarganes, and Marshall Pike; first row: Sonia Cabral de Menezes,Patrick Dysseler, Regina Lago, and Rasemar Antoniassi.

Highlights from the WebNew Look of www.iupac.org

In mid-May, IUPAC opened its redesigned homepage, unveiling a new look with added features. Thisnew page is the first part of an effort to make thedeeper organizational structure of the site moretransparent to the visitor and more user-friendly,especially for those unfamiliar with IUPAC. It alsoputs up front some of the themes most closelyassociated with IUPAC, such as the names of thechemical elements, nomenclature and symbols,education, and industry. Designed by Hollis Oberliesfrom Purple Zante, Inc., and implemented by JoeKomenda at komejo.com, the IUPAC home page,with its light graphics and direct access to about 50pages, is more appealing and versatile.

While the site is steadily growing in size, the sitemap as published in CI, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 112–113,1999, remains essentially unchanged. Among the

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Reports from IUPAC-Sponsored SymposiaInternational Symposium on GreenChemistry, 10–13 January 2001,Delhi, India

More than 150 people attended this symposium,many of them coming from abroad. Fifteen coun-tries were represented, thus showing widespreadinternational interest in the subject.

The symposium was organized by Dr. M. Kidwai(Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi, In-dia), and Prof. James Clark (Department of Chemis-try, University of York, England, UK) served as thePresident and Symposium Editor. The inaugural lec-ture was given by Prof. Clark during an impressiveopening ceremony.

Prof. Pietro R. Tundo, the Official IUPAC repre-sentative to the symposium, presented greetingsfrom IUPAC at the opening ceremony, during whichhe reported on the existing IUPAC activities relatedto green chemistry worldwide (see box below) andparticularly in the less-developed countries. Theterm “green chemistry”, as adopted by the IUPACWorking Party on Synthetic Pathways and Processesin Green Chemistry, is defined as: “The invention,

design, and application of chemical products and pro-cesses to reduce or to eliminate the use and genera-tion of hazardous substances”.

Environmental protection has to have singular at-tention in India because of the unprecedented de-velopment of that country. International cooperationbetween the countries of the world will play a fun-damental role in the progress of green chemistry, andIUPAC itself may address the progress toward a sci-entific and intelligent trend.

Main topics covered by the symposium includednew clean reagents, new organic syntheses, new en-vironmental friendly polymers, catalysis, processintensification, and biocatalysis. There were 7 ple-nary lectures and 13 invited lectures. Selected lec-tures from the symposium were published in theJanuary 2001 issue of Pure and Applied Chemistry(PAC, Vol. 73, No. 1, pp. 77–203, 2001).

Research and educational networks operating ingreen chemistry were also presented and include thefollowing: Interuniversity Consortium of Chemistryfor the Environment (http://www.unive.it/inca), UKGreen Chemistry Network (http://www.chemsoc.org/gcn), and Green Chemistry Institute (http://

most recently added features is the electronic news-letter, IUPAC e-news, informing you of what’s newin IUPAC and on the IUPAC web site. Note that ifyou recently changed your e-mail address, you mustresubscribe to IUPAC e-news directly online at

http://www.iupac.org/news/e-news.html/.

Fabienne MeyersIUPAC Secretariat

• Founding of the IUPAC Working Party on Syn-thetic Pathways and Processes in Green Chem-istry (Seoul, Korea, August 1996)

• International Conference on Challenging Per-spectives on Green Chemistry (Venice, Italy,September 1997)

• Meeting of the IUPAC Working Party on Syn-thetic Pathways and Processes in Green Chem-istry (Venice, Italy, October 1998)

• 13th International Conference on Organic Syn-thesis (ICOS-13) Minisymposium on Green Or-ganic Synthesis (Warsaw, Poland, 1–5 July2000)

• Special Topic Issue and Symposium-in-Printon Green Chemistry (Pure and Applied Chem-istry, Vol. 72, No. 7, July 2000)

• Establishment of the Subcommittee on GreenChemistry within Commission III.2 (Decem-

ber 2000)• International Symposium on Green Chemistry

(Delhi, India, 10–13 January 2001)• CHEMRAWN XIV—Toward Environmentally

Benign Processes and Products (Boulder, Colo-rado, 9–13 June 2001)

• 38th IUPAC Congress/World Chemistry Con-gress, Scientific Program Theme on Environ-mental Chemistry and the Greening of Indus-try (Brisbane, Australia, 1–6 July 2001) andIUPAC Committee on Teaching of Chemistry,Satellite Conference (Brisbane, Australia, 1July 2001)

• IUPAC Subcommittee on Green ChemistryWorkshop on Education in Green Chemistry(Venice, Italy, 12–14 September 2001) (see an-nouncement in CI, Vol. 23, No. 3, p. 90, May2001)

Some IUPAC Events Related to Green Chemistry


New ProjectsVisit http://www.iupac.org/projects/ for complete information and further links.

Collecting, Testing, and DisseminatingExperiments in Solid-State andMaterials Chemistry

IUPAC has approved a two-year project to providetested experiments in the fields of solid-state and ma-terials chemistry to be introduced into the chemistryand materials science curriculum. The experiments thatwill be submitted can be used for junior and seniorundergraduates as projects, and for masters studentsas laboratory courses. Because in recent years the de-velopment of high-technology materials is a very im-portant issue, this project will be very useful in ad-vancing the preparation of novel compounds.

Testing of experiments once they are preparedwill be accomplished by another laboratory or by

www.lanl.gov/greenchemistry).Expectations for the symposium among the po-

litical world of Delhi were really high. Prof. DeepakNayyar, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Delhi,welcomed attendees on behalf of the University ofDelhi, and Dr. Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of theNational Capital Territory of Delhi, expressed herwish that the symposium would help chemists toupdate Indian science with what is new on the inter-national scene. She declared herself to be stronglyinterested and expressed her belief that Delhi de-

velopment will require cleaner production and man-agement for a better environment.

Hospitality and coordination by the symposiumorganizers were excellent.

Prof. Pietro R. TundoAssociate Member, IUPAC Commission onPhysical Organic Chemistry (III.2)Department of Environmental SciencesUniversity Ca’ Foscari of VeniceVenice, Italy

students. The range of topics would be broadenedby considering different synthesis methods, such assolid-state, solution, hydrothermal, or sol-gel reac-tions. Characterization by different instrumentalmethods and determination of magnetic, electrical,optical, thermal, and mechanical properties couldalso be considered.

Comments from the chemistry and materials sci-ence communities are welcome and should be ad-dressed to the project coordinator, Prof. MeralKizilyalli, Department of Chemistry, Middle EastTechnical University, Ankara 06531, Turkey; Tel.:+90 312 2103208; Fax: +90 312 2101280; E-mail:[email protected].

See http://www.iupac.org/projects/2000/2000-020-2-200.html for project description and update.

Provisional Recommendations

IUPAC Seeks Your Comments

In this section, we publish synopses of IUPAC’s lat-est provisional recommendations on nomenclatureand symbols. All comments on these recommenda-tions are welcome and will be taken into consider-ation. The final revised versions are published inPure and Applied Chemistry (PAC).

If you would like to comment on the provisionalrecommendations, please visit the IUPAC web siteat http://www.iupac.org/reports/provisional/index.html, where the full texts are available fordownloading as draft pdf files. Alternatively, youcan write to your nearest national/regional center torequest a copy; the most recent list of national/re-gional centers is available on the web site at the ad-dress above and last appeared in CI, Vol. 17, p. 141(1997).

Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry Division.Commission on Nomenclature of OrganicChemistry—Nomenclature for the C

60–I

h and

C70

–D5h(6)

Fullerenes

<http://www.iupac.org/reports/provisional/ab-stract01/powell_301101.html>

Fullerenes are a new allotrope of carbon character-ized by a closed-cage structure consisting of an evennumber of three coordinate carbon atoms devoid ofhydrogen atoms. This class was originally limitedto closed-cage structures with twelve isolated five-membered rings, the rest being six-membered rings.

Although it was recognized that organic ring no-menclature could be used for these structures, theresulting names would be extremely unwieldy andinconvenient for use. At the same time, it was alsorecognized that established organic principles could


New Books and Publications

be used, or adapted, to provide a consistent nomen-clature for this unique class of compounds based onthe class name fullerene. However, it was neces-sary to develop an entirely new method for uniquelynumbering closed-cage systems.

This paper describes IUPAC recommendations fornaming and uniquely numbering the two most com-mon fullerenes with isolated pentagons, the icosa-hedral C

60 fullerene and the D

5h–C

70 fullerene. It also

describes adaptations of organic nomenclature prin-ciples for naming derivatives of fullerenes with

New Publications from the World HealthOrganization

Carbon Monoxide, Environmental HealthCriteria No. 213

1999, xxiv + 464 pages (English, with summaries inFrench and Spanish), ISBN 92-4-157213-2, CHF96.-/USD 86.40; In developing countries: CHF 67.20,Order No. 1160213. WHO Marketing and Dissemi-nation, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland; Tel.: +4122 791 24 76; Fax: +41 22 791 48 57; E-mail:[email protected].

This book evaluates the risks to human health andthe environment posed by exposure to carbon mon-oxide, a colorless, odorless gas produced by bothnatural and anthropogenic processes. Concernsabout the potential health effects of exposure havebeen addressed in extensive studies with both hu-mans and a range of animal species. Although stud-ies of carbon monoxide poisoning are included, thereport gives major attention to possible health riskslinked to the relatively low concentrations that char-acterize most exposures. The report also aims to iden-tify subpopulations that may be especially suscep-tible to adverse health effects. Close to 1 000 refer-ences are included in this comprehensive assess-ment.

Concerning environmental levels arising from hu-man activities, highway vehicle emissions are con-sidered the principal source, followed by emissionsfrom nonhighway transportation sources, other fuelcombustion sources, industrial processes, and solidwaste disposal. Evidence from monitoring stationssupports the conclusion that environmental concen-trations are declining, reflecting the efficacy of emis-sion control devices on newer vehicles. The reportalso considers the factors that contribute to indoorconcentrations, with cigarette smoke singled out as

a major source.A chapter on environmental distribution and

transformation summarizes what is known about theenvironmental fate of carbon monoxide, its contri-bution to ozone production in the troposphere, andits possible role in global warming. Sources of per-sonal exposure are considered in the next chapter,which concludes that the most important exposuresfor the general population occur in the vehicle andindoor macroenvironments. Several occupations in-volving an increased risk of high exposures are alsoidentified. Toxicokinetics and mechanisms of actionare reviewed in the next chapter, which discussesthe many factors that influence the concentrationsof carboxyhemoglobin in blood, and summarizeswhat is known about the primary mechanisms bywhich carboxyhemoglobin formation exerts its toxiceffects.

The remaining chapters consider adverse effectson health. A review of the abundant findings fromanimal studies helps elucidate the mechanisms ofcarbon monoxide toxicity, its direct effects on theblood and other tissues, and the manifestations ofthese effects in the form of changes in organ func-tion. Studies of developmental toxicity providestrong evidence that material exposure producesreductions in birth weight, cardiomegaly, delays inbehavioral development, and disruptions in cogni-tive function.

A chapter on health effects in humans considersnumerous investigations of adverse effects linkedto typical ambient exposure levels. Findings are sum-marized in terms of damage to the cardiovascularand respiratory systems, effects on neurobehavioralfunctions, developmental toxicity, and other sys-temic effects. Also considered are the effects of ex-posure at high altitudes, in users of psychoactivedrugs, and in combination with exposure to otherair pollutants.

nonclosed-cage structures, heterofullerenes, deriva-tives formed by substitution of hydrofullerenes, andthe fusion of organic rings or ring systems to thefullerene cage. Finally, this paper suggests meth-ods for describing structures consisting of two ormore fullerene units and for denoting configurationsof chiral fullerenes and their derivatives.

Comments by 30 November 2001 to Dr. WarrenH. Powell, 1436 Havencrest Court, Columbus, Ohio43220-3841, USA; Tel.: +1-614-451-1830, E-mail:[email protected]


An evaluation of high-risk groups concludes thatpatients with reproducible exercise-induced is-chemia are a sensitive group at increased risk forexperiencitig adverse health effects. The report alsofound evidence indicating that exposure may causean increased risk of sudden death from arrhythmiain patients with coronary artery disease. The reportfurther concludes that exposure during pregnancyand early childhood carries a number of importantrisks.

Concerning accidental exposure to high concen-trations, the report concludes that carbon monoxidepoisoning occurs frequently, has severe conse-quences (including immediate death), involves com-plications and late sequelae, and is often overlooked.

Among its many other conclusions, the reportcalls for better education of the general populationabout the risks of exposure, especially in individu-als with cardiovascular and respiratory disease, andbetter awareness among medical professions of thedangers of carbon monoxide exposure during preg-nancy.

Human Exposure Assessment, EnvironmentalHealth Criteria No. 214

2000, xxx + 375 pages (English, with summaries inFrench and Spanish), ISBN 92-4-157214-0, CHF 78.-/USD 70.20; In developing countries: CHF 54.60,Order No. 1160214.

This book offers an up-to-date guide to the con-cepts, procedures, statistical methods, and modelsused to assess human exposure to environmentalchemicals. Noting that exposure assessment is acomparatively new discipline of the environmentalsciences, the book aims to encourage its use as apowerful tool for measuring actual levels of expo-sure and determining whether interventions areneeded to protect public health. With this goal inmind, the book gives researchers expert advice onthe design and conduct of studies, the interpreta-tion of findings, and the best methods for ensuringthe reliability and reproducibility of results.Throughout, emphasis is placed on the ways in whichwell-designed exposure assessments can enhancethe practical value of findings from traditional epi-demiological and toxicological investigations.

The book has twelve chapters. The first six coverconceptual and methodological issues. Chapter 1introduces basic concepts used in exposure assess-ment, and describes direct and indirect methods ofmeasuring or estimating actual exposure and deter-mining whether intervention is required. The usesof human exposure data are covered in Chapter 2,which explains how studies of human exposure canreduce the uncertainty of estimates used in epide-miology, risk assessment, and risk management.

Chapter 3 considers several generic study designsand approaches, and compares their advantages andlimitations. Chapter 4, on statistical methods, dis-cusses selective applications of descriptive and in-ferential statistics, using data on lead exposure asan example. Subsequent chapters review methodsfor the collection and application of time-use data,and introduce the principles, methods, and data re-quirements of exposure modeling.

Against this background, chapters in the secondhalf of the book offer practical advice on the designand conduct of studies aimed at assessing exposureto chemicals in different environmental media. Sepa-rate chapters describe sampling methods used toanalyze chemical concentrations in air, water, andfood, and in soil and settled dust. Environmental al-lergens that can contribute to disease or alter sus-ceptibility are considered in Chapter 9, which con-centrates on methods for measuring particles fromhouse dust mites and their feces, allergens from petsand cockroaches, and allergens or toxins from fungi,bacteria, and pollen.

Subsequent chapters describe the use of biologi-cal markers in exposure assessment, and discuss is-sues surrounding the quality assurance of exposurestudies and results. The final chapter presents briefsummaries and examples of exposure studies in or-der to illustrate different study designs for differentobjectives, target pollutants, and populations. Stud-ies that show how exposure assessment supportsepidemiology and risk management, particularly indeveloping countries, are also included.

Vinyl Chloride, Environmental Health CriteriaNo. 215

1999, xxi + 356 pages (English, with summaries inFrench and Spanish), ISBN 92-4-157215-9, CHF72.-/USD 64.80; In developing countries: CHF 50.40,Order No. 1160215.

This book evaluates the risks to human health andthe environment posed by exposure to vinyl chlo-ride, a colorless, flammable gas manufactured al-most exclusively for use in the production of poly-vinyl chloride (PVC). PVC is used to produce plas-tic materials having wide applications in the build-ing sector, packaging, electrical appliances, medi-cal care, agriculture, the automotive industry, andtoys.

Conclusive evidence that vinyl chloride causescancer in humans led to the lowering, in the early1970s, of occupational exposure limits in severalcountries. At the same time, many countries imposedrestrictions on the levels of residual vinyl chloridepermitted in PVC, thus reducing the risk that resi-dues in packaging materials might contaminate fooditems, pharmaceutical products, and cosmetics.


A chapter on sources of human and environmen-tal exposure covers production levels and processes,noting the recent geographical expansion of produc-tion plants to Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, theIndian subcontinent, and oil-producing countries.Production technologies that lead to lower residuallevels of PVC are also briefly described. A reviewof data on the environmental fate of vinyl chloridenotes that environmental releases are almost entirelyin the vapor phase. Vinyl chloride is rapidly volatil-ized and removed from surface water and soil, butis not easily biodegraded. Evidence suggests somebioaccumulation within the food chain, but nobiomagnification.

Concerning human exposure, the report con-cludes that atmospheric concentrations in ambientair are low, resulting in very little exposure of thegeneral population. Much higher concentrationshave been recorded near industry and waste disposalsites, and following accidental spills, including spillsof chlorinated solvents in dry cleaning shops. Find-ings confirm a reduced risk of exposure for the gen-eral population via residues in packaging materials.The report identifies inhalation as the main routefor occupational exposure, which occurs primarilyin plants producing vinyl chloride and PVC.

A chapter on kinetics and metabolism in labora-tory animals and humans concludes that vinyl chlo-ride is rapidly absorbed and widely distributed fol-lowing exposure via the inhalation and oral routes.Following inhalation, the main metabolic route in-volves oxidation to form chloroethylene oxide,which is rapidly transformed to chloroacetaldehyde.

Effects on laboratory mammals and in vitro testsystems have been extensively studied. The com-pound shows low acute toxicity when administeredby inhalation. Long-term feeding studies in severalspecies show significantly increased incidences ofliver angiosarcoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, andtumors at several other organ sites.

An assessment of effects on humans draws onclinical findings following accidental exposures,supported by a large number of well-designed epi-demiological studies of occupationally exposedworkers. Apart from defining the symptoms of “vi-nyl chloride illness”, these studies provide strongand consistent evidence that vinyl chloride causesthe rare tumor, angiosarcoma of the liver. Brain tu-mors and hepatocellular carcinoma may also be as-sociated with exposure, though the evidence is lessconclusive.

On the basis of this analysis, the report calls formeasures to minimize emissions at production sitesand sanitary landfills, and to ensure low residuallevels in PVC. Moreover, as vinyl chloride is a

known carcinogen, the report stresses the need tokeep occupational exposures as low as possible andto educate workers about the risks involved and theneed for safe working procedures.

Bacillus thuringiensis, Environmental HealthCriteria No. 217

1999, xv + 105 pages (English, with summaries inFrench and Spanish), ISBN 92-4-157217-5, CHF27.-/USD 24.30; In developing countries: CHF 11.20,Order No. 1160217.

This book evaluates the risks to human health andthe environment posed by the use of Bacillusthuringiensis (Bt) as a microbial agent for pest con-trol. Products containing various Bt subspecies areincreasingly used worldwide to control the larvaeof several insect pests that threaten major agricul-tural crops and forests. Bt products are also beingused to control the insect vectors of malaria, on-chocerciasis, and other diseases of major publichealth importance. The bacterium is also a keysource of genes for transgenic expression to pro-vide pest resistance in plants and microorganisms.

The report opens with an overview of the bio-logical properties of Bt and commercial Bt products.Particular attention is given to the mechanisms bywhich sporulation produces inclusion bodies, con-taining insecticidal crystalline proteins, which areselectively toxic for insect species in the ordersColeoptera, Diptera, and Lepidoptera. Tables showthe current classification of 67 Bt subspecies andthe large number of genes coding for the insecti-cidal crystalline proteins. A review of Bt metabo-lites found in commercial products concludes thatthey pose no hazards to humans or the environment.

Chapter 2 reviews data elucidating the mecha-nisms by which Bt exerts its toxic action on suscep-tible insect larvae. Data on insect populations thatare resistant to Bt are also briefly considered. Chap-ter 3, which focuses on the survival and activity ofBt in the environment, compares habitats where Btsubspecies occur naturally with treated habitats.Particular attention is given to the ability of Bt toform endospores that are resistant to inactivation byheat and desiccation and that persist in the environ-ment under adverse conditions. A chapter on com-mercial production describes methods of productionand general patterns of use in agriculture and for-estry, and in large-scale programs to control the vec-tors of malaria and onchocerciasis.

The most extensive chapter evaluates the largenumber of studies conducted to assess the toxicityof various preparations containing insecticidal crys-talline proteins, spores, and vegetative cells. Labo-ratory studies in a range of species have failed to


demonstrate toxic or pathogenic effects. Field studieshave likewise failed to demonstrate adverse effectson birds, earthworms, fish, other aquatic vertebrates,and nontarget aquatic invertebrates. An evaluation ofeffects on humans draws on studies in volunteers, casereports from occupationally exposed workers, andextensive data from countries where Bt products areadded to drinking-water for mosquito control or usedto treat rivers for blackfly control.

On the basis of this review, the report concludesthat Bt products are unlikely to pose any hazard tohumans or other vertebrates or to the great majorityof nontarget invertebrates, provided that the com-

mercial product is free from non-Bt microorganismsand biologically active products other than theinsecticidal crystalline proteins. The report furtherconcludes that Bt products can be safely used forthe control of insect pests of agricultural andhorticultural crops and forests. These products arelikewise judged safe for use in aquatic environments,including drinking-water reservoirs, for the controlof mosquito, blackfly, and nuisance insect larvae.The report stresses, however, that vegetative Bt hasthe potential to produce Bacillus cereus-like toxinswhose significance as a possible cause of humangastrointestinal disease remains unknown.

Awards and Prizes

Elsa Reichmanis Wins Perkin Medal

Dr. Elsa Reichmanis(Director, Polymerand Organic Materi-als Research Depart-ment, Bell Labs, Lu-cent Technologies,600 Mountain Av-enue, Murray Hill,New Jersey 07974,USA; E-mail: [email protected]), TitularMember of theIUPAC Macromo-lecular Division (IV)Committee, has wonthe prestigious 2001Perkin Medal, one of

the highest honors the U.S. chemical industry canbestow. The American Section of the London-basedSociety of Chemical Industry (SCI) awards thePerkin Medal annually to a scientist or engineer foroutstanding contributions to applied chemistry. Theawardee is chosen by a representative panel fromthe American Chemical Society, the American Insti-tute of Chemists, the American Institute of Chemi-cal Engineers, the Electrochemical Society, and theAmerican Section of Société de Chimie Industrielle.The Perkin Medal commemorates Sir William H.Perkin’s (1838–1907) discovery in 1856 of the firstsynthetic dye (mauve). Perkin was also the founderof SCI.

Dr. Reichmanis received the award for her devel-opment of new photoresists for microlithography,the process of producing very small patterns on sili-

con substrates for use in integrated circuits. At the221st ACS National Meeting in San Diego last April,Dr. Reichmanis was selected as one of two candi-dates to stand for election as 2002 ACS President-Elect this fall.

Gerard P. Moss Wins Patterson–CraneAward

Dr. Gerard P. Moss (Senior Lecturer, Department ofChemistry, Queen Mary and Westfield College of theUniversity of London, Mile End Road, London E14NS, England, UK; E-mail: [email protected]),a National Representative on the Commission on No-menclature of Organic Chemistry (III.1), is the 2001recipient of the Patterson–Crane Award presentedbiennially by the Dayton and Columbus Sections ofthe American Chemical Society. The award, givenin honor of two previous editors of Chemical Ab-stracts, Austin M.Patterson and E. J.Crane, recognizesoutstanding contri-butions in chemicalinformation theoryor practice.

The award, pre-sented in Dayton,Ohio, USA on 8 May2001, recognizes Dr.Moss for his inter-national contribu-tions to chemical in-formation scienceand documentation.He has been ac-

Dr. Elsa Reichmanis

Dr. Gerard P. Moss

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Prof. Nicola Senesi

Conference Announcements designates IUPAC sponsorship

tively involved during the last quarter century withmost of the international chemical nomenclaturedocuments published by the Commission on No-menclature of Organic Chemistry (III.1), the JointCommission on Biochemical Nomenclature (JCBN),and the Nomenclature Committee of the Interna-tional Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biol-ogy (IUBMB). His work in disseminating this infor-mation through the World Wide Web is particularlyimpressive (see http://www.iupac.org/). This onlineresource for IUPAC nomenclature recommendations,developed and maintained by Dr. Moss, now in-cludes almost all of the organic and biochemicaldocuments and attracted over a third of a millionusers during the past year.

Other significant accomplishments of Dr. Mossinclude his revision and systematization of AustinPatterson’s fused and bridged fused ring nomencla-ture, his service on numerous nomenclature com-missions, and the published nomenclature recom-mendations with which he has been involved.

Nicola Senesi Receives “Honoris Causa”from Institut National Polytechnique deToulouse (INPT)

Prof. Nicola Senesi (Department of Agroforestal andEnvironmental Biology and Chemistry, Universityof Bari, Via G. Amendola 165/A, I-70126 Bari, Italy;E-mail: [email protected]), Titular Member of the

Commission onFundamental andEnvironmentalChemistry (VI.1),has been con-ferred the title ofDoctor HonorisCausa from theInstitut NationalPolytechnique deToulouse (INPT),France. The hon-or was awarded toProf. Senesi bythe President ofINPT during anofficial ceremonyheld on 18 May2000 at the ÉcoleNational Superieure Agronomique de Toulouse(ENSAT). Prof. Senesi was the President of the Inter-national Humic Substances Society (IHSS) and Chair-man of Commission II (Soil Chemistry) of the Inter-national Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS). He is a Fellowof the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) and ofthe American Society of Agronomy (ASA); a GoldenMedal winner of the Polish Soil Science Society; andAssociate Editor of Soil Science, the European Jour-nal of Soil Science, Geoderma, the Journal of Envi-ronmental Science and Health, and Humic Substancesin the Environment.

8th Symposium on Chemistry and Fateof Modern Pesticides, 21–24 August2001, Copenhagen, Denmark

This symposium is organized by the InternationalAssociation of Environmental Analytical Chemistry(IAEAC) in cooperation with the Danish Institute ofAgricultural Sciences (DIAS), the Royal Veterinaryand Agricultural University (KLV), the DanishNational Environmental Research Institute, theDanish Ministry of Environment and Energy (NERI),and the Geological Survey of Denmark (GEUS).

Main topics of the symposium include the fol-lowing:• modeling pesticide fates in the environment• laboratory versus field experiments• pesticides in the atmosphere and ground water• quality assurance in pesticide analysis (sampling,

uncertainty measurements)

• analysis and fate of plant-produced pesticides• other aspects in the fate and chemistry of mod-

ern measurementsFor more information, contact National Organiz-

ing Committee, Inge S. Fomsgaard, DIAS, Denmark;E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]; Web site: http://www.agrsci.dk/plb/chemfate2001/.

17th Institute of Nutritional Sciences(IUNS) International Congress ofNutrition 2001 on Modern Aspects ofNutrition—Present Knowledge andFuture Perspectives,27–31 August 2001, Vienna, Austria

For additional information, contact Dr. IbrahimElmadfa, Institute of Nutritional Sciences,

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Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria; E-mail:[email protected]; Tel.: +43 1 31 3368213; Fax: +43 1 31 336 773.

5th International Electronic Conferenceon Synthetic Organic Chemistry(ECSOC-5), 1–30 September 2001

This online conference will feature the followingsection and symposium topics:• general organic synthesis• solid-phase chemistry and combinatorial synthe-

sis• bioorganic chemistry and natural products• selenium and tellurium chemistry• microwave-assisted synthesis

For further information (including considerationof papers, research notes, or reviews for presenta-tion as electronic posters), contact Prof. Dr. C. OliverKappe, Institute of Chemistry, Karl-Franzens-Uni-versity of Graz, Henirichstrasse 28, A-8010 Graz,Austria; E-mail: [email protected]; Tel.:+43 316 380 5352; Fax: +43 316 380 9840; Website: http://www.mdpi.net/ecsoc-5/.

115th AOAC INTERNATIONAL AnnualMeeting and Exposition,9–13 September 2001,Kansas City, Missouri, USA

This meeting focuses onanalytical methodology andlaboratory management forchemists, other researchscientists, laboratory man-agers, quality control pro-fessionals, regulatory staff,microbiologists, public health

authorities, company presidents and chief executiveofficers, and marketing and sales professionalsworking in analysis of foods, beverages, feeds,fertilizers, pesticides, soil, water, human and animaldrugs, hazardous wastes, forensics, and other relatedareas. Contributed papers have been invited in thefollowing specific topic areas: drugs and antibioticsin foods and feeds, antimicrobials and disinfectantformulations, food safety—pathogens/allergens,botanicals/dietary supplements/nutraceuticals,pesticide formulations and pesticide residues,genetically modified organisms (GMOs), qualityassurance/accreditation, reference materials,analysis for global trade, new technologies, studentresearch, and general analytical methods.

Scheduled topical symposia will address the lat-est developments in accuracy and precision of mi-crobiological methods, Campylobacter, character-ization of microorganisms by mass spectrometry,crop nutrients, DNA, forum on methods for antibi-otics and drugs in feeds, food allergens, geneticallymodified organisms (GMOs), international regula-tory forum, laboratory accreditation and proficiencytesting, measurement systems for herbal and dietarysupplements, microbiological risk assessments, sea-food toxins, TLC for herbal products, trace environ-mental analysis, and biosensor technology.

The meeting will also feature numerous postersessions to give attendees the chance to talk withpresenters one-on-one. A large laboratory exposi-tion will display the latest in state-of-the-art ana-lytical laboratory products and services, and willprovide the opportunity to discuss needs with morethan 90 vendors and learn about how to improveyour laboratory.

Hands-on training courses held before and afterthe meeting will include sessions on ISO 17025management systems for the laboratory, quality as-surance for microbiological laboratories, principlesof statistical analysis and measurement uncertainty,quality assurance for analytical laboratories, andauditing ISO management systems.

For more information, contact the AOAC Interna-tional Meetings Department, 481 North FrederickAvenue, Suite 500, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20877-2417, USA; E-mail: [email protected]; Tel: +1-800-379-2622 from North America or +1-301-924-7077 worldwide; Fax: +1-301-924-7089; Web site:http://www.aoac.org/. The web site will have regu-larly updated information about the meeting.

5th International Symposium onBiological Monitoring in Occupationaland Environmental Health,18–21 September 2001,Banff, Alberta, Canada

For additional information,contact ContinuingMedical Education, University of Calgary, HealthSciences Centre, 3330 Hospital Dr. N.W., Calgary,AB T2N 4N1, Canada; E-mail: [email protected];Tel.: +1 403 270 2330; Fax: +1 403 220 7032.

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1st NIAF-MeRinOS Joint Meeting onFundamental and Applied Aspects ofOrganic Synthesis,28 September–2 October 2001,Houffalize, Belgium

This meeting is being organized in order to gatherscientists from different origins (academia andindustry) and different cultures (Japan and Europe)to summarize the state of the art and to foresee noveltrends in organic synthesis and related fields. Theseobjectives are among those that both the NoyoriIndustry and Academia Forum (NIAF) in Japan andthe Mease-Rhine Network on Organic Synthesis(MeRinOS) in Europe want to achieve.

The meeting will include 3 short courses, 25 lec-tures by established scientists, 2 award lectures fromyoung chemists, and 3 poster sessions featuring upto 50 posters each. Attendance will be limited to 250scientific participants, with priority going to con-firmed researchers and to those who register first.

For further information, contact Prof. Alain Krief,Laboratoire COS, 61, rue de Bruxelles, 5000 Namur,Belgium; E-mail: [email protected]; Tel.:+32 81 724559; Fax: +32 81 724536; Web site:http://www.fundp.ac.be/niaf-merinos/.

Formula III. New Concepts andStrategies in Formulation: From theLaboratory to the Industry,13–16 October 2001, La Grande Motteen Petite Carmargue (Hérault), France

This aim of this congress is toprovide the opportunity for re-searchers from academia aswell as from industry to meetand to discuss the various top-ics concerned with formulationproblems, including physico-chemical and process aspects,characterization methods,methodologies, and industrialapplications.

The three main themes of the congresss will fo-cus on:• complex fluids (including solvents, gels, foams,

emulsions, and suspensions)• pastes and powders (including plastics, cements,

pigments, and ceramics)• new methodologies (including chemiometry,

deformulation, QSPR, characterization, and com-binatorial approach)

A trade exhibition will be held at the meeting.Societies, scientific publishers, and interested com-panies are invited to contact the Secretariat of theCongress, listed below.

For more information, contact Conference Sec-retariat, c/o Chantal Iannarelli, CongrèsScientifiques Services (c2s), 2 rue des Villarmains,BP 124, F-92210 Saint Cloud, France; E-mail:[email protected]; Tel.: +33 1 47 71 90 04; Fax:+33 1 47 71 90 05; Web site: http://www.congres-scientifiques.com/Formula3/ or Scientific Secre-tariat, c/o Dir. Françoise Lafuma, ESPCI, Lab.Physico-Chimie Macromoléculaire UMR 7615, 10rue Vauquelin, F-75231 Paris, Cedex 05, France; E-mail: [email protected]; Tel.: +33 1 40 7944 36; Fax: +33 1 40 79 46 40.

51st Canadian Chemical EngineeringConference. 2001: A ChemicalEngineering Odyssey,14–17 October 2001,Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

This meeting will focus on the following six fieldsof chemical engineering that are growing in impor-tance:• energy industry (including offshore energy pro-

duction, management, separations, and pipelines)• environment (climate change, acid rain, sustain-

able development, site remediation, and wastemanagement)

• materials (including polymers, biomaterials, com-posites, metals, and manufacturing applications)

• process integration (including training workshop,pinch technology, energy integration, mass inte-gration, and waste minimization)

• process safety and loss management (includingresponsible care, process safety management,explosions, and accident prevention)

• pulp and paper (cosponsored by PAPTAC and fo-cusing on improving mill performance)Advances in new areas of chemical engineering

and results of research in the fundamental traditionalsubject areas of the profession will be featured intechnical sessions on biomedical, biotechnology,business and economics, education, extractive met-allurgy, food processing, forestry/pulp and paper,instrumentation, mixing, electrochemical engineer-ing, fundamentals, kinetics/reactors/catalysis, pro-cess control, rheology, simulation, software, statis-tics and mathematical methods, and transport phe-nomena.

For further information, contact ConferenceChair, Department of Chemical Engineering,

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Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 2X4,Canada; E-mail: [email protected]; Tel.:+1 902 494 3953; Web site: http://www.chemeng.ca/halifax2001/.

International Symposium on FunctionalFoods: Scientific and GlobalPerspectives,17–19 October 2001, Paris, France

For additional information, contact Dr. Berry Danse,International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) Europe,Avenue E. Mournier, 83, Box 6, 1200 Brussels,Belgium; E-mail: [email protected]; Tel.:+32 2 771 00 14; Fax: +32 2 762 00 44; Web site:http://www.ilsi.org/conference.html.

Food Ingredients (FI) EuropeInternational Exhibition and Conferenceon Food Ingredients, Semi-FinishedProducts, Product Development, andQuality Control, 5–7 November 2001,London, England, UK

For more information, contact Ivonne Twigt, MillerFreeman BV; E-mail: [email protected]; Tel.: +31346 559444; Fax: +31 346 573811; Web site:http://www.fi-events.com/summit/.

Food Ingredients (FI) Central & EasternEurope International Exhibition andConference on Food Ingredients, Semi-Finished Products, ProductDevelopment, and Quality Control,28–30 November 2001, Moscow, Russia

For more information, contact Ivonne Twigt, MillerFreeman BV; E-mail: [email protected]; Tel.:+31 346 559444; Fax: +31 346 573811; Web site:http://www.fi-events.com/cee/.

International Congress of Chemistryand Environment,16–18 December 2001, Indore, India

This meeting is being organized under the auspicesof the Research Journal of Chemistry and Environ-ment to focus attention on “Science and Technol-ogy for Prevention and Management of Environmen-tal Emergencies”, including natural calamities suchas earthquakes, volcanic activity, wildfires, land-

slides, avalanches, floods, drought, hail storms, tor-nadoes, hurricanes, winter storms, and other catas-trophes. Attention will also be devoted to the role ofglobal warming in natural disasters, research regard-ing causes and effects of “el niño” and “la niña”,disaster zones and vulnerable spots in the Himalayas,floods in the Yangtze River area (China) and East-ern India, and the human factor in environmentalemergencies.

In addition to the focal theme of the congress,presentations will also be made in the following broadareas:• hazardous chemicals—waste utilization and pol-

lution minimization• pollution—water, air, and vehicular• law and enforcement• environmental impact assessment and pollution

management• efforts to minimize industries and industrial prod-

ucts that cause pollution and increase greenhousegases

• research related to theoretical chemistry (inor-ganic, organic, physical, analytical, instrumen-tation, pharmaceutical, polymers, etc.)

• research related to drugs, pulp and paper, petro-chemicals, oil and natural gas, rubber, paints, tex-tiles, plastics, chemicals, fertilizers, explosives,lubricants, refrigerants, detergents, pesticides,refineries, cosmetics, cement, sugar, distilleries,dyes, electrochemical processes, etc.

• energy, power, renewable and natural energy re-sources, and thermal and atomic power plants andpollutionFor additional information, contact Prof. Dr.

Shankar Lal Gargh, Sector A/80, Scheme No. 54,Vijay Nagar, A.B. Road, Indore 452 010 (M.P.), In-dia; E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]; Tel.: +91 731 552837; Fax:+91 731 552966; Web site: http://www.chemenviron.com/.

13th International Symposium onCarotenoids, 6–11 January 2002,Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

This symposium aims to maintain the tradition of anup-to-date survey of progress in all aspects of thecarotenoid field. It will provide a forum to reportand discuss those areas that are of particular topicalinterest and where the most significant advanceshave been made. Presentations are planned by thosecarotenoid scientists who have made the greatestcontributions to these advances.

Plenary lectures will address photosynthesis; new


colorants: from concept to commercialization; caro-tenoids and photodetection; the Golden Rice Project;carotenoids, vitamin A, and nutrition; carotenoidsand muscular degeneration; genetic engineering ofplants for carotenoid content; genetic manipulationof plants; and carotenoid modulation of drug-me-tabolizing enzymes.

Approximately 250–300 scientific participantsfrom around the world are expected to attend thesymposium.

For further information, contact Dr. John S.Bertram, Cancer Research Center, University ofHawaii, 1236 Lauhala Street, Honolulu, Hawaii96813, USA; E-mail: [email protected]; Tel.:+1 808 586 2757; Fax: +1 808 586 2970.

2nd IUPAC Workshop on AdvancedMaterials (WAM II): NanostructuredAdvanced Materials,13–16 February 2002, Bangalore, India

This workshop aims to address recent developmentsin the following areas:• quantum structures, including nanocrystals of

metals and semiconductors• mesoscalar assemblies• nanotubes and nanowires• nanosensors• nanodevices• theoretical and computational studies

Leading experts will discuss various aspects ofnanomaterials research. In addition to plenary andinvited lectures, there will be poster sessions for pre-senting recent results. Participation is sought fromPh.D. students, postdoctoral fellows, teachers, andscientists. A limited number of travel grants will beavailable for deserving applicants; the last date forapplication is 1 October 2001.

A Special Topic Issue of Pure and Applied Chem-istry (PAC) on the Theme of Nanostructured Systemswas published last year (PAC, Vol. 72, Nos. 1–2, 2000)after WAM I (held 14–18 July 1999 in Hong Kong),and a similar Special Topic Issue of PAC is antici-pated to result from WAM II.

For more information, contact Dr. G. U. Kulkarni(Convenor, WAM II), Chemistry and Physics of Ma-terials Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for AdvancedScientific Research, Jakkur P.O., Bangalore 560 064,India; E-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://www.jncasr.ac.in/wam/.

8th Ibn Sina Conference of HeterocyclicChemistry, 16–19 February 2002,Luxor, Egypt

This conference will cover recent advances in het-erocyclic chemistry in the following areas:• heterocyclic pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals• asymmetric synthesis and heterocycles• organic synthesis• medicinal and therapeutic chemistry• inorganic and physical chemistry of heterocycles

For additional information, contact Secretariat,8th Ibn Sina Conference, c/o Prof. Dr. Hussein El-Kashef, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science,Assiut University, 71516 Assiut, Egypt; E-mail:[email protected]; Tel.: +20 88 333837; Fax:+20 88 342708.

Functional Foods 2002,5–7 March 2002,Den Haag, Netherlands

For more information, contact Fiona Angus,Leatherhead Food Research Association, RandallsRoad, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 7RY, United King-dom; Tel.: +44 1372 376761; Fax: +44 1372386228.

3rd Florida Conference onHeterocyclic Chemistry (FloHet-III),6–8 March 2002,Gainesville, Florida, USA

This aim of this conference is to facilitate the sharingof the best current international work on heterocyclicchemistry between the industrial and academiccommunities. Heterocyclic chemistry is of immenseimportance industrially (pharmaceuticals, agro-chemicals, etc.), but much basic work is doneacademically, and the flow of information in bothdirections is very important.

Approximately 120 scientific participants fromaround the world are expected to attend this confer-ence.

For further information, contact Prof. Alan R.Katritzky, Department of Chemistry, University ofFlorida, P.O. Box 117200, Gainesville, Florida32611-7200, USA; E-mail: [email protected];Tel.: +1 352 392 0554; Fax: +1 352 392 9199.


8th International Symposium onNeurobehavioral Methods and Effects inOccupational and Environmental Health,23–26 June 2002, Brescia, Italy

Tentative themes and topics of this meeting are asfollows:• promotion of exchange of experience at interna-

tional level in development and application ofneurobehavioral methods

• use of neurobehavioral methods for assessmentof early effects owing to low exposure doses:integration of application in industrialized anddeveloping countries

• assessment of factors not related to exposure andinterpretation of possible interactions, especiallyage and sexFor more information, contact Organizing Secre-

tariat: Simona Galafassi, Institute of OccupationalHealth, University of Brescia, P.le Spedali Civili 1,25125 Brescia, Italy; E-mail: [email protected];Tel.: +39 030 396496; Fax: +39 030 394902; Website: http://www.unibs.it/medlav/.

20th International Conference onOrganometallic Chemistry (20th ICOMC),7–12 July 2002, Corfu, Greece

The main purpose of this meeting is to present re-sults of recent research in the area of organometal-lic chemistry. Themes to be covered will include tran-sition-metal and 4f/5f-metal organometallic com-pounds, main group organometallic compounds,metal compounds in organic synthesis and cataly-sis, and organometallics and new materials. Theseareas have been of interest for several years and areat the forefront of new developments in the fields ofnew materials, catalysis, “green” chemistry, etc. Themeeting will provide a forum for leading scientistsin these fields to discuss and present state-of-the-art processes and techniques and for young scien-tists to widen their knowledge base by contacts withexperts.

Approximately 600 scientific participants fromaround the world are expected to attend this confer-ence.

For further information, contact Dr. ConstantinosG. Screttas, National Hellenic Research Foundation,Institute of Organic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry,48 Vas. Constantinou Avenue, 116 35 Athens,Greece; E-mail: [email protected]; Tel.: +30 17273876; Fax: +30 1 7273877.

21st Discussion Conference and9th International ERPOS Conference onElectrical and Related Properties ofPolymers and Other Organic Solids,15–18 July 2002,Prague, Czech Republic

This conference pairing will provide an interdisci-plinary forum for scientists working in the fields oflow-molecular-weight and polymeric molecularmaterials with emphasis on their electrical, photo-electric, and optical phenomena. Primary objectivesof the meeting are to achieve international coopera-tion of researchers in academia and industry and tostimulate growth in the field of organic materialsfor electronics and photonics. Discussions will befocused on novel organic materials and their elec-trical and related properties. Holding the two con-ferences together provides a unique opportunity fortransferring theories and models developed for per-fect molecular crystalline systems to the area of dis-ordered phases and for discussing optical proper-ties, nanotechnologies, and dynamics and kineticsof physical and chemical transformations occurringin these media.

Specific topics for discussion will include mo-lecular model systems: single crystals and highlyorganized structures; liquid crystals; macromol-ecules and biomolecules; organic nanocompositesand nanostructures; smart molecules; electricalproperties: charge generation and transport, photo-conductivity and photovoltaics, electronic processesat interfaces, electroluminescence, and organic con-ductors and isolators; and optical properties includ-ing nonlinear optics and photoinduced processes.

Plenary lectures will address supramolecularmaterials: toward dynamic conbinatorial materials,photoionization in conjugated polymers, lumines-cence properties of carbazole and oxadiazole unitscontaining low macromolecular organic compounds,transfer states of organic molecular crystals, and in-terfacial phenomena in organic polymer films andgeneration of Maxwell displacement current.

Approximately 120–150 scientific participantsfrom around the world are expected to attend thispair of conferences.

For additional information, contact Prof. Dr.Drahomir Vyprachticky, Institute of Macromolecu-lar Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the CzechRepublic, Heyrovského nám. 2, 162 06 Praha 6,Czech Republic; E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]; Tel.: +420 2 20403251 or +4202 20403332; Fax: +420 2 35357981.


17th World Congress of Soil Science(WCCS), 14–21 August 2002,Bangkok, Thailand

This congress has the general theme “Soil Science:Confronting New Realities in the 21st Century”. It isbeing organized jointly by the Soil and FertilizerSociety of Thailand, the International Union of SoilSciences (IUSS), and the Ministry of Agriculture andCooperatives (MOAC) of Thailand. The congressvenue is the Queen Sirikit National Convention Cen-ter.

The 17th WCSS will feature symposia for com-missions on soil physics; soil chemistry; soil biol-ogy; soil fertility and plant nutrition; soil genesis,classification, and cartography; soil technology; soilmineralogy; and soil and the environment. The pro-gram will also include symposia for subcommissionson salted affected soils, soil micromorphology, soilerosion and soil water management, forest soils, and

soil remediation. Working groups will hold sympo-sia on cryosols; world soils and terrain digital database; soils and global change; land degradation anddesertification; interactions of soil minerals withorganic components and microorganisms;pedometrics; paleopedology; paddy soils fertility;pedotechnique; remote sensing for soil survey; en-vironmental soil mechanics; soil and groundwaterpollution; soil of urban, industrial, traffic, and min-ing areas; soil organic fertilizers and amendments;soils and geomedicine; international soil conven-tion; and acid sulfate soils. The Standing Commit-tee on Education in Soil Science (CES) will also holda special symposium.

For more information, contact Secretariat, 17th

WCSS Office, Kasetsart University, P.O. Box 1048,Bangkok 10903, Thailand; E-mail: [email protected]; Tel.: +662 9405787 or +6629405707 8; Fax: +662 9405788; Web site: http://www.17wcss.ku.ac.th/.

2001

IUPAC 41st General Assembly

29 June–8 July 2001Brisbane, Australia.IUPAC SecretariatTel.: +1 919 485 8700Fax: +1 919 485 8706E-mail: [email protected]

IUPAC 38th Congress/WorldChemistry Congress 2001

1–6 July 2001Brisbane, Australia.Congress Secretariat, P.O. Box177, Red Hill Q 4054, AustraliaTel.: + 61 7 3368 2644Fax: + 61 7 3369 3731E-mail: [email protected]

Coordination andOrganometallic Chemistryof Germanium, Tin, and Lead

8–12 July 200110th International Conference on

the Coordination and Organo-metallic Chemistry of Germa-nium, Tin, and Lead, Talence,France.Dr. B. Jousseaume, Laboratoirede Chimie Organique etOrganometallique, UMR 5802,Universite Bordeaux 1, 351avenue de la Liberation, F-33405 Talence Cedex, FranceTel.: +33 (0) 5 56 84 64 43Fax: +33 (0) 5 59 84 69 94E-mail: [email protected]

Scattering Methods andPolymers

9–12 July 200120th Discussion Conference onScattering Methods for theInvestigation of Polymers,Prague, Czech Republic.Dr. Drahomir Vyprachticky,Institute of MacromolecularChemistry, Academy of Sciencesof the Czech Republic,

Heyrovskeho nam. 2, CZ-162 06Praha 6, Czech RepublicTel.: +420 2 204 0332Fax: +420 2 367 981E-mail: [email protected]

Plasma Chemistry

9–13 July 200115th International Symposiumon Plasma Chemistry (ISPC-15),Orléans, France.Prof. Jean-Michel Pouvesle,Laboratoire GREMI, Universitéd'Orléans, BP 6744, OrléansCedex 2, FranceTel.: +33 (0) 2 38417124Fax: +33 (0) 2 38417154E-mail: [email protected]

Polymer Membranes

16–19 July 200141st Microsymposium onPolymer Membranes, Prague,Czech Republic.Dr. Drahomir Vyprachticky,

Conference CalendarVisit http://www.iupac.org for complete information and further links.

designates a new conference since the last issue.NEW


Institute of MacromolecularChemistry, Academy of Sciencesof the Czech Republic,Heyrovskeho nam. 2, CZ-162 06Praha 6, Czech RepublicTel.: +420 2 204 03332Fax: +420 2 367 981E-mail: [email protected]

Organometallic Chemistry

22–26 July 200111th IUPAC InternationalSymposium on OrganometallicChemistry DirectedTowards Organic Synthesis(OMCOS 11), Tapei, Taiwan.Prof. Tien-Yau Luh, Departmentof Chemistry, National TaiwanUniversityTapei 106, Taiwan.Tel.: +886 2 23636288Fax.: +886 2 23644971E-mail: [email protected]

Phosphorus Chemistry

29 July–3 August 200115th International Conferenceon Phosphorus Chemistry,Sendai, Japan.Prof. Masaaki Yoshifuji,Department of Chemistry,Graduate School ofScience,Tohoku University,Aoba, Sendai 980-8578, JapanTel.: +81 22 217 6558Fax: +81 22 217 6562E-mail: [email protected]

Chemistry and Quality of Life

30 July–4 August 20018th International ChemistryConference in Africa, Dakar,Sénégal.Prof. Libasse Diop, Faculty ofSciences and Technology,University Cheikh Anta DiopBP 5005, Dakar, SénégalTel.: +221 824 8187Fax: +221 824 6318E-mail: [email protected]

Analytical Sciences

6–10 August 2001International Congress on

Analytical Sciences 2001(ICAS2001), Tokyo, Japan.Prof. Tsuguo Sawada, Chair-man, Department of AppliedChemistry, The University ofTokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku,Toyko 113-8656, Japan.Tel.: +81 3 5841 7236 (or 7237)Fax: +81 3 5841 6037E-mail: [email protected]

Macromolecule–MetalComplexes

19–23 August 20019th International Symposium onMacromolecule-Metal Com-plexes (MMC-9), Brooklyn,New York, USA.Prof. K. Levon Polymer ResearchInstitute Polytechnic UniversityBrooklyn, NY 11201, USATel.: +1 718 260 3339Fax: +1 718 260 3125E-mail: [email protected]

Solution Chemistry

26–31 August 200127th International Conference onSolution Chemistry (27ICSC),Vaals, Netherlands.Dr. Christian Dux, ConferenceSecretary of 27th ICSC, Instituteof Physical Chemistry, RWTH-Aachen, D-52062, Aachen,GermanyTel.: +49 241 80 4752 or +49241 80 4712Fax: +49 241 8888 327 or +49241 8888 128E-mail: [email protected]

Medicinal Chemistry

2–6 September 2001Hungarian–German–Italian–Polish Joint Meeting on Medici-nal Chemistry, Budapest,Hungary.Dr. Péter Mátyus, Institute ofOrganic Chemistry SemmelweisUniversity H-1092 Budapest,HungaryFax: +36-1-217-0851E-mail: [email protected]

Ionic Polymerization

22–26 October 20014th International Symposium onIonic Polymerization, Crete,Greece.Dr. Nikos Hadjichristidis,University of Athens, Depart-ment of Chemistry,Panepistimiopolis, Zografou,GR-157 71 Athens, GreeceTel.: +30 1 724 9103Fax: +30 1 722 1800E-mail: [email protected]

Biodiversity

3–8 November 20013rd IUPAC International Confer-ence on Biodiversity (ICOB-3),Antalya, Turkey.Prof. B. Sener, Department ofPhamocognosy, Faculty ofPharmacy, Gazi University, P.O.Box 143 06572, Maltepe-Ankara, TurkeyTel.: +90 312 212 2267Fax: +90 312 213 3921E-mail: [email protected]

Polymers

11–15 November 20016th Brazilian Polymer Confer-ence / IX International Macro-molecular Colloquium,Gramado, RS, Barzil.Prof. Raquel Santos Mauler,Instituto de Química,

How to Apply for IUPACSponsorship

To apply for IUPAC sponsor-ship, conference organizersshould complete an AdvanceInformation Questionnaire(AIQ). The AIQ form is avail-able at http://www.iupac.orgor by request at the IUPACSecretariat, and should be re-turned between 2 years and 12months before the conference.Further information on grant-ing sponsorship is included inthe AIQ and available online.


Universidade Federal do RioGrande do Sul, Av. BentoGonçalves, 9500, 91501-970Porto Alegre, RS - BrazilTel.: +55 51 3166296Fax: +55 51 319 1499E-mail: [email protected]

Sweeteners

13–17 November 20012nd International Symposium onSweeteners, Hiroshima-Shi,Japan.Prof. Kasuo Yamasaki, Instituteof Pharmaceutical Sciences,Faculty of Medicine, HiroshimaUniversity Kasumi, Minami-ku,Hiroshima 734-8551, JapanTel.: +81 82 257 5285Fax: +81 82 257 5289E-mail: [email protected]

2002

Carotenoids

6–11 January 200213th International Symposiumon Carotenoids, Honolulu,Hawaii, USA.Dr. John S. Bertram, CancerResearch Center, University ofHawaii, 1236 Lauhala Street,Honolulu, Hawaii 96813, USATel.: +1 808 586 2757Fax: +1 808 586 2970E-mail: [email protected]

Polymer Characterization

7–11 January 200210th International Conference onPolymer Characterization(POLYCHAR), Denton, Texas,USA.Dr. Witold Brostow, Departmentof Materials Science, Universityof North Texas, Denton, Texas,76203-5310 USATel.: + 1 940 565 4358, -3262,or 4337Fax: +1 940 565 4824E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

Macromolecules

2–6 February 2002 (new dates!!)5th Annual UNESCO School andSouth African IUPAC Confer-ence on Macromolecules andMaterials Science, Stellenbosch,South Africa.Prof. R. D. Sanderson, UNESCOAssociated Centre for Macro-molecules and Materials,Institute for Polymer Science,University of Stellenbosch,Private Bag X1, Matieland7602, South AfricaTel.: +27 21 808 3172Fax: +27 21 808 4967E-mail: [email protected]

Bioinformatics

6–8 February 2002The International Conferenceon Bioinformatics 2002: North–South Networking,Bangkok, Thailand.Dr. Prasit Palittapongarnpim,BIOTEC, 15th Fl, GypsumMetropolitan Tower, 539/2 Sri-Ayudhya Road, Ratchadevi,Bangkok, ThailandTel.: +66 2 642532231, ext 228Fax: +66 2 488304E-mail: [email protected]

Heterocyclic Chemistry

6–8 March 20023rd Florida Conference onHeterocyclic Chemistry(FloHet-III), Gainesville,Florida, USA.Prof. Alan R. Katritzky, Depart-ment of Chemistry, University ofFlorida, P.O. Box 117200,Gainesville, Florida 32611-7200,USATel.: +1 352 392 0554Fax: +1 352 392 9199E-mail: [email protected]

Drug Residue Analysis

4–7 June 20024th International Symposium onHormone and Veterinary DrugResidue Analysis, Antwerp,Belgium.Prof. C. Van Peteghem, GhentUniversity, Faculty of Pharma-

ceutical Sciences,Harelbekestraat 72, B-9000Gent, BelgiumTel: +32 9 264 81 15Fax: +32 9 264 81 99E-mail: [email protected]

Macromolecules

7–12 July 200239th International Symposiumon Macromolecules - IUPACWorld Polymer Congress 2002(MACRO 2002), Beijing, China.Prof. Fosong Wang, The ChineseAcademy of Sciences, Beijing100864, ChinaTel: +86 10 62563060Fax: +86 10 62573911E-mail: [email protected]

Solid-State Chemistry

7–12 July 20025th Conference on Solid-StateChemistry (SSC 2002),Bratislava, Slovakia.Prof. P. Sajgalik, Slovak Acad-emy of Sciences, Dubravska c.Brastislava, SK-842 36 SlovakiaTel.: +421 7 59410400Fax: +421 7 59410444E-mail: [email protected]

Organometallic Chemistry

7–12 July 200220th International Conference onOrganometallic Chemistry (20th

ICOMC), Corfu, Greece.Dr. Constantinos G. Screttas,National Hellenic ResearchFoundation, Institute of Organicand Pharmaceutical Chemistry,48 Vas. Constantinou Avenue,116 35 Athens, GreeceTel.: +30 1 7273876Fax: +30 1 7273877E-mail: [email protected]

Organic Synthesis

14–19 July 200214th International Conference onOrganic Synthesis (ICOS-14),Christchurch, New Zealand.Prof. Margaret A. Brimble,Department of Chemistry,

NEW

NEW NEW


University of Auckland, 23Symonds St., Auckland, NewZealandTel.: +64 9 373 7599, Ext. 8259Fax: +64 9 373 7422E-mail: [email protected]

Photochemistry

14–19 July 2002XIX IUPAC Symposium onPhotochemistry, Budapest,Hungary.Prof. H. D. Roth, RutgersUniversity, Department ofChemistry and ChemicalBiology, 610 Taylor Road, NewBrunswick, NJ 08854-8087 USATel.: +1 732 445 5664Fax: +1 732 445 5312E-mail: [email protected]

Electrical Propertiesof Polymers

15–18 July 200221st Discussion Conference and9th International ERPOS Confer-ence on Electrical and RelatedProperties of Polymers andOther Organic Solids, Prague,Czech Republic.Prof. Dr. DrahomirVyprachticky, Institute ofMacromolecular Chemistry,Academy of Sciences of theCzech Republic, Heyrovskéhonám. 2, 162 06 Praha 6, CzechRepublicTel.: +420 2 20403251 or +4202 20403332Fax: +420 2 35357981E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

Solubility Phenomena

22–26 July 2002International Symposium onSolubility Phenomena (10th

ISSP), Varna, Bulgaria.Prof. Christo Balarew, Instituteof General and InorganicChemistry, Bulgarian Academyof Sciences, BG-Sofia 1040,BulgariaTel.: +359 (2) 9793925Fax: +359 (2) 705 024

E-mail: [email protected]

Chemical Thermodynamics

28 July–2 August 200217th IUPAC Conference onChemical Thermodynamics,Rostock, Germany.Prof. A. Heintz, FB Chemie,Universitat Rostock,Hermannstr. 14, D-18051Rostock, GermanyTel.:+49 381 498 1852Fax: +49 381 498 1854E-mail: [email protected]

Crop Protection

4–9 August 200210th IUPAC InternationalCongress on the Chemistry ofCrop Protection (formerlyInternational Congress ofPesticide Chemistry), Basel,Switzerland.Dr. Bernard Donzel, c/oNovartis CP AG, WRO-1060.3.06, CH-4002 Basel,SwitzerlandTel.: +41 61 697 22 67Fax : +41 61 697 74 72E-mail: [email protected]

Chemical Education

6–10 August 2002 (new dates!!)17th International Conference onChemical Education (17th

ICCE)—New Strategies forChemical Education in the NewCentury, Beijing, China.Prof. Xibai QIU, 17th ICCE c/oChinese Chemical Society, P.O.Box 2709 Beijing 100080,ChinaTel.: +86 10 62568157, 86 1062564020Fax: +86 10 62568157E-mail: [email protected]

Bioorganic Chemistry

11–14 August 20026th International Symposium onBioorganic Chemistry (ISBOC-6), Toronto, Canada.

Dr. Ronald Kluger, Departmentof Chemistry, University ofToronto, Toronto,Canada M5S3H6Tel.: +1 416 978 3582Fax.: +1 416 978 3482E-mail: [email protected]

Polymer Science andTechnology

2–5 December 2002IUPAC Polymer Conference onthe Mission and Challenges ofPolymer Science and Technol-ogy, Kyoto, Japan.Prof. Seiichi Nakahama, Facultyof Engineering, Tokyo Instituteof Technology, 2-12-1Ohokayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo152-8552, JapanTel.: +81 3 5734 2138Fax.: +81 3 5734 2887E-mail: [email protected]

Visas

It is a condition of spon-sorship that organizers ofmeetings under the aus-pices of IUPAC, in consid-ering the locations of suchmeetings, should take allpossible steps to ensure thefreedom of all bona fidechemists from throughoutthe world to attend irre-spective of race, religion,or political philosophy.IUPAC sponsorship impliesthat entry visas will begranted to all bona fidechemists provided applica-tion is made not less thanthree months in advance. Ifa visa is not granted onemonth before the meeting,the IUPAC Secretariatshould be notified withoutdelay by the applicant.

NEW


International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry

IUPACannounces the 2002

IUPAC Prize for Young ChemistsThe IUPAC Prize for Young Chemists has been established to encourage

outstanding young research scientists at the beginning of their careers.

The prize will be given for the most outstanding Ph.D. thesis in the

general area of the chemical sciences, as described in a

1000-word essay.

Prize USD 1 000 and travelto the IUPAC Congress in Ottawa, Canada, August 2003

Each awardee will be invited to present a poster on his/her research

and to participate in a plenary award session.

Call for Nominations(deadline February 1, 2002)

For more information, including application form,

please visit the IUPAC web site at www.iupac.org/news/prize.html

or contact the IUPAC Secretariat

by e-mail at <[email protected]> or by fax: +1 919 485 8706.

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