When Diana Virgovicova was 14 she travelled to India with her mother. She saw rivers so polluted they were black. “That’s when the idea was born,” she says. “I decided I wanted to spend my life cleaning dirty water.” Read more in CIC News.
chemistry
Chemical from shellfish could help keep avocados fresh
Food waste is a major problem in Canada. Nearly 60% is lost or wasted each year, and short-lived fruits and vegetables are a big part of that. So researchers at the University of Guelph are testing a new kind of edible coating to see if it can extend the shelf life of that most fickle […]
Cancer-causing chlorinated paraffins found in toys, despite ban
Chlorinated paraffins, a class of chemicals banned a decade ago for their cancer-causing effects, have been found in a wide range of household products in Canada, according to researchers at the University of Toronto. Read more in CIC News.
Slippery coating could help reduce microplastic shedding from clothes
Researchers at the University of Toronto have developed a way to help reduce one of the biggest sources of the plastic pollution choking our oceans: not single-use straws or bags, but tiny fibres shed from synthetic fabrics like polyester and nylon. Read more in CIC News.
PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ common in kids’ school uniforms
Products intended for children, particularly school uniforms, have been found to have high levels of PFAS chemicals, potentially exposing kids to levels of these substances that could have harmful health effects, according to a study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. Read more in CICNews.
What toxic chemicals might be leaching from leather goods and medical implants?
Many products, like leather gloves or sandals, spend a lot of time in close contact with our skin – and some, like surgical implants, are even underneath it. While these products undergo testing to ensure they are safe to use, they can still produce dangerous chemical by-products as they age and weather. Yolanda Hedberg, Canada […]
How microwaves could help fight COVID-19
When the COVID-19 pandemic started Khashayar Ghandi, a materials chemist at the University of Guelph, had already been experimenting with using microwaves to kill bacteria and other pathogens. So he decided to see if the technique could work on the virus as well, either as a treatment or a disinfectant. Read more in CICNews.
Building Blocks
From the origins of life to a new approach to pharmaceuticals, Moran Frenkel-Pinter explores the processes and potential of chemical evolution. For as long as she can remember, Moran Frenkel-Pinter has attempted to piece together puzzles both small and large such as how basic things function and how the world works. In a sixth-grade science […]
Political expatriate
US ‘national drama’ drives theoretical chemist to move to Canada. Theoretical chemist Alán Aspuru-Guzik was among many US citizens who talked of moving to Canada after the November 2016 election of Donald Trump as US president. Now, Aspuru-Guzik has made good on his declaration, and will begin a new post in July. He explains how […]
Canadian researchers do more with less
Growing participation in large international research projects may explain the drop in Canada’s index performance. Researchers at Canadian institutions are publishing more papers in top journals, but make up a smaller part of the collaborative teams that publish them, according to the latest data from Nature Index. Between 2012 and 2015, the number of publications […]