Highlights

Bhopal disaster

Forty years on from the Bhopal disaster what lessons have been learnt?

India looks to the future as survivors fight on to receive adequate compensation and medical care

Giant plastic tap

After years of negotiations, a global agreement to tackle plastic pollution is within sight

The UN’s plastics treaty negotiations have faced many hurdles, but delegates are getting closer to a final agreement

Business studies

The benefits of following a PhD with an MBA

The chemists who have achieved professional success by getting business and management degrees

Northern Lights

Carbon capture making slow progress in UK and Europe

Government funding welcomed, but issues over strategy and CO2 purity persist

Joe Biden

Drug companies reluctantly accept state price negotiations

As legal challenges fall flat, will industry’s claims of stifled innovation be borne out?

Drugs with expiry dates

How long are medicines good for?

Stability data is necessary but tedious work

Leqembi

Europe reconsiders Alzheimer’s antibody approval

Leqembi recommended for approval with restrictions to reduce side effect risk

Johnson's baby powder

US government moves to block J&J talc bankruptcy resolution

Firm’s third attempt to shift claims to a subsidiary had gained significant support

Doliprane Paracetamol

Sanofi spins out its consumer healthcare business

US-based investment firm takes controlling stake in Opella, while France’s government moves to ensure the company remains in the country

Fountain pen nib, writing

Letters: December 2024

Readers share concerns over classifying ethanol as reprotoxic, celebrate undergraduate practical innovation, and more

US aims to reinstate chlorpyrifos insecticide ban

2021 ban on remaining food uses was overturned on appeal in 2023

Forty years on from the Bhopal disaster what lessons have been learnt?

India looks to the future as survivors fight on to receive adequate compensation and medical care

Maintenance error led to deadly hydrogen sulfide leak

Workers opened live pipework 1.5m away from intended work site

Europe reconsiders Alzheimer’s antibody approval

Leqembi recommended for approval with restrictions to reduce side effect risk

First detected 40 years ago, a byproduct in chloraminated drinking water has finally been identified

Researchers call for urgent investigation into the chloronitramide anion’s toxicity

Structure

Metal–organic framework captures carbon dioxide at industrially relevant temperatures

Material could improve energy efficiency of capturing carbon from industy’s exhaust gases

Fluorite

Fluorspar to fluorine chemicals without going via hazardous hydrogen fluoride

Safer way to turn calcium fluoride mineral into valuable industrial materials

Green tattoo ink

Banned pigments found in tattoo inks sold in the EU

Nine out of 10 green and blue inks analysed violate Reach regulations

Nanopore sequencing set to transform our understanding of proteins

Rapid sequencing technique can not only deal with proteins hundreds of amino acids long but can detect modifications

How F1 plans to transition to ‘100% sustainable fuel’

Rule changes intend to make Formula One more environmentally friendly from 2026. But what are the changes, and can a sport known for gas-guzzling engines really go green?

PFAS-free synthesis of fluorinated drugs and pesticides

Flow chemistry introduces trifluoromethyl group onto a range of compounds using just caesium fluoride as the fluorine source

Potential new class of antibiotics takes on flesh-eating infections

Peptide-mimicking compounds target bacterial cell walls

Innovative antibacterial strategy shows promise for treating infections

New antibiotic mechanism sees molecule infiltrate bacterial cells and destroy them from the inside 

Louisville incident

Deadly explosion at US food colouring plant

2 workers dead, 11 injured at Givaudan Sense Colour in Louisville

Adnoc to buy Covestro, continuing expansion into polymers

€15 billion deal sees Gulf oil producer looking to future growth beyond fuels

Fire at US pool chemical plant releases huge chlorine plume

Thousands of residents evacuated and kept indoors as as smoke and gas cloud persists for days

Three indicted in US for smuggling pool chemicals from China

Defendants face fines and jail for illegally importing and distributing trichloroisocyanuric acid

Tea tree oil faces ban in UK and EU over reprotoxicity

Defenders question relevance of animal safety data that triggered decision

Arkema settles local claims over US hurricane fire emissions

Peroxides producer will pay $1.1 million and make safety improvements

Doliprane Paracetamol

Sanofi spins out its consumer healthcare business

US-based investment firm takes controlling stake in Opella, while France’s government moves to ensure the company remains in the country

Covestro

Adnoc to buy Covestro, continuing expansion into polymers

€15 billion deal sees Gulf oil producer looking to future growth beyond fuels

Injection pens manufacturing

Weight-loss drugmakers bet billions on boosting supplies

Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk invest to expand in-house manufacturing of GLP-1 drugs

British Myers Squibb

Job cuts sweeping across pharmaceuticals

Several big firms cutting deep to reduce costs

Scientist in lab monitoring multiple instruments using Waters System Monitoring software on a desktop screen

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Scientist monitoring Waters Xevo TQ Absolute mass spectrometer and Acquity UPLC system with real-time data on a computer screen

PFAS analysis: improving efficiency by using LC-MS systems with System Monitoring software

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Laboratory with Waters Alliance iS HPLC systems and digital system monitoring display for real-time performance tracking

Revolutionising pharmaceutical quality control with System Monitoring – a case study

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