News Release

Product design and drug development breakthroughs help the environment

Grant and Award Announcement

American Chemical Society

2000 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards

The 2000 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards, recently announced by the White House and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, honor scientists for environmentally conscious innovation in product design and drug development. The awards, sponsored by EPA, are presented to innovators chosen by an independent expert panel convened by the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.

This year's winners:

U Using enzymes to cut pollutants in drug manufacturing (LaJolla, Calif.) - Professor Chi-Huey Wong of The Scripps Research Institute in LaJolla, Calif., pioneered processes that allow scientists to produce drugs in large amounts, while cutting the use of solvents that can harm the environment, by creating "effective enzymes" - biological catalysts - that allow large-scale manufacture of new drug compounds. Wong's work enables researchers to create pharmaceuticals using very mild reactions that work in room temperature water solutions, instead of having to use pollution-causing solvents.

U Environment-friendly labels for glass products (Edison, N.J.) - Billions of products are sold in glass containers every year, and most are labeled. However, the most common labeling techniques use heavy metals and must be baked in ovens at 1000° F, requiring huge amounts of energy. Scientists with RevTech, Inc., in Edison, N.J., developed the EnvirogluvJ method to label glass and plastic containers in a cost-effective, environmentally friendly and energy-efficient manner. The EnvirogluvJ process applies ink directly on glass by exposing glass to UV radiation rather than baking the ink in energy consuming ovens. The process also uses biodegradable pigments and allows for recycling. It contains no potentially toxic, heavy metals and small to no amounts of volatile organic compounds.

U A new, pollution-reducing way to produce an important drug (Boulder, Colo.) - Researchers with Roche Colorado Corporation, in Boulder, Colo., developed a new and efficient way to produce the potent antiviral agent ganciclovir (Cytovene7). Cytovene7 is prescribed to treat certain dangerous infections in AIDS or organ transplant patients. The new method dramatically reduces the amount of hazardous solid and liquid waste as well as potentially harmful chemical reactions associated with the original production process, while increasing the product yield by more than 25 percent.

U Using water, not hazardous solvents to spray on plastic coating (Pittsburgh, Pa.) - Scientists with Bayer Corporation, in Pittsburgh, Pa., devised polyurethane coatings that can be sprayed on products by using water as a "carrier" for the coatings. The water carrier replaces solvents that contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs).The technologies developed in the company's work with polyurethane coatings results will reduce certain uses of VOCs by 50 percent to 90 percent; and HAPs by 50 percent to 99 percent.

U Fighting termites, protecting the environment (Indianapolis, Ind.) - Scientists at Dow AgroSciences, in Indianapolis, Ind., developed Sentricon™ Termite Colony Elimination System to protect structures from termite damage in a more environmentally sound way. Sentricon™ has been registered by the EPA as a reduced risk pesticide. The system cuts the use of pesticide by using a limited number of in-ground delivery stations of termite bait only in targeted locations surrounding an infested structure. The Sentricon™ method replaces one that required termite fighters to use a barrier with large volumes of insecticide placed in soil completely surrounding a damaged building.

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A nonprofit organization with a membership of 161,000 chemists and chemical engineers, the American Chemical Society publishes scientific journals and databases, convenes major research conferences, and provides educational, science policy and career programs in chemistry. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio. http://www.acs.org


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