EDUCATION
19 foreign specialists gain insight into pesticide production and formulation
UNIDO sponsors pesticide program PRODUCTION. UNIDO scientists inspect bottling operation at Chevron Chemical Co., N.J., as part of in-plant training
Last week at the United Nations in New York, 19 pesticide scientists representing as many countries received certificates of award signifying their successful completion of a unique seven-week training program—the first interregional training program on industrial production and formulation of pesticides for developing countries sponsored by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). Funded by a special grant from the UN Development Program, the institute was administered by Syracuse University Research Corp. (SURC) in Syracuse, N.Y. The course was unique in that it was UNIDO's first U.S. program. "UNIDO's primary aim is to encourage new industries in developing nations/' explained Dr. Gunter Zweig, director of Life Sciences Division at SURC and one of the codirectors of the program. "The pesticide industry is relatively simple—it uses hoppers, grinders, packagers—but until this course there was no truly comprehensive course on pesticide technology·" The program is intended to acquaint men who are working in the pesticide field in their countries with a cross section of the American pesticide industry—synthesis, production, and formulation. The participants were selected from applications submitted by 45 countries. A three-man UNIDO panel made the final selection based on the applicant's academic background (in pesticides or a related field), knowledge of English, work experience in the pesticide field, and geographic location. An equitable geographic distribution was obtained with participants from South America, Africa, the Near and Far East, and eastern Europe. Although age was not a factor in the selection of the men, the group was a young one—with ages 26 to 51. 32
C&EN SEPT. 1, 1969
Indigenous. Each scientist was instructed to bring to the training program a specific pesticide problem from his own country. At the end of seven weeks, he was expected to have arrived at a feasible solution to that problem. To help him achieve this goal, the course was separated into three parts. The first three weeks consisted of lectures given by more than 20 pesticide specialists from industry, government, and universities, on such topics as: • Chemistry of herbicides, nematicides, and fungicides. • Chemistry of carbamate, chlorinated, and organophosphate pesticides. • Economics and production of pesticides. • Safety in plants and transportation. •Quality control, packaging, and government regulations. The participants studied and reviewed these subjects in terms of the specific conditions existing in the 19 countries. "We always stressed that pesticides are a marvelous tool, but they must be used wisely," said Dr. Zweig. Each lecturer distributed reading material related to his topic. "I have accumulated over 50 pounds of literature," claimed chemist Gheorgy Gheorghiev, who is in charge of pesticide work at the Institute of Hygiene Research, Bulgaria. "This will enable me to share what I have learned with my colleagues." Tours. After three weeks of intensive lectures, the foreign specialists set out on a three-week tour of pesticide production and formulation plants. Covering nine states from Wisconsin to Florida, they visited 15 chemical plants. They also visited Washington, D.C., for lectures by FDA and USDA representatives. Most participants agreed that the
tours, designed by SURC to correlate lecture material with practical experience, were the high point of the program. Expressing the feelings of many, Anton Vizovisek, who has worked in pesticides for 15 years, said that he learned something new from each plant he visited. At each plant, the participants toured the facilities and asked questions about specific and general processes and equipment. Keshava D. Sharma of India was impressed with the parathion packaging procedures he saw at Allied Chemical. "Everything was enclosed and the men wore gloves. These are safety measures I will introduce in our plants." Contacts. Not all of the participants were interested in production runs or specific equipment. Jorge Aramayo-Montes, who works in the petrochemical industry in Bolivia, made many contacts with people in the American pesticide industry. He is in charge of selecting a company to build a pesticide plant in Bolivia (they have no pesticide plants now). "Before I came to this program I had no idea how I would do this. This course was perfect for me." Dr. Nicky Beredjick, senior industrial development officer for UNIDO and the other codirector of the program, explained that the group saw the "nuts and bolts" of the plants. He added that "most plants went out of their way to show us processes that most people never see." The final week of the course was devoted to an in-depth evaluation session in which the participants discussed with the directors what they had gained from the program and offered suggestions for future programs. Almost all agreed that they had gotten invaluable information from the lectures and tours, and were ready to return to their countries with solutions to many pesticide problems.
In-depth evaluation session focuses on major accomplishments of training program Photo by Jerry Young
''There is no generalized course anywhere that gives the pesticide technology that you have learned.9' Dr. Zweig, SURC, corrector
"This was the first time I had seen equipment for dust formulation— now I can recommend what we should use in our plant"
". . . utilize the latecomer advantage—you do not want to build plants which will be white efephants."
Ben-Amotz, Israel
Dr. Beredjick, UNIDO, codirector
"/ wanted to see other formulating plants —to compare, to get new ideas . . . I got what I wanted from the tours and lectures." Abouzaid, United Arab Republic
"I was not much impressed with the safety I saw in some plants." Gheorghiev, Bulgaria
[expressing his feelings after three weeks of plant tours] ". - . not only professors but students are tired after field trips. " Staicu, Romania
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