The meeting got off to a fairly good start, with 1700 registrants early in the week; the total may exceed 2000. More than 100 exhibitors of analytical equipment and services occupied some 200 booth spaces in Houston's Astrohall. The scientific program contained 104 papers, including a series of 12 plenary lectures. Ninety of the papers were presented by invited speakers from both Europe and the U.S., with the remainder screened from submitted papers. The program of invited speakers will be continued in the future, says Zlatkis, who is also professor of chemistry at the University of Houston. Next year, more time will be provided for contributed papers, mainly in the form of poster sessions running concurrently during the meeting, he adds. The Astrohall meeting site has been reserved for two future conferences. Expochem 80 will run from Oct. 6 to 9, and Expochem 81 from Oct. 12 to 15. Zlatkis speculates that the makeup of the technic&l program probably will change in the future. Various aspects of chromatography will remain a major part of the program, but not well over half as is the case this year. Part of the reason for the dominance of chromatography is that Zlatkis has for 14 years been the chairman of the organizing committee of the symposium on Advances in Chromatography, held in various cities of the world. •
Dow introduces hybrid polyethylene Another major advance has been made in the technology for making polyethylene, the most widely used plastic in the U.S. Two years after Union Carbide unveiled its revolutionary low-cost Unipol process for low-density polyethylene using lowpressure technology (C&EN, Dec. 5, 1977, page 21), Dow Chemical has disclosed not only a low-pressure process departure of its own but a new type of polyethylene as the product. The new plastic is competitively priced for immediate largescale commercial use. As the result of advances in catalyst and process research, Dow has come up with a hybrid polyethylene called linear low-density polyethylene and tradenamed Dowlex. This might be considered a hybrid of low- and high-density polyethylene, according to Dow's business manager for polyolefins, William Stavropoulos. The new polyethylene is linear, like 8
C&EN Oct. 29, 1979
high-density polyethylene, but it also has a significant amount of branching in its molecular structure like lowdensity polyethylene. Dowlex is targeted for some of the fastest-growing markets of both older polyethylene cousins—the container uses of high-density polyethylene and the shopping sack and bag market of low-density polyethylene. In addition, Stavropoulos says the new plastic will take on ethylene copolymer resins, polybutylene resins, and others. Product forms for Dowlex will include film, injection molding, rotational molding, and extrusion. Dowlex pricing at 40.5 to 55 cents per lb will meet the range of prices from 38.5 to 70 cents per lb for competing ethylene-based polymers and copolymers. Dow plans a fast buildup in plant
capacity to produce its new plastic. With 150 million lb-per-year capacity now operating at Freeport, Tex., Dow plans a second unit of the same size in Texas a year from now. Later units of 200 million lb each are authorized for Plaquemine, La. One is due for startup in fourth-quarter 1981, and the second in first-quarter 1982. With the total 700 million lb of new capacity for Dowlex, Dow's total polyethylene capacity in the U.S. will cross the 2 billion lb mark. Currently, the company has 450 million lb capacity for high-density and 1.02 billion lb for low-density polyethylene. Asked about Dowlex's cost relative to Carbide's Unipol process, Dow says that Dowlex will be competitive in process costs. The two developments could give this old plastic a lot of new life in the 1980's. •
Settlements reached in 1 txic chemicals cases Out-of-court settlements have been reached by two firms on cases involving contamination by toxic chemicals. Hooker Chemicals & Plastics and the state of Michigan have reached agreement in principle about cleanup measures at Hooker's Montague, Mich., plant site. Velsicol Chemical has settled 70 property damage claims arising out of contamination of animal food by the fire retardant polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) in 1973. The Hooker settlement still could be derailed. The Mackinac Chapter of the Sierra Club has moved to be admitted as a party to the suit for purposes of reviewing the agreement before ratification by the court. Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Michael G. Harrison has set a hearing on the motion for Oct. 29. Attorneys for the state will present evidence on why the agreement should be approved by the court. Velsicol's current agreement may put the firm close to the end of the road in settling cases resulting from the PBB incident. The 70 cases were settled for $2.6 million, forgiveness of the families' debts to farm cooperatives that sold the feed, and the families' waiving of personal injury claims. Previously, Velsicol, Farm Bureau Services (which had mixed the feed), and their insurers had settled about 700 property claims for some $40 million and waiving of claims for personal injuries. There remain 69 property suits, some including injury claims, and a suit by the state to recover expenses incurred handling the PBB situation. Hooker's Montague plant has 82,000 tons per year of chlorine ca-
pacity, 90,000 tons of caustic, 13,000 tons of hydrogen chloride, and a hexachlorocyclopentadiene facility. State officials report findings of chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, hexachlorobutadiene, hexachlorocyclopentadiene, octachlorocyclopentene, hexachlorobenzene, and mirex in nearby groundwater and White Lake. Under the settlement, Hooker will excavate 1 million cubic yards of contaminated soil for storage in an on-site clay vault; drill purge wells to intercept groundwater near the lake for purification by activated carbon; and guarantee a $2 million fund to keep cleanup systems running in case Hooker ever goes bankrupt or ceases operations. Sale, lease, transfer, or significant changes in use of the land are forbidden without written permission of the state's Attorney General. The Department of Natural Resources will continue to monitor cleanup measures by analyzing samples of water and plant and animal life for as many decades as necessary. Velsicol's involvement with the PBB situation grew out of its purchase of Michigan Chemical Corp. in 1976. In the summer of 1973,10 to 20 50-lb bags of PBB were inadvertently mixed with animal feed. By the time contamination was discovered and affected farms quarantined in 1974, PBB had made its way into beef, milk, and poultry. Families on farms involved are estimated to have consumed 1 to 20 grams. Persons who bought food directly from those farms or stores supplied by them are thought to have eaten 100 mg. All other people in the state may have been exposed to 1 to 10 mg. •
