the team of scientists, led by Dr. Gary L. Peck of NCI. The researchers have seen no long-lasting problems, except for the thinning of scalp hair in one patient (and that stopped after three months). However, several patients suffered from skin and mucous membrane disorders (distinct from acne) during therapy. Lower doses may eliminate such problems, but another more serious problem still lurks. Because vitamin A is a teratogen in animals, "until proven otherwise, synthetic retinoids should be assumed to be teratogens," the scientists argue. Hence, they recommend that women "take contraceptive precautions" during and immediately after 13-ds-retinoic acid therapy. "The potential importance of this drug in the management of severe, treatment-resistant acne is great," they conclude. D
OCAW wins settlement against Cyanamid The Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers International Union has won a victory in its second confrontation with American Cyanamid in recent weeks. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago has ruled that the company must reinstate 441 union members who for the past three years have been locked out of Cyanamid's Fortier chemical complex at Westwego, La., near New Orleans. The resulting settlement will be expensive for Cyanamid. In fact. OCAW calls the settlement one of the largest on unfair labor practices in the history of U.S. labor. Technically, the court upheld an earlier order by the National Labor Relations Board by which Cyanamid must restore full
Grospiron: a great victory
back pay and benefits for the 36 months of the lockout. OCAW says that gross payment involved is expected to be as much as $20 million, including 7% annual interest. However, the amount will be reduced by any money workers earned during the lockout. The court decision essentially ends the long case, which started with a strike by the OCAW members nine months before the lockout began on Jan. 28,1976. Cyanamid does not intend to appeal the latest decision. "This is a great victory for the union," says Al Grospiron, OCAW president in Denver. "But most of all it is a victory for the OCAW members involved. They knew they were in the right, and they stuck together during the entire time of the lockout. Every time they won a case through the NLRB or through the courts, the company appealed. Obviously, we all are pleased that American Cyanamid has decided not to appeal again." OCAW and Cyanamid tangled in January on another matter involving five women at a Cyanamid plant at Willow Island, W.Va. The women claimed that safety standards and employment circumstances forced them to undergo sterilization surgery. Cyanamid says it discouraged this surgery (C&EN, Jan. 8, page 6). D
Octane booster gets official EPA approval The decision by the Environmental Protection Agency to grant a waiver allowing companies to use tert -butyl alcohol (TBA) as a blending agent to increase the octane rating of unleaded gasoline legitimizes, under the clean air amendments of 1977, a practice that has been going on for some time. EPA's waiver says that refiners can add TBA up to a 7% level, but the companies have been adding TBA since at least 1969—first at 2%, increasing to 5%, and since 1973 at a 7% level. However, the waiver gives hope to producers and potential producers of other blending agents, notably methyl tert -butyl ether (MTBE). The gasoline industry has been looking for some octane booster since lead additives ran into trouble. The most recent hope, methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT), was rejected by EPA. Besides TBA, there are some other blending agents waiting in the wings. One of these is MTBE; EPA has said it will rule on a possible waiver for this compound by Feb. 24. MTBE has a higher research octane number, 115,
TBA does not have the highest octane rating Research octane number
TBAa MTBEb Toluene Benzene Straight-run gasoline Catalytic cracker gasoline
108 115 110 106 70 92
a rerf-butyl alcohol, b Methyl terf-butyl ether.
than does TBA at 108. Research octane number is the octane rating of a fuel under laboratory conditions. In the U.S., the only manufacturer of gasoline-grade TBA is Oxirane, the 50-50 joint venture between Atlantic Richfield and Halcon. TBA is made as a coproduct with propylene oxide at the company's Daveport, Tex., plant. Shell Chemical has a small chemical-grade TBA facility in Martinez, Calif. Chemical-grade TBA, which is much more expensive than gasoline-grade TBA, is used as an ingredient in pharmaceuticals. Of the TBA output at Oxirane's plant, Atlantic Richfield takes 50% to make its Arconol gasoline blending agent. Oxirane is free to sell the remainder as gasoline-grade TBA. Mobil Oil is another company that has been using TBA in its gasoline. It is using TBA in some of its new premium unleaded gasoline that was introduced east of the Rocky Mountains in October. Other producers are using toluene and benzene to raise the octane numbers. Toluene has a research octane number of about 110 and benzene of about 106. One of the advantages of the agents with higher octane numbers is that lower-rated blending components can be mixed with them in raising gasoline octane. For example, for each gallon of TBA added to gasoline, about 0.8 gal of agents with a lower octane number can be blended in and still achieve elevated octane levels desired. The market for the blending agents is huge. Of all motor gasoline sold in the U.S. today, about 35% is unleaded. This percentage is increasing rapidly because newer automobiles use only unleaded gasoline. However, until additional production facilities for the blending agents are built, toluene and benzene will continue to be big contributors to higher gasoline octane. The ruling on TBA does provide one other advantage. Arco says that refineries using 7% Arconol or TBA will achieve a 7.2 to 13.9% increase in gasoline production over production without Arconol. D Feb. 19, 1979 C&EN
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