May 2006: ACCN, the Canadian Chemical News by Chemical Institute of Canada

l’actualité chimique canadienne canadian chemical news ACCN

MAY | MAI • 2006 • Vol. 58, No./no 5

Environmental Contamination Site Remediation Panic in the Pantry

PM40021620

Green Chemistry Award

ACCN

MAY | MAI • 2006 • Vol. 58, No./no 5

A publication of the CIC | Une publication de l’ICC

Ta bl e o f C o n t e n t s | Ta bl e d e s m a t i è r e s

Ar ticles

Guest Column Chroniqueur invité . . . . . . 2 The CSC at Your Service Yves Deslandes, FCIC

Personals Personnalités . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Countering the Hydrocarbon Threat

The Distant Early Warning Line Cleanup Project

From the Ground Up

Think Before You Drink

Remediate Attention

Sources and remediation of Canada’s groundwater contamination Silvia A. Mancini and Barbara Sherwood Lollar

News Briefs Nouvelles en bref . . . . . . . 4

Chemfusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Panic in the Pantry Joe Schwarcz, MCIC

Site remediation in Canada’s North Daniela Loock, MCIC

Chemical Shifts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

And in Regulatory News … . . . . . . . . . 25

CIC Bulletin ICC

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

CCME seeks input on revisions to the National Classification System for Contaminated Sites and its Petroleum Hydrocarbons Canada-Wide Standard. Sara Davarbakhsh

In Memoriam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

CSC Bulletin SCC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

CSChE Bulletin SCGCh. . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Antimony contamination from Arctic snow to bottled water William Shotyk

Student News Nouvelles des étudiants . . . 39

Events Événements . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Employment Wanted Demande d’emploi . . .41

Identifying the need for chemistry-based assessment in contaminated sites and their remediation George Duncan

GUEST COLUMN CHRONIQUEUR INVITÉ

Editor-in-Chief/Rédactrice en chef Michelle Piquette Managing Editor/Directrice de la rédaction Heather Dana Munroe Graphic Designer/Infographiste Krista Leroux Editorial Board/Conseil de rédaction Joe Schwarcz, MCIC, chair/président Cathleen Crudden, MCIC John Margeson, MCIC Milena Sejnoha, MCIC Steve Thornton, MCIC Bernard West, MCIC

The CSC at Your Service How can the CSC better serve its members and the public? The Society’s work toward achieving professional and public credibility

Editorial Office/Bureau de la rédaction 130, rue Slater Street, Suite/bureau 550 Ottawa, ON K1P 6E2 613-232-6252 • Fax/Téléc. 613-232-5862 editorial@accn.ca • www.accn.ca

Yves Deslandes, FCIC

he March 2006 issue of ACCN addressed the future of chemistry as a discipline and a profession. Chemistry is under pressure. New evidence of this pressure comes from the closing of the department of chemistry at the University of Sussex in the U.K. I personally feel that chemistry is here to stay, but what can we do to ensure that chemistry endures? The CSC’s major stakeholders are the members. The recent increase in CSC membership is an indication that the Society is adequately filling its role and reaching its members. But much more can be done. I extend a personal invitation to you—the chemical scientists of Canada—to secure the professional acknowledgement that chemists are due and to do your share to raise the perception of chemistry in the media and in the public. The CSC has adopted a major initiative to ensure that chemists—both members and non-members—begin to receive the professional acknowledgement that they are most certainly due. CSC vice-president Dave Schwass, MCIC, and CSC director of professional affairs, Ray Clement, FCIC, are spearheading the project outlined in the March 2006 issue of ACCN. The CIC has formally launched this initiative by organizing a panel discussion involving provincial associations representing chemists across Canada. The discussion is scheduled for May 30, 2006, as part of the Science Policy Forum at the 89th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition in Halifax, NS. I invite you to show your support through your participation in this first and crucial step toward achieving professional status for Canadian chemists.

2 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE MAI 2006

While this important initiative ranks top on the list for CSC members, we should also extend our reach to include the population at large. The CSC should play a more pro-active role in providing the public with “real” scientific information related to the major current issues. There is a proliferation of journalists who publish half truths and present incomplete information to the public. A day rarely goes by without seeing a newspaper article on either climate change or the environment where the conclusions are dubious at best. CSC members must take public positions on these issues and publish, with help from the Society, unbiased, truly scientific information for the benefit of everyone. Make time to write to newspaper editors and be vocal when necessary. In these days of dubious information, it’s a competent scientist’s duty to provide public access to factual information. Both of these projects are significant undertakings and require organization of our membership. The future of chemistry is one we all share. And together, we are capable of ensuring our credibility, professionally and in the public eye. So I charge these tasks to you, members of the CIC, and seek your opinions for further discussion.

Advertising/Publicité advertising@accn.ca Subscription Rates/Tarifs d’abonnement Non CIC members/Non-membres de l’ICC : in/au Canada CAN$55; outside/à l’extérieur du Canada US$50. Single copy/Un exemplaire CAN$8 or US$7. L’Actualité chimique canadienne/Canadian Chemical News (ACCN) is published 10 times a year by The Chemical Institute of Canada / est publié 10 fois par année par l’Institut de chimie du Canada. www.cheminst.ca. Recommended by The Chemical Institute of Canada, the Canadian Society for Chemistry, the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering, and the Canadian Society for Chemical Technology. Views expressed do not necessarily represent the official position of the Institute, or of the societies that recommend the magazine. Recommandé par l’Institut de chimie du Canada, la Société canadienne de chimie, la Société canadienne de génie chimique et la Société canadienne de technologie chimique. Les opinions exprimées ne reflètent pas nécessairement la position officielle de l’Institut ou des sociétés constituantes qui soutiennent la revue. Change of Address/Changement d’adresse circulation@cheminst.ca Printed in Canada by Gilmore Printing Services Inc. and postage paid in Ottawa, ON./ Imprimé au Canada par Gilmore Printing Services Inc. et port payé à Ottawa, ON. Publications Mail Agreement Number/ No de convention de la Poste-publications : 40021620. (USPS# 0007-718) Indexed in the Canadian Business Index and available on-line in the Canadian Business and Current Affairs database. / Répertorié dans la Canadian Business Index et accessible en ligne dans la banque de données Canadian Business and Current Affairs. ISSN 0823-5228

Yves Deslandes, FCIC, is CSC president and director of research at the Institute for Chemical Process and Environmental Technology of the National Research Council Canada.

www.accn.ca

PERSONALS PERSONNALITÉS

Industry

University. He has held a number of Dow positions including North American market manager for industrial protective, civil engineering, adhesives, and distribution and global product manager for allylics and phenolics. He returns to Canada from Europe where he is currently naptha feedstock manager within hydrocarbons and energy.

Government Elizabeth Gillies, MCIC Elizabeth Gillies, MCIC, will join the department of chemistry at The University of Western Ontario as an assistant professor this summer. Her research interests are in organic, polymer, and biomaterials chemistry, and her work involves the design, synthesis, and application of functional molecules.

Peter Nicholson appointed first president of the CAS The purpose of the Canadian Academies of Science (CAS) is to provide expert and independent assessments of science in the public interest. Peter Nicholson was recently appointed the first president of the CAS. Howard Alper, FCIC, chair of the Board of Governors of the CAS, announced the appointment. “Peter Nicholson is ideal for this position,” said Alper. “He brings a keen intellect and profound understanding of how science and government function in Canada thanks to his vast experience in both sectors.” Nicholson, who until recently held the position Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy in the Prime Minister’s Office, said that he is “anxious to get on with the job of building the Canadian Academies of Science and positioning the organization as an essential voice for Canadian science, both nationally and internationally.” He was one of the charter members of the Prime Minister’s National Advisory Board on Science and Technology, established in 1987 by Brian Mulroney, and the founding chair of the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematics.

University

Jeff Johnston has been named president of Dow Chemical Canada Inc. and hydrocarbons business director for Canada. Johnston replaces outgoing Dow Canada president, Ramesh Ramachandran, who was recently named director of strategic planning and business analysis for The Dow Chemical Company. Johnston earned a BSc in chemical engineering from The University of Western Ontario and an MBA from Northwood

Marty DeGroot, MCIC, has been selected winner of the 2005 Paul de Mayo Prize. Each year, the award is given to a recent PhD from the department of chemistry at The University of Western Ontario in recognition of achievement in research and potential in future research. DeGroot presented his award lecture entitled, “Molecular Control of Spin and Anisotropy in the Design of MetalCyanide Single Molecule Magnets,” on April 12, 2006 in London, ON.

Photo above courtesy of the Canadian Academies of Science

Todd Lowary, MCIC Todd Lowary, MCIC, was one of six university professors to be awarded a 2006 NSERC Steacie Fellowship. The prize is awarded to outstanding Canadian university scientists or engineers who have obtained their doctorate within the last 12 years, and whose research has already earned them an international reputation. Time for research is the most precious commodity for many, and the fellowship contributes significantly to the Fellow’s salary, freeing the individual from other duties, and allowing him or her to pursue research full-time.

Frank (Hein) Schaper, MCIC L’Université de Montréal est fière d’annoncer la venue, il y a quelques mois, au département de chimie, en qualité de professeur adjoint, de Frank (Hein) Schaper, MCIC. Schaper a reçu son Ph.D. en chimie inorganique de la Universität Konstanz en Allemagne sous la direction de Hans-H. Brintzinger, puis a effectué des études postdoctorales à la University of Chicago sous la direction de Richard F. Jordan, puis à l’Université de Bâle (Suisse) sous la direction de Ewin C. Constable. Ses intérêts en recherche portent sur la synthèse de composés organométalliques et de clusters, sur leurs applications en catalyse et comme systèmes modèles bio-mimétiques, et sur la détermination des mécanismes de réaction impliqués dans ces processus.

MAY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 3

NEWS BRIEFS NOUVELLES EN BREF

Remodelling Math Molecules can diffuse through all kinds of materials, but that diffusion is generally uncontrolled. The solution? Math. Chemists John Dutcher, ACIC, of the University of Guelph and Wankei Wan of The University of Western Ontario are working with a team of multidisciplined researchers to develop a mathematical approach to the diffusion process. The ultimate goal is to design materials that can control how molecules diffuse through them. These materials would include porous media such as paper, gelatine, and most permeable textiles. For example, a manufacturer might want to have a constant release rate for a drug diffusing out a gel-like pill. With a constant rate of diffusion, there’s no sudden release followed by a slow completion. Instead, there’s a steady, equal flow of the drug being passed to the patient. The team is looking at how proteins, DNA, and smaller molecules move in complicated

4 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE MAI 2006

gel structures and porous materials, like structures with dead ends, mazes, and channels. For answers, they’re turning to a true original—Albert Einstein. A century ago, Einstein theorized about the relationship between the random motion of particles in liquids (called “Brownian motion”) and the velocity those particles could achieve if drawn by a mechanical force. He discovered a formula that showed how viscosity links the velocity of the particle and its diffusion properties. Viscosity affects microscopic objects the same way friction slows down the motion of large objects sliding on a surface. It can affect the rate of diffusion and the velocity of molecules moving in a fluid. With that knowledge, the researchers tailored the formula to calculate the diffusion coefficient of any type of molecule moving in any type of porous media. With other technical details, the formula is then entered into a computer, which performs a long and multi-layered process to find the answer—the biggest and most memoryconsuming part of the mathematical approach

invented by the Advanced Food and Materials Network (AFMNet) researchers. “The biggest challenge with this whole process is that it uses a lot of computer memory,” says collaborator Gary Slater of the department of physics at the University of Ottawa. “Ten years ago, this project couldn’t have been possible because memory was so expensive. Now we can buy and use more memory for each new problem.” A computer program is being written to help design special systems. Ultimately, it will be presented to product developers for feedback about gel structures, pill structures, and drug delivery systems. “The hardest part is trying to create systems that can be used in the near future,” says Slater. “We’re building very fundamental structures that can have applications in all disciplines where molecular movements are key. What’s great about AFMNet is that we can use this application in pharmaceutical, food, and biomaterial areas.” Alicia Roberts, ADVANCE

NEWS BRIEFS NOUVELLES EN BREF

Mesoporous transformation—the chemical transformation in which the surface chemistry of the channels is changed from polar hydroxyl groups, to hydrophobic organic groups (green circles). take up far less room, allowing components to shrink even further. “Industry is always looking for a better insulator,” Hatton says. “This is an example of how materials chemistry can provide innovative solutions to the design of novel materials.” The study is funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and the Canada Research Chairs program. Materials Today

Hexagonal mesoporous silica material showing the hexagonal arrangement of the channels (pores), about 4 nm apart from each other.

A “Pore” Excuse for Engineering A new study by chemists and engineers at the University of Toronto describes a nanoscale material they’ve created that could help satisfy society’s never-ending hunger for smaller digital devices and cell phones. It could even lead to new methods for delivering medications via skin patches. The material, known as periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO), is a thin film interspersed with pores just two-billionths of a metre across. The team created it by mixing an organosilica precursor (silica glass, containing organic groups) with a surfactant—essentially, a soap that mixes oil and water—that causes the organosilica to self-assemble into a nanostructure. The scientists then washed away the surfactant to leave a nanoporous material. When they

Photos by Chrissi Nerantzi

examined the thin film that remained, they discovered that it made an excellent insulator that could be used to separate tiny wires inside microelectronics. “It demonstrates how creative chemistry can lead to really interesting engineering. It’s a good marriage,” says Benjamin Hatton, who led the work while he was a PhD candidate working with both the departments of chemistry, with supervisor Geoffrey Ozin, FCIC, and materials science and engineering, with supervisor Doug Perovic. “Technology can develop in unexpected ways, and what we’ve found here could lead to developments in microelectronics or drug delivery systems.” Conventionally, computer chip manufacturers have insulated their wire connections with silica glass, preventing them from coming into contact and interfering with each other. But the PMO film described in this study acts as a better insulator and would

Prisma Plastics Four major domestic plastic companies— Plastique Alto, Plastique Polyfab, Redwood Plastics, and Warehoused Plastic Sales—have announced the formation of Prisma Plastics International. This new strategic alliance provides the opportunity to market and distribute diversified lines of plastic products into the North American market place. Prisma Plastics operates a branch network of nine locations in Canada and three in the U.S. Initially, each company will retain its separate identity while exchanging marketing and training expertise to facilitate each corporation’s expansion of product lines to better serve their combined existing customer base. Prisma Plastics’ plan for future growth includes development of new product lines in its existing branches and expansion into new strategic locations. Camford Chemical News

MAY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 5

NEWS BRIEFS NOUVELLES EN BREF

NOVA Chemicals to Implement MPI Technology

KPMG International Cost Study— Canada No. 1

NOVA Chemicals has selected Pavilion Technologies’ Model Predictive Intelligence (MPI) technology as a key component of its manufacturing excellence program. The company-wide agreement is the result of a successful pilot at NOVA Chemicals’ Joffre, AB, manufacturing site. Pavilion’s MPI technology enables NOVA to develop sophisticated model-based analytics delivering accuracy and timeliness of decision making. Since the two companies formed a strategic alliance in 2004, NOVA Chemicals has been implementing Pavilion’s advanced process control (APC) chemical and polymer solutions at all of its manufacturing sites. MPI technology complements NOVA Chemicals’ implementation of APC by allowing the same models used in advanced process control to be leveraged for operations and business performance management and visualized via integration with other Pavilion software used throughout the company. “Based on the success of our initial partnership with Pavilion, we are pleased to extend our collaboration to include predictive analytics,” said Bill Greene, NOVA vice-president of manufacturing olefins/polyolefins.

KMPG has released the findings of its latest comparison of international business costs. This is a biennial study that looks at the costs of establishing a new business in various countries around the world, and for various industry sectors including chemicals. The model is detailed enough to permit comparison between individual cities within the studied countries. The countries included this year were the entire G-7, plus the Netherlands and Singapore. Singapore came out as the low-cost jurisdiction for just about all sectors, driven largely by the fact that as a newly industrialized country, it has much lower labour costs than any of the other participating countries. The model for chemicals is based on an investment that would yield sales in the order of US$25 million per year. Considering just the G-7 plus the Netherlands, Canada achieved the No. 1 ranking as the lowest cost jurisdiction for siting of this type of investment. This was also the case in 2002 and 2004. As the chemical industry in North America reorients to become more focused on satisfying internal demand, and less oriented towards supplying export markets, the Canada–U.S. comparison will be important in deciding where capacity within the continent should be located. Based on the 2006 results, the modelled chemical investment shows a 4.5 percent cost advantage if sited in Canada rather than in the U.S. Visit www.investincanada.gc.ca/en/1922/Canada_Costs_Advantages. html for information on the overall study and the sectoral detail.

Camford Chemical Report

Industry Canada

Canada Lags Behind on Renewable Fuels The Canadian Renewable Fuels Association released a new study by the research firm FO Licht that shows Canada lags behind the world leaders in renewable fuels production and consumption. “This report should be a wake-up call for Canada,” said Kory Teneycke, executive director of the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association. “We lag behind the world in an emerging new industry where we have the feedstock and infrastructure to be global leaders.” The Licht study notes that biofuels consumption in Canada has been quite low. In 2004 (the latest year for which comparative figures are available), total ethanol production and consumption in Canada amounted to approximately 250 million litres, or just 0.7 percent of the country’s total gasoline consumption. Limited industrial biodiesel production in Canada began late in 2005. The report does note,

6 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE MAI 2006

Photo by Dain Hubley

NEWS BRIEFS NOUVELLES EN BREF

however, that in the 2005 federal election the two leading parties both promised to implement a renewable fuels standard (RFS) of 5 percent by 2010. If the RFS is implemented along with three new provincial biofuel initiatives, this could raise Canada’s production of renewable fuels to 1.4 billion litres by 2007 and 3.1 billion litres by 2010—a twelvefold increase from today. “Implementing the Renewable Fuels Standard is a unique opportunity for this upcoming session of Parliament. In a minority situation it should have the support of all Parties in the House of Commons,” said Tim Haig, chair of the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association. The association asserts that renewable fuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, will lower emissions, reduce greenhouse gases, provide a hedge against rising fuel prices, and create sustainable jobs in rural Canada. Internationally, Brazil is the world’s largest producer, having started a biofuels program in the 1970s. Renewable fuels production is enhanced by the availability of low cost feedstocks and is receiving a substantial boost now as a result of high domestic sales of flex-fuel cars. As a result of this and growing export demand, production is expected to rise from some 15.4 billion litres in 2004 to 26.0 billion litres by 2010. The main drivers for both fuel ethanol and biodiesel production in the European Union are two biofuel directives from the European Commission adopted in 2003. The “promotional” directive set indicative targets for the share of renewable fuels in the transport fuel market of 2 percent by 2005 and 5.75 percent by the end of 2010. The U.S. has had a renewable fuels program in operation since the 1980s and is the world’s second largest manufacturer, producing 12.9 billion litres in 2004. A key provision in the 2005 energy bill is the renewable fuels standard, which raises the amount of renewable fuels to be used in the U.S. fuel pool to 28.4 billion litres by 2012, almost double the current use. Camford Chemical Report

Environment Canada Requests Data on Hazardous Substances Environment Canada published a notice on March 4, 2006 in the Canada Gazette, Part I, pursuant to paragraph 71(1)(a) and (b) of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999). The notice requires companies that manufactured or imported more than 100 kilograms of listed substances to provide information on activities no later than June 22, 2006. The notice requires submission of data regarding the presence of some 497 listed substances in the Canadian market and associated industry sectors. Substances covered by this notice have been identified, through categorization of the domestic substances list (DSL), to have potential for hazard to the environment or human health or as representing the greatest potential for human exposure, or as substances of emerging concern and international interest. The hazard potential was determined based upon criteria for “inherently toxic” to humans, or properties of persistence, bioaccumulation, and aquatic toxicity (PBiT). A need for action was identified as a result of the properties exhibited by these substances. Preliminary research has indicated that a high percentage of these substances may no longer be manufactured in or imported in to Canada. One of the goals of the survey is to identify substances that were not in commerce during the 2005 calendar year. Confirmation of substances not currently in commerce in Canada will allow the government to ensure that post-categorization efforts are focused on substances that do have the potential for release into the Canadian environment. The second major goal is to identify companies having current activity with any of these substances, to allow for follow-up, where necessary, to gather more detailed information, including use-pattern information, which will allow for the prioritization of future assessment and/or risk management activities. Future detailed data collection regarding these substances will be designed, taking into consideration the level of activity and sectors identified in the

responses to the notice. The information gathered pursuant to the notice will be used, along with other data sources, to inform current and future risk assessment and risk management activities conducted under the CEPA 1999. Camford Chemical Report

Manitoba Launches Ethanol Fuel Outlet Government fleets in Manitoba will be filling up with lower emission ethanol fuel as a result of a joint program of the federal and provincial governments. The sustainable transportation project was recently launched to demonstrate the feasibility of using high ethanol content fuels in provincial light-duty fleets. Under the federally funded project, fleet vehicles operated by provincial and federal offices will fill up at a special filling station with environmentally friendly fuel known as E85, indicating an ethanol content of up to 85 percent. Federal funding and provincial in-kind contributions will cover the cost of installing an E85 storage and fuelling facility in Winnipeg, MB. The facility will provide high ethanol content fuel, which is not currently available commercially, for federal and provincial vehicles designed to run on the special blend. Manitoba’s green and growing strategy is also reflected in other sustainable transportation initiatives. These include establishment of the Centre for Sustainable Transportation at the University of Winnipeg, provision of gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles in the provincial fleet, cold-weather testing of hybrid hydrogen internal combustion engine technology, development of biofuel opportunities, and increased ethanol production in rural Manitoba to encourage expanded use of environmentally friendly fuels. Husky Canada has announced its plans to invest $145 million to expand ethanol production at its plant in Minnedosa. Construction is expected to begin this year on the 130 million litre/year facility. Husky’s inaugural facility in Lloydminster, SK, should be operational in the second quarter of this year. Camford Chemical Report

MAY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 7

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op the bag into the microwave and in two minutes you can be stuffing handfuls of greasy popcorn into your mouth—along with a dose of perfluorochemicals. Consumers may be quite willing to put up with messy hands when they eat popcorn, but they certainly don’t want to see an oil-stained package on the shelf. And that’s where perfluorochemicals come in. Added to the packaging material, they impart greaseresistant properties. But they also have a tendency to migrate into the oily goo that is added to the popcorn to simulate butter. There is an indication that such package coatings may be a source of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a compound found in the blood of virtually all North Americans. And PFOA is suspected of being a carcinogen. Now before anyone starts to organize street demonstrations to ban microwave popcorn, a few thoughts on carcinogenicity are in order. By definition, a carcinogen is a substance capable of triggering cancer in man or animal. Some 60 substances have been classified as human carcinogens. These include asbestos, alcohol, certain arsenic compounds, benzene, tobacco smoke, soot, estrogen, mustard gas, radon, ultraviolet light, tamoxifen, vinyl chloride, and wood dust. Human epidemiological studies have clearly shown that exposure to these substances is linked with cancer. Furthermore, there are reasonable molecular mechanisms to explain how these chemicals can cause the disease. Dosage of course is important, you don’t get cancer from smoking one cigarette. Aside from established human carcinogens, there are a large number of substances known to be animal carcinogens based on feeding studies. In most cases, the dose to which the animals are exposed is so large that it is difficult to establish human relevance. Consider for example furfural, a compound used in some plastic manufacture, but one which also occurs naturally in grains, sweet potatoes, and even apples. There is no doubt that it is a carcinogen. Feed it to rodents at a dose of 200 mg per kg of body weight, and it will cause cancer. Since bread is made from grains, it will contain furfural. By referring selectively to the scientific literature, one could then argue that bread can cause cancer. Of course panic

in the pantry would only ensue if a little detail were left out, namely that a person would have to consume roughly 6,000 loaves of bread a day to approach the amount of furfural that causes cancer in rodents! There are numerous other substances, both natural and synthetic, that can rightfully be labelled as animal carcinogens. Caffeic acid in coffee, acrylamide in French fries, safrole in black pepper, certain pesticides, PCBs, dioxins, and some fluorinated compounds fall into this category. But that does not mean that pepper or coffee cause cancer. In fact, we have good evidence that they don’t. The carcinogens are there alright, but not in a sufficiently high dose. Now let’s return to the PFOA issue. Thanks to phenomenal advances in analytical chemistry, we know that this chemical is present in most people’s blood to the extent of roughly five parts per billion. A part per billion is one second in 32 years, or one toilet tissue in a roll stretching from New York to London. Obviously we don’t have much PFOA in us, but why do we have any at all? Where is it coming from? Accusing fingers have been pointed at Teflon™ producers. The “emulsion polymerization” by which this plastic is manufactured requires oily substances to be mixed with water. This is a job for chemicals called surfactants, and PFOA fits the bill perfectly. The surfactant is not present in the finished product, so Teflon pots and pans do not release it. Truth be told, DuPont, a major Teflon producer, until recently has been less than fastidious about the containment of PFOA and ended up contaminating the water supply around its Parkersburg, WV plant. This led to allegations of increased cancer rates in the community and a class action lawsuit that the company settled for over $300 million. DuPont officials did not admit any guilt and pointed out that the cancer studies did not control for possible causes other than PFOA. More recently, the company was penalized $10.25 million by the Environmental Protection Agency for not having reported some toxicological studies it had carried out, one of which showed that PFOA was found in the umbilical cord blood of a baby born to a woman working in the Teflon producing plant. The fine was for not having reported the data, not for endangerment.

Panic in the Pantry A few thoughts on carcinogenicity

CHEMFUSION Joe Schwarcz, MCIC

The release of PFOA from the plant, though, does not explain the widespread distribution of this chemical. Nevertheless, EPA has asked manufacturers to reduce PFOA emissions by 95 percent by 2010 and to stop emitting it totally by 2015. This presents a real challenge to the industry because Teflon is an extremely useful material and alternative surfactants are hard to come by. In any case, eliminating PFOA from Teflon production will not eliminate the problem of the chemical showing up in blood, since this is not its major source. A more likely scenario, effectively demonstrated by University of Toronto chemist Scott Mabury, MCIC, is that short chain fluorochemicals, or “fluorotelomers,” which are widely used in food packaging, coatings, paints, fire fighting foams, inks, adhesives, and waxes can break down in the environment, or in the human body, to release PFOA. Alternatives for these will have to be found. This is not an easy task, but chemists have solved more difficult problems before. And what happens if we do not reduce PFOA in the environment? It is a persistent chemical. That much is for sure. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have found it to be present in the umbilical cord of virtually every baby born. So far, there is little evidence that Continued on p. 25

MAY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 9

Countering the Hydrocarbon Threat Sources and remediation of Canada’s groundwater contamination Silvia A. Mancini and Barbara Sherwood Lollar

roundwater is an essential freshwater resource in Canada. It is defined as water that is stored in the interstitial spaces of soils and rock. Typically, groundwater flows at very slow rates on the order of cm/yr to m/yr but can provide useful quantities of water when tapped by a well in underground formations of permeable material called aquifers. In Canada, approximately 30 percent of the population relies on groundwater as their drinking water source (www.ec.gc.ca/water). In some smaller communities, groundwater provides the primary water supply for domestic use. Groundwater quality can be compromised in both rural and urban settings by biological agents such as bacteria and chemical agents such as metals, pesticides, and hydrocarbons. Most Canadians are aware of biological contamination due to the E. coli Walkerton tragedy that occurred in 2000. However, another serious threat facing Canada’s groundwater resources is contamination from organic chemicals from industrial, agricultural, and residential sources.

hydrocarbons as shown in Figure 1. Both contaminants are referred to as organic chemicals due to their dominantly C-H based structure.

Groundwater contamination by organic chemicals The overall extent of groundwater contamination by organic chemicals in Canada is unknown, although estimates of at least 30,000 sites have been reported (www.ec.gc.ca/water/en/nature/grdwtr/ e_howweg.htm). In most cases, groundwater is contaminated with multiple chemicals. Two classes of contaminants that are particularly problematic are petroleum hydrocarbons and chlorinated

10 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE MAI 2006

Figure 1. Chemical structures of some common groundwater contaminants Petroleum hydrocarbons include natural gas, oil, and gasoline products and are particularly problematic because of their potential to contaminate large quantities of water due to their relatively high water solubilities and in some cases, carcinogenic properties. They enter the subsurface primarily through leaking underground storage tanks and,

less frequently, by improper disposal methods or accidental spills. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that there are hundreds of thousands of leaking underground storage tanks in North America today (www.epa.gov/OUST/faqs/faq9a.htm). Upon entering the subsurface, these contaminants act as Light Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids (LNAPL), which form pools at the unsaturated/ saturated interface underground. The LNAPL then dissolves into the groundwater at solubilities exceeding the Canadian Drinking Water Quality Limits and can create a dissolved plume that can migrate off-site, potentially contaminating drinking water sources. Chlorinated hydrocarbons include dry cleaning fluids, industrial solvents, and chemicals used in photographic development, plastics manufacturing, and the computer industry. Chlorinated hydrocarbons are particularly troublesome because these types of spills are a challenge to clean up underground. Chlorinated hydrocarbons are heavier than water and are known as Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids (DNAPLs). When they enter the subsurface, they sink below the water table and come to rest on relatively impermeable layers. They may follow bedrock fractures or other preferential flow paths and can even diffuse into confining layers. This makes the source zone very difficult to characterize and define and hence, it can act as a continuous long-term source of groundwater contamination.

Remediation efforts Several techniques exist to treat groundwater contaminated with petroleum and chlorinated hydrocarbons. These range from excavation and subsequent treatment of groundwater, to in situ remediation via biological or chemical transformation of hazardous materials into non-toxic compounds. Determining the appropriate remediation strategy for a given site requires an understanding of the sources, transport, and fate of groundwater contaminants.1 In collaboration with the federal and provincial governments and industrial partners, Canadian researchers have become international leaders in assessing the transport of contaminants in aquifers, remediating contaminated aquifers using microbiological (bioremediation) or chemical transformation techniques, and investigating contaminant sources and fate using isotopic fingerprinting.

Photo by Ralu Home

Stable isotope fingerprinting

Source fingerprinting

Stable carbon isotopes are most commonly used in environmental applications for isotopic fingerprinting. In nature, the two most abundant stable carbon isotopes are carbon-12 ( 12 C) and carbon-13 ( 13 C) with natural abundances of 98.89 percent and 1.11 percent, respectively. Small variations of these abundances can occur between different sources of contaminants. In addition, 12C and 13C have slightly different chemical and physical properties causing the relative proportions of the two isotopes to vary during mass differentiating processes. Stable isotope analysis, using a gas chromatograph isotope ratio spectrometer (GC-IRMS), is a technique sensitive enough to measure the slight variations in the abundances of these two isotopes for a specific groundwater contaminant, providing the ability to investigate different sources and to determine the fate of groundwater contamination. Recently, compound specific hydrogen isotope analysis was demonstrated to provide additional evidence of variations in isotopic compositions for contaminants that exhibited only small carbon isotopic differences, such as petroleum hydrocarbons. Stable hydrogen isotopes include 1 H and 2 H. Due to the larger mass difference between 1H and 2H (50 percent) compared to 12C and 13C (8 percent), variations in isotopic compositions of a given contaminant can be made with more certainty. Isotopic compositions are reported in delta (δ13C or δ2H) notation in units of parts per thousand (‰) relative to an international standard of known isotopic composition.

The identification of different sources of chemicals at a contaminated site is important for understanding their distribution in the subsurface and assigning liability to the responsible parties. The development of the ability to measure stable isotopic compositions for a specific contaminant in the 1990s was a significant advancement in the field of environmental forensics. Laboratory studies demonstrated that carbon isotopic compositions for different commercial sources of petroleum and chlorinated hydrocarbons were distinct and exhibited distinguishable “fingerprints,” suggesting that carbon isotope analysis can provide a conclusive means of distinguishing between multiple sources of contamination at a given field site as shown in Figure 2. 1 However, this application is not only dependent on the contaminants exhibiting distinct isotopic compositions upon entering the subsurface but also on the contaminants conserving their isotopic compositions despite the physical or biochemical processes acting on them in the subsurface. It has been demonstrated that most subsurface processes, such as volatilization, dissolution,1 and adsorption, in fact do not significantly change carbon isotopic compositions of petroleum and chlorinated hydrocarbons. A number of field studies are available to the interested reader that demonstrate the powerful application of stable isotope analysis to distinguish between multiple sources of groundwater contamination within a plume by analyzing isotopic compositions from samples taken in the vicinity of suspected source zones.2, 3

MAY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 11

Acknowledgements The core of this article resulted from a 2005 “Bacon and Eggheads” lecture sponsored by the Partnership Group for Science and Engineering (PAGSE of Canada; www.pagse. org), in collaboration with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). Thanks are due to both organizations but the ideas and opinions expressed are those of the authors.

References

Figure 2. Plot of carbon isotopic compositions of BTEX compounds demonstrating the potential to use stable isotope analysis to distinguish between different sources of contamination in the field. Circles, triangles, and squares each represent compounds from a different source (modified from Dempster et al., 1997).

Confirming bioremediation at contaminated sites Bioremediation is a clean-up strategy that relies on the breakdown of groundwater contaminants by microorganisms to benign end products such as water and carbon dioxide. Depending on field site characteristics, it may be a preferred remediation option for petroleum and chlorinated hydrocarbon contaminated aquifers because it is non-intrusive and less costly than more engineered approaches. Typically, confirmation of the occurrence of biodegradation in the field is measured by contaminant concentration decreases and geochemical indicators of microbial activity. However, biodegradation can be difficult to confirm using these methods, as changes in concentrations can be a result of dilution, sorption, or transport of contaminants. Stable isotope analysis, however, provides a diagnostic means of identifying whether or not biodegradation is taking place. During biodegradation, the isotopic fingerprint of the remaining contaminant in a plume can change due to the preferential degradation of the contaminants containing the lighter isotopes (12C or 1H). This results in a progressive enrichment in the heavy isotopes (13C, 2H) in the remaining contaminant pool with respect to the initial isotopic signature. In the field, this progressive enrichment of the remaining contaminant plume can be used to confirm biodegradation and distinguish contaminant concentration decreases

12 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE MAI 2006

due to non-degradative processes such as dilution from degradative processes such as biodegradation.4 In these cases, source areas should exhibit the highest concentrations and the least enriched isotopic compositions at the site as biodegradation would be minimal within the source area compared to downgradient wells.4 In contrast, where biodegradation is occurring, groundwater contaminants may exhibit lower concentrations and significantly enriched isotopic compositions compared to the source zone, providing conclusive evidence of actual contaminant cleanup rather than just dilution.

Ongoing research Recent and ongoing advances in the application of stable isotope analysis include quantifying the extent of biodegradation within a contaminant plume using isotopic compositions and investigating biodegradation pathways for compounds and systems with unresolved reaction mechanisms. In addition, significant advances in the measurement of stable isotopes include the use of purge and trap systems to concentrate contaminants and to lower detection limits on the GC-IRMS from the ppm to the ppb concentration range and the development of hydrogen isotope analysis for chlorinated hydrocarbons as an additional line of evidence of biodegradation. For additional information, visit www. chem.utoronto.ca/peoples/faculty_profile. php?id=60.

1. H. S. Dempster, B. Sherwood Lollar, and S. Feenstra, “Tracing organic contaminants in groundwater: A new methodology using compound specific isotopic analysis,” Environmental Science and Technology 31, 11 (1997), pp. 3193–3197. 2. S. A. Mancini et al., “Hydrogen isotopic enrichment: an indicator of biodegradation at a petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated field site,” Environmental Science and Technology, 36, 11 (2002), pp. 2464–2470. 3. G. Slater, “Stable isotope forensics—when isotopes work,” Environmental Forensics 4 (2003), pp. 13–23. 4. B. Sherwood Lollar et al., “Stable carbon isotope evidence for intrinsic bioremediation of tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene at Area 6, Dover Air Force Base,” Environmental Science and Technology 35 (2001), pp. 261–269.

Silvia A. Mancini is a PhD candidate under the supervision of Barbara Sherwood Lollar and was awarded an NSERC postgraduate scholarship and both a National Groundwater Association/American Petroleum Institute and a Geological Society of America student research grant for her academic and research accomplishments. Barbara Sherwood Lollar is a professor and director of the Stable Isotope Laboratory at the University of Toronto, ON. She was recently appointed to the Royal Society of Canada and awarded a Canada Council Killam Research Fellowship. She is also the recipient of an NSERC Steacie Fellowship (1999–2001) and was chosen as the 1998 Darcy Distinguished Lecturer for her extensive work in the field of contaminant hydrogeology and isotope geochemistry.

The Distant Early Warning Line Cleanup Project Site remediation in Canada’s North

hat is it like to work as an environmental scientist in a remote location? The Environmental Sciences Group (ESG), located at the Royal Military College in Kingston, ON, led by Ken Reimer, FCIC, continues to be involved in one of the most challenging environmental restoration projects ever undertaken in Canada—the DEW Line Cleanup (DLCU) Project. This is a collaborative project involving the Department of National Defence, scientists, engineers, approving authorities, and aboriginal organizations working together to meet the needs of all stakeholders. The Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line was designed and built during the height of the Cold War as the primary line of air defence against invasion of the North American continent over the North Pole. The line consisted of 63 radar sites spanning the Arctic coastline, running roughly along the 66th parallel from northwestern Alaska to eastern Baffin Island. Of these 63 sites, 42 are on Canadian territory. As a result of new technology, 21 of the 42 DEW Line sites were closed in the early 1960s and became the responsibility of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. In 1993, the DEW Line officially ceased operation and was replaced by a new radar line, the North Warning System. In the mid-1990s, the Department of National Defence initiated a large-scale cleanup program to restore the 21 remaining, now inactive, DEW Line sites to an environmentally safe condition. The DEW Line cleanup strategy was developed through a series of environmental investigations conducted between 1989 and 1994. It identified a suite of eight inorganic elements and PCBs as the primary contaminants of concern at the sites. At the time that these initial investigations were performed, no environmental standards existed that were specific to the fragile Arctic ecosystem. The plants and

Daniela Loock, MCIC animals of the Arctic are well adapted to the harsh climate, which experiences extreme variations in light and temperature and has large areas of permanently frozen ground, or permafrost. Arctic food chains are considerably shorter than those in more temperate regions, rendering the ecosystem more susceptible to contaminant input. The DEW Line cleanup criteria were developed by ESG, in its role as a scientific advisor to the Department of National Defence, with the support of federal and territorial governments. They were derived from studies that showed the potential for aerial transport, the relationship between the contaminants’ concentrations in soils and their biological uptake. Subsequently, the protocol was modified to include total petroleum hydrocarbons in the DLCU program.

Collecting validation samples after the removal of contaminated soils

MAY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 13

The on-site laboratory. Instruments are housed in the white trailer on the right and soils are dried in the trailer on the left.

any permanent settlements, the stations can only be reached via weekly supply flights. Also, weather delays are all too common. Some sites are notorious for being fogged in for days. And in areas where no roads exist, sample collection typically requires the use of all-terrain vehicles. Finally, the presence of potentially dangerous wildlife necessitates the presence of wildlife monitors who accompany the sampling crew. This literally means that a person with a shotgun always has to be in the vicinity of the team. Site remediation typically involves the excavation of contaminated soils to levels below the specified criteria, and then either treating these soils or confining them in engineered landfills to remove the contact with the Arctic ecosystem. In order to determine that an area has been successfully remediated and for the contractor to receive payment, analytical results must

At the time that these initial investigations were performed, no environmental standards existed that were specific to the fragile Arctic ecosystem

Running samples in an on-site laboratory The DEW Line cleanup strategy sets out a practical and cost-effective protocol for assessing sites, applying environmental criteria, and implementing the cleanup so that sites will be left in an environmentally safe condition. The cleanup criteria minimize the potential for contaminant uptake by plants from soils, and thereby reduce the potential impact of these contaminants on the terrestrial food chain. An integral part of any contaminated site assessment and remediation project is the

14 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE MAI 2006

identification of contaminants. Through the collection and analysis of soil and water samples, the concentrations, extent, and location of contaminants are determined. In the Arctic, only short periods of time are conducive to conducting field work—typically three months a year—so field programs have to be carefully planned and implemented. The costs of transporting equipment and people are high and often, because most of the DEW Line stations are far from

prove that contaminant levels are below the specified criteria. If they are not, further excavation will be required. Environmental scientists often face pressure from on-site contractors to report their analytical results quickly. These pressures are even higher if the available window for remediation work is short. After careful risk evaluation, all stakeholders agreed that during the cleanup phase, screening-level field analysis of most verification samples would be sufficient to determine whether levels above or below the cleanup criteria had been reached. Field analysis reduces the turnaround time for reporting results by eliminating the need for shipping most samples to southern laboratories. However, accredited laboratories are essential to verify field results, and to conduct

Daniela Loock, MCIC, is the ESG project manager for the DEW Line Cleanup Project. She obtained her undergraduate degree in engineering chemistry from the Technische Universität Darmstadt in Germany. After graduating with a PhD in chemistry from the University of Victoria, she spent one year of post-doctoral research at McGill University. She joined the Environmental Sciences Group in 1999.

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and managing the waste stream, some more unusual challenges had to be resolved at Cape Dyer. Since this particular DEW Line site is well known for its abundance of polar bears, windows had to be cut into the lab’s doors to ensure that the on-site personnel could check outside for any unwelcome visitors before leaving their workplace. Scientists working under these conditions must not only be skilled but also clever at improvising solutions with the minimal resources they have on hand. The DEW Line Cleanup Project is managed by the Department of National Defence with the support of Defence Construction Canada, the Contracting Authority for the Department of National Defence. The Environmental Sciences Group, Royal Military College, and UMA Engineering Ltd. are the scientific and engineering advisors, respectively.

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analyses unavailable in the field. The DLCU project relies most heavily on the use of X-ray fluorescence for inorganic elements and test kits for PCBs and total petroleum hydrocarbons in soil. As part of the cleanup, existing landfills may have to be excavated. The excavated materials will then either be disposed of in engineered on-site landfills if they contain low levels of contaminants, or shipped off site to appropriate receiving facilities for treatment, disposal and/or destruction. Statistical tools are used to evaluate the analytical results for classification of these stockpiled materials. Current field analytical methods cannot achieve low enough detection limits for the contaminants of concern to apply these statistical methods correctly. Therefore, all stockpile samples are sent to accredited laboratories for analysis. The extreme weather conditions and inaccessibility of Cape Dyer, NU, one of the sites currently undergoing cleanup, has necessitated the installation of a more sophisticated on-site laboratory to meet the required turn-around times. A trailer has been transported to the site and outfitted with fume hoods and laboratory benches. In this mobile laboratory, inorganic element analysis is performed using atomic absorption spectrometry. In addition to addressing the typical challenges of ensuring good laboratory health and safety practices

What’s

Former DEW Line site at Byron Bay. The site investigation team’s camp is visible in the foreground.

MAY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 15

From the Ground Up

Sara Davarbakhsh

CCME seeks input on revisions to the National Classification System for Contaminated Sites and its Petroleum Hydrocarbons Canada-Wide Standard.

he Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) is a major intergovernmental forum in Canada for discussion and joint action on environmental issues of national and international concern. Comprised of environment ministers from the federal, provincial, and territorial governments, CCME works to promote effective intergovernmental cooperation and coordinated approaches to interjurisdictional issues, such as emissions of toxic chemicals and contaminated site remediation. CCME members collectively establish nationally consistent environmental standards, strategies, and objectives to promote a high level of environmental quality across the country.

Canada-Wide Standards for Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Soil Canada-Wide Standards for Petroleum Hydrocarbons (PHC) in Soil provide one such example. Developed under a framework harmonization agreement among ministers (except Quebec), Canada-wide standards (CWSs) have provided a new tool for environmental management in Canada. Given shared jurisdiction over environmental matters, the standards provide a means of jointly setting national norms, and in some cases, strategic targets and milestones for pollution reduction. The PHC CWS was endorsed by ministers in 2001 as a remedial standard for contaminated sites where mixtures of organic compounds derived from geological substances (such as oil, bitumen, and coal) can be found in the soil and/or sub-soil. The PHC CWS document is comprised of a technical supplement, scientific rationale, and user guidance. The standard was developed as a result of

16 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE MAI 2006

the difficulty in assessing PHC contaminated sites—largely due to the vast range of PHC compounds, extreme variability of PHC sources, and differences in site-specific conditions. The CWS has simplified the complicated nature of PHC by considering them in four fractions rather than by the hundreds of compounds that exist in varying proportions of hydrogen, carbon, sulphur, nitrogen, and oxygen. In this approach, “fraction” refers to the equivalent normal straight-chain hydrocarbon boiling point ranges. The standard can also be applied at any of three tiers: Tier 1—generic numeric levels for different land uses (see Table 1); Tier 2—numeric levels with site-specific adjustments to Tier 1 levels; Tier 3—numeric levels generated by site-specific risk assessment and management. Tier 1 levels were developed for different land uses by identifying the: 1. receptors and resources to be protected; 2. pathways by which each could be exposed; 3. tolerable exposure along all applicable receptor/exposure pathway combinations. Tier 2 levels may be generated and used when site-specific information indicates that site conditions exist that modify human and ecological exposure to PHC contamination, and thereby alter risks significantly, relative to the generic conditions used to derive Tier 1 levels. Tier 3 site-specific remediation levels and related management options require the appropriate use of both general and site-specific information by conducting a site-specific risk assessment. Regardless of the approach chosen, the same high level of environmental and human health protection is required at each tier. As scheduled in the PHC CWS, CCME commenced a review of the standard in 2005 to evaluate additional scientific, technical, and

Table 1. Summary of Tier 1 levels for PHCs in surface soil (mg/kg)* Land use Agricultural

Soil texture Coarse-grained Fine-grained

Residential/ parkland Commercial Industrial

Coarse-grained

Fraction 1 130 260

(180b)

30c

Fraction 2

Fraction 3

Fraction 4

450

(150a)

400

2800

900

(250b)

800

5600

400

2800

Sara Davarbakhsh is the program coordinator of CCME’s Soil Quality Guidelines Task Group.

150c

260

(180b)

Coarse-grained

310

(230a)

Fine-grained

660 (180b)

1500 (250b)

2500

6600

Coarse-grained

310 (230a)

760 (150a)

1700

3300

Fine-grained

660 (180b)

1500 (250b)

2500

6600

Fine-grained

To learn more about CCME’s current activities or its accomplishments, as well as those of its Soil Quality Guidelines Task Group, visit www.ccme.ca.

900

(250b)

800

5600

760

(150a)

1700

3300

Surrey, U.K., with an academic background in environmental protection and engineering.

She is a post-graduate of the University of

She worked on waste management issues at the local government level in the U.K. before moving to Canada.

* Additional information and Tier 1 levels are presented in the Technical Supplement document. a = Where applicable, for protection against contaminated groundwater discharge to an adjacent surface water body b = Where applicable, for protection of potable groundwater c = Assumes contamination near residence with slab-on-grade construction

economic analysis to reduce information gaps and uncertainties. CCME’s Soil Quality Guidelines Task Group is leading the review. The task group identified four broad stages of the review process information gathering and priority setting, technical development work, review of draft documents (with Web site posting to solicit additional stakeholder input), and finally CCME’s approval process. Industry stakeholders have been involved throughout the review and the Soil Quality Guidelines Task Group anticipates that it will seek feedback from additional stakeholders and the public sometime in late summer or early fall 2006, for a period of 60 days. To receive notification of the public comment period, visit www.ccme.ca/contactus/ subscribe.html. Review of the CWS is expected to be completed in time to present a draft revised standard to ministers in late 2006.

National Classification System for Contaminated Sites In addition to maintaining the PHC remediation standard, the Soil Quality Guidelines Task Group undertakes technical work on CCME soil quality and contaminated site initiatives, such as the development and delivery of Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines for soil and the maintenance of other contaminated site management tools. In 1992, CCME released the National Classification System (NCS) for Contaminated Sites. Since its development, the NCS has been instrumental in initial contaminated site assessment in Canada.

The NCS is a method for evaluating contaminated sites according to their current or potential adverse impact on human health and the environment. It was developed to establish a scientifically defensible system for comparable assessment of contaminated sites across Canada, providing a tool for their classification and prioritization. The system screens contaminated sites with respect to the need for further action—characterization, risk assessment, and remediation—in order to protect human health and the environment. Since the NCS was first developed, new information has become available relating to risk assessment techniques and with respect to its suitability for classifying contaminated sites across Canada. In December 2005, the Soil Quality Guidelines Task Group posted a draft revised NCS on CCME’s Web site for public review and comment. It is available for comment until June 19, 2006, and the task group invites your feedback. For more information, visit www.ccme.ca/whatsnew/ index.html. The revised NCS is expected to be presented to ministers in 2007. The revised NCS and PHC CWS are only two examples of the numerous accomplishments and of the value of cooperative work through CCME. Founded on the collaborative efforts and on the expertise of its members, such products have been used by provincial, territorial, and federal governments to address major environmental issues in Canada for more than 15 years. It is this collaborative approach to protecting human health and the environment that is found at the heart of all CCME activity.

MAY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 17

Think Before You Drink

Antimony contamination from Arctic snow to bottled water

hat do bottled waters in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) containers and Arctic snow have in common? They are both contaminated with antimony (Sb), a potentially toxic heavy metal with no known physiological function. Michael Krachler of the Institute of Environmental Geochemistry at Germany’s University of Heidelberg and I have recently published the latest results. These findings have been made possible by the availability of inductively coupled plasma sector-field mass spectrometry, and by employing clean lab methods and procedures developed for measuring trace elements at extremely low concentrations. With a lower limit of detection of five parts per quadrillion, it is now possible to determine Sb accurately and precisely, even in the most dilute natural waters such as ancient, Arctic ice. Antimony is a fascinating element for a number of reasons: • the antiquity of its discovery and use; • its remarkable history in alchemy and early medicine; • the number of modern industrial processes that employ it; • the extremely broad range of high technology materials that contain it; • the diversity of its chemical behaviour. With respect to the predominant sources, biogeochemical behaviour, and the ultimate fate of Sb in the environment, there have been

18 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE MAI 2006

William Shotyk

remarkably few studies compared to other potentially toxic metals such as mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), or arsenic (As). Increasing concentrations, enrichments, and accumulation rates of Sb in peat bogs from Europe have shown that emissions of atmospheric Sb has increased dramatically since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Peat cores from bogs can be used to reconstruct atmospheric Sb deposition extending back in time many thousands of years. Peat samples from European bogs show that emissions of Sb have largely evolved parallel to those of Pb since the Roman Period, indicating the intensity and long history of atmospheric Sb contamination. Why has atmospheric Sb contamination resembled that of Pb for two thousand years? Lead ores are commonly enriched in Sb, thus mining and smelting of lead ores has not only emitted Pb into the environment, but Sb also. Atmospheric Sb contamination is so extensive, even peat bogs from remote locations such as the Faroe Islands reveal atmospheric Sb contamination dating from the Roman Period. These findings suggest that the environmental impact of human activities on the Sb cycle are comparable to those of Pb. To determine whether or not Sb, like Pb, is a global contaminant, Krachler and I teamed up with Jiacheng Zheng and David Fisher of the glaciology division of the Geological Survey of Canada. Using ice cores from Devon Island (75o N) that extend back in time more than

15,000 years, Krachler and Zheng analyzed the samples using the unique clean lab and ICP-SMS facilities in Heidelberg, creating the first complete time series for atmospheric Sb in the Arctic. Unlike Pb, which has been declining during the past three decades, the enrichment of Sb during the same interval has increased approximately 50 percent. Scandium, also measured for the first time in polar ice, served as a reference element, and provides an index of the natural Sb inputs from soil dust and other mineral particles. Analyses of the ancient ice samples provide a measure of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;backgroundâ&#x20AC;? inputs of Sb to the Arctic, clearly showing that natural atmospheric Sb inputs to the Arctic today are dwarfed by industrial emissions. The magnitude of the Sb enrichments in snow and ice from a remote region of the Arctic indicates that this element, like Pb and Hg, truly is a global contaminant. Although Sb is mainly used today as a flame retardant in textiles and plastics, it has numerous other industrial applications, including in alloys with lead to harden car batteries as well as bullets, and in brake shoe pads. Imagine this the next time you are driving your carâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;each time you use your brakes, submicroscopic particles rich in Sb are abraded from the brake pads and released into the air. Analyses of aerosols from Tokyo, Japan, by Naoki Furuta and his colleagues at Chuo University show that Sb is now the most highly enriched trace element in the PM2.5 fraction. Antimony trioxide is a suspected carcinogen and is considered a priority pollutant by the U.S. EPA, the E.U., and the German Research Foundation (DFG). Antimony trioxide is used as a catalyst in the manufacture of PET. PET typically contains several hundred mg/kg of Sb. For comparison, the abundance of Sb in crustal rocks at the surface of the earth is typically on the order of one mg/kg or less. My colleagues and I measured the abundance of Sb in 15 brands of bottled water from Canada and 48 from across Europe. Our team also measured Sb in pristine groundwater from a rural region of Canada (Springwater and Tiny Townships, in Simcoe County, ON), three brands of deionized water in PET bottles, and a new brand of water from Canada bottled commercially in polypropylene. Measuring Sb in pristine waters was not possible in the past, using conventional analytical methods, because the natural abundance is generally far below the detection limits provided by traditional approaches. Having

Stibnite (Sb2S3) from the Museum of Geology and Paleontology at the University of Heidelberg measured Sb in polar snow and ice, it was not difficult for Krachler, using the laboratory facilities available at the University of Heidelberg, to measure Sb in groundwater.

Figure 1. Average Sb concentrations (ng/l) in some waters from Canada: (1) pristine groundwater, Springwater and Tiny Townships, Simcoe County, ON (collected in acid-washed LDPE); (2) twelve brands of bottled natural water in PET; (3) three brands of bottled tap water in PET; (4) one brand of bottled natural water in PP The pristine groundwater was found to contain only two parts per trillion of Sb, and the bottled waters from Canada and Europe typically showed values a few hundred times greater. The water in polypropylene was comparable to the pristine water as shown in Figure 1, suggesting that the PET bottles were to blame for the high Sb values. Even though deionized water should be very clean, in PET bottles these contained as much Sb as the natural waters in PET bottles. So, the deionized

tap waters being sold in PET bottles contain as much Sb as the natural waters being sold in PET containers. Adding pristine groundwaters to PET bottles quickly confirmed that the bottles were contaminating the waters by the leaching of Sb from the containers. Comparison of three German brands of water available in both glass bottles and PET containers showed that waters bottled in PET contained up to 30 times more Sb. As a final test of the contamination hypothesis, water was collected from a commercial source in Germany prior to bottling. This water was found to contain only four parts per trillion of Sb. However, the same brand of water purchased locally in PET bottles, was found to contain 360 parts per trillion. This same brand of water in PET bottles, but three months older, yielded 630 parts per trillion Sb. Clearly, the concentration of Sb in bottled water is effectively independent of the natural abundance, but dependent on the duration of storage in the PET container. Although all of the waters tested were found to contain Sb in concentrations well below the guidelines commonly recommended for drinking water, the continuous release from the container to the fluid suggests that further studies are warranted. Acidic beverages in PET containers should be even more susceptible to leaching. Given that Sb has no physiological function and is a cumulative toxin, there is

MAY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 19

unlikely to be a beneficial effect of the Sb contamination. The environmental fate of Sb in waste streams, especially from Sb-containing textiles and plastics, also deserves attention.

Selected Publications N. Furuta, A. Iijima, A. Kambe, K. Sakai, and Sato, K. “Concentrations, enrichment and predominant sources of Sb and other trace elements in size classified airborne particulate matter collected in Tokyo from 1995 to 2004,” Journal of Environmental Monitoring 7 (2005), pp. 1155–1161. M. Krachler, J. Zheng, C. Zdanowicz, R. Koerner, D. Fisher, and W. Shotyk, “Increasing enrichments of antimony in the arctic atmosphere,” Journal of Environmental Monitoring 7 (2005), pp. 1169–1176. W. Shotyk, M. Krachler , and B. Chen Contamination of Canadian and European bottled

waters with antimony leaching from PET containers. Journal of Environmental Monitoring 8 (2006), pp. 288–292. W. Shotyk, M. Krachler, and B. Chen, “Antimony: Global Environmental Contaminant,” (Guest Editorial). Journal of Environmental Monitoring 7 (2005), pp. 1135–1136. W. Shotyk, M. Krachler, B. Chen, and J. Zheng, “Natural abundance of Sb and Sc in pristine groundwater, Springwater Township, Ontario, Canada, and implications for tracing contamination from landfill leachates,” Journal of Environmental Monitoring 7 (2005), pp. 1238–1244. W. Shotyk, B. Chen, and M. Krachler, “Lithogenic, oceanic, and anthropogenic sources of Sb to a maritime blanket bog, Myrarnar, Faroe Islands,” Journal of Environmental Monitoring 7, (2005) pp. 1148–1154. W. Shotyk, M. Krachler, and B. Chen, “Anthropogenic impacts on the biogeochemistry

and cycling of antimony,” in “Biogeochemistry, availability, and transport of metals in the environment,” Vol. 44 of Metal Ions in Biological Systems, A. Sigel, H. Sigel, and R. K. O. Sigel, eds. (New York: M. Dekker), pp. 172–203.

William Shotyk received his BSc in soil science and chemistry from the University of Guelph in 1981, a PhD in geology from The University of Western Ontario in 1987, and a habilitation in geochemistry from the Universität Berne, Switzerland, in 1995. Since October of 2000, he has been professor at the University of Heidelberg (C4) and director of the Institute of Environmental Geochemistry. His research group is responsible for inorganic and radiogenic isotope geochemistry. His main research interests focus on human impacts on the exogenic geochemical cycles of potentially toxic trace elements.

The CIC’s Career Services • CareerSite: The CIC’s job search and résumés on-line service is available at www.chemjobs.ca. • Employer list: Over 1,600 Canadian company listings—available to CIC members only. • Free membership: Full-fee members are entitled to up to two years free membership while unemployed. • ACCN: Post an Employment Wanted ad, check the Careers section for openings and keep abreast of issues in your community. • Attend the career events at the CSC and CSChE conferences. • Networking opportunities: Local sections and divisions can keep you connected. • Need information on certification, professional status, or immigration issues: We can direct you on where to find help.

20 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE MAI 2006

Remediate Attention Identifying the need for chemistry-based assessment in contaminated sites and their remediation

What makes a site a contaminated site?

ou won’t drive far along any busy highway these days before you come to a boarded up gas station lying derelict by the roadside. Likewise, every city has its “brownfield” district covered with abandoned factories, rusting buildings, and weedcovered driveways. What happened? Did improved gas mileage lead to changes in traffic flow? Did new technologies render factory production lines obsolete? Or was it just the onward march of civilization towards greener pastures? In many cases, none of these causes are responsible. To a large extent, these sites were abandoned as a result of stricter environmental legislation. Beginning in the mid-1980s, public demand for a cleaner environment drove legislators to respond with tough new laws. These laws were designed to correct centuries-old practices of handling (or mishandling) wastes—including those in the air we breathe and the water we drink. New regulations dropped like a sledge-hammer on the heads of site-owners who suddenly found their sites “contaminated” according to the new rules. In this sense, the new legislation was retroactive. Although it applied to the present condition of sites, the present condition was very much the result of past ignorance! Thus, with the sudden stroke of a legislative pen—indeed in some cases overnight—thousands of industrial and commercial sites changed from valuable assets on the books of their owners to bankrupting liabilities. Simply due to the costs of cleaning up the site. The visual evidence of this continually unfolding scenario is the boarded-up gas stations and the derelict factories. Behind these facades are the real human costs. On the day the legislation was enacted, “Mom-and-Pop” gas stations opened their doors

Photo by James Giroux

George Duncan

and switched on their gas pumps—never realizing they were instantly bankrupt. No one warned them. Many only realized it years later when they tried to retire but found they couldn’t sell their property without an environmental site assessment. The assessments revealed the years of neglect. The saddest aspect of a consultant’s job is sitting down with an elderly couple to inform them their life’s investment is worthless. Residential properties are not immune either. Just wait! There are new waves of anxiety in the residential real estate community concerning moulds, vermiculite insulation, asbestos floor tiles, heating oil tanks, and soon, no doubt, radon gas will be added to the list. Old threats such as urea-formaldehyde foam insulation (UFFI) continue to concern some.

Role of the environmental consultant Such changes in legislation have spawned a multibillion dollar industry under the umbrella of “environmental technologies and services.” Included under this umbrella is the environmental consulting industry, which functions to define environmental issues in the light of current practices and legislation and to recommend how their clients can manage these in order to comply both with the legislation and their own environmental due diligence. Demand for consulting services comes from a wide background including both government agencies and private industry, banks, law firms, realtors, and even private individuals. It is now common practice to conduct an environmental site assessment (ESA) for commercial real estate transactions using a phased approach. Phase I ESAs are, primarily, an investigation of the environmental history of a site. Phase II ESAs define the extent

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of any contamination found. Both are now clearly defined under Canadian Standards documents CSA Z-768-01 (phase I) and CSA Z-769-00 (phase II), but many other agencies have added their own requirements so the rules for completing these phases can vary widely. Phases III and IV deal with cleanup and reporting.

Environmental qualifications and the chemist The jury is still locked in the jury room on this one, but every professional scientific body seems to be hammering at the door demanding to be included. The adjective “environmental” has now been tagged to all things scientific, giving us environmental engineers, environmental geoscientists, environmental biologists, and even environmental chemists to name but a few. Governments are bravely trying to define environmental specialists such as the “Qualified Person” under Ontario ’s Brownfields Regulation (153–04), but such a person can be a professional engineer, a professional geoscientist, an Ontario Chartered Chemist, or an OACETT-registered technologist from a variety of disciplines. Clearly, this is not an easy task since the environmental “umbrella” is bigger than a marquee. However, no one should dispute that chemistry is the “central science” in all investigations of contamination. But chemistry—the subject and indeed, the profession—has largely been ignored! None of the environmental legislation so far has spelled out any serious requirement for recognized training in chemistry—even among the analysts doing drinking water analysis! Being the “central science” has been of little help in convincing governments to include the chemist in their environmental legislation, let alone licensing them as a recognized profession. This may be partly due to a lack of effort by the profession itself to promote its benefits to the public and to the government. The Association of the Chemical Profession of Ontario (ACPO) has been trying for over 30 years to get the Ontario government to license chemists in the province—so far without success. Yet the same government requires sign-off on all site cleanups to be done by a professional geoscientist or professional engineer who may have little or no chemistry training whatsoever!

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Are we getting our money’s worth? Any serious examination of current environmental site assessment/cleanup practices, particularly in the sampling and analysis of soils would raise some very serious questions. From an analytical chemistry point of view, there is almost no recognition of representative field sampling and sampling errors in most of the protocols currently followed. Some of the errors have been shown to be several times larger than mere percentages. No one in the gold assaying business would expect a reliable answer for gold content in an ore from a one-gram sample because sampling errors are well understood. But few in the environmental business ever question indications of “contaminated” soils found by analyzing the same size sample. Sure, the lab can prove every inch of its quality control system, but is anyone seriously saying that a one gram sample is representative of several hundred tonnes of soil? When ~1 Kg is collected for analysis, often times only ~0.001 Kg of that soil is actually analyzed. The current Canada-wide protocol for sampling soils for hydrocarbon analysis requires that the soil be squeezed by hand into a glass jar until it’s full to the brim. But

it says nothing about the person doing the sampling as he/she chokes on the BTEX fumes (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and total xylenes) evaporating from the sample or about the vapour losses during shipment to the laboratory because a few soil granules got trapped between the lid and the jar or about the vapour losses when the lab opens the jar to get their sample out. The result is that some gas stations can be reported as “clean” even when you wouldn’t want to strike a match near them. This happens because the lab report shows no volatile hydrocarbons and the consultant is unfamiliar with the chemistry of volatile hydrocarbons. This is not nit-picking, considering the multimillion dollar cleanup industry is based on the results of such analyses. Clearly, there is need for a more chemistbased assessment industry and a lot more studies on field sampling errors. Only when the latter are quantified and controlled can we be certain that the cleanup funds are being well spent. Legislation that typically specifies contaminant limits at low or sub-ppm levels in soils had better pay close attention to how variable the matrix is before recommending a six-figure cleanup! Much work remains to be done to bring greater certainty to site investigations and for chemists to be given due recognition.

George Duncan is president and principal consultant with A & A Environmental Services, Inc. He is an environmental analytical chemist with over 30 years’ experience in his field and has conducted over 500 site investigations and cleanups. Duncan is also president of Accuracy Environmental Laboratories, Ltd., Kirkland Lake, ON, and Accurassay Laboratories Ltd., Thunder Bay, ON. He is registered as a Chartered Chemist with the Association of the Chemical Profession of Ontario (ACPO) and with the Royal Society for Chemistry in the U.K. and registered as a Chartered Scientist with the European Economic Union. He is a member of the Environmental Assessment Association and is registered as a Certified Environmental Specialist. He is a “Qualified Person” for the performance of Phase I and II Environmental Site Assessments as defined under Regulation 153-04.

Photo by Núria Fortuny

C HE M I C A L SH I F T S Mirror, Mirror on the Floor—silver nanoparticles find application in adaptive optics Gazing at one’s reflection in a lake has been a popular pastime for individuals from Narcissus to Bambi. To a scientist, of course, water seems an inferior surface to use as a mirror. Since the 1870s, mercury has been a preferred material for liquid mirrors. Those liquid mirrors have found applications mostly as inexpensive and highly scalable reflectors used in astronomy and atmospheric science. They are made into parabolic shape simply by rotation of the holding pan and the consequent interplay between centrifugal forces and gravity. Mercury mirrors have a number of disadvantages. One cannot hang them on a wall, tilt them, or send them into space. These mirrors only look straight up. It is also not possible to produce any shapes other than flat or parabolic surfaces. And they make use of mercury—apparently only a small concern to the physicists who use good ventilation to protect themselves.

in an organic solvent. The silver particles concentrate at the interface between the liquids and can be isolated by drainage and evaporation of the two solvents. Suspended in a small amount of remaining water, they are then poured into a pan and immediately form a highly reflective mirror. Analysis has shown that the mirror’s surface is only a fraction of a micron thick and is surprisingly dry—it consists of 98 percent of the surface layer is made of silver-coated particles. It is also quite deformable, but not self-healing, i.e., a cut in the mirror can only be repaired by solvation of the silver overlayer in an organic solvent and subsequent evaporation. Most importantly, the reflectivity between 500 nm and 2 µm rivals that of mercury.

A silver nanoparticle mirror floating on ferrofluid can be deformed by an array of electromagnets.

Julie Gingras (left) and Hélène Yockell-Lelièvre peer over a liquid mirror. In two papers accepted by Colloids and Surfaces A and Applied Optics, Université Laval’s Anna Ritcey, MCIC, students Julie Gingras, Hélène Yockell-Lelièvre, Jean-Philippe Déry, and physics professor Ermanno Borra describe a route to high-quality liquid mirrors that is based on coated silver nanoparticles that simply float on water. The silver nanoparticles are made by reduction of silver nitrate in aqueous solution, followed by reaction with, for example, the ligand 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenantroline (dmp), which is dissolved

This alone would be interesting only to the small number of astrophysicists who are concerned about their health. But Ritcey and her collaborators at the Laval physics department, Ermanno Borra, P. Laird, N. Caron, and M. Rioux, can also change the shape of these mirrors by letting the silver nanoparticles float on a ferromagnetic fluid and then using electromagnets to move this “ferrofluid.” The size of surface features is somewhat limited by the size of the electromagnets, but this may be sufficient for many applications. Most importantly, a ferrofluidic-supported mirror such as this can actually be inverted to create a liquid mirror on the ceiling (this is only fun until the first power outage). Applications range from replacing mercury in metre-sized liquid mirrors for astrophysics to the emerging field of adaptive optics, i.e., smart imaging systems that correct optical distortions in real time.

MAY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 23

Clathrate Hydrates—icy fuel thawed with antifreeze proteins Clathrate hydrates are ice-like inclusion complexes between small, usually gaseous guests and crystalline water hosts. These complexes are most famous for the vast deposits of natural gas hydrate in marine sediments offshore on the continental margins, and under the permafrost in the Canadian Arctic and elsewhere. In fact, natural gas clathrates make up a substantially greater source of carbon than the estimated natural gas reserves (up to 2,500 gigatonnes of carbon compared with 230 GtC for natural gas). A wide variety of small molecules form clathrates, while others, such as methanol, disrupt the formation of these compounds by shifting the hydrate equilibrium so that they form only under more severe conditions. The development of hydrate inhibitors is of significant interest in the resource industry, since plugs of gas hydrates spontaneously form during the transportation and processing of hydrocarbons, causing serious pipeline blocks. Polymer-based inhibitors are of particular interest since they inhibit hydrate formation at very low concentrations. A perhaps more famous group of polymers that inhibit ice formation are anti-freeze proteins (AFPs). These proteins are found in cold-water fish and also insects. AFPs from insects posses beta-helical, threonine, and cysteine-rich structures that can be up to 100 times greater at inhibiting ice-growth than fish-based AFPs. In a recent issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society (2006, 128, 2844), the group of John Ripmeester, MCIC, at the National Research Council Canada in Ottawa, ON, in collaboration with biologist Virginia Walker from Queen’s University has reported a study of the use of AFPs to inhibit clathrate formation. Ripmeester and Walker, along with student Huang Zeng, MCIC, and post-doctoral worker Lee Wilson, MCIC, were able to conclusively demonstrate that AFPs strongly inhibit the formation of clathrates of THF. In order to study this property of AFPs, the team prepared THF clathrates by cooling a THF/water mixture (1/15) to below the hydrate melting point (275.5K). A dry-ice-cooled copper wire was then inserted into a glass pipette in the solution to initiate crystallization. Once crystallization began, the pipettes were then placed in solutions of THF and water at the same temperature that contained either THF/water or THF/water plus AFPs or polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), a well-known clathrate inhibitor. In the absence of inhibitors, large octahedral crystals of the THFclathrate grew (Figure 1a). However, the presence of either PVP (Figure 1b), winter flounder protein (wfAFP) as shown in Figure 1c, or spruce budworm protein (CfAFP) as shown in Figure 1d, octahedral growth was inhibited and instead only plate-like crystals were observed. Crystal growth was also inhibited faster and at lower concentrations using the anti-freeze proteins compared to PVP. Interestingly, a mutant AFP in which one alanine is replaced with a leucine, is also able to inhibit crystallization, even though this mutant is ineffective at inhibiting the growth of pure ice crystals. Most remarkably, wfAFP and CfAFP are the only compounds that are known to inhibit the memory effect of clathrate formation. When THF solutions were crystallized at 273K and then warmed to 298K for one hour or 275K for 24 hours, crystallization happened faster than

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(a)

(b)

(c)

(d) Figure 1. (a) Fully formed octahedral crystal of THF hydrate; (b) inhibited growth with the addition of PVP; (c) inhibited with fish-derived antifreeze protein; (d) inhibited with insect derived AFP in the case of solutions that had not been crystallized initially (hence the memory effect). This same effect is observed in natural gas pipelines, such that once blockages are removed, they have a tendency to reform. AFPs were able to inhibit the memory effect, with the insect AFP being more effective at lower concentrations compared to the fish protein and the mutant being ineffective. AFPs are thought to inhibit crystallization by adsorbing to the surfaces of forming ice crystals and preventing further growth (adsorption-inhibition). The work of Ripmeester et al. suggests a similar mechanism for the inhibition of clathrate formation, although the fact that AFP mutants are able to inhibit clathrate formation but not ice crystal formation suggests that there are subtle differences in the mechanism of formation that are yet to be discovered. Regardless of the mechanism of action, it is likely that this research will facilitate the formation and transportation of natural gas.

Cathleen Crudden, MCIC, and Hans-Peter Loock, MCIC, are both associate professors of chemistry at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON.

And in REGULATORY NEWS …

PHAC, CME Issue Pandemic Flu Guidance

CEPA Review

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has launched a new Web-based resource on pandemic influenza giving a one-stop source of information on pandemic influenza and Canada’s preparedness. Public information materials are also available for physicians and pharmacists across the country to assist them in answering questions from their patients and clients on pandemic influenza. The Web site, www. pandemicinfluenza.gc.ca, brings together information from across the Government of Canada’s departments and agencies, providing a central Web site for information on Canada’s pandemic influenza plan. Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME) has released a business planning guide for a possible influenza pandemic. The guide advises management on how to identify and designate essential employees, and establish response teams. The CME warns that businesses should prepare for disruptions and delays in areas such as essential services, communications, financial services, and supply shipments. The guide can be found at www.cme-mec.ca/national/template_na.asp?p=22.

In the Speech from the Throne, the government signalled its intention to begin a review of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA). The act has been in place since 1988, and when it was first implemented, it contained a sunset provision that required it be reviewed every five years. The last time the Act was reviewed, it was a deeply divisive process that took almost seven years to complete, and led to rewriting and introduction of what is now known as CEPA 1999. Prior to the dissolution of Parliament, the House of Commons Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development invited stakeholders to make submissions to the CEPA review scoping committee. At this time, there have been few indications about the form or the mechanism proposed by the government to review the Act. At the time of printing, the membership of the Environment Committee has not been set.

CHEMFUSION

The following ISO International Standard(s) have been published:

Continued from p. 9

ISO 14064-1:2006 Greenhouse gases–Part 1 Specification with guidance at the organization level for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals ISO 14064-2:2006 Greenhouse gases–Part 2 Specification with guidance at the project level for quantification, monitoring, and reporting of greenhouse gas emission reductions or removal enhancements ISO 14064-3:2006 Greenhouse gases–Part 3 Specification with guidance for the validation and verification of greenhouse gas assertions

it causes any harm. Studies of DuPont workers who have been exposed to amounts greater than the public have not revealed any increase in cancer rates, although there is a suggestion of elevated cholesterol levels. Indeed, the EPA’s own risk assessment suggesting that PFOA is a possible carcinogen is based on very weak data. The rat studies are equivocal, and the report clearly states that “the mode of action by which PFOA may cause tumours in rats is unlikely to occur in humans.” What’s the conclusion? Headlines such as “Teflon Chemical Causes Cancer” or “Dangers Lurk in Teflon Pans” are sensationalist misrepresentations. There is no evidence that at five ppb in the blood PFOA does any harm. Of course, in the world of science it is always possible that new information will come to light, but based on what we know so far, there is probably more reason to worry about the saturated fat in the microwave popcorn than about the fluorotelomers in the packaging. And of course, you can always make old-fashioned popcorn. Just take a pan, heat a little oil, and add the kernels. And if you don’t want the corn to burn, and produce carcinogens, use a Teflon pot!

All ISO standards are available from ANSI’s eStandards Store at www.webstore.ansi.org/ansidocstore/default.asp. Popular science writer, Joe Schwarcz, MCIC, is the director of McGill

A hard copy can be ordered from Global Engineering: Global Engineering Documents. Call 800-854-7179 or 303-397-7956 or e-mail global@ihs.com.

University’s Office for Science and Society. He hosts the Dr. Joe Show every Sunday from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Montréal’s radio station CJAD. The broadcast is available on the Web at www.CJAD.com. You can contact him at joe.schwarcz@mcgill.ca.

ChemExec MAY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 25

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The CIC Fellows 2006 The Fellowship of The Chemical Institute of Canada was created as a senior class of membership to recognize outstanding merit by those who have made, or who are clearly in the course of making, a sustained and major contribution to the science or to the profession of chemistry or of chemical engineering. The Fellowship selection committee has once again received high-quality applications. Below are the distinguished CIC members who have been named Fellows in 2006. Peter L. Silveston has made highly significant and pioneering research in the periodic operation of chemical reactors. He is one of Canada’s leading researchers in chemical reaction engineering, a worldwide pioneer in the periodic operation of chemical reactors, and an internationally recognized expert on coal carbonization and char gasification. Silveston is distinguished professor emeritus of the University of Waterloo, and Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. Ricardo Aroca, FCIC University of Windsor

Ewa Dabek-Zlotorzynska, FCIC Environment Canada

Ricardo Aroca’s research has consistently broken new grounds in analytical spectroscopy and correspondingly he is now widely regarded to be one of the world leaders in the field. He has been at the forefront of research in infrared and Raman spectroscopy and in surface enhanced vibrational spectroscopy. For decades, Aroca has been fabricating and dissecting the structure of nanometric films of electroactive organic materials with many potential applications in xerography and semiconductor optoelectronics devices. On this path, he has contributed to the formation of researchers presently in academic institutions and research laboratories in Canada, Brazil, Chile, Spain, and the U.S. He is currently a professor at the University of Windsor and he is also a recipient of the Gerhard Herzberg Award of the Spectroscopy Society of Canada.

Ewa Dabek-Zlotorzynska’s research in analytical chemistry, more specifically in the field of separation science, with particular emphasis in LC and CE, makes her a pioneer in method development. She uses CE and related techniques in the environmental field including atmospheric aerosol and various environmental pollutants analysis. In these times when climate change is becoming a worldwide concern, her contributions enhance our lives and benefit our society.

Peter L. Silveston, FCIC University of Waterloo

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James Wright, FCIC Carleton University Free radicals have been implicated in the cellular damage associated with aging and in the development of various cancers. The methodology introduced by James Wright and his colleagues correlated the activity of antioxidant molecules that are very important at intercepting free radicals before they can attack cellular components (lipids, DNA, proteins). This has lead to not only a greater understanding of the effectiveness of free radical scavengers (phenolic antioxidants, including molecules as diverse as those found in green tea, red wine, and in compounds related to Vitamin E), but also their purposeful design.

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The Chemical Institute of Canada 2006 Award Winners The Catalysis Award Le Prix de catalyse Sponsored by / Parrainé par The Canadian Catalysis Foundation The Catalysis Award is presented biennially to an individual who, while residing in Canada, has made a distinguished contribution to the field of catalysis. Le Prix de catalyse est décerné à tous les deux ans à une personne résidant au Canada qui s’est distinguée dans le domaine de la catalyse.

scientist. Brown’s technical contributions are represented in the numerous publications and presentations that bear his name. However, the most significant contributions to the advancement of catalysis are the invention and subsequent reduction to practice of innovative and commercially value-adding catalyst technologies. His achievements are best represented by the fact that he is a co-inventor on more than 20 patents granted worldwide since 1994.

The Chemical Institute of Canada Medal La Médaille de l’Institut de chimie du Canada The Chemical Institute of Canada Medal is presented as a mark of distinction to a person who has made an outstanding contribution to the science of chemistry or chemical engineering in Canada. La Médaille de l’Institut de chimie du Canada est décernée à une personne en guise de reconnaissance pour sa contribution exceptionnelle à la chimie ou au génie chimique au Canada.

Steve Brown NOVA Chemicals Corporation Steve Brown received a DPhil in chemistry in 1985 from the University of York, England, after receiving his BSc in chemistry from the University of London in 1981. His DPhil work was sponsored by ICI and resulted in this first grated patent. He then held several postdoctoral research positions in both Canada and Australia in areas ranging from analytical chemistry to nickel-based ethylene oligomerization and hydrogenation catalysts for heavy oils upgrading. In 1990, Brown started his Canadian industrial career with DuPont of Canada at the Canadian Research Centre in Kingston, ON. In 1994, he became an employee of NOVA Chemicals and relocated to Calgary, AB, where he is currently a principal research

chance to work in his lab. The years in that lab provided Kluger the inspiration for his career. His research interests grew with his graduate research at Harvard University (1965–1969) with Frank Westheimer, where he worked on phosphate-RNA reaction mechanisms. As a post-doc with the late Bob Abeles at Brandeis University, his interests expanded to include mechanisms in biochemistry. Kluger’s first position was at the University of Chicago (1970–1974) doing research in organic chemistry and enzymology. He then moved to the University of Toronto, focusing on the interaction of very small molecules with very large ones. Throughout his time at Toronto, he has been fortunate to work with exceptionally talented students and supportive colleagues. Kluger is an active member of the CSC and was on the CIC Board that created the CSC. He received early recognition from the CSC with the Merck Frosst Award in 1983. Since then, he has been the grateful recipient of several CSC awards and has become a Fellow of the CIC and the Royal Society of Canada. His research in Toronto, ON, has been continuously supported by NSERC.

The Macromolecular Science and Engineering Award Le Prix des sciences et du génie macromoléculaires Sponsored by / Parrainé par NOVA Chemicals Corporation The Macromolecular Science and Engineering Award is presented to an individual who has made a distinguished contribution to macromolecular science or engineering.

Ronald Kluger, FCIC University of Toronto In 1962, when Ronald Kluger was a secondyear undergraduate at Columbia University in New York, Gilbert Stork offered him the

Le Prix des sciences et du génie macromoléculaires est décerné à un individu pour sa brillante contribution dans les domaines des sciences et du génie macromoléculaires.

MAY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 27

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The Montréal Medal La Médaille de Montréal Sponsored by / Parrainé par The Montréal CIC Local Section La Section locale de Montréal de l ’ICC The Montréal Medal is presented as a mark of distinction for significant leadership in or for an outstanding contribution to the profession of chemistry or chemical engineering in Canada. Z. Y. Wang, FCIC Carleton University Z. Y. Wang is internationally known for his research on the design and synthesis of novel organic compounds and polymers for optoelectronic and photonic applications. In particular, his research activities on infrared electrochromic, infrared electroluminescent, nonlinear optical and optically active organic materials are novel, impressive and examples of his creativity. His group has developed a new series of zwitterionic chromophores with the largest first hyperpolarizability and demonstrated the large electro-optic response useful for ultrafast optical switching and signal processing in communication systems. He has also made a significant contribution to the field of infrared organic materials and infrared electrochromic and light-emitting devices. His work on the development of a new dual-curing chemistry has led to innovation in cost-effective thin-film processing technology with various potential industrial applications. Wang has over 130 refereed publications and holds 13 patents. He was the first recipient of the Tier I Canada Research Chair in Emerging Organic Materials in 2001 at Carleton University and was elected Fellow of The Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC) in 2003. He served as the chair of the macromolecular science and engineering division of the CIC from 2002 to 2004.

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La Médaille de Montréal est décernée à un individu en guise de témoignage de distinction pour des qualités considérables de leader et une contribution exceptionnelle à la profession de la chimie ou de génie chimique au Canada.

Inorganica Chimica Acta. Currently, he is distinguished university professor and Canada Research Chair in chemistry at UWO.

The CIC Award for Chemical Education Le Prix de l’ICC pour l’enseignement de la chimie Sponsored by / Parraigné par The CIC Chemical Education Fund Le Fonds de l’enseignement de la chimie de l’ICC The CIC Award for Chemical Education recognizes a person who has made outstanding contributions in Canada in education at any level in the field of chemistry or chemical engineering. Le Prix de l’ICC pour l’enseignement de la chimie souligne l’importante contribution d’une personne dans le domaine de l’enseignement de la chimie ou du génie chimique à tous les niveaux, au Canada.

Richard Puddephatt, FCIC The University of Western Ontario Richard Puddephatt was educated at University College London, and did post-doctoral research at The University of Western Ontario (UWO). He was a faculty member at the University of Liverpool before returning to UWO as a professor of chemistry. His research interests are in organometallic and coordination chemistry with relevance to catalysis and materials science; he has published four books and over 500 research papers and has supervised the research of over 50 PhD students in these fields. His research awards include election as Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and Fellow of the Royal Society (U.K.), the NSERC Award of Excellence, and the CIC Medal. He has received the Pleva Award for excellence in teaching, has served in several capacities on behalf of NSERC, RSC, CSC, and the CIC. He is co-editor of the Canadian Journal of Chemistry and of

Gordon Bates, MCIC The University of British Columbia Gordon Bates was born in Montréal, QC. He obtained his BSc in 1972 from The University of Western Ontario and his PhD (NRC 1967 Science Scholar; 1976) from the University of Alberta. He remained in Edmonton (NRC post-doctoral Fellow) until he joined The University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1977 where he is an associate professor. He has received teaching citations from the Science Undergraduate Society of UBC, and also the 1997 Chemical Manufacturers Association National Catalyst Award for

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Excellence in Chemistry Teaching. He established chemistry awards at UBC, including a graduate student travel program (over 300 grants to date). In 1986, Bates helped found the Do-It-Yourself chemistry program that reached over 25,000 elementary school children. This concept became the model for the BC government’s Scientists and Innovators in the Schools program. He is also the co-author of a book introducing chemistry to young (10–12 years) children. Since 1987, he has been involved nationally and internationally in the International Chemistry Olympiad. In addition, he chaired the scientific committee for the 29th IChO (Montréal 1997). He is also now the chemistry co-ordinator for the Michael Smith Science Challenge (Grade 10). Bates’ CIC activities have included: executive member of the Vancouver CIC Local Section (1979–2000); Regional Councillor (1986–1988); coordinator of the High School Affiliates program (1995–date); founder of the CIC High School Plaque Programme in BC; member of the Accreditation Committee (2002–2005); a chemical education division organizer for the CSC meetings in Sherbrooke (1993), Whistler (1998), and Vancouver (2002). He has also been involved in the organization of other chemistry conferences held at UBC and most recently was chair of the ChemEd 2005 biennial chemistry education meeting (Vancouver 2005).

2nd Annual Green Chemistry Award McGill University hosted the 2nd Annual Green Chemistry Award ceremony in correlation with the Boehringer Ingelheim lecture series.

he Green Chemistry Award Medal and Certificate was presented to Jean M. Bélanger, O.C., HFCIC, by C. J. Li, FCIC, chair of the Canadian Green Chemistry Network (CGCN), on February 28, 2006, at McGill University in Montréal, QC. The ceremony, in conjunction with the Boehringer-Ingelheim Lecture Series, brought together many people from industry and academia. Bélanger, a pioneer of the Responsible Care® program, was honoured as the second recipient of the Green Chemistry Award because of his critical role in the creation of Responsible Care, a program that has been adopted by more than 45 countries. After an introduction by Bernard West, MCIC, chair of The Chemical Institute of Canada, Bélanger discussed the importance of green chemistry and green engineering, in conjunction with Responsible Care in securing “credibility for chemistry, and the chemical professions and business by providing leadership towards an everdeepening ethical culture.” Responsible Care has created an ethical framework that challenges the chemical industry to take a radically different approach to the management of chemicals and their potential impact on the environment. The focus has moved from a legalistic approach of minimal compliance to regulations to a system that operates by a moral code. Responsible Care has given the chemical industry an ethical role to play in society and has built the public’s trust by “going beyond” (the slogan of Responsible Care) simply responding to the law and actually becoming an active moral player in society. Responsible Care and green chemistry and engineering are directly linked because both have made ethics a central consideration and Bélanger emphasized the convergence of the Codes of Practice of Responsible Care and the Principles of Green Chemistry. The former outlines the moral responsibility and the latter is the practice of it. Howard Alper, HFCIC, introduced this year’s Boehringer-Ingelheim lecturer, Kenneth Seddon, professor at Queen’s

University, Belfast. Seddon, an internationally renowned green chemistry researcher of the QUILL research group, has played a vital role in furthering knowledge of the applications and implications of green chemistry. His presentation stressed the importance of green chemistry as an ethical and cultural response to a legacy of environmental misuse. Seddon engaged the audience with a discussion on the industrial application of ionic liquids and the realm of possibilities they offer the chemical industry. Following the Green Chemistry Awards Medal and Boehringer-Ingelheim Lecture Series, a reception and dinner was hosted by John Blachford, MCIC, of H. L. Blachford Ltd., and his wife Janet in honour of Bélanger and Seddon. 1

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1. CGCN chair, C. J. Li, MCIC admires the Green Chemistry Award Medal.

2. Boehringer Ingelheim lecturer, Kenneth Seddon, delights his audience. 3. C. J. Li, MCIC, presents the Green Chemistry Award Certificate to Jean M. Bélanger, O.C., HFCIC. 4. Everyone loves a winner! Pictured from the left are CGCN chair, C. J. Li, MCIC; CIC executive director, Roland Andersson, MCIC; CIC chair, Bernard West, MCIC; Jean M. Bélanger, O.C., HFCIC; CSChE president, Paul Stuart, MCIC; and Howard Alper, HFCIC. 5. Coffee talk. Bernard West, MCIC, stands with Paul Stuart, MCIC. 30 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE MAI 2006

Photos by Kristin Crane

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Upon Receiving the Green Chemistry Award The following is excerpted from the Green Chemistry Medal acceptance speech given by Jean M. Bélanger, O.C., HFCIC, on February 28, 2006 to the Canadian Green Chemistry Network (CGCN).

The 2005 Green Chemistry Award Medal

Past CIC chair, Jean M. Bélanger, O.C., HFCIC

uddenly, everyone is talking about ethics and ethical behaviour—whether it be about the business world or politics. I would challenge that these are not the only two worlds where questions arise on a daily basis. People feel deceived, taken for granted, abused, and often frustrated by not knowing who they can turn to and trust. The definition of ethics is a simple one, “the principles of right and wrong that are accepted by an individual or a social group.” Therein lies the problem. Individuals are too often focused on what’s right for themselves and not sufficiently concerned with what is right, or wrong, for the society they live in. Green chemistry and green engineering, in conjunction with Responsible Care®, have a great potential and a great responsibility to secure credibility for chemistry, the chemical professions, and business by providing

leadership for an ever-deepening ethical culture. I am not saying that the rest of the chemical industry and chemical professions have a lower duty or standard of ethics—rather that green chemistry and engineering have placed ethics and the potential impact of chemicals as the central consideration for their work while others have it as a crucial underpinning. They will therefore be judged more severely on this ethical criterion. Because of this consideration, I am highly honoured—and I also consider myself lucky—to have been chosen to receive this Green Chemistry Award. I am lucky because I am here representing an outstanding group of people, the CEOs of the Canadian chemical industry, members of the Canadian Chemical Producers’ Association (CCPA), and leaders in the industries who care greatly for this country and are willing to risk their corporate necks for a concept called Responsible Care. My challenge to green chemistry is to not rest only on technical and scientific competence or believe that that same science and technology alone will provide all the answers to the problems of the world … assuming that others will listen. The reality is that neither the chemical professions nor industry are the answer. But you can, should, and must play a crucial part in finding that answer.

I am convinced that the merging and mutual catalysis of green chemistry, green engineering, and Responsible Care is the only way forward. Let me start out with the clear areas of convergence between Responsible Care and green chemistry and engineering. I am struck by the similarities and the possibilities of mutual support between the Codes of Practice in Responsible Care and the 12 principles of green chemistry and green engineering. The substantive basis of the principles governing these areas is the same. Green chemistry and engineering and Responsible Care, at the scientific level, complement each other. They are all aligned in the same direction. Having seen the evolution of Responsible Care over the last 20 years, I will highlight where, how, and why the key elements of this evolution developed. The green chemistry group might find that some of the lessons learned are of interest. Let’s consider two key and totally related concepts: • Doing the right thing In the past, the industry had simply responded to the laws and regulations in existence. With the introduction of Responsible Care, the industry assumed that, at a minimum,

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laws and regulations would be met. But the industry then went further and committed itself to doing the right thing, whether or not laws and regulations existed in a specific area. This step radically changed the industry from simply being in regulatory compliance to being ethically driven. This is not, however, a black and white concept that can be defined in isolation. Being ethically based, it must have a societal component to it. • Being open and responsive to public concerns In the past, the industry had insisted that chemical issues were too complex to be understood by the general public, that the industry knew how to handle its products and processes safely, and that, the public should simply trust the industry. Unfortunately, trust cannot be imposed. It has to be earned and secretiveness is perceived as demonstrating a need for others to enforce tight rules. In the end, the public must determine from its own observations of results obtained by industry, that the environment is better off because of the responsible management initiative and that the initiative is meeting its own concerns. Companies need to satisfy themselves that they are not the weakest link in the system and that their efforts can stand up to external scrutiny. These seem to be two relatively simple concepts. The difficulty resides in the fact that, while each of us may believe that we have strong values that should allow us to determine if something is right or wrong, environmental issues are extremely complex and new in nature. We should all take opportunities to inform ourselves. The reality is that unless the initiative meets public concerns, it will all have been for naught. The industry had to come to the realization that it had to listen in order to understand public concerns. It had to be accessible to the community. It had to become more open in order to gain public trust. For scientific professionals and others who consider themselves disciplined in their thinking, it can be difficult to accept that “perception is reality.” We like to think that our decisions are strictly based on facts. But that which arouses the public may have nothing to do with science or scientific risk. Unfortunately, if the public is aroused, it can dictate an agenda, and that can easily be translated into government action since the public elects its representatives. Peter Sandman, an expert

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in risk communication, has coined his own definition of risk:

RISK = HAZARD + OUTRAGE in which hazard concerns all scientific aspects and outrage combines all the people factors. Outrage increases, inter alia, when people feel controlled by others, that a situation is unfair and morally relevant, when sources are considered untrustworthy, and when processes are considered unresponsive. Such a definition rubs against the grain of most decision-makers because it seems illogical. However, the industry or profession can fight all it wants from a science base but often, all that this achieves is an increase in public outrage. The public feels outraged when they feel they are being controlled and unfairly treated by people they don’t know or trust. The risk thus snowballs. The industry had to come to the realization that it had to listen in order to understand public concerns. It had to be accessible to the community. It had to become more open in order to gain public trust. Just think what has happened to genetically modified foods. We need to be sure that nanotechnology does not fall into the same trap. What lies ahead for green chemistry? Science and scientists cannot isolate themselves from the world they live in. While it may be comfortable to discuss with others of similar backgrounds, they must fully engage in the world outside. To achieve this, scientists need to develop another key asset—balanced dialogue. They need to present their knowledge in terms that others, not scientifically trained, will be able to understand. If they don’t understand scientists, they won’t trust science. The other component of true dialogue is listening, not just for the purpose of rebuttal but to feel what this public is feeling. Scientists must respect and value the public. So, don’t just listen with your head. Listen with your heart as well. Finally, leave some space on your conference programs where these “outsiders,” both those in other disciplines and the general public. Provide them an opportunity to listen to you and to have an experience of being listened to. Integrity is the key to your professional life. You have to earn that trust, whether managing a company or doing your professional research or living in a community. We talk a lot about

the Canadian Bill of Rights. It is indeed a crucial underpinning of Canadian society. However, I strongly believe that if companies and professions do not do the right thing in providing their services and products, the public will withdraw the right or mandate to produce a product or offer a professional service. Do not turn to the Bill of Rights to secure everything for you. The Bill has its place and it is necessary to ensure that Canada is indeed a just society. However, make equally sure that you also follow the Bill of Responsibilities. If there is not such a Bill, there should be because rights will only survive if people strive to put into their society, at least as much as they want to take out of it. You are not just scientific gurus, you are complete human beings and so, I urge you, as you practise your profession, to ensure that you are practising it in a responsible manner. And, don’t forget to do so in your private lives as well. Around 1980, the leading CEOs of the CCPA came to the conclusion that they were on the verge of losing their mandate to produce. To prevent this from happening, they had to seize the agenda. Hence the birth of Responsible Care, the ethical culture response. The chemical professions must equally ensure that they do not become the “shrinking science.” To achieve this, green chemistry will have to assume the same mantle and provide that same ethical culture guiding light. It is an awesome responsibility but I am convinced that we can do it. Thank you, for this great honour, to the Canadian Section of the Green Chemistry Institute, The Chemical Institute of Canada, and the Canadian Chemical Producers’ Association. Jean M. Bélanger, HFCIC

In Memoriam The CIC extends its condolences to the families of: Muhammad (Mo) Fayed, FCIC Alex Henderson, MCIC Ronald Ironside, FCIC James W. MacLean, MCIC R. B. Stewart, FCIC

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Canadian Society for Chemistry 2006 Award Winners The Alcan Award Le Prix Alcan Sponsored by / Parrainé par Alcan International Limited The Alcan Award is presented to a scientist residing in Canada who has made a distinguished contribution in the field of inorganic chemistry or electrochemistry. Le Prix Alcan est décerné à un scientifique résidant au Canada, qui a contribué de façon remarquable au domaine de la chimie inorganique ou de l’électrochimie.

by the Canada Council for the Arts in 2003. Burford’s research group focuses on the chemistry of the heavier Group 15 elements, phosphorus, arsenic, antimony, and bismuth (collectively known as the pnictogens). The objectives of the research include the discovery and development of efficient and effective synthetic routes to new, fundamentally important molecules containing P, As, Sb, or Bi in which the pnictogen centre exhibits an unusual local structure, is engaged in a new connectivity, provides materials with new, spectroscopic, physical, or reactivity properties, or has relevance in established bioactivity.

The Alfred Bader Award Le Prix Alfred-Bader Sponsored by / Parrainé par Alfred Bader, FCIC The Alfred Bader Award is a mark of distinction and recognition of a scientist, who shall not have reached the age of 60, for excellence in organic chemistry research in Canada.

Neil Burford, MCIC Dalhousie University Neil Burford is a native of Liverpool, England. He obtained a BSc honours degree in 1979 from Cardiff University and a PhD from the University of Calgary. Following a postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Alberta and a research associate at the University of New Brunswick, he was appointed as assistant professor at Dalhousie University in 1987 and was promoted to professor in 1995. An Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship in 1996 enabled him to collaborate with Peter Jutzi at the University of Bielefeld. He was selected as a faculty of science, Killam professor in 1998, appointed as Harry Shirreff professor of chemical research in 2000, and became a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in 2001. He was awarded a Killam Fellowship

Le Prix Alfred-Bader est une marque de distinction et de reconnaissance décernée à un chercheur de moins de 60 ans pour souliner l’excellence des travaux de recherche en chimie organique effectués au Canada.

Mark Lautens was born in Hamilton, ON, and graduated from the University of Guelph where he was inspired to carry out research in organic chemistry by Gordon Lange. He worked in the laboratories of Barry Trost at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he obtained a PhD in 1985 studying molybdenum catalyzed reactions and palladium catalyzed cycloisomerisations. Following post-doctoral work in the area of total synthesis with David Evans at Harvard University, he joined the faculty at the University of Toronto as a University Research Fellow (URF). He was promoted to professor in 1995 and became the AstraZeneca chair in organic synthesis in 1998. In 2003, he was awarded the Merck Frosst/NSERC Industrial Research chair. Among his awards are the First BioMega Prize, a Sloan Fellowship, Lilly Granteeship, Merck Frosst Award, Steacie Fellowship, Rutherford Medal, Solvias Prize and election to the Royal Society of Canada. All these pale in comparison to his most important title “Dad!”

The Award for Pure or Applied Inorganic Chemistry Le Prix de chimie inorganique pure ou appliquée Sponsored by / Parrainé par The Inorganic Chemistry Division La Division de chimie inorganique The Award for Pure or Applied Inorganic Chemistry is awarded for outstanding contribution to inorganic chemistry, within the ten years of their first professional appointment as independent researchers.

Mark Lautens, FCIC University of Toronto

Le Prix de chimie inorganique pure ou appliquée est remis en reconnaissance de l’apport exceptionnel à la chimie inorganique au cours des dix années suivant la première nomination à titre de chercheur indépendant au Canada.

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distingué par sa contribution au domaine de la chimie médicale, en effectuant des recherches touchant les mécanismes biochimiques ou de chimie organique.

The Bernard Belleau Award Le Prix Bernard-Belleau Sponsored by / Parrainé par Bristol Myers Squibb Canada Co. The Bernard Belleau Award is presented to a scientist residing in Canada who has made a distinguished contribution to the field of medicinal chemistry through research involving biochemical or organic chemical mechanisms. Le Prix Bernard-Belleau est décerné à un scientifique résidant au Canada qui s’est

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Sponsored by / Parrainé par Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd. The Boehringer Ingelheim Award is presented to a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant whose PhD thesis in the field of organic or bio-organic chemistry was formally accepted by a Canadian university in the 12-month period preceding the nomination deadline and whose doctoral research is judged to be of outstanding quality.

Heinz-Bernhard Kraatz, MCIC University of Saskatchewan Heinz-Bernhard Kraatz studied at the Heinrich-Heine Universität Düsseldorf and the University of Kent at Canterbury. He received his PhD from the University of Calgary and carried out post-doctoral work in organometallic chemistry at the University of Maryland, College Park, and the Weizmann Institute of Science. He worked as an assistant research officer at the Steacie Institute of Science in Ottawa, ON, and in 1998, he joined the department of chemistry at the University of Saskatchewan, where he is now an associate professor. He received a Petro-Canada Young Innovator Award in 2001 and is the Canada Research Chair in Biomaterials since 2002. His research interests include the synthesis of novel bioconjugates, surface chemistry, and biomaterials. His research group is working on gaining an understanding of the electronic properties of biological molecules and the development of electrochemical sensors for DNA and proteins. In addition, research efforts are directed towards the study of polymeric electroactive biomaterials.

The Boehringer Ingelheim Award Le Prix Boehringer Ingelheim

Jik Chin, MCIC University of Toronto Jik Chin obtained his BSc in 1977 at the University of Toronto. Inspired by Ron Kluger, he worked on physical organic and bio-organic projects (ketophosphonate and maleamic acid hydrolysis, thiamine mechanisms) for his MSc (1978) and PhD (1981). He studied hydrolytic metalloenzyme mechanisms at Columbia University with Ron Breslow as an NSERC post-doctoral fellow. In 1983, he joined the chemistry department at McGill University as an assistant professor and NSERC University Research Fellow, studying mononuclear and dinuclear metal complexes as models of nucleases, ribozymes, phosphatases, proteases, nitrilases, and esterases. It is there that he interacted memorably with Bernard Belleau and observed the innovative approach that ultimately led to Belleau’s discovery of the important anti-HIV drug, 3TC (lamivudin). He returned to Toronto in 2000, working on anion and cation recognition as well as on stereoselective recognition and catalysis. He has developed a highly efficient method for making a wide variety of chiral diamines for catalysis and for synthesis of bioactive materials. He has been a visiting professor at the California Institute of Technology, the Institute for Molecular Science (Japan), Pohang University of Science and Technology (Korea), and Seoul National University. He feels very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with exceptional students at every institution.

Le Prix Boehringer Ingelheim est remis à un citoyen canadien ou à un résident permanent dont la thèse de doctorat dans le domaine de la chimie organique ou bioorganique a été officiellement acceptée par une université canadienne ou cours des 12 mois qui ont précédé la date limite de mise en candidature, et dont les travaux de recherche en vue du doctorat se démarquent par leur qualité.

Jason W. J. Kennedy, MCIC Schering AG Jason W. J. Kennedy was born and raised in St. John’s, NL. Supported by a Canada Scholarship, he completed his BSc (Honours) with Graham J. Bodwell at Memorial University of Newfoundland in the field of cyclophane chemistry. His MSc thesis, under the supervision of J. Michael Chong at the University of Waterloo, investigated enantioselective additions with organocuprates. In the last year of his MSc, Kennedy was awarded an NSERC post-graduate scholarship, an award he kept with him when he moved to Edmonton, AB, to pursue his doctoral studies with Dennis G. Hall at the University of Alberta. These studies cumulated

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in the discovery of the Lewis acid catalysed addition of allylboronates to aldehydes and its application to the preparation of stereodefined quaternary carbon centres. During his stay in Edmonton, Kennedy was a member of the organizing committee for the inaugural Banff Symposium on Organic Chemistry, a conference that highlighted and celebrated graduate student research across Canada. Following the completion of his doctorate, Kennedy joined the group of Alois Fürstner at the Max-PlanckInstitut für Kohlenforschung in Germany as an NSERC post-doctoral Fellow, where he developed a general synthesis of the phenanthroindolizidine alkaloids. Kennedy is currently working at Schering AG in Berlin.

The Clara Benson Award Le Prix Clara-Benson Sponsored by / Parrainé par Canadian Council of University Chemistry Chairs (CCUCC) Conseil des directeurs de département de chimie des universités canadiennes (CDDCUC) The Clara Benson Award is presented to a woman for her distinguished contribution to chemistry while working in Canada. Le Prix Clara-Benson est décerné à une femme pour souligner sa contribution remarquable au domaine de la chimie alors qu’elle oeuvrait au Canada.

University of Toronto where she studied under the supervision of Peter Yates. After two years of post-doctoral studies in Medical Genetics with Jeremy Carver of the University of Toronto, she joined the Xerox Research Centre of Canada where she was a research scientist for 12 years. In 1993, she moved to the academic world to become associate professor in the departments of chemistry and physics of McMaster University (Hamilton, ON). In June 2000, she moved to Montréal, QC, to take up a position of professor in the department of chemistry and faculty of pharmacy of the Université de Montréal. She has spent extended periods of time in Japan and France as a visiting professor in institutions such as the Tokyo Institute of Technology, the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN, Saitama), the universities of Osaka, Tokyo, and Kyoto, and the École Supérieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielles de Paris (France). She is a senior editor of Langmuir, the ACS journal of colloids and surface science.

The Keith Laidler Award Le Prix Keith-Laidler Sponsored by / Parrainé par Systems for Research The Keith Laidler Award is presented for a distinguished contribution in the field of physical chemistry by a scientist. Le Prix Keith-Laidler est décerné à un chercheur pour souligner sa contribution remarquable au domaine de la chimie physique.

The Maxxam Award Le Prix Maxxam Sponsored by / Parrainé par Maxxam Analytics Inc. The Maxxam Lecture Award is presented to a scientist residing in Canada who has made a distinguished contribution in the field of analytical chemistry while working in Canada. The award will be available to industry and to academia, on a rotating basis. Le Prix Maxxam est décerné à un chercheur résidant au Canada, qui s’est distingué dans le domaine de la chimie analytique alors qu’il travaillait au Canada. Le prix sera décerné à un chercheur de l’industrie et du milieu universitaire en alternance.

Françoise Winnik Université de Montréal Françoise Winnik graduated from the École National Supérieure de Chimie de Mulhouse and obtained her PhD in 1979 from the

Gregory Scholes obtained both his BSc and PhD from the University of Melbourne. He undertook post-doctoral studies at Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine in London from 1995–1997 as a Ramsay Memorial Research Fellow. From 1997–2000, he pursued further post-doctoral studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He subsequently took a faculty position at the University of Toronto, in the department of chemistry and was promoted to associate professor in 2005. His recent research achievements and promise have been recognized through the award of an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship (2005–2006). “This is an extraordinarily competitive award, involving nominations for most of the very best scientists of [his] generation from around [North America].” Previously, Scholes was awarded a Research Innovation Award from the Research Corporation in 2002 and a Premier’s Research Excellence Award in 2000. He is the author or co-author of more than 80 scientific journal articles and three book chapters. He has given numerous invited lectures and conference presentations and actively participates on various committees, including an Ontario Graduate Scholarship selection panel and an NSERC Strategic Grant selection panel.

Gregory Scholes University of Toronto

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K. W. M. Siu, FCIC York University K. W. M. Siu was born, raised, and received his first degree in Hong Kong. His MSc was obtained in the University of Birmingham (U.K.) with his research project with Ronald Belcher. In 1977, he moved to Canada to pursue his PhD as an Izaak Walton Killam pre-doctoral scholar with Walter A. Aue at Dalhousie University. Upon his graduation in 1981, he took up his position as research associate in the Analytical Chemistry Group, division of chemistry at the National Research Council. He became a research officer after one year, rose through the ranks, and was a senior research officer at the Institute for National Measurement Standards when he relocated to York University in 1998 as professor of chemistry and the NSERC/MDS SCIEX Industrial Research Chair in Analytical Mass Spectrometry. He is the founding director of the Centre for Research in Mass Spectrometry at York University. A major goal of the Centre is to foster collaborative research among academics and with industries in the rapidly expanding field of mass spectrometry. He is a member of the Board of Governors of York University and associate vice-president research of science and technology. Siu was a member of the CIC analytical chemistry division from 1988 to 1998, serving as chair of the division from 1994 to 1996. He has served on the advisory boards of a number of international meetings. He is a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of American Society for Mass Spectrometry, Mass Spectrometry Reviews and Clinical Proteomics. Siu is a grant reviewer for NSERC, CIHR, NCIC, NSF, the Petroleum Research Fund, and the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong. He serves on the

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directory for advisory boards of the Ontario Cancer Biomarker Network, SHARCNET, the Calibration and Validation Group, and the Biotechnology Centre for Applied Research and Training of Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology. Siu has published over 140 scientific papers and four peer-reviewed book chapters, co-edited two books, and given over 250 presentations. He was honoured by the Maccoll Prize for “most outstanding contribution to science.” He received the F. W. Karasek Award from the University of Waterloo and the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Energy, the McBryde Medal, the Federation of Chinese Canadian Professionals Education Foundation’s Award of Merit, the Gerhard Herzberg Award from the Spectroscopy Society of Canada, and the F. P. Lossing Award.

The Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research Award Le Prix du Centre de recherche thérapeutique Merck Frosst Sponsored by / Parrainé par Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research Centre de recherche thérapeutique Merck Frosst The Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research Award is given for a distinguished contribution in the field of organic chemistry or biochemistry by a young scientist working in Canada. Le Prix du Centre de recherche thérapeutique Merck Frosst est attribué à un jeune scientifique qui s’est distingué dans le domaine de la chimie organique ou de la biochimie alors qu’il oeuvrait au Canada.

Robert Batey, MCIC University of Toronto Robert Batey was born in England, and graduated from Oxford University with a BA degree in 1988. He then moved to the Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine in London, to work with Willie B. Motherwell, receiving a PhD in 1992 on the synthetic applications of free-radical rearrangements. As a post-doctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania with Jeff D. Winkler, he worked on approaches toward the synthesis of taxol. Following a position at the Upjohn Company in Michigan, he joined the faculty at the University of Toronto in 1994. He is currently an associate professor in the department of chemistry, and is a scientist at the McLaughlin Centre for Molecular Medicine in Toronto. His research interests are in the area of organic synthesis and its application to biology and medicine. His research program encompasses the development of new organic reactions, catalysis, organoboron chemistry, the synthesis of alkaloid natural products and other heterocycles, and their application in probing cellular processes and as anticancer agents. Batey has been the recipient of several awards including a Merck Academic Development Program Award (2005), the Premier’s Research Excellence Award (2000), the Bio-Méga/Boehringer Ingelheim Young Investigator Award for Organic Chemistry (1998), and the Canadian Society of Chemistry/Astra Pharma Award (1997). He enjoys eclectic music and movies, but mostly spending time with his family, particularly “dancing” with his children to Pixies songs from the Surfer Rosa and Doolittle albums.

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The R. U. Lemieux Award Le Prix R.-U.-Lemieux Sponsored by / Parrainé par The CIC Organic Chemistry Division Le Division de chimie organique de l’ICC The R. U. Lemieux Award recognizes a distinguished contribution in organic chemistry. Le Prix R.-U.-Lemieux souligne une contribution remarquable dans le domaine de la chimie organique.

chiral cyclopropanes, amines, and heterocyclic derivatives. Among his most recent honors are the Eli Lilly Award (1994–1996), an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship (1996–1998), the Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research Award (1998), a Steacie Fellowship (2000–2002), the Rutherford Medal (2002) and the CIAR Young Explorers Prize: Canada’s Top Twenty Researchers aged 40 and under (2002).

The W. A. E. McBryde Medal Le Médaille W.-A.-E.-McBryde Sponsored by / Parrainé par MDS Sciex The W. A. E. McBryde Medal is awarded in recognition of a significant achievement in pure or applied analytical chemistry by a young chemist working in Canada. La Médaille W.-A.-E.-McBryde est attribuée à un jeune scientifique pour souligner une réussite importante dans le domaine de la chimie analytique pure ou appliquée par un jeune scientifique alors qu’il oeuvrait au Canada.

to McMaster University in 1998, where he is now an associate professor and holder of the Canada Research Chair in Bioanalytical Chemistry (Tier II). Brennan’s research interests are in the general area of bioanalytical chemistry and focus on studying both the fundamental properties of proteins immobilized in sol-gel derived silica materials, and the application of immobilized proteins for the development of biosensors and solidphase high-throughput screening tools. He has made significant contributions in the development of “protein-friendly” sol-gel processes, the use of time-resolved fluorescence to study protein behaviour in silica, the development of sol-gel based protein microarrays, and the preparation and use of monolithic bioaffinity columns for affinity-based small molecule screening. This work has resulted in more than 60 papers, including 7 invited review articles, and 11 provisional patents. In recognition of his accomplishments, Brennan has been awarded both a Premier’s Research Excellence Award and a CNC-IUPAC Travel award.

André B. Charette, MCIC Université de Montréal Montréal-born André B. Charette received his MSc (1985) and PhD (1987) degrees from the University of Rochester. Following an NSERC post-doctoral appointment at Harvard University with D. A Evans, he began his academic career at the Université Laval in 1989. He then moved to the Université de Montréal in 1992, where he was promoted to full professor in 1998. Today, he is the holder of an NSERC/ Merck Frosst/Boehringer Ingelheim Industrial Chair on Stereoselective Drug Synthesis and of a Canada Research Chair in Stereoselective Synthesis of Bioactive Molecules. With a record of over 100 publications and numerous invited lectures throughout the world, Charette has achieved worldwide recognition in his field. His research lies primarily in the development of new methods for the stereoselective synthesis of organic compounds and natural products. He has devised conceptually novel approaches to catalyst and reaction design with important applications in the synthesis of

John Brennan, MCIC McMaster University John Brennan received his BSc, MSc, and PhD degrees in analytical chemistry from the University of Toronto, where he worked with Ulrich J. Krull. Starting in 1993, he did a two-year NSERC post-doctoral fellowship with Arthur G. Szabo in the area of biophysics at the National Research Council Canada Institute of Biological Sciences. He joined the department of chemistry at Brock University as an assistant professor in 1995 and moved

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EIC Fellows 2005 and 2006 Each year since 1963, the council of the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) has elected select engineers to their Fellowship. These engineers are recognized for their excellence in engineering and their services to the profession and to society. The following CSChE members have been honoured most recently:

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by operations within the company. He has been a driving force in this initiative, which resulted from a review by Canada after the terrible Bhopal disaster in India in 1984. Creedy’s contributions to the CIC and the CSChE are commendable. As the founder of the process safety management division, his most outstanding work is his initiative to protect all Canadians from the hazards of process-related accidents in Canada.

Graham Creedy, FCIC, FEIC Graham Creedy graduated in chemistry from the Royal College of Advanced Technology, Salford, U.K., and then obtained a Diploma in Management Studies at the Polytechnic School of Management Studies and a postgraduate diploma in chemical engineering at University College London. He worked for Ciba and Monsanto in the U.K. before moving to Canada, where he became department head of chemicals for Union Carbide in Belleville, ON. He then joined BASF Canada Inc. for 15 years in Laval, QC and Cornwall, ON. Creedy has a broad background in the chemical industry, from research and development laboratories through project and process engineering to production and works management. As such, he started his own company, and has devoted much of his energy over the last 15 years to the establishment of a national system for the control of major accident hazards in Canada. Much of Creedy’s work has subsequently been for, or through, the Canadian Chemical Producers’ Association (CCPA). He has been associated with the development of many phases of the Responsible Care® initiative, a code of ethics for the Canadian chemical industry that has now been adopted in over 45 countries around the world. The integrity and credibility of this initiative rests on the commitment of the CEO and the degree of adherence to the code protocols

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Clifton Shook, FCIC, FEIC Clifton Shook obtained his BSc from the University of Alberta in chemical engineering and a PhD from the University of London, U.K. He spent his teaching career at the University of Saskatchewan as professor of chemical engineering. He is now a consultant to governmental and international agencies, and an advisor to numerous Canadian companies in the field of slurry transport. Shook is internationally recognized as a leader in slurry transport and his research-led activities at the Saskatchewan Research Council have twice revolutionized the oil sand industry. He helped develop the SRC Two Layer Model—the first of its kind to predict pipeline friction losses and deposition velocities for high density, coarse particle flow. This represented a quantum leap from existing versions that were based on empirical correlations. Companies throughout the world now use his model to design, build, and operate slurry pipelines.

Shook has also worked with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, CIDA, the Department of Energy, and the International Energy Council. He is a permanent member of the Scientific Committee of the International Conference on Transport and Sedimentation of Solid Particles, sharing his expertise worldwide on a continuing basis. He continues as chief advisor to the University of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Research Council in finding application for research in slurry and non-Newtonian flow, with much of benefit to the heavy oil and oil sands industry. Ultimately, his most profound effect on Canadian chemical engineering may be through the students and engineers who have learned from his superlative lectures. His lectures and labs still remain crystallized in memory, “due to the energy, excitement, and interest he brought to the topic of fluid flow and dynamics.”

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William Y. Svrcek, FCIC, FEIC William Y. Svrcek is a professor in the department of chemical and petroleum engineering at the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary. In 2002, he joined Virtual Materials Group providing business and technology guidance as president. Earlier in his career, Svrcek was a principal, director, and then president of Hyprotech Ltd., a

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leading international software company out of Calgary. The Hyprotech/Hysis simulation suite is a leading process simulation software package, in use by process engineers worldwide. Svrcek s’est intéressé à la modélisation dynamique et à la modélisation d’état stable des procédés tout au long de sa carrière, et il a été au cœur du cours de contrôle des procédés offerts par le département de génie chimique et pétrolier depuis qu’il est entré à la University of Calgary, il y a 30 ans. En plus de son enseignement, de sa recherche et de ses travaux de consultation en matière de conception et de contrôle des procédés, Svrcek a fait des recherches en thermodynamique et en prévision des phénomènes de transport à l’aide de méthodes d’équation des gaz et en matière de mesure de la solubilité, de la viscosité et de la densité des systèmes gaz-bitume. Son palmarès de plus de 200 communications et rapports techniques confirme son intérêt pour la recherche expérimentale et informatique. Svrcek has worked on two successful CSChE annual conferences and continues to

make significant contributions to the engineering profession in his roles as teacher, mentor, researcher, practitioner, and friend to many.

David Wilkinson, MCIC, FEIC Après plusieurs années chez Ballard Power Systems, où il a atteint le poste de vice-président à la recherche et au développement, David Wilkinson est entré au Conseil national de recherches Canada, à Vancouver, en 2003, à titre de chercheur principal à l’Institut d’innovation en piles à combustible.

Reconnu internationalement pour ses travaux en matière de membrane échangeuse de protons, Wilkinson a aidé Ballard Power Systems à développer et à amener au stade de la commercialisation de nouvelles technologies. Ses contributions ont aidé Ballard à donner au Canada une énorme notoriété. Le Canada est maintenant considéré comme un leader mondial en matière de membrane polymère pour les piles à combustible. Wilkinson has an impressive list of publications, patents, scholarships, and awards. As an innovator, he has demonstrated leadership and teamwork at NRC, and has helped to establish the NRC Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation as a leading research and development laboratory in PEM Fuel Cell technology and to foster the establishment of a national network linking industry, universities, and government laboratories. Wilkinson has a distinguished track record of research and service to the profession and society. He enjoys mentoring and has always served as an excellent role model for young scientists and engineers.

STUDENT NEWS NOUVELLES DES ÉTUDIANTS

Chemical Technology Career Forum

Employer display from ALS (Envirotest) On March 9, 2006, 76 chemical technology students from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in Edmonton attended a half-day career forum. This forum was organized by the chemical technology program to inform students about chemistry career opportunities in central and northern Alberta.

With the present heated economy in Alberta (particularly in the energy industries), employer competition for qualified chemical technology graduates is strong. Employers, professional associations, and educational institutions offering further education came together to provide

information booths and oral presentations. Chris Meintzer, MCIC, talked to the students about the activities sponsored by the CSCT and benefits of membership in the CIC. Perry Nelson, a graduate of the NAIT program, and presently registrar of the Association of Science and Engineering Technology Professionals of Alberta (ASET) described for the students the benefits of membership and certification in this provincial association. Lawton Shaw, MCIC, of Athabasca University provided information to the students about the transfer agreements between NAIT and Athabasca University for the BSc. Representatives from 11 employers attended the forum. Information booths and displays from ALS (Envirotest), Champion Technologies, Fluid Life Corporation, G. E. Betz, Guardian Chemicals, Imperial Oil, Maxxam, NOVA Chemicals, Petro-Canada, Raylo Chemicals Inc., and Schlumberger were set up and provided students the opportunity to speak with employers one-on-one. In addition, six of the employers made presentations on the career opportunities, work environments, benefits, and culture of their organizations.

MAY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 39

STUDENT NEWS NOUVELLES DES ÉTUDIANTS

Western Engineering Students Compete for Cash Prizes

“Diesel Desulfurization to Meet New Regulations” took one of four cash prizes at the

Capstone Design Project Presentation and Competition held at The Research Park, Sarnia-Lambton Campus in Sarnia, ON. Adam Albeldawai, Farouk Dhanidina, Nazanin Hakimzadeh, and Nicole Persaud comprised one of the winning teams and were among over 50 graduating fourth-year engineering students from The University of Western Ontario (UWO) who competed in the annual Capstone Design Project Presentation and Competition. The chemical and biochemical engineering students spent the day presenting their design projects to industry leaders from Sarnia-Lambton. “It was much more of a professional experience with industry involvement. They provided insight and feedback, even more than technical knowledge,” said Persaud. “We were left with the impression that there is a lot of opportunity here. Sarnia-Lambton is a good community with room for growth and advancement.”

Professionals from industry and faculty from UWO evaluated the 15 presentations with topics ranging from the “Manufacture of Insulin” to “Bio-Diesel from Waste Grease.” “These presentations were truly outstanding,” said Marty Gaulin, general manager, Colt Engineering. “The subject matter of many of today’s presentations relate directly to our region’s operations in Sarnia-Lambton.” The other three winning presentations and students were: Milana Trifkovic and Sandra Cardoso (Manufacture of Clopidegrolbisulphate); Tsahaye Maekebay, Carla Arregoitia, Jennie Lu, and James Ashton (Sour Water Treatment in Petroleum Refinery); and Michael Jacobson (Mobile Pyrolysis Reactor). Lambton Ontario Power Generation and Colt Engineering donated $1,000 each in cash prizes. Gaulin and Lambton’s production manager Frank Bradacs presented the cash awards to the four winning teams.

The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering (CJChE) publishes original research, new theoretical interpretations and critical reviews in the science or industrial practice of chemical and biochemical engineering or applied chemistry. The CJChE has an eighty-year successful history of producing high-quality, cutting-edge research. Published on a non-profit basis by the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering, the CJChE welcomes submissions of original research articles in the broad field of chemical engineering and its applications. The CJChE publishes six issues per year. Each volume contains fully reviewed articles, notes, or reviews.

www.cjche.ca Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering 40 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE MAI 2006

EVENTS ÉVÉNEMENTS

Canada Conferences May 15–17, 2006. EnviroAnalysis 2006—Sixth Biennial Conference on Monitoring and Measurement of the Environment, Toronto, ON, www.enviroanalysis.ca

June 26–29, 2006. 10th Annual Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference, “Designing for a Sustainable Future,” Washington, DC, greenchem2006@acs.org, www.greenchem2006.org August 12–17, 2006. 19th International Conference on Chemical Education, Seoul, Korea, www.19icce.org

May 25–27, 2006. College Chemistry Canada (C3), Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON, www.c3.douglas.bc.ca

August 27–30, 2006. 11th APCChE Congress, Asian Pacific Confederation of Chemical Engineering, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, www.apcche2006.org

May 27–31, 2006. 89th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition, Halifax, NS, www.csc2006.ca

August 29–September 2, 2006. XIXth International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry, Istanbul, Turkey, www.ismc2006.org

June 4–6, 2006. The Canadian Energy Research Institute’s 10th Annual Petrochemical Industry Conference, Kananaskis, AB, www.ceri.ca/Conferences/conferences=petrochemical.asp

September 24–28, 2006. INTERACT 2006, Perth, Australia, www.promaco.com/au/conference/2006/raci

July 11–14, 2006. The World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing, Toronto, ON, www.bio.org/worldcongress July 23–28, 2006. 23rd International Carbohydrate Symposium, Whistler, BC, www.ics2006.org, ics2006@nrc.gc.ca July 26–30, 2006. The Sixth Canadian Computational Chemistry Conference (CCCC6),Vancouver, BC, www.chem.ubc.ca/CCCC6 August 9–13, 2006. Ltos-12, Twelfth Symposium on The Latest Trends in Organic Synthesis, St. Catharines, ON, www.brocku.ca/chemistry/faculty/hudlicky/ltos/intro.html

EMPLOYMENT WANTED DEMANDE D’EMPLOI

Chemist seeks position. PhD in organic chemistry. Experience in synthesis, purification, and characterization of complex organic compounds; formulation of pharmaceutical and industrial colloidal products; scale-upped process development; nanotechnology; nanocomposite materials; surfactants; colorants and polymer additives. Please contact: Tel. 905-303-6802; E-mail: zhaopli@rogers.com.

October 15–18, 2006. 56th Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference, Sherbrooke, QC, www.csche2006.ca May 26–30, 2007. 90th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition, Winnipeg, MB, www.chimiste.ca/conferences/ cic_calendar__e.htm October 28–31, 2007. 57th Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference, Edmonton, AB, www.chemeng.ca/conferences/ csche_annual__e.htm October 19–22, 2008. 58th Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference, Ottawa, ON, www.chemeng.ca/conferences/ csche_annual__e.htm August 23–27, 2009. 8th World Congress of Chemical Engineering and 59th Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference, Montréal, QC, www.chemengcongress2009.com

U.S. and Overseas June 26–29, 2006. Balticum Organicum Syntheticum 2006 (BOS06), Tallinn, Estonia, www.bos06.ttu.ee, contact Krista Voigt, chemistry department, Queen’s University, baderadm@chem.queensu.ca

MAY 2006 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 41

ADVERTISEMENT â&#x20AC;&#x201C; For information/comments please see www.chem.ucalgary.ca/csc2000/milestones.htm

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New Element Hits the Chart OTTAWA – Students in Audrey Pavelich’s Grade 4A class at Crestwood School in Medicine Hat, AB, have discovered a new element, announced the organizers of The Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC)’s Public Understanding of Chemistry (PUC) “Name the Mascot” Contest. (Fz), element 119, was voted as the winning name for the program’s mascot. A panel of six judges from chemistry, chemical engineering, and chemical technology, representing university students, outreach coordinators, high school teachers, industry, as well as CIC staff, selected the name for its originality and flexibility. Students in the class will each receive a flask pen, PUC ruler, and of course, their very own Fuzzium. The school receives a cheque for $1,000 to spend on science equipment and/or material. Entries poured in from schools across the country and classes from grades one to six. The second prize was awarded by random draw from all the entries received. The winner is Anne Pidgeon’s Grade 1 class at École Océane in Nanaimo, BC. The school will receive a cheque for $500 towards science equipment and/or material and each student in the class will receive a flask pen, PUC ruler, and Fuzzium. Thanks to our major sponsor, the CIC Chemical Education Fund. Stay tuned for phase II of the Elementary School Outreach project. Details will be posted on the CIC Web site as they become available.

FUZZIUM

r e n n i W t s e Cont

Fuzzium

“Name the Mascot”

The Chemical Institute of Canada

2007AWARDS

The Chemical Institute of Canada Medal is presented as a mark of distinction and recognition to a person who has made an outstanding contribution to the science of chemistry or chemical engineering in Canada. Sponsored by The Chemical Institute of Canada. Award: A medal and travel expenses.

The MontrĂŠal Medal is presented as a mark of distinction and honour to a resident in Canada who has shown significant leadership in or has made an outstanding contribution to the profession of chemistry or chemical engineering in Canada. In determining the eligibility for nominations for the award, administrative contributions within The Chemical Institute of Canada and other professional organizations that contribute to the advancement of the professions of chemistry and chemical engineering shall be given due consideration. Contributions to the sciences of chemistry and chemical engineering are not to be considered. Sponsored by the MontrĂŠal CIC Local Section.

Award: A medal and travel expenses up to $300. The Environmental Improvement Award is presented to a Canadian company, individual, team, or organization for a significant achievement in pollution prevention, treatment, or remediation. Sponsored by the Environment Division. Award: A plaque and travel assistance up to $500.

The Macromolecular Science and Engineering Award is presented to an individual who, while resident in Canada, has made a distinguished contribution to macromolecular science or engineering. Sponsored by NOVA Chemicals Ltd. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $1,500, and travel expenses.

The CIC Award for Chemical Education (formerly the Union Carbide Award) is presented as a mark of recognition to a person who has made an outstanding contribution in Canada to education at the post-secondary level in the field

of chemistry or chemical engineering. Sponsored by the CIC Chemical Education Fund. Award: A framed scroll, $1,500 cash prize.

Deadlines The deadline for all CIC awards is July 3, 2006 for the 2007 selection.

Nomination Procedure Please submit your nominations to: Awards Manager The Chemical Institute of Canada 130 Slater Street, Suite 550 Ottawa, ON K1P 6E2 Tel.: 613-232-6252, ext. 223 Fax: 613-232-5862 awards@cheminst.ca Nomination forms and the full Terms of Reference for these awards are available at www.cheminst.ca/awards/ cic_index_e.html.

Important ...

Submission deadline is July 3, 2006

The Canadian Society for Chemistry

2007AWARDS

The Alcan Award is presented to a scientist residing in Canada who has made a distinguishing contribution in the fields of inorganic chemistry or electrochemistry while working in Canada. Sponsored by Alcan International Ltd. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $2,000, and travel expenses up to $1,000.

The Alfred Bader Award is presented as a mark of distinction and recognition for excellence in research in organic chemistry carried out in Canada. Sponsored by Alfred Bader, HFCIC. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $3,000, and travel expenses up to $500.

The Award for Pure or Applied Inorganic Chemistry is presented to a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant who has made an outstanding contribution to inorganic chemistry while working in Canada, and who is within ten years of his or her first professional appointment as an independent researcher in an academic, government, or industrial sector. Sponsored by the Inorganic Chemistry Division. Award: A framed scroll, travel expenses for a lecture tour.

The Boehringer Ingelheim Award is presented to a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant whose PhD thesis in the field of organic or bioorganic chemistry was formally accepted by a Canadian university in the 12-month period preceding the nomination deadline of July 3 and whose doctoral research is judged to be of outstanding quality. Sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $2,000, and travel expenses.

The Clara Benson Award is presented in recognition of a distinguished contribution to chemistry by a woman while working in Canada. Sponsored by the Canadian Council

of University Chemistry Chairs (CCUCC).

Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of

$1,000, and travel expenses up to $500.

The Maxxam Award is presented to a scientist residing in Canada who has made a distinguished contribution in the field of analytical chemistry while working in Canada. Sponsored by Maxxam Analytics Inc. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $1,000, and travel expenses up to $1,000. The R. U. Lemieux Award is presented to an organic chemist who has made a distinguished contribution to any area of organic chemistry while working in Canada. Sponsored by the Organic Chemistry Division. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $1,000, and travel expenses up to $1,000.

The Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research Award is presented to a scientist residing in Canada, who shall not have reached the age of 40 years by April 1 of the year of nomination and who has made a distinguished contribution in the fields of organic chemistry or biochemistry while working in Canada. Sponsored by Merck Frosst Canada Ltd. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $2,000, and travel expenses.

The Bernard Belleau Award is presented to a scientist residing in Canada who has made a distinguished contribution to the field of medicinal chemistry through research involving biochemical or organic chemical mechanisms. Sponsored by Bristol Myers Squibb Canada Co. Award: A framed scroll and a cash prize of $2,000. The Fred Beamish Award is presented to an individual who demonstrates innovation in research in the field of analytical chemistry, where the research is anticipated to have significant potential for practical applications.

The award is open to new faculty members at a Canadian university and they must be recent graduates with four years of appointment. Sponsored by Eli Lilly Canada Inc. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $1,000, and travel expenses.

The Keith Laidler Award (formerly the Noranda Award) is presented to a scientist who has made a distinguished contribution in the field of physical chemistry while working in Canada. The award recognizes early achievement in the awardeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s independent research career. Sponsored by Systems for Research. Award: A framed scroll and a cash prize of $1,500.

The W. A. E. McBryde Medal is presented to a young scientist working in Canada who has made a significant achievement in pure or applied analytical chemistry. Sponsored by Sciex Inc., Division of MDS Health Group. Award: A medal and a cash prize of $2,000.

Deadline

The deadline for all CSC awards is July 3, 2006 for the 2007 selection.

Nomination Procedure

Please submit your nominations to: Awards Manager The Canadian Society for Chemistry 130 Slater Street, Suite 550 Ottawa, ON K1P 6E2 Tel.: 613-232-6252, ext. 223 Fax: 613-232-5862 awards@cheminst.ca Nomination forms and the full Terms of Reference for these awards are available at-www.chemistry.ca/awards/ csc_index_e.html.

Important ...

Submission deadline is July 3, 2006