ISOTOPICS
The Cleveland Section of the American Chemical Society
Volume 87
Issue 1
On Deck:
January 2011
January Meeting Notice
Past Chair’s Night
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Sterle’s Slovenian Country House
February 16, 2011
Cleveland State University
ACS Tour Speaker
Daniel Rabinovich
Cleveland ACS Officers
Chair:
John Protasiewicz
Department of Chemistry
Case Western Reserve Univ.
Phone: 216-368-5060
protasiewicz@case.edu
Chair-Elect:
Kat Wollyung
ACS.NCW.Kat@gmail.com
Treasurer:
John Moran
jmoran@ndc.edu
Secretary:
Alice McFarland
mcfarlands1@earthlink.net
Cleveland Section Web Site:
http://www.csuohio.edu/sciences
/dept/cleveland_acs/
4:30 pm
5:30 pm
6:30 pm
7:30 pm
Executive Committee Meeting
Social Hour
Dinner
Presentation
Environmentally friendly means to convert mixed and dirty
polymers into petroleum distillates for fuel and chemical
feedstock
Richard A. Schwarz, PhD, Technical Advisor, Polyflow
Polyflow's process converts mixed, dirty waste polymers into recovered
petroleum distillate. The process reduces the pressure on landfills and is
more environmentally friendly than burning the waste polymers to convert
to electricity or heat. The talk will discuss the various types of plastics and
I will comment on the impact of nature of the plastics. A general overview
and importance of recycling polymers in the US will be described.
Polyflow's process will be compared and comments on the technology
presented. Our business model will also be presented.
DINNER RESERVATIONS REQUIRED:
Please RSVP by
contacting John Protasiewicz, by phone at 216-368-5060 or by e-mail at
protasiewicz@case.edu by 5 pm on Friday, January 14. (For phone
reservations, please clearly spell your last name and leave a return phone
number). Cost of the dinner is $20 for members & guests, $5 for students,
and $10 for retirees/unemployed. Checks made out to “Cleveland ACS” are
greatly appreciated. Dinner will include Soup and Salad, Wienerschnitzel
(Veal Slovenian style), Roast Pork, Chicken Breast (those who don’t eat
pork may choose from two kinds of Chicken and Veal), Rigatoni or rice,
Vegetable, Potato, Sauerkraut, Coffee and Strudel.
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Isotopics January 2011
Directions to Sterle’s
1401 East 55th St.
Cleveland, OH 44103
Take I-90 and exit at E. 55th Street. Proceed south on
E. 55th St. Sterle's will be on the left, about 2 blocks
south of St. Clair Ave.
Speaker Bio
Dr. Schwarz was born and raised on the east side
of Cleveland, and he attended University School.
He then obtained his S.B. from MIT in Chemistry
and later received his M.S and Ph.D. degrees in
Organic Chemistry from Duke University. He has
worked at Firestone Tire & Rubber Central
Research for almost 10 years on polymer
synthesis and application development, and has
also worked for PPG Industries in Barberton and
Monroeville, PA for Chemical Group R&D for a
little over 20 years on polymer synthesis,
application development in optical resins and
silica products. He is co-inventor on over 25 US
patents, and has worked as consultant with Ohio
Polymer Enterprise Development for 1-1/2 years.
He has been with Polyflow as technical advisor
since 2002.
Selected from ACS Discoveries!
Oil dispersants used in Gulf of Mexico unlikely
to be endocrine disrupters and have relatively
low toxicity to cells
Environmental Science & Technology
Government scientists are reporting that eight of
the most commonly used oil dispersants used to
fight oil spills, such as the massive episode in the
Gulf of Mexico, appear unlikely to act as
endocrine disrupters — hormone-like substances
that can interfere with reproduction, development,
and other biological processes. The tested
dispersants also had a relatively low potential for
cytotoxicity (cell death), with JD-2000 and SAFRON GOLD showing the least potential. The
scientists are with the U. S. Environmental
Protection Agency and the National Institutes of
Health Chemical Genomics Center. Their findings
American Chemical Society Cleveland Section
appear
in
ACS’
semi-monthly
Environmental Science & Technology.
journal
Richard Judson and colleagues note that more than
1.5 million gallons of dispersants have been used
so far in the Deepwater Horizon spill. These
detergent-like chemicals break up oil slicks into
small drops. Scientists are concerned that some
dispersants contain ingredients that turn into
endocrine disrupters in the environment, and could
harm marine mammals, fish, and humans. But
only limited toxicity testing data is available on
currently-used dispersants, and this is only results
from the first round of EPA dispersant testing,
they state.
With an urgent need for such information in the
Deepwater Horizon spill, the scientists applied a
rapid screening method using mammalian cells to
determine the eight dispersants’ potential to act as
endocrine disrupters and relative toxicity to living
cells. The dispersants included a type widely being
used to treat the Gulf oil spill. None of the
substances
showed
significant
endocrine
disruption activity and cytotoxicity was not seen
until dispersants were tested at concentrations
above 10 parts per million, the scientists said.
However, they note that “there are other routes by
which chemicals can cause endocrine disruption,
as well as other types of toxicity that have not
been tested for here.”
Election Results
Kat Wollyung is the Chair-Elect
John Moran is the Treasurer
Donald Jaworske is returning as a Trustee
Dwight Chasar is returning as a Councilor
Arindam Roy is a new Alternate Councilor
Mark Waner is a new Director
Call for Nominations: Heller Award
By Kenneth W. Street
The Cleveland Section of the American Chemical
Society annually sponsors an award to recognize
an outstanding high school chemistry teacher in
the Cleveland Section. The award consists of an
honorarium of $1,000 and a framed certificate.
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Isotopics January 2011
The award is named for Irene Heller of North
Olmsted High School in recognition of her
contributions as an outstanding high school
chemistry teacher and her service to the Cleveland
Section. For more details regarding the award
please visit:
http://www.csuohio.edu/sciences/dept/cleveland_
acs/Heller.htm
Nominations for the award should be presented to
Kenneth Street, at the address below by close of
business Friday, March 11, 2011. The
nominations should consist of information on the
candidate's education, professional experience and
activities, awards and honors, offices held and
specifics on significant contributions. The letter of
nomination should highlight these significant
contributions. Seconding letters are suggested. A
detailed curriculum vita of the candidate may also
be included. Nominations should be sponsored by
at least one member of the Cleveland Section. If
you do not know a local section ACS member
willing to serve as Champion for your candidate,
contact Ken Street and he will provide one for
you. The Cleveland Section is geographically
confined to the counties of Cuyahoga, Geauga,
Lorain, Medina, Huron, and Erie. Nominators of
candidates who work outside of these counties
may contact the Cleveland Section of the
American Chemical Society for more information
about High School Chemistry Teacher Awards.
Hard copy nomination packages should be
addressed to: Kenneth Street, NASA-GRC, MS23-2, 21000 Brookpark Road, Cleveland, Ohio
44135. Electronic nominations using Word or
PDF Files mailed to kenneth.w.street@nasa.gov
are preferred. Ken Street may be contacted at 216433-5032 during business hours for assistance
with submissions.
The award will be presented at the April 20, 2011
meeting of the Cleveland Section.
American Chemical Society Cleveland Section
Call for Applications: 2011 Lucille M.
Wert Scholarship
Deadline: February 1, 2011
Designed to help persons with an interest in the
fields of Chemistry and Information to pursue
graduate study in Library, Information, or
Computer Science, the Scholarship consists of a
$1,500 honorarium. This scholarship is given
yearly by the Division of Chemical Information of
the American Chemical Society.
The applicant must have a bachelor’s degree with
a major in Chemistry or related disciplines (related
disciplines are, for example, Biochemistry or
Chemical Informatics). The applicant must have
been accepted (or currently enrolled) into a
graduate Library, Information, or Computer
Science program in an accredited institution.
Work experience in Library, Information or
Computer Science preferred.
The deadline to apply for the 2011 Lucille M.
Wert Scholarship is February 1, 2011. Details on
the application procedures can be found at:
http://www.acscinf.org and once there click on
“Awards” and then click on “Lucille M. Wert
Student Scholarship”.
Applications (email preferred) can be sent to:
margaret.matthews@thomsonreuters.com
Contact address:
Marge Matthews
CINF Awards Committee
633 Dayton Rd.
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010-3801
Phone: 215-823-3922
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Isotopics January 2011
American Chemical Society Cleveland Section
January Historical Events in Chemistry
By Leopold May
The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC
Jan. 10, 1923
Chemical and Engineering News was started on this day as the bimonthly News Edition
of Industrial and Engineering News. It was changed to CEN in 1942 and became weekly
on January 6, 1947.
Jan. 17, 1706
Benjamin Franklin, who was born on this date, was a researcher in electricity; an inventor, a
statesman, and described marsh gas to Priestley.
Jan. 18, 1861
Hans Goldschmidt, who discovered the alumino-thermite process (Goldschmidt Process) in
1893 and patented it in 1895, was born on this date. He was interested in producing very
pure metals by avoiding the use of carbon in smelting but realized its value in welding.
Jan. 27, 1865
August F. Kekulé presented his benzene structure to Société Chimique, Paris on his date.
Jan. 31, 1881
Irving Langmuir, who was born on this day, did research on surface chemistry for which he
received the Nobel Prize in 1932) for his discoveries and investigations in surface
chemistry. He introduced gas-filled tungsten lamps and the use of atomic hydrogen
blowpipe for welding. He and Gilbert N. Lewis evolved the electronic theory.
ISOTOPICS STAFF
Editor:
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Day-Glo Color Corporation
Phone: 216-391-7384
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Business and Advertising:
Alice McFarland
mcfarlands1@earthlink.net
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dwight.chasar@yahoo.com
Associate Editor
Richard L. Middaugh
Phone: 440-785-0293
rlmiddaugh@ameritech.net
Associate Editor
Dr. Lily Ng
Cleveland State University
Phone: 216-687-2467
l.ng@csuohio.edu
Associate Editor
Daniel Scheiman
QSC/NASA GRC
Phone: 216-433-3223
daniel.a.scheiman@nasa.gov
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Meenakshi Hardi
Phone: 440-941-6467
minaxie@gmail.com
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