The best article you'll read about illegal sand today

Via Scientific American, a fascinating article about the illegal sand trade: 

...Sand is any hard, granular material—stones, shells, whatever—between 0.0625 and two millimeters in diameter. Fine-quality sand is used in glass, and still-finer grades appear in solar panels and silicon chips for electronics. Desert sand typically consists of grains rounded like tiny marbles from constant weathering. The best sand for construction, however, has angular grains, which helps concrete mixtures bind. River sand is preferable to coastal sand, partly because coastal sand has to be washed free of salt. But coastal sand does get used, especially when builders take shortcuts, leading to buildings that have shorter life spans and pose greater risks for inhabitants. Such shortcuts worsened the damage from the disastrous February 2023 earthquake that shook Turkey and Syria, says Mette Bendixen, a physical geographer at McGill University who has investigated the effects of sand mining since 2017.

I was first alerted to sand mafias by Louise Shelley, who leads the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center at George Mason University. Shelley realized sand mining could be a natural evolution of organized crime when, five years ago, she was a guest at a NATO lunch conference held near the Pentagon. A top NATO official approached her to talk about illegal fishing off West Africa, saying it posed a serious threat to European and NATO security. They talked about how the low threshold for entry into an environmental crime such as wildlife poaching can draw criminal rings and then lead them into other types of organized environmental crime, such as illegal logging. Sand mining was another case in point. Shelley says in northwestern Africa there is a confluence of trafficking factors: the region offers entry to European markets, and its mosaic of fragile governments, terrorist groups and corrupt international corporations makes it vulnerable....

It seems to me that you should be able to track sand, kind of like you can come up with the basic impurity profiles of olive oil and the like. That said, I can't imagine the dense network of large construction companies and (lol) sand brokers really care about the provenance of such a basic raw material...

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 513 research/teaching positions and 72 teaching positions

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 513 research/teaching positions and 72 teaching positions. 

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

To see trending, go to Andrew Spaeth's visualization of previous years' list.

On January 31, 2023, the 2023 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 586 research/teaching positions and 635teaching-focused position.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? Here's the first open thread. Here's a link to the second, open thread. Here's a link to the current, third open thread. 

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List: 135 positions

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List has 135 positions. Find an error or have a question? Find an error? Contact @Heatherlec620 or @G_sribala. 

This is the link to the open thread. 

C&EN: Messer has the highest bid in auction of US government helium system

Also in this week's C&EN, this update to the goings on with the federal helium system (article by Craig Bettenhausen): 

Privatization of the US Federal Helium System limped ahead yesterday as the General Services Administration concluded its auction with only one realistic offer. The industrial gas company Messer, which currently operates the system on a contract basis, bid $353,350,000.

About 28 million m3 of federally-owned helium contained in the system was also for sale; Messer placed the only bid, offering $21 million. Helium consultant Phil Kornbluth writes in the industrial gas magazine Gasworld that the price offered for the helium itself is far below current market values. “I believe there is a good chance that it will be rejected,” he writes.

The anemic auction, which began accepting bids in July of last year, went forward despite protests and lawsuits from the industrial gas, chemical, semiconductor, medical, and aerospace industries. “The bid opening was anticlimactic, to say the least,” Kornbluth says. “But in line with my expectations.”

What I think is most interesting is this comment: 

Under the terms of the auction, the General Services Administration now has 130 days to make a decision, which could include rejecting the two bids. The agency also faces an ongoing lawsuit from Air Products. The industrial gas firm claims the sale will cause major disruptions to the US helium supply, which would violate the underlying legislation.

It is fascinating to me that no one is particularly enthusiastic (including Messer!) about the sale of this helium system. Also, I don't understand why Congress hasn't walked this back? 

Of all the historical ramifications of the 1994 Congressional election, this is definitely the one that was probably least predictable. 

C&EN: "Chemical earnings nose-dive in 2023"

In this week's C&EN, the latest comments on 2023 earnings from the major chemical companies, and it's not looking pretty... (article by Alex Tullo): 

Chemical companies’ 2023 financial results are starting to trickle in: with meek performance in Europe and China, a sluggish construction market, and industry-wide inventory destocking, it was an awful year for chemical makers. And company executives expect a turbulent start to 2024.

Dow, the first major chemical maker to report complete results, posted a 21.6% sales decline from 2022. Net income before unusual items dropped 64.9%.

Volume gains in Dow’s polyethylene and performance material and coatings businesses were more than offset by lower prices. “As we enter 2024, we expect near-term demand to remain pressured by elevated inflation, high interest rates, and geopolitical tension,” Dow chief financial officer Jeffery L. Tate said in a conference call with analysts.

BASF, the world’s largest chemical maker, had expected 2023 to be a terrible year, but the company revealed in a Jan. 19 preview that results would fall short of even its own dour expectations. Sales of $75.7 billion came in below the $79 billion–$82 billion that BASF had forecast in July. Its sales in 2022 were $94.7 billion.

Well, that's not really great news for hiring this year, but let's hope things turn around... 

Have a good weekend

This has been a fun week, and Friday is shaping up to be fun as well. I hope that you had a good week, and that you have a great weekend. See you on Monday! 

Salt in tea?

Via the New York Times, this news from friend of the blog Michelle Francl's new book: 

Can a simple cup of tea stir a dispute between two mighty countries on opposite sides of the Atlantic? Just ask the ragtag group of patriots who crudely disguised themselves and hurled chests of tea into Boston Harbor.

For a new book, an academic took a look at papers and texts covering more than 1,000 years to try to determine the best way to make a cuppa.

The conclusions of this author, Michelle Francl, a chemistry professor at Bryn Mawr College, included the expected (use tea bags only once) and the interesting (add warm milk after pouring the tea to prevent curdling).

But at least one of the recommendations was incendiary. Professor Francl advised adding a pinch of salt. Salt!

The theory is that sodium makes the tea taste less bitter.

Once again, in case you missed it: Salt. In your tea.

Professor Francl hastens to say she doesn’t dump a shakerful in every cup. The main reason to add salt is that it can rescue tea if the bag has been left too long in the water. “The sodium blocks the bitter receptors,” she said. “The tea tastes smoother and less bitter.” She advises adding just a pinch: “so little that you can’t taste the saltiness of it.”

If you read further, you'll see that a number of UK-based publications rather choked on this suggestion. I can't say I blame them for being bothered, but I think it makes a lot of sense from a chemistry perspective. I don't think I'll try it (I mostly don't drink tea enough to notice the bitter taste? And if I did, I'd think I'd just make a fresh cup. But who knows?) 

Job posting: chemist, FDA, San Francisco, CA

Via C&EN Jobs: 

The Chemist (Advanced Analyst) serves as an analytical instrumentation specialist within the San Francisco Human and Animal Food Laboratory (SANLHAF) where they are recognized as the expert, technical authority, and resource person in this specialization. Examples of highly technical chemistry instrumentation include—but are not limited to: Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), or Liquid Chromatography with Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).

Operates and maintains highly technical chemistry scientific equipment, same as or equivalent to the examples previously listed. Conducts studies and approved industry analytical procedures in various areas of agency concern to identify and quantify contaminants and adulterants in FDA-regulated products. May be required to troubleshoot the instrumentation such as hands-on maintenance and repair. Formulates and conducts research that evaluates new chemistry instrumentation and its applicability to the required analyses. Plans and performs the development of analytical methods in accordance with FDA needs and priorities, which requires a strong understanding of the ISO 17025 accreditation requirements as they apply to maintaining and verifying instrumentation performance. Performs verifications and validations of new chemistry methods. 

Applications will be accepted from qualified applicants. This position is being filled under an excepted hiring authority, Title 21, Section 3072 of the 21st Century Cures Act. The candidate selected for this position will serve under a career or career-conditional appointment and be paid under the provisions of the authority.  All qualified candidates should email letter of interest addressing your experience in the major duties and responsibilities of the position, detailed current resume, SF-50 (redacted for SSN and birth year, for federal employees only), and college transcript(s) (with foreign credentials evaluation, if applicable) to the ORA Executive Recruitment and Scientific Staffing Committee: ORAExecutiveandScientificRecruitment@fda.hhs.gov. Applications will be accepted through March 18, 2024. Applicants must reference: 4-Chemist-SF in the email subject line.

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

Who knew it was illegal to have 20% sulfuric acid in the UK?

Via Chemistry World (article by Maria Burke): 

A 29-year-old man living in Knutsford, Cheshire, has been found guilty of possessing hydrochloric and sulfuric acids without a licence. The case raises questions about the responsibilities of wholesalers selling regulated chemicals to members of the public.

Concentrated hydrochloric and sulfuric acids are regulated because they can be used in the illicit manufacture of explosives or to cause harm. In November 2018, it became a criminal offence in the UK to possess sulfuric acid above a concentration of 15% without a licence. The law was tightened to combat rising acid attacks across the country. In October last year, hydrochloric acid above 10% w/w was among several chemicals added to the list of regulated substances. Others include hexamine, phosphoric acid (above 30% w/w) and zinc phosphide.

In a raid last November, police found a ‘makeshift chemistry lab’ in the bedroom of Ashlea Henderson. According to police reports, this consisted of 21 unknown chemicals, both in and out of their containers, along with a range of equipment. As a precautionary measure the police evacuated over 100 households and called in the bomb squad. It was seven hours before residents could return to their homes.

It is interesting to me that the phenomenon of home chemists exists outside the United States (this is the first report I've seen in 10+ years.) Nevertheless, I had not idea such legal strictures existed in the UK. 

It seems to me that some enterprising small laboratory could make a bit of money by renting out a bit of space to local men who were interested in doing home chemistry, but I suspect that the legal risk would outweigh any revenue.  

Reuters: German chemical sector now hit by Red Sea Houthi conflict

Via Reuters, this news: 

FRANKFURT, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Germany's chemicals sector, Europe's largest, is starting to feel the pinch from delayed shipments via the Red Sea, becoming the latest industry to warn of supply disruptions that have forced some companies to curb production.

Crucial Asian imports to Europe ranging from car parts and engineering equipment to chemicals and toys are currently taking longer to arrive as container shippers have diverted vessels around Africa and away from the Red Sea and Suez Canal, following attacks by Yemen's Houthis.

..."My procurement department is currently working three times as hard to get something," said Martina Nighswonger, CEO and owner of Gechem GmbH & Co KG, which mixes and bottles chemicals for big industrial clients.

As a result of the delays, Gechem, which makes annual sales in the double-digit millions of euros, has lowered production of dishwasher and toilet tablets because it can't get enough trisodium citrate as well as sulfamic and citric acid.

The company is therefore reviewing its three-shift system, Nighswonger said, adding the ripple effects from the transport squeeze could remain a problem for the first half of 2024 at least. This is causing frank discussions with customers, Nighswonger added. "If we get three truck loads instead of six, each customer only gets part of their order quantity, but at least everybody gets something," she said.

Bigger speciality chemicals maker Evonik also said it was being hit by "short notice routing changes and delays", adding some ships had changed direction as many as three times within a few days.

The company said it was trying to mitigate the impact by ordering earlier and switching to air freight, which is considered a stopgap because some chemicals are not allowed to be transported by plane.

Sure wish the German chemicals sector got a better shake these days, but it sure doesn't seem like it...

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 511 research/teaching positions and 71 teaching positions

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 511 research/teaching positions and 71 teaching positions. 

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

To see trending, go to Andrew Spaeth's visualization of previous years' list.

On January 24 2023, the 2023 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 583 research/teaching positions and 63 teaching-focused position.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? Here's the first open thread. Here's a link to the second, open thread. Here's a link to the current, third open thread. 

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List: 134 positions

 The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List has 134 positions. Find an error or have a question? Find an error? Contact @Heatherlec620 or @G_sribala. 

This is the link to the open thread. 

C&EN: "Chemical industry should bounce ahead of the economy"

From this week's issue of Chemical and Engineering News (article by Alex Tullo): 

Economists expect the US economy to make a dreary showing in 2024, though it should manage to avoid a recession. That outlook sets a low bar for the chemical industry, and—with a challenging 2023 over—analysts predict that the sector should clear it.

The Federal Reserve and its counterparts in other countries have been raising interest rates to rein in inflation. But those moves have slowed key sectors of the economy, including new housing.

In its 2024 economic forecast, Morgan Stanley writes, “With inflation cooling, central banks around the world face a Goldilocks dilemma: If they are too easy with monetary policy, inflation could come roaring back; but if they keep policy too tight, it could trigger a recession.”

The investment bank is optimistic that policymakers will succeed. It expects US economic growth to remain positive in 2024, at 1.9%, compared with 2.4% last year. Economists’ consensus forecast is 1.0% growth for the year, Morgan Stanley says.

Goldman Sachs is also bullish. “The heaviest blows from monetary and fiscal tightening are well behind us,” the bank says in its outlook report. It puts the chance of recession at only 15%, well below economists’ consensus of 48%.

Predictions from economists at the American Chemistry Council (ACC) are more in line with the consensus. The ACC forecasts that growth will slip to 1.1% in 2024. The trade group expects housing starts—home construction is a key consumer of chemicals—to slide from an already-sluggish 1.39 million in 2023 to 1.35 million this year. It expects light-vehicle sales to be flat, at about 15.5 million units.

But against that backdrop, the ACC thinks the US chemical industry will perform better this year than it did in 2023. It forecasts a 1.5% increase in chemical output, excluding pharmaceuticals, versus the 1.0% drop in output last year.

Well, this sounds like good news to me. Here's hoping it is true. 

Have a great weekend

What a bonkers week. I don't know what the weather is like where you are, but it was not particularly pleasant for mine. At least we're not (yet) dealing with a burst pipe. I hope that you have a warm, dry abode and that you have a great weekend. See you on Monday!  

NYT: Trace elemental analysis to determine fake Kona coffee

Via the New York Times, this fascinating news about coffee farmers in Hawaii using chemistry to prevent counterfeiting of "Kona" coffee: 

...Mr. Corker said farmers had long been frustrated by the ubiquitous “Kona” beans sold by souvenir stores, coffee shops and larger retailers. They strongly suspected that the products were fake: They were far too cheap.

In 2013, a U.S. Supreme Court case caught Mr. Corker’s attention. The court found that Pom Wonderful, which sells pomegranate juice, was allowed to sue Coca-Cola for marketing a “Pomegranate Blueberry” juice that was in fact more than 99 percent apple and grape juices.

“The decision said, if you’re harmed by false labeling, you can bring a case for damages,” Mr. Corker said.

In 2019, he filed the lawsuit on behalf of Kona farmers against more than 20 companies. At the center of the complaint was a chemical analysis performed at a private lab in Salt Lake City.

James Ehleringer, a biologist at the University of Utah who ran the analysis, said that standard tests depended on the amount of water in each sample. That wouldn’t have worked on the variety of Kona products at issue.

“As you go from green beans to roasted beans, you’re changing the water content,” he said. So he borrowed an approach from geology that instead looked at the relative concentrations of rare, inorganic minerals in the beans. These ratios, he said, stay constant even at roasting temperatures.

After testing coffee samples from around the world as well as more than 150 samples from Kona farms, Dr. Ehleringer’s team identified several element ratios — strontium to zinc, for example, and barium to nickel — that distinguished Kona from non-Kona samples. “We were able to establish a fingerprint for Kona,” said Dr. Ehleringer, who described the general method in a 2020 study. “It’s the characteristics of the volcanic rock.”

Apparently Dr. Ehleringer's work hasn't been replicated by other labs, but it seems to me that the farmers of Kona coffee are incentivized to figure out and lock down what the chemical "terroir" of Kona coffee, and to harry the fakers out of business. 

Seville, OH chemical manufacturing facility suffers leak in 30,000 gallon tank of HCl

Via WOIO, this news: 

SEVILLE, Ohio (WOIO) - A chemical leak in Medina County prompted a shelter-in-place order Monday morning.

The Medina County Sheriff’s Office says the leak occurred at Bleachtech located at 320 Ryan Rd. in Seville. The initial shelter-in-place order was lifted around 4:30 p.m.

Here's the accompanying Ohio EPA statement

Around 10:30 a.m. a 30,000-gallon tank of hydrochloric acid at BleachTech LLC off Ryan Road in Seville began to leak due to a cracked pipe. The acid began flowing to the tank’s secondary containment unit, however that unit also has a leak. Crews are right now working to transfer the liquid from the secondary containment tank to individual storage tanks. It’s important to note that none of the material has left the property.

Right now, Ohio EPA’s on-scene coordinator is helping to facilitate efforts and crews are working to contain the leak as it is near a storm drain on property that leads to a nearby retention pond. There is currently not an immediate risk, but out of an abundance of caution, people living nearby are being asked to remain inside to avoid any potential interaction with fumes if conditions change.

That's a leak in a big tank - going to be some pretty significant preventative maintenance audits, I bet...  

Bloomberg: Global cobalt prices being pushed down by Chinese traders

Via Bloomberg: 

China’s battery industry has seized on a glut in the global cobalt market to push through a change in the way the commodity is priced.

A rapid expansion of cobalt mining in Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia has output racing ahead of demand, dragging down global prices. It’s also prompted a push by squeezed Chinese refineries to win changes in how cobalt is bought and sold.

Lithium and nickel also plunged along with cobalt in 2023 as supply expanded, China’s booming EV industry dialed down its breakneck pace of growth. The price slump has wreaked havoc, with new projects stalling, inventories ballooning and investor interest on the wane.

Oversupply is a particular problem for cobalt because it emerges almost entirely as a by-product of making copper or nickel. Indonesia’s booming nickel mines have already transformed the Southeast Asian nation into the world’s second-biggest cobalt producer after DRC. In the African nation, a major new source of cobalt is CMOC’s Kisanfu copper project.

So despite price volatility and a growing surplus, there’s unlikely to be any major mine shutdowns or targeted efforts to rein in cobalt production, according to Rystad Energy’s analyst Susan Zou.

“As long as the price of copper stays at decent levels, there will still be appetite for mining activity,” Zou added. “Gains in copper are still likely to offset some losses in cobalt.”

I didn't know that cobalt was a nickel mining byproduct.  

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 505 research/teaching positions and 69 teaching positions

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 505 research/teaching positions and 69 teaching positions. 

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

To see trending, go to Andrew Spaeth's visualization of previous years' list.

On January 17, 2023, the 2023 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 570 research/teaching positions and 60 teaching-focused position.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? Here's the first open thread. Here's a link to the second, open thread. Here's a link to the current, third open thread. 

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List: 134 positions

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List has 134 positions. Find an error or have a question? Find an error? Contact @Heatherlec620 or @G_sribala. 

This is the link to the open thread. 

Have a great weekend!

Well, a not-quite-overwhelming, but very busy week. I hope that you are doing well, and that you have a fun weekend planned ahead of you. Who knows what my weekend will look like? I surely do not. See you on Monday!