HO O
PUBLIC HEALTH
Opioid epidemic continued
OH N
O Naloxone
ing for opioid alternatives. Some researchers hope to find molecules that relieve pain without activating signaling pathways in the body associated with addiction. The statistics on the U.S.’s opioid epidemic example, earlier this year Adapt Pharma Those who are worried about opioid adare stark: Since 1999, overdose deaths from started selling a naloxone nasal spray. diction but looking to relieve chronic pain heroin and opioid prescription drugs have Meanwhile, scientists have been searchhave turned to kratom, a drug derived from more than quadrupled, according to the the leaves of the Mitragyna speciosa plant. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Researchers this year determined that alkaPublic health officials and advocates conDeaths from overdoses of heroin and loids in the leaves bind and activate opioid tinued to battle this opioid epidemic in opioid pain medications continue to grow receptors in the brain (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016. in the U.S. 2016, DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b00360). Part of the fight has been over At the end of August, the Drug Number of overdose deaths expanding access to naloxone, Enforcement Agency announced 20,000 a drug that counteracts opioid it planned to temporarily list two ◾ Opioid pain relievers overdoses, for first responders alkaloids in kratom as Schedule I 16,000 ◾ Heroin and people who live with opioid substances, effectively banning 12,000 users. Naloxone acts as an anthe drug and plant. After outcry tagonist for opioid receptors, from users, scientists, and even 8,000 knocking heroin and other opioid some members of Congress, the molecules out of the receptors’ agency reversed its plans and 4,000 binding sites. solicited comments from the In recent years, drug compapublic through Dec. 1 to help 0 nies have developed easy-to-use make a final decision.—MICHAEL 1999 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 naloxone delivery systems. For TORRICE Source: CDC
Efforts to combat the wave of drug abuse focus on access to overdose treatment and opioid alternatives
Opioid epidemic
PETROCHEMICALS
Noble gas shortages averted, for now Users of helium and neon still get indigestion from recalling recent shortages of the two noble gases. But new investments this year by producers are likely to help stave off a repeat of earlier gut-wrenching experiences. In response to high helium prices, the industrial gases firm Linde said in May that it would construct a plant to extract helium from a gas field in South Africa. The facility is set to open in 2018. A month later, start-up firm Helium One said it was raising $40 million to expand exploration of a newly discovered helium field in Tanzania that scientists say could contain seven times the amount of the noble gas currently consumed worldwide each year. Today, helium is recovered as a by-product of natural gas extraction, but high prices
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could justify making the Tanzania project the first to produce helium on purpose, the firm says. Users also took steps to cut helium waste. In October, three scientific societies urged Congress to support academic researchers’ efforts to limit helium consumption. High prices and shortages also spurred investments in neon, which both enables neon lighting and is crucial to a photolithographic technique that packs transistors on semiconductor chips for phones and computers. In July, Linde again came to the rescue, saying it would spend $250 million to capture 40 million L of neon annually from its air separation plant in La Porte, Texas. Meanwhile, shortages eased somewhat because of conservation efforts.—MARC REISCH
$170
billion
The amount of U.S. investment that chemical companies have announced since the beginning of the decade due to cheap shale gas, according to the American Chemistry Council. The trade group attributes 275 projects to the new gas resource.
8.5
million metric tons
The amount of ethylene production capacity currently under construction on the U.S. Gulf Coast. About two-thirds of this capacity is set to come onstream in 2017. —ALEX TULLO
CREDIT: C&EN/SHUTTERSTOCK (ALL)
SUSTAINABILITY
