NEWS OF THE WEEK BUSINESS
IN
EUROPE
TROUBLED RH0DIA TAKES MORE HITS French firm faces criminal probe, accusations of fiscal improprieties regulatory authority, AMF (Autorite des Marches Financiers), has accused Rhodia of improper financial disclosures dating back to 2 0 0 0 . Separately, a criminal probe has been launched into possible accounting irregularities and insider trading dating back to 1999. Both developments follow forecasts by Rhodia that it will be profitable in 2 0 0 6 for the first time in five years. The allegations against France's largest specialty chemical firm cover a period of turmoil during
which Rhodia amassed debt from high-priced acquisitions. T h e C E O at the time, Jean-Pierre Tirouflet, was ousted in October 2003. His successor, Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, has cut 1,600 jobs and sold off several businesses. AMF alleges improprieties in Rhodia's valuation of ChiRex, which it acquired in 2000; its valuation ofdeferred tax assets; and its disclosures on debt, liquidity and coverage for environmental risks. The criminal investigation, conducted by the Paris public prosecutor's office, stems from lawsuits filed by investors, in-
ENVIRONMENTAL
SCIENCE
F
Clamadieu
Tirouflet
RANCE S STOCK MARKET
ARSENIC ROOTED FROM WATER Powdered water hyacinth roots rapidly remove arsenic from water
ARSENIC SPONGE The abundant water hyacinth could provide an inexpensive water purification material.
12
C&EN
/APRIL
A,
2005
0
NE OF THE MOST PROBLEM-
atic weeds in the world could prove useful for cleaning up water supplies contaminated with arsenic. Principal lecturer Parvez I. Haris and coworkers at De Montfort University, Leicester, England, have shown that dried roots of the water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes, rapidly reduce arsenic concentrations in water to levels less than the maximum value for drinking water recommend-
ed by the World Health Organization (J. Environ. Monit, published online March 7, http:// xlink.rsc.org/?DOI=B500932D). Naturally occurring arsenic contaminates drinking water in many parts of the world, especially in Bangladesh, where more than 6 0 % of the groundwater contains arsenic concentrations in excess of the W H O guideline value. The water hyacinth grows prolifically in ponds, lakes, and rivers in tropical and subtropical regions and is notorious for clogging up waterways and causing other problems. The De Montfort team took
cluding Edouard Stern, a banker and former Rhodia board member who was found murdered on Feb. 28. A French woman has been arrested in connection with the murder. Stern had led a push to unseat Tirouflet in 2003. During the period in question, Thierry Breton, France's current finance minister, was a Rhodia board director and chairman of the firm's audit committee. He left the board in 2 0 0 2 and has denied knowledge of any company wrongdoing. Rhodia says it will present arguments to A M F during proceedings that will last "several months." T h e company faces fines of up to $1.9 million from AMF. It had no comment on the criminal investigation. One stock analyst suggests to C&EN that Clamadieu might be able to use the allegations, which focus on a period prior to October 2003, to highlight Rhodia's recent successes.—RICK MULLIN
water hyacinth plants from a pond in Dhaka, Bangladesh; dried them in air; and prepared a fine powder from the dried roots. Using atomic absorption spectroscopy, they showed that more than 9 3 % of arsenite [As(III)} and 95% of arsenate {As(V)l was removed from a solution containing 2 0 0 \x,g of arsenic per L within 60 minutes of exposure to the powder. The concentration of arsenic remaining in solution was less than the W H O guideline value of 10 \xg per L. "I'm delighted with the discovery that a plant, regarded as a nuisance, has been turned into a lifesaving material that can help some of the poorest people in the world, not only in Bangladesh, but also in India, Mongolia, Mexico, Chile, and Thailand," Haris says. "It is obvious that an affordable and effective solution to the problem of arsenic in drinking water has to be found using materials that are locally abundant."—MICHAEL FREEMANTLE HTTP://WWW.CEN-ONLINE.ORG