At our organisation, we’re always trying to find ways of interesting the youth towards the topic of Green Chemistry. Only if the youth of a nation understand our mission, will it be successful. But, a little complicated that the subject is, getting youngsters enthused proves a tad tough So we got talking to some college students one of these days about our ideologies. These were third year BSc students from a Mumbai college. Admittedly, the session got a little too technical for them and I could see some of the students stifling yawns. One even got to the extent of commenting out loud, “What a waste!”

“Yes”, I said and startled all. They expected a chastisement of sorts but I’d found my turning point there. “It is a waste. If you take no message back, the session will have gone waste. All the precious resources – your time, my effort – everything wasted. It will have polluted our moods in the process and your HOD’s disappointment would be the byproduct. The other alternative is for us to make this session fruitful and negate waste, get a zero e-factor!”

My point had hit home. The whole of the last hour’s presentations fell into perspective. Then questions flew thick and fast from students.

“What exactly is e-waste?” one asked.
I flipped back a few slides and explained. “E-factor is the amount of waste generated per kilogram of final product or the measure of environmental impact of the waste in your production processes.”
“But how is it of any concern to us?” another shot back.
“It concerns you in every living moment you spend on this planet. Every thing you use in the course of your modern life has repercussions on the environment, which has an immediate bearing on your life. The more you pollute, the more polluted things nature will give you. For every bit of plastic waste you generate, you’ll get one toxic fruit, vegetable or meat in the bargain. Now if that doesn’t alarm you, I don’t know what else will.”

“But what is the solution?” questioned one of the back benchers.
“Green chemistry! Just so we don’t have to deal with wastes and break out heads over trying to treat and recycle it, we should stop generating waste.”

“Is that possible?” the back-bencher asked, now riveted.
“Yes. That’s exactly what green chemistry is all about. We formulate solutions in a way that there are little or no by-products. And if there are by-products, we ensure, they are completely bio-degradable. Simply put, we remove the root of the problem!”

I could hear murmurs of approval from the class. I could see realisation in their eyes. And I knew, the session had not gone ‘waste’. Green Chemistry was working here too!

Have you ever faced such an ‘environmental moment of truth’? Tell me about it!

But as years passed by, the population grew exponentially and the requirements for chemicals increased. At the same time, the waste generated through these production activities shot through the roof.

Ways and means for reduction or recycle of waste were generated but no methods were devised to reduce it. Instead of going back to the basic principles of chemistry and reinventing natural processes, manufacturers and researchers went on devising various new treatments for waste and disposal methods. This, according to me, was one of the most disastrous decisions of modern science. It will take us years to recover from this.

But thankfully, the chemical industry has woken up to the need for waste reduction and management, and India is taking positive steps towards a more sustainable manufacturing process with the help of companies like Newreka. We need to develop new processes without compromising on quality and cost by revisiting the age-old processes. The new processes or technologies should be economically and environmentally much more competitive than the conventional processes or technologies that are being used now. The concept of Green Chemistry is one such process which help companies do justice to Mother Nature.

When the chemical products are designed keeping in mind the principles of green chemistry and E-factor, the enormous amounts of waste produced by the industry can be kept under control. The green chemistry-based solutions should be applied to synthesis and catalysis to recycle the entire reaction and extraction medium in the system. This is otherwise disposed off after primary/secondary treatment as effluent and is the biggest source of water pollution. Let’s move towards a greener and sustainable chemistry and change the way the traditional chemistry was following for the good.

We all know that the many wonderful products we use in our daily life cause a lot of waste to be generated and accumulated due to age-old manufacturing practices. It is sad that this waste is piling up and we do not have adequate resources to recycle it. And when we try to do it, we only end up with another pile of waste.

It is at this point that the idea of green chemistry comes handy. When chemical products are designed keeping in mind the principles of green chemistry and E-factor, the enormous amount of waste produced by the industry can be kept under control.‘Recycle at Source’ should be the motto.

To elaborate this point, Dr. Komal Maheshwari from Newreka will be making a presentation at the upcoming conference. She will speak on “Recycle at Source” at the 14th Annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference, which will be held at the The Capital Hilton, Washington, DC from June 21 to 23. The presentation will emphasize how Green Chemistry and Engineering-based solutions can be applied to recycling processes. Synthesis and catalysis with green chemicals reduce waste in the system which is otherwise disposed off after primary/secondary treatment as effluent and is the biggest source of water pollution. Dr. Komal Maheswari is the Green R&D Manager at Newreka, where she, in her own words, does fundamental research that can change the way traditional chemists think about chemistry.

The Indian Chemical industry, contributing around 6.7 per cent of the Indian GDP, is a vital part of the agricultural and industrial development in India and has major links with several other sub industries such as automotives, consumer durables, food processing, engineering etc. According to a KPMG study, “At $60 billion in 2010, the contribution of the chemical industry to India’s GDP would grow from the current level of 6.7 per cent to 7.1 per cent, while its contribution to the global industry would increase from 1.9 per cent to 2.3 per cent.”

But as with other scientific advancement, the chemical industry faces certain setbacks. Very often you hear of public outcries against the various problems caused by toxic wastes or obnoxious odours that are a result of drug or other chemical products’ manufacturing. The one way of countering such ill effects is the application of green chemistry and its allied principles. And if that is achieved, the future of chemical industry is secured.

With adequate efforts and the development of supporting structures, the Indian chemical industry is envisaged to grow and position India on the global map as a supplier of specialty and knowledge chemicals. It it also set to be a hot destination for investment in these sectors, thereby strengthening the Indian economy. Highly developed technology, in-depth research capabilities, backward and forward linkages and the development of domestic capacity to decrease the dependence on imports are some of the crucial factors that need to be taken into consideration. Nowadays, safety, health and environment protection issues have become the major-talking points in almost all industries and the Indian chemical industry is no exception. Indian chemical manufacturers have to address these issues on a war-footing. We shall be checking out the level of E-factor of the Indian Chemical manufacturers the next time and only then can we can say if the country’s oldest industry is going the environmental-friendly way or not…

As the prestigious Annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference (GC & E) rides its way back into the heartland of green chemistry with a fitting theme in its 14th Annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference, a few thoughts on quality are rightly set to take the center-stage. The conference will pull thousands of professionals from different walks of the broad spectrum of this industry towards downtown Washington, DC between June 21 and 23, 2010.

At a time when the Indian green chemistry industry has stamped its credentials across the globe, the need and efforts for regulations, new technologies and its applications in consonance with international norms in the sector will be the key topics enveloping the conference. Rightly, its theme ‘Innovation and Application’ will spur these attempts as industrialists, researchers, chemists, industrial green chemical experts, students, entrepreneurs and scientists will be milling the venue – Capital Hilton, Washington, DC.

This year’s conference will focus on more than twenty areas of green chemistry and green engineering including the topics: Biofuels, Environmental health sciences, Biomimicry, International activities, Education, Pharmaceuticals, Energy, Sustainable Design Concepts, Entrepreneurship and Supply Chain Management. Last year’s conference attracted more than 400 attendees from 17 countries around the globe and according to the conference producers, this year’s conference will see even more people. This year, the world famous environmentalist, author and entrepreneur Paul Hawken, and US Congressman, John Tierney (D-MA) , author of the “Green Jobs” bill will present the key note addresses. There will be a full day of programs for undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral green chemistry and engineering students. The 2010 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards are also something to look forward to. The winners will announced on the June 21.

The event would help the participants identify the various impediments to the growth and functioning of the industry by providing a unique platform to interact and network with the industry and policy makers. It would also help Indian companies like Newreka to showcase the Indian capabilities in the sectors and invite global investors to invest in these upcoming sectors in the country.

So let’s keep our fingers crossed!

Vanishing from Indian skies & flying towards extinction.

It’s “Save Tigers” everywhere. Why only Tigers? Don’t think I am against saving Tigers. I support Save Tigers; but what about the other species’ which are just disappearing all of a sudden? We have heard many talking about the parrots, woodpeckers, hornbills, cuckoos and bulbuls. Every one likes them and are concerned about these birds. So as me. But now I changed my views a bit and included one more to my list…. the vultures. Yes you heard it right; It’s vultures, the ceaseless scavengers. I know none of you have spared a thought for the bird. Even if the bird does find notice it is usually for the wrong reasons. I also noticed them for a reason.

Over the past few years, wildlife enthusiasts are crying themselves hoarse that the stately vulture is vanishing from the Indian skies and flying towards extinction. But is someone listening….? Yes, I listened to them recently and took an oath to help them be there in the nature. From millions of individuals in the 1980s, vultures have simply disappeared from large swathes of India, Pakistan and Nepal. Diclofenac, which is used as an anti-inflammatory drug in cattle, has killed millions of vultures in Asia that have eaten the bodies of the dead animals. The population of three species of Asian vultures has fallen by 97% in 12 years, and they are now at risk of extinction. Vultures eat the carcasses of livestock that have been administered veterinary diclofenac, and are poisoned by the accumulated chemical. The mechanism is probably renal failure, a known side-effect of diclofenac. It’s here that comes green pharma to the rescue. Green pharma practices will reduce the ecological impact of these drugs, which have caused mass bird die-offs and spawned antibiotic-resistant.

Diclofenac, the popular anti-inflammatory and arthritis drug, is used in both human and veterinary medicine. In Asian countries, the farmers started using the drug in 1990′s dosing their cows and oxen to relieve inflammation that could spoil the animal’s ability to provide milk or pull plows. When they died the livestock were sent to special dumps and the vultures who fed on the carcasses accrued a dose of diclofenac of around 100 micrograms per kilogram. And that was more than enough to kill the birds.

Diclofenac originated from Ciba-Geigy (now Novartis) in 1973 and was first introduced in the UK in 1979.

The governments of India, Pakistan, and Nepal banned veterinary use of diclofenac in 2006, but the drug has still not disappeared from livestock tissues. You might be wondering what the monitoring authorities had been doing when all these things happened or Were there any such monitoring systems exist? Yes there are monitoring authorities existing, like FDA, to give approval to the drugs. But what FDA will check is the environmental assessment provided by the companies if the drugmakers plan to manufacture more than 40 tons of a drug. And the FDA only requires assessments of a single manufacturer’s contribution, not the total volume of the drug that may be produced or leaked into the environment. So what is the exact solution for this? Even if the FDA had asked the companies to file a comprehensive assessment report, it was unlikely that diclofenac’s side effect on vultures would have been detected. What is to be done? We can just keep on suffering like this all time. We don’t want to see any one – whether it is human or animals/birds – to suffer because of the technology.

As a solution for this, Drug-makers should create drugs that are “benign by design” and should consider environmental impact before new drugs are brought to market. An approach like this, which is exactly same as that of the E-factor concept, could lead to a new category of “green drugs”: compounds that biodegrade quickly and easily in the environments they inevitably end up in. Let’s all have Green dreams and let’s work for it together!!!

These drugs are not only harmful to the environment and the mankind, but also threaten the wildlife. Of course in weird ways. I was speechless for a minute when a researcher told me that a derivative of the hormone oestrogen can feminize a male fish!! The derivative, called ethinyl estradiol (EE2), is thought to be responsible for feminising male fish. Now, what more can you do to a male, does it really matter whether it’s a fish or a human being?

EE2 is the main active ingredient in many contraceptives and is excreted by women in a conjugated form, which can then be deconjugated in sewage treatment works and discharged in the activated state.

Numerous chemicals released in the process of drug making hold the potential to disrupt sexual development and reproduction in a diverse range of animal species by mimicking natural estrogens. And, most of these chemicals are found in waste water and ultimately will end up in rivers and other aquatic bodies. So, undoubtedly we can say that these aquatic organisms are therefore highly susceptible to the harmful effects of environmental estrogens.

It is actually shocking to know that drugs prepared for the wellness of mankind is actually destroying many other living beings and thereby the nature also. This particular case of EE2 tells us exactly how drugs discharged into the environment disrupt the normal endocrine function of wildlife.

There is a lot of pressure evolving around the pharma industry worldwide as their block-buster drugs patent expires, lack of candidates to replace them, and especially the cost of discovering and developing drugs also increase. But green chemistry offers significant cost advantages and hence is a part of the solution to these problems. How ‘going green’ will reduce the cost? The savings come about because efficient syntheses that avoid exotic reagents, minimise energy use and replace organic solvents with water are invariably cheaper to perform.

But, how many are implementing these principles? The numbers are growing, but still need more participation.

The industry reports are actually a bit scary as it highlights the impact of pharmaceuticals on the environment. There is an immediate requirement of an action plan to be set up so as to increase understanding and improve risk management. The need for a greener solution is much more important when we see the steady growth of the pharma market worldwide.

Both human and veterinary medicines have the potential to harm environment. But how?  The whole lot of toxic elements contained in these medicines will be coming through waste waters.  Can we ever control the production of these medicines? No I guess. How can we control the production of medicines when population, and thereby health problems, is on a high. The more the number of people, the more the medicines –  of different varieties, flavours, colours, complications, after-effects… where are we heading to? Green Chemistry and its wonderful concept of E-factor come to our rescue at this point. Why don’t we discuss that in another post as I am already too much “DRUGGED”?

The relevance of E-factor should be recognized at the design stage itself for any product so that it comes in harmony with the green concept. E-factor helps develop new processes and chemical products without harming the environment. It stresses on design of safer, biodegradable and less hazardous useful chemical products utilizing atom economic and energy efficient processes.

High Volume Products generate huge quantities of waste like H-Acid, DASDA, Paracetamol, Phenylephrine, Pigment CPC, Violet23 and Pendimethylene, which are extremely deadly harmful to the mankind. The key is prevention, not control. It is important to ensure proper scale-up through appropriate mixing, reactor design and engineering to have uniformity over large-volume operation. This is where green engineering plays a critical role in prevention by recycle at source at industrial scale. Green Chemistry is taking an independent form as an amalgam of other chemical disciplines, especially organic, inorganic and biological chemistry.