Chemical Manufacturers Association Research Articles

U.S. to restrict five phthalates in kids’ products

Five phthalates will be banned from toys and items such as teething rings and pacifiers, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) decided earlier this month. In a 3-2 vote, CPSC determined that the chemicals are harmful for male reproductive development and agreed to restrict the five plasticizers in toys and some child care products to no more than 0.1%. The substances are di-n-hexyl phthalate, di-n-pentyl phthalate, dicyclohexyl phthalate, diisobutyl phthalate, and diisononyl phthalate (DINP). Consumer groups applauded the restriction, which is expected to take effect in about six months. The American Chemistry Council (ACC), an association of chemical manufacturers, lashed out at CPSC’s action on one of the substances. “This vote to ban DINP is arbitrary and capricious and proves CPSC isn’t interested in acting based on valid scientific standards,” the group said. Calling DINP one of the most thoroughly studied compounds in the world, ACC said reviews by

FIGHTING OVER CLEAN AIR

THE NEW FEDERAL regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks may not seem to have anything to do with construction of new chemical plants or major renovation of old ones. But it does, says the American Chemistry Council (ACC), a trade association of chemical manufacturers. Specifically, the new regulations under the Clean Air Act could delay planned modifications or construction of new industrial facilities, according to Leslie Hulse, assistant general counsel for ACC. And they could mean these plants will be required to control their greenhouse gas emissions, even though the technology to do this hasn’t yet been identified, she says. The problem is that although the Clean Air Act controls vehicle pollution and emissions from industrial plants separately, the two types of regulations are linked under this law. And those complicated connections are creating uncertainty that has ACC and other industry organizations, including the National Association of Manufacturers and the ...

MAKING MORE IN AMERICA

“AND WE THOUGHT this kind of thing was only supposed to be happening in China and India,” said Joseph Acker, president of the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association. Acker was speaking earlier this month at the groundbreaking ceremony for a commercial-scale active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing facility that Cambridge Major Laboratories (CML) is building in Germantown, Wis. Acker and others at the podium, which was set up near CML’s existing clinical-scale API facility, lauded Michael W. Major, the company’s founder and chief executive officer, for his $30 million bet on U.S. API manufacturing. They noted that the investment goes counter to the general trend of siting such projects in lower cost Asian countries. “Successful entrepreneurs see possibilities others don’t,” Acker said of Major, pointing to several factors—including the Food & Drug Administration’s difficulty in ensuring the quality of imports—that may put Major at the leading edge of a reversal in the off-shoring ...

TRUSTING MEDICINE FROM CHINA

CHINA IS AN INCREASINGLY competitive supplier of drug ingredients to the U.S. But in the wake of recent scandals involving Chinese food and drug ingredients, critics are asking for more controls on imports from that country. Last month, the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association (SOCMA), a U.S.-based group of fine chemicals makers, reiterated its call for the Food & Drug Administration to step up visits to overseas pharmaceutical plants. The association claims that foreign-made active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) are often produced in plants that have never been inspected by FDA. SOCMA's statement was prompted by media reports that a cough syrup formulated with counterfeit Chinese glycerin had killed dozens of people in Panama last November. Glycerin is an edible substance that is routinely used in making medicinal liquids. Unscrupulous businesspeople have from time to time substituted diethylene glycol for glycerin to cut costs. This practice prompted FDA to issue a recommendation last...

Green Chemistry in India

For any science to flourish, we need heroes and superheroes, who are revered by society, whether it understands the phenomenon or not. Einstein’s enigma and legacy made physics a superior science over chemistry during early part of twentieth century. Einstein’s global recognition as a great man was only surpassed by Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian super-soul, who taught the world a few lessons on significance of non-violence (ahimsa) and insistence on truth (satyagraha). In today’s terror-struck world, we need superheroes, whether needed for saving science or society. Despite several Nobel prizes in Chemistry, not many common folks would be able to name equally famous chemists as they would name Einstein. Then dawned the pollution-related issues and chemistry got a severe jolt. Everything and anything was blamed on chemicals. Chemists were always considered as ‘dirty scientists’ or conjurers unlike the physicists who looked at the sky for their inspiration and mathematical abstractness. The word ‘chemical’ is still a taboo! Inventing new names can divert the attention but not the problem. Then arrived on the scene the ‘new saviour’: Green Chemistry. Can geo-politics rescue chemistry as a green science, acceptable and palatable to one and all and allow it to flourish. Somebody asked me a naive question recently, why chemicals are used by terrorists for destruction and is it not dangerous to be in the ‘chemical’ profession, creating further divide between society and science? The Chemical Heritage Foundation has been doing a fantastic job in enlightening the general public and practitioners, but we need more efforts by all countries of the world. The chemical manufacture is being shifted to developing and semi-developed nations and thus such efforts are needed in countries like China, Brazil and India. Recently, the Indian Chemical Manufacturers Association changed its name to Indian Chemical Council to widen its scope of activities and delineate its linkage with society. When we think of an idea as being new, and do esearch for a particular word, there are almost 99% chances that something in some form is already reported somewhere by somebody. The word could be reported and referenced but may not be the original idea you have. If it is not available in the e-form, then we may never know of its originality. A pointer is the famous withdrawal of the US patent (5401504, August 13, 1997) on use of turmeric as a wound healing agent; its being traditional and practiced since antiquity in India was not known to the patent examiners. The grant of US Patent was challenged by the CSIR, India to prove the point about the limitations of open literature in English and other languages. The two major decisions, one by the World Trade Organisation on a party’s obligations under the TRIPs Agreement and the other, by the US Patent Office on the validity of a patent on turmeric have revived the whole debate on the patent regime imposed by the WTO. Even Charles Darwin’s theory on ‘evolution and survival of the fittest’ is supposedly originated in Aristotles’ ‘Chain of Being’ and propagated by the French scientists. Before Darwin’s theory, the French anatomist G. D. Yadav (&) Department of Chemical Engineering, University Institute of Chemical Technology, University of Mumbai, Matunga, Mumbai 400 019, India e-mail: gdyadav@yahoo.com; gdyadav@udct.org; gdy@udct.ernet.in

SOCMA Opts Out Of Responsible Care

The Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association has launched a mandatory environment, health, and safety (EHS) and security performance improvement program for its member companies. SOCMA ...

THE STATE OF REGULATION

INDUSTRY'S ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON chemical regulation, held for more than a decade, traditionally has focused almost exclusively on policies related to one U.S. law—the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Extensive discussions by Environmental Protection Agency officials on getting new chemicals to market and on testing older compounds are always a key part of the gathering, hosted by the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association (SOCMA) and the American Chemistry Council (ACC). But international issues, most notably the European Union's proposed Registration, Evaluation & Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) program, took up a significant share of this year's conference, held March 9—10. Robert H. Donkers, environment counselor at the EU office in Washington, D.C., warned chemical industry representatives that REACH is practically a done deal. He disparaged notions that the new EU chemicals legislation will not be adopted. It will be law, I guarantee, he said. However, he allowed that some deta...

SOCMA REENGINEERS ITS ANNUAL MEETING

THE SYNTHETIC ORGANIC CHEMical Manufacturers Association got down to business at its annual meeting earlier this month. Forsaking Hilton Head, S.C., and Scottsdale, Ariz.—favorite locales for its golf-heavy events of the past—SOCMA convened its first Corporate Excellence Conference, two full days of meetings and presentations, at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay in Cambridge, Md. Attendees said they welcomed the meeting's heightened emphasis on business issues. The prolonged economic slump for the custom and batch chemical manufacturers that dominate SOCMA's membership has boosted their need for serious networking, they said. The meeting also afforded attendees a chance to scout out business leads and hear what their customers are thinking. Both days featured panel discussions with purchasing and outsourced services managers from the pharmaceutical, Acker flavors and fragrances, agricultural chemical, and photographic products industries—the main markets served by most SOCMA members. Foremost on everyone'...

REGULATORY POLICIES EVOLVE

THE EUROPEAN UNION'S NEW policy on chemicals. A treaty to curb production of persistent organic pollutants. A developing global plan for managing chemicals. Testing of high-production-volume chemicals. Evolution of the Environmental Protection Agency's enforcement efforts on chemical controls. These and other policies were plumbed at the 10th annual Global Chemical Regulations Conference, held earlier this month in Baltimore. The conference, which covered developments under the U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and international efforts on chemical management, was organized by the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association and the American Chemistry Council (ACC). International chemical regulation issues constituted a large portion of the conference program. Joe J. Mayhew, ACC vice president of regulatory and technical affairs, discussed the EU's planned Registration, Evaluation, & Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) policy. This would require registration, testing, labeling, and, for some...

Administration Drafting Chemical Site Security Bill

The Bush Administration is preparing legislation to protect the public from potential terrorist attacks at chemical plants, Administrator Christine Todd Whitman said last week. EPA is working closely with the Department [of Homeland Security] on legislation that will set clear requirements for the chemical industry, she told a conference on chemical regulation. Whitman said she and DHS Secretary Tom Ridge conferred on April 1 about the legislation. But Whitman neither provided details about the bill nor indicated when the Administration hopes to send the draft law to Congress. She suggested that EPA, and not DHS, would enforce the planned law on chemical plant security. Under the President's homeland security strategy, is designated as the lead agency with responsibility for chemical site security, she told the conference, which was organized by the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association and the American Chemistry Council. The two industry groups have said they oppose the idea of...

Drawing the Battle Lines: Tracing the "Science War" in the Construction of the Chloroform and Human Health Risks Debate

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and the Chlorine Chemistry Council, the Chemical Manufacturers Association, and others have been embroiled in a legal challenge concerning the US EPA's "reversal" regarding the scientific assessment of chloroform's carcinogenicity. This issue arose during the US EPA's November 1998 promulgation of a Maximum Contaminant Level Goal for chloroform in the Stage 1 Final Rules for Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts in drinking water. In this paper we adopt a claimsmaking approach: to trace the development and outcome of the chloroform court challenge in the USA, to examine the construction of scientific knowledge claims concerning chloroform risk assessments, and to investigate how different interpretations of scientific uncertainties regarding the evidence are contested when such uncertainties are brought into a regulatory and judicial arena. This "science war" (Chlorine Chemistry Council and others v. US EPA and others) took place in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The scientific "authority" in the construction of scientific claims in this dispute is based on the International Life Sciences Institute expert panel report on chloroform. Examining these science wars is important because they signal critical shifts in science policy agendas. The regulatory outcome of the chloroform science war in the United States can have profound implications for the construction and acceptance of scientific claims regarding drinking water in other jurisdictions (e.g., Canada). In this challenge, we argue that the actors involved in the dispute constructed "boundaries" around accepted and credible scientific claims.

INVESTMENT CONTINUES IN CUSTOM SYNTHESIS

THE SYNTHETIC ORGANIC CHEMical Manufacturers Association got down to business early at its annual Informex conference in New Orleans late last month—despite its being held in the middle of Mardi Gras week. Instead of booking former quarterback Terry Bradshaw or political analysts James Carville and Mary Matlin—typical of recent headline speakers—SOCMA tapped an industry insider, Andrew N. Liveris, president of Dow Chemical's performance chemicals division, for the opening address. The effect of that address on attendees was sobering or fortifying, depending on whether or not their companies were on the shortlist that Liveris offered of who will be at Informex in 2008 (C&EN, March 3, page 11). Akzo Nobel, Avecia, BASF, Degussa, Dow, DSM, and Lonza—Liveris' picks as the top players in fine chemicals outsourcing in five years—have several things in common that he said are required for survival in a market that some say has gone from bad to worse in ...

SEEKING TO CHANGE THE RULES

CHANGES TO THE ANNUAL Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and other chemicalrelated federal rules are among the second annual set of recommendations suggested by the public and released by the Bush Administration late last month. Some public interest groups characterize the report as a hit list for federal regulations. But John D. Graham, administrator of the Office of Information & Regulatory Affairs in the White House Office of Management & Budget, says the Administration is neutral on the recommendations. The public suggested changes to 267 rules, and OMB referred 126 of these to agencies for evaluation. Agencies must report to the White House by Feb. 28 on suggestions they plan to implement and explain why they are disregarding the others, Graham says. Chemical producers made several suggestions for regulatory changes. The Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association takes issue with TRI information on waste that gets sent off-site for disposal, recycling, or other ...

SEEKING TO CHANGE THE RULES

CHANGES TO THE ANNUAL Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and other chemical-related federal rules are among the second annual set of recommendations suggested by the public and released by the Bush Administration late last month. Some public interest groups characterize the report as a hit list for federal regulations. But John D. Graham, administrator of the Office of Information & Regulatory Affairs in the White House Office of Management & Budget, says the Administration is neutral on the recommendations. The public suggested changes to 267 rules, and OMB referred 126 of these to agencies for evaluation. Agencies must report to the White House by Feb. 28 on suggestions they plan to implement and explain why they are disregarding the others, Graham says. Chemical producers made several suggestions for regulatory changes. The Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association takes issue with TRI information on waste that gets sent off-site for disposal, recycling, or ...

Erin Brockovich Doesn't Live Here: Environmental Politics and "Responsible Care" in Mobile County, Alabama

Since the 1950s, the small rural community of Axis, Alabama, has become one of the Southeast's largest sites of chemical production. Residents attribute numerous public health anomalies to emissions from its chemical plants. Cancer mortality rates in Axis are far greater than state averages, yet organized or individual opposition to the manufacturers has been nearly nonexistent. This paper examines the apparent acquiescence of community residents to elevated rates of cancer and other diseases. Heralded by the Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA) as an attempt to improve its relationship with hundreds of host communities worldwide, the CMA's Responsible Care initiative has enabled the manufacturers in Axis to preempt environmental and health complaints that might threaten their operations. Such strategies are representative of an emergent environmental paradigm that privileges corporate interests over those of nearby residents.

GETTING BEYOND 'THE PERFECT STORM'

IT'S BEEN A DIFFICULT TWO YEARS for some of our businesses, admitted Nance K. Dicciani, president and chief executive officer of Honeywell International's specialty materials group. And like rest of chemical industry, $3.3 billion Honeywell business she has headed for only seven months is experiencing most prolonged downturn since 1930s. Dicciani called downturn the perfect storm, an allusion to a combination of factors coming together all at once to create a disaster—in this case, price declines in key markets coupled with high energy costs and raw material prices. But she sees scenario as providing opportunities for Honeywell's growth. As economy heads toward recovery during second half of 2002, growing markets in Asia, Middle East, and South America will provide some of these opportunities, Dicciani told attendees at Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association (SOCMA) stakeholder's conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., a ...

LONZA'S VISION

LONZA HAS BEEN UNDERGOING A strategic reorientation over past year. It's a transformation that has involved divesting noncore energy and polymer intermediates businesses, developing a new vision statement, and restructuring into the preeminent supplier to life sciences industry through chemical and biotechnology platforms driven by an unrelenting passion. Today, more than 80% of its activities are directed toward life sciences. Nowhere is unrelenting passion clearer than in Markus Gemuend, a 14-year veteran of Lonza who took over as chief executive officer on Feb. 1. The tall, boyish-looking 43-year-old head of company's fast-growing biologies division was tapped to succeed Sergio Marchionne, who oversaw divestitures and is now vice chairman of board. Gemuend also remains head of biologies division. Gemuend spoke about Lonza's metamorphosis last month at annual Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association luncheon in New York City. Custom manufacturing is a...

INDIAN CHEMICALS FACE CHALLENGES

SITTING IN FRONT OF JOURNALists and industry representatives, Indian Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers Sukhdev S. Dhindsa listened silently as leaders of the Indian Chemical Manufacturers Association (ICMA) stated that unless the government implements fundamental changes in laws and taxes, there is no way India's chemical industry can remain competitive as import tariffs on chemicals keep coming down. It looked like an ambush, but, surprisingly, when the minister spoke, he mostly agreed with ICMA. The occasion for the meeting in Mumbai on March 23 was the official release of a report about the prospects of the Indian chemical industry by an ICMA task force. Earlier that week, Indian authorities announced they were going to prosecute Reliance Industries for illegally obtaining away the tariff protection and expect us to survive in this business environment. India's chemical industry produces a comprehensive range of polymers, industrial and specialty chemicals, agrochemicals, and pharmaceuticals. ...

MAKING CONNECTIONS IN THE BIG EASY

LAST WEEK, IT WAS MARDI GRAS that drew celebrants to Orleans. Next week, because of Informex 2002, New Orleans is the place to be for suppliers and custom manufacturers of fine chemicals. This annual exhibition of the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association (SOCMA) is one of the most important annual events of the fine chemicals and custom manufacturing industry. Here, manufacturers have the opportunity to meet with multiple clients in one place, customers have the chance to size up various potential suppliers, and everyone has lots of networking and educational opportunities. Informex has grown dramatically from its modest beginnings of 42 tabletop exhibits in 1984. This year, from Feb. 27 to March 1, there will be 425 companies showing off their capabilities at New Orleans' Morial Convention Center. As C&EN went to press, about 3,000 of an expected 4,000 attendees already are pre-registed, according SOCMA. The show ill be biased toward services to the pharmaceutical ...

Approaches and considerations for setting occupational exposure limits for sensory irritants: report of recent symposia.

Over the past 50 years significant strides have been made in reducing occupational exposure to airborne chemicals. To a large extent, the impetus behind the reductions has been the identification of presumably safe levels of exposure, or occupational exposure limits (OELs). Most of the reduction in exposure has been to chemicals such as hepatotoxins, neurotoxins, nephrotoxins, and carcinogens that cause frank toxic effects. Recently, however, a number of industrial hygiene and occupational medicine initiatives have sought to identify acceptable levels of exposure to sensory irritants and reduce exposure to this class of chemicals. This article presents an overview of the field with emphasis on the work presented at two symposia sponsored by the Chemical Manufacturers Association: "How Do We Set an Occupational Exposure Limit (OEL) for Irritation?" (1998) at the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition and "Respiratory Tract Irritation and Olfaction Conference" (1997). The two symposia reviewed clinical and experimental methods used to assess odor and sensory irritation, to increase understanding of the research needed to establish OELs for sensory irritants, and to discuss how to use this information to identify appropriate values. The symposia illustrated that research in this area is evolving quickly and that there is already sufficient understanding to permit scientists to identify chemicals likely to be sensory irritants. Further, there appears to be an ample number of research methods for identification of airborne concentrations that should protect most workers. This article summarizes some of the key points raised at these symposia and suggests areas deserving of future study.