NEWSCRIPTS
Seven-carbon fatty acid offers ideal properties for use in a wide range of new processes and applications.
Soviet drinkers start day with eau de cologne
Water solubility. The relative solubil ity of various linear short-chain fatty acids-C6 to C10-is often an important factor when selecting products for potential new applications. The solubility of pure C7 hepta π οίο acid is 0.24%, compared to 0.97% for Ce, and it is still liquid far below 0 degrees Celsius, while C6 is already solid at that temperature. The cost of the organic acid function and real cost per molecule synthesized is thus sub stantially reduced.
Free samples of this unique product are available for analysis and evalua tion in your labs. Just call or send the coupon. I
Please send me my free one-liter sample ofheptanoic acid as soon as possible.
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ATOCHEM INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS INC. groupe elf aquitaine / \Γ~ ^ ~ > y
P.O.BOX159,AAUV2) 13 Sunflower Avenue, Paramus, NJ 07653. (201) 652-8573 Or 1800 932-0420 outside N.J.
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September 23, 1985 C&EN
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You won't believe this, but an anon ymous contributor sent in the front page of the Financial Times for Sept. 5 with a circle around an item that said, "The Kremlin's campaign against drunkenness received a boost as many Moscow chemists de cided not to sell eau de cologne before 2 PM. Page 3," but did not enclose page 3. It arrived the same day, however, from a second con tributor. Anyway, according to the Finan cial Times (now printed in New Jer sey, says the second contributor), morning customers in Moscow are gulping perfume for its content of alcohol as soon as they have left the shop. Hair lotion is said to be particularly popular among Moscow alcoholics. Alternatively, Kara Nova eau de cologne can be had for 66 kopecks the bottle. The union news paper Trud, the Times reports, says people should avoid "at all costs" a perfume called Carmen, "which makes the customer feel as if his throat was cut." The drive against booze seems to have started about three months ago. Since then, the Times says, 649 fac tories and workshops have switched from making potable alcohol to mak ing soft drinks or candy. What's more, the price of vodka is slated to rise 1.5 rubles. In the time-honored fashion of the daily press, the Times does not say what percentage of the current price this amount might be. A rumor is abroad in Moscow that the management plans to declare December a dry month. The Times correspondent says, "This is almost certainly untrue" and also points out a Soviet TV commentator's men tion of the popular suspicion that the people in charge "will be tempt ed by easy profits from the sale of alcohol."
Light bulbs attract attention of Superfund Circulating through the headquar ters offices of the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C., is a document headed, "How
by Κ. Μ. Reese
many Superfund people does it take to change a light bulb?" The an swer is 14, one each to handle the following tasks: • Install a barrier around the darkened site to prevent danger to the public while a permanent solu tion is investigated. • Plan and implement a commu nity relations program to explain to the affected persons the problem, the steps being taken to resolve the problem, and to invite their input into the resolution process. • Prepare a site safety plan to en sure the safety of all entering the darkened site. • Prepare a quality assurance project plan to be sure that all lu mens measurements are properly taken and analyzed. • Investigate why the previous light bulb failed. • Establish lighting objectives for the site. • Evaluate alternatives, including different types of bulbs, the possi bility of permanent containment of the darkened site, and, of course, taking no action. • Select an alternative, docu mented in a record of decision. • Design the installation of the light bulb. • Competitively procure the se lected light bulb. • Install the light bulb. • Monitor the effectiveness of the installed light bulb and perform any required maintenance. • Write the final technical report on the project. • Document the deletion of the site from the Maintenance Priority List.
Department of obscure information • The energy content of 240 bot tles of table wine is about 1 million Btu. • The U.S. census of 1980 cost about $1.1 billion. • 25% of people in the U.S. aged 12 to 54 in the early 1970s apparent ly were myopic. • Mexico is now the largest for eign supplier of oil to the U.S.
