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West Virginia Spill of 鈥淭oxic鈥 chemical

20 Mar 2017

How鈥檚 this for a coincidence? A few years ago on an organic chemistry exam I asked the following question: A compound used to clean coal is often referred to as 4-methylcyclohexane methanol. What...

Electronic Waste

20 Mar 2017

Some people are concerned about radiation from cell phones possibly causing brain tumours. Others worry about exposure to wi-fi causing cancer. And now I鈥檓 getting questions about whether cell...

Ebola Scams are Sickening

20 Mar 2017

We鈥檝e seen it before. A medical crisis emerges and the scam artists crawl out of the woodwork. Fearful citizens pop open their wallets and fork out hard-earned money for nonsensical 鈥渃ures.鈥 When...

Are Chemists Suffering from Chemophobiaphobia?

20 Mar 2017

Most chemistry conferences these days feature a session on the 鈥減ublic understanding of chemistry.鈥 Usually speakers express frustration about equating the term 鈥渃hemical鈥 with 鈥渢oxin鈥 or 鈥減oison,鈥...

Cathodic Protection

20 Mar 2017

You use cathodic protection聽to prevent iron from rusting. The rusting of iron is an expensive process. It is estimated that the deterioration of iron due to corrosion costs billions of dollars a...

Whales at a party?

20 Mar 2017

An 1861 Vanity Fair cartoon depicted whales celebrating at a party. Celebrating what, you may ask? The discovery of oil in Pennsylvania!

How about some Snail Cream?

20 Mar 2017

No, you don鈥檛 eat it. Neither is it meant to limber up the arthritic joints of snails. You massage it into your face to improve complexion, reduce wrinkles and improve scar lines. At least that鈥檚...

Refrigerators and Climate Change

20 Mar 2017

The walls of refrigerators have to be heavily insulated in order to maintain efficient cooling. Polyurethane foam insulation has been the classic material used for this purpose and guess what it...

The Art of Mixing Bleach and Acids

20 Mar 2017

Chemistry is all about mixing things. But you have to know what you are doing. A lady was complaining to a neighbor about an infestation of mice in her house. The well-meaning friend had a...

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