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Canadian Chemical News | L’Actualité chimique canadienneA Magazine of the Chemical Institute of Canada and its Constituent Societies | Une magazine de l’Institut de chimie du Canada et ses sociétés constituantes � Chemical Institute of Canada
October | octobre 2011
www.accn.ca
The debaTe over chemicals in cosmeTics
deTox for Tailings pondsreCOdINg dNA
OCtOber 2011 canadian chemical news 3
dna artisan Hanadi Sleiman tinkers with dNA to create smart delivery systems for therapeutics. By Melora Koepke
Table of conTenTs
Features
Tailings TerminationMurray gray is working to speed up the reclamation of land from oil sands tailings ponds.By Tyler IrvingPour obtenir la version française de cet article,écrivez-nous à [email protected]
lipstick Jungle Chemists and consumer advocates come out swinging in the debate over chemicals in household products. By Tim Lougheed
2014
Departments
from the editor
guest columnBy John C. Polanyi
chemical newsBy Tyler Irving
society news
chemfusion By Joe Schwarcz
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7
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3024
October | octobre vol.63, no./no 9
business
chemistry
chemical engineering
2011Ottawa Convention CentreOttawa, ONNovember 16-18
3rdCanadianSciencePolicyConference
Building BRIDGES for the Future of Science Policy in Canada
Science, Politics and Culture in Canada
Enabling Private Sector Innovation
Exploring the True North, Reflections on Northern Science Policy
Special Focus: International Year of Chemistry
Major Issues In Canadian Science Policy
Workshop on Nuts and Bolts of Science Policy
5 themes, 16 panels, 1 workshop,more than 60 invited speakers, 2 receptions, & 2 surprise events.
For more information or to register go towww.CSPC2011.ca Or write to us:[email protected]
THEMES
www.CSPC2011.ca
FrOM tHe edItOr
exeCUtIve dIreCtOrroland andersson, MCIC
ACtINg edItOr roberta staley
edItOr (on leave)Jodi di menna
NewS edItOrTyler irving, MCIC
CONtrIbUtINg edItOrTim lougheed
Art dIreCtION & grApHIC deSIgNKrista lerouxKelly Turner
SOCIety NewSbobbijo sawchyn, MCIC gale Thirlwall
MArketINg MANAgerbernadette dacey
MArketINg COOrdINAtOrluke andersson
CIrCULAtION michelle moulton
FINANCe ANd AdMINIStrAtION dIreCtOrJoan Kingston
MeMberSHIp ServICeS COOrdINAtOr angie moulton
edItOrIAL bOArdJoe schwarcz, MCIC, chairmilena sejnoha, MCICbernard west, MCIC
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recommended by the Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC), the Canadian Society for Chemistry (CSC), the Canadian Society for Chemical engineering (CSChe), and the Canadian Society for Chemical technology (CSCt). views expressed do not necessarily represent the official position of the Institute or of the Societies that recommend the magazine.
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Many accolades have been bestowed upon John C. Polanyi over
the years: Nobel Prize in chemistry, Companion of the Order of
Canada, member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada. There
is even a grant given out in his name: the NSERC John C. Polanyi
Award, recognizing advances in the natural sciences or engineering. The latest
honour for this University of Toronto professor comes from Canada Post,
which commissioned Tejashri Kapure of Toronto design group q30 to create
a stamp that would recognize Polanyi’s contributions to chemistry. Polanyi
reacted with typical humility and modesty to the news his visage would grace
a stamp, which is on Page 29. And that is one of the best things about Polanyi,
in addition to his prodigious talents and intellect, he is, quite simply, a nice
person, generous with his time and genuinely interested in people — a true
scholar and gentleman.
ACCN is chock full of news. We present the final installment of our
special five-part Women in Chemistry series, recognizing the International
Year of Chemistry as well the 100th anniversary of Madam Curie’s
Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Our featured researcher is Hanadi Sleiman, who is
doing marvelous things with DNA in her laboratory at McGill University. Her
work highlights the fact that Canadian scholars are — following in Polanyi’s
footsteps — committed to world-class research.
ACCN also delves into the murky world of bitumen waste tailings ponds
and the efforts being made by researchers like Alberta’s Murray Gray to clean
up this dirty by-product of the oil sands industry, which has given Canada’s
international reputation such a shiner.
Finally, a shout-out to participants at this month’s 61st Canadian Chemical
Engineering conference in London, Ont. Make sure to say “hello” and pass
along any story ideas you may have.
If you want to share your thoughts on any article write to Roberta Staley at [email protected]
Continuing Education for Chemical Professionals
Laboratory Safety course
October 24–25, 2011London, ONfor → Chemists and chemical technologists whose responsibilities include managing, conducting safety audits or improving the operational safety of chemical laboratories, chemical plants and research facilities.
Registration Fees* CIC Members $550Non-members $750Student Members $150*includes Laboratory Health and Safety Guidelines 4th ed.
For more information, visit www.cheminst.ca/profdev
OCtOber 2011 canadian chemical news 7
guesTCOLUMN
The science versus public policy paradox
n common with other scientific explorers, chemists need the freedom to be opportunistic. What is antici-pated is seldom what is most worth
discovering. This has profound implica-tions for public policy in regard to basic science. Loath though we are admit it, it is the scientist free to pilot his or her own vessel across hidden shoals into the unknown sea who gives the best value for money spent.
It is the chemist’s daunting task to figure out why some atoms attract and others don’t. This is a field extending from biology to geology; from the living to the dead. No individual chemist roams so far. We move a few tentative ant-footsteps from where our teachers left us. After that, we communicate with one another.
Communication depends on ques-tioning the best people and getting answers. This is as vital as is getting your calls returned in the wider world. And that depends entirely on who is calling. No organizing power can command it.
This personal element is why commu-nication, collaboration and the formation of teams in science are best left to the initiative of the scientist. Governments hamper scientific progress when they attempt to manage university science, rather than facilitating the business of exploiting discoveries once made.
It is an oddity that governments, which for good reason hesitate to manage the traffic in goods, are so keen to plan the traffic in ideas. The fault lies with scientists, who have failed to explain what they do.
Communication, on which the scien-tific enterprise so much depends, is a high art. What is being communicated is
by John c. polanyi
seldom ‘fact’ — it is opinion. That is why it needs the skill of the scientist, operating in a self-governing society. The society of scientists, more complex than that of ants, balances the need for freedom against order. Freedom is vital so that imagina-tion can take flight. But to achieve order, scientists subject themselves to rules. These rules, amazingly, are un-codified and enforced without police.
Publication is censored by anony-mous scientific juries, so as to protect the community from ill-founded reports. Such censorship is hazardous, hence is itself subject to constant scrutiny by the same community.
This intricate structure underlies the functioning of science. Its purpose is to flag what is important, set aside what is pedestrian and abjure what is fraudulent. That is a tall order, but the health of science depends on it.
Yet in many countries, Canada among them, public policy encroaches on this system. That the encroachment will do damage can be seen from the fact that it embodies the following paradox. We know that scientific talent is unevenly distributed. Consequently we require the scientific community to identify those whose work shows signs of excellence. These, the best of the best, are the rare commodity we seek for success in the nation’s science.
But then, paradoxically, governments cause us to do an about-face, treating excellence as a resource so abundant that we can select from among the most excellent those deemed by policy-makers to be the most ‘relevant.’ We thereby confuse a professional judgment with a seat-of-the-pants one.
For how good are we, scientists or non-scientists, at extrapolating from as yet unmade scientific discoveries to distant technologies? Not good at all. The reason we fail is that it is in the nature of discovery to surprise, while it is in the nature of bureaucracy to oppose surprise. What is a ‘plan’ if it is not to diminish the element of surprise? Nonetheless, we prescribe the dubious medicine of perceived relevance in ever-increasing doses.
If we should come to the conclusion that the current governmental manage-ment of university science is not making our industries more innovative, what should we do? Increase the required dose of ‘relevance’ as judged by some central authority?
That is what is being done in other parts of the world. As a result, university science suffers from shrinking horizons that trivialize it.
There is an opportunity here for Canada to do something far-sighted. Toss out the medicine. No longer tell the scientist what to discover. Instead, insist they make the biggest possible discoveries at the least possible cost, in the shortest possible time. Demand that they surprise us, recognizing that there is nothing in the world to beat the best science for the highest degree of relevance.
John C. Polanyi,HFCIC, is a chemistry professor at the University of Toronto and the
1986 recipient of the Nobel Prize in chemistry. He has written extensively on science policy, the control of armaments and peacekeeping.
8 l’acTualiTé chimique canadienne OCtObre 2011
chemical news
PoLICy and Law
chemical news
Molecules are often compared to children’s construction sets, where atoms of different sizes are connected by chemical bonds. Now the same principle has been applied to quantum dots and the result could lead to advances in solar cells and optical devices.
Quantum dots are crystalline nanoparticles that can absorb and reflect light at very specific frequencies based on their size. A team led by Shana kelley and ted Sargent at the University of toronto has managed to connect cadmium telluride quantum dots of different sizes to each other using dNA as a linker. “dNA is inherently a very programmable material and you can define what other molecule that sequence will bind to,” says kelley. “that allows us to build up pretty complex structures.”
the team builds up the dots using a one-pot process, where cadmium salts, tellurium salts, and dNA oligomers are all mixed together and heated to just below boiling. After a few minutes, cadmium telluride crystals begin to grow. the size of these quantum dots is controlled by terminating the reaction at the desired time. Meanwhile, the short dNA sequences start to bind to the surface. by changing the length of these sequences, the team can control how many of them attach; if the sequences are longer, there is less room and fewer of them bind.
by mixing dots of different sizes and valencies the team was able to create complex structures similar to the way atoms assemble to build molecules. the complexes absorb light at multiple wavelengths and transfer them to a single point, a feature that could be very useful in the solar harvesting or optical detection. “we have lots of ideas for interesting devices, so we're in a phase of trying to get creative with what we can build and what the assemblies should be able to do,” says kelley. the work is published in Nature Nanotechnology.
ArtificiAl molecules hArvest light energy
nanoTeChnoLogy
Cadmium telluride quantum dots (red, yellow and green spheres) connected by short strands of dNA can gather and transfer light energy from multiple wavelengths. this could lead to advanced materials for solar cells and other optical devices.
In late 2010, several scientific panels condemned the Alberta oil sands mining monitoring system, calling it inadequate. This past summer, Environment Canada released its plan for a revamped system, but ques-tions remain over how it will be implemented and who will pay for it.
The new plan standardizes methods for measuring and reporting indicators of environmental health and improves integration of the various components, such as water quality, air emissions and monitor-ing of biodiversity. As well, it includes mechanisms whereby abnormal measurements trigger additional studies and increased scrutiny.
At a news conference announcing the plan, Environment Minister Peter Kent estimated that implementation of the plan would cost $50 million per year, which he characterized as small compared to the $80 billion generated annually by oil companies. However, Cana-dian Association of Petroleum Producers spokesperson Travis Davies says that industry has had no formal consultation with the federal government over how the system will be funded. “We’re going to be more than constructive participants, but we need to wait until all the stakeholders can sit down around the table and hammer that out. We haven’t had those discussions yet,” Davies says.
Regardless of how the plan is implemented and paid for, the real proof of its effectiveness will be increased enforcement, according to Marc Huot, a policy analyst with the Pembina Institute. “If it shows that there are problems, and we know there already are some, will they commit to actually addressing those issues with the same effort that they’ve committed to addressing the monitoring system?” Huot asks. “That remains to be seen.”
oTTawa announces new oil sands moniToring plan
bILL bA
ker
OCtOber 2011 canadian chemical news 9
Canada's top stories in the chemical sciences and engineeringby Tyler irving
BIoTeChnoLogy
Tens of thousands of Canadians suf-fer from diabetic retinopathy, where unwanted blood vessels permeate the retina and cause vision loss. Currently, these vessels can only be removed with lasers or surgery. But an implantable, magnetic drug delivery device designed at the University of British Columbia could offer a new way of treating this pervasive condition.
Recent PhD graduate Fatemeh Nazly Pirmoradi designed the device, which looks like a tiny contact lens. It’s actu-ally a disc-shaped polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) chamber filled with docetaxel, a chemotherapy drug that inhibits cell division. The top of the chamber is a membrane made of PDMS impregnated with magnetic iron oxide particles, with a tiny laser-drilled hole in it.
When fluid fills the chamber, a small amount of the relatively insoluble docetaxel is dissolved. When exposed to a magnetic field, the membrane
magneTic implanT could halT vision loss
heaLTh
sweetly heAlthy mAple syrupCanadians love maple syrup, but the associated sugar rush can be hazardous to one’s health, especially for those living with diabetes or other metabolic disorders. but thanks to some clever chemical engineering, a new maple syrup product may soon alleviate those concerns.
the project is a collaboration between the National research Council, the University of guelph kemptville Campus and Natunola Health Inc., an Ottawa-based supplier of botanical ingredients for both cosmetics and food. the idea was to use natural enzymes to convert sucrose - the main sugar component of maple syrup - to its structural isomer, isomaltulose. because it has a different shape than sucrose, isomaltulose is not as readily digested by human enzymes, leading to a slower release of sugar into the blood stream and eliminating spikes in blood glucose.
In order to convert the sugars, wie Zou and his team at the NrC relied on two species of bacteria, Erwinia rhapontici and Protaminobacter rubrum. these plant pathogens, harm-
deforms, squeezing out the docetaxel solution like toothpaste from a tube. The chamber then refills and more docetaxel dissolves for the next dose. “It worked really well,” says Pirmoradi. “I was activating it every day for five weeks and it was a constant dose.” A second test, where the device was activated after sitting unused for seven months, again showed the same dose.
So far, the experiments have used permanent magnets to actuate devices
in test tubes; more data on biocompat-ibility is needed before the device can be tested in vivo. Still, Pirmoradi is optimistic. “It’s very simple. It doesn’t have a battery, wires or electronics, which allows for a smaller device. And by providing the drug locally, we avoid systemic toxicity,” she says. This means the device may be useful not only for diabetic retinopathy but other applica-tions such as cancer treatments. The work is published in Lab on a Chip.
less to humans, produce enzymes that convert sucrose into isomaltulose. the team immobilized these species in gels made of calcium alginate or carageenan and placed them in a bioreactor with concentrated maple sap from the sugar bush at kemptville Campus. the enzymes did the conversion efficiently and worked even when the bacteria themselves were killed before inoculation. the altered sap was then boiled into syrup in the traditional way.
Zou says the new product tastes great. “we made some cookies, butter, maple candy, all kinds of things. If you didn’t know, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.” there are still a few hurdles to jump, including approval from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and tests to determine the glycemic index (gI), a measure of how fast the body metabolizes the sugars in a given food. this past May, Natunola received a grant from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and rural Affairs to help with this process and Zou is hopeful that consumers can be enjoying new, low-gI maple products by 2012.
Canada's top stories in the chemical sciences and engineeringby Tyler irving
A new implantable device deforms in the presence of a magnetic field and could allow for targeted drug deli very with-out the need for multiple injections.
FAte
MeH
NA
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pIr
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10 l’acTualiTé chimique canadienne OCtObre 2011
chemical news
When a molecule binds with oxygen, it usually ends up behaving quite differently than it did before. So when Cathleen Crudden and her team at Queen’s University found a complex of rhodium that binds oxygen and changes colour while leaving its crystal structure intact, they knew they were on to something unique.
The original discovery was made by accident two years ago while studying the bonding properties of rhodium com-plexes of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs). When solutions of these compounds were exposed to oxygen in a fumehood, they changed from yellow to green, which prompted further investigations into their structure. “We were able to show that it binds oxygen, but it doesn’t actually oxidize,” says Crudden. “It stays as rhodium (I), which was really unusual.”
Building on this work, post-doctoral researcher Olena Zenkina and PhD candidate Eric Keske prepared Rh complexes featuring different NHCs. They were able to generate macroscopic crystals which change from
yellow to blue on exposure to oxygen, and then to brown on exposure to carbon monoxide. Remarkably, they do this without any change in their crystal structure. “One gas diffuses in, the other diffuses out and all the other atoms stay basically in the same place,” says Crudden. Such colour-changing compounds could be used in sensors to detect oxygen (for example to see if food has been contaminated by exposure to air) or carbon monoxide. The work is published in Angewandte Chemie.
envIronMenT
FundaMenTaLS
persistent orgAnic pollutAnts releAsed in the Arctic
colour-changing crysTals deTecT o2 and co
For years, scientists have speculated that warming temperatures in Canada’s Arctic could lead to the release of persistent organic pollutants (pOps) currently trapped in ice and frozen tundra. Now, a team from environment Canada has provided some of the first evidence that this is indeed happening.
pOps are a broad class of organic chemicals that are bioaccumulative, resistant to degrada-tion and toxic to organisms. they arrive in the Arctic in vapour form or attached to air-borne par-ticles, travelling on air currents from further south. Once they deposit, the cold temperatures make it difficult for them to evaporate once more. “we know that these chemicals are stored in the Arctic,” says environment Canada’s Hayley Hung, one of the co-authors of the study. “what we don't know is how much,” Hung says.
In general, the concentration of pOps in Arctic air has been decreasing since the early 1990s when measurements first began, because most western countries have banned the use of these chemicals. Against that overall trend, a release of pOps due to rising temperatures
OLeN
A ZeN
kIN
A/er
IC keSk
erhodium complexes of N-heterocyclic carbenes form macro-scopic crystals that are able to bind to gases like oxygen and carbon monoxide without changing their internal structure or oxidation state. the distinct colour change could be used in sensors to detect these gases.
OCtOber 2011 canadian chemical news 11
Canada's top stories in the chemical sciences and engineeringby Tyler irving
In order to block the action of an enzyme, it’s usually necessary to create a molecule that binds to its active site. But a group of research-ers at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) have come up with a different strategy — they simply throw out an anchor.
STAT3 (from Signal Transduction and Activation of Transcription) is a protein that activates certain genes involved in cell differentiation, proliferation and survival. In cancer cells, this protein’s pathway is permanently turned on and turning it off is a big goal for drug makers. “Despite its clinical relevance to cancer, there is no easily targetable site on the surface of the protein and no STAT3 drug in the clinic,” says Patrick Gunning, professor in the Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences at UTM.
The team reasoned that because STAT3 is a macromolecular signalling protein that shuttles between the cytoplasm and the nucleus, preventing it from moving freely throughout the cell would be enough to block its action. They made the anchor by attaching a peptide sequence known to bind to STAT3 to various hydrophobic molecules, which are attracted to the non-polar environment of the cell membrane. The hydrophobic molecule that worked best turned out to be cholesterol. “We were quite amazed by the im-ages that we got. We see complete anchorage of the protein to the cytosolic membrane,” Gunning says.
The team is now working on replacing the peptide binding sequence with a more robust molecule that will not degrade in the body. Gunning notes that the new strategy could work on other enzymes as well. “If we can inhibit any protein’s movement within the cell using a protein-membrane anchor, then we have the poten-tial to stop its function and reverse its aberrant role.” The work is published in Angewandte Chemie.
BIoCheMISTry
protein-membrAne Anchors offer new cAncer strAtegy
would likely be small and hard to spot. the team solved this problem by using statisti-cal methods to remove the general declining trend from the pOp concentrations mea-sured in the Arctic each year, leaving only the residual. this value showed a gradual increase over time since 2000, evidence that these chemicals are in fact being released.
Showing that the process is underway is one thing, but predicting the potential impacts on human health is much more complicated. For one thing, nobody really knows how much of each pOp is currently sequestered in the Arctic. Moreover, climate change will affect human health in other ways. “It might change the food web, which would subsequently affect the bioaccumulation of pOps,” Hung says. “the remobilization of pOps is only one factor out of many. this is the beginning of a story, rather than the end.” the work is published in Nature Climate Change.
protein-membrane anchors have two
domains; a ’key’ do-main which binds
to some part of the target molecule,
and an ’anchor’ domain which is attracted to the
non-polar cell membrane. A team
from the University of toronto
Mississauga is using this strategy to block the StAt3
signalling pathway, which is implicated
in c ertain cancers.
pAtr
ICk
gU
NN
INg
IchIkIzakI Fund For Young chemIstsThe Ichikizaki Fund for Young Chemists provides financial assistance to young chemists who show unique achievements in basic research by facilitating their participation in international conferences or symposia.
eligibility:• be a member of the Canadian Society for Chemistry or
the Chemical Society of Japan;• not have passed his/her 34th birthday as of December
31 of the year in which the application is submitted; • have a research specialty in synthetic organic chemistry; • be scheduled to attend, within one year, an interna-
tional conference or symposium directly related to synthetic organic chemistry. Conferences taking place in January to March of each year should be applied for a year in advance in order to receive funding in time for the conference.
Deadline: december 31, 2011
For more details:
www.chemistry.ca/awards
2012awardsCanadian Society for Chemical engineering
Nominations are now open for the
deadlinesThe deadline for all CIC awards isdecember 1, 2011 for the 2012 selection.
Nomination procedureSubmit your nominations electronically to: [email protected] Nomination forms and the full terms of reference for these awards are available at www.chemeng.ca/awards.
Canadian Society for Chemical engineering
do you know an outstanding person who deserves to be recognized? act now!
bantrel Award in design and Industrial practice
d. g. Fisher Award
process Safety Management Award
r. S. Jane Memorial Award
the Syncrude Canada Innovation Award
14 l’acTualiTé chimique canadienne OCtObre 2011
n a world populated with highly processed chemical consumer products, each of us
encounters a variety of unknown or questionable chemicals on a daily basis. Those
encounters can be especially intimate when it comes to cosmetics. Every day millions
of people apply these agents to delicate body parts such as eyelids or lips, raising the
possibility of interactions through the skin that could continue over an extended period.
The implications of these interactions have come under intense scrutiny over the past
decade. The widespread popularity of products such as eye shadow or lipstick makes it easy to
regard them as chemically benign. However, that does not mean they are chemically inert, as
individuals who respond to them with an allergic reaction can testify. Such overt responses tend
to be relatively rare, but some observers want to consider the prospect of broader, more subtle
and significantly more hazardous effects.
Entire books have dwelt on this theme, emblazoned with provocative titles announcing their
intentions. In 2007, former reporter and newspaper publisher Stacy Malkan of San Francisco
published Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry. In the book, Malkan details
the launch of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics in the United States, a grassroots consumer
movement to persuade the leading companies in the industry to reduce or eliminate some of
the ingredients in their products. A similar initiative was subsequently taken up in Canada by
former Discovery Channel presenter Gillian Deacon, who wrote There’s Lead in Your Lipstick.
After exploring the gamut of identifiable toxins that are linked to cosmetics and personal
hygiene products, Deacon highlights lesser-known alternatives that feature much shorter and
consumer advocates slam what they call a lack of government regulations pertaining to chemicals in cosmetics. some call this
fear mongering, pointing to a lack of data indicating that the chemicals in makeup, body lotion or sunscreen pose a threat to human health.
by Tim lougheed
OCtOber 2011 canadian chemical news 15
business | CONSUMer SAFety
simpler ingredient lists, in contrast to the offerings that currently dominate the
cosmetics marketplace.
The tone of these books is blunt and occasionally strident. They portray a
manufacturing sector that has been graced with a light burden of regulation,
despite the fact that its member firms deal in arcane, multi-syllabic chemicals
that are known to do harm to human health. Moreover, this aspect of the industry
tends to be eclipsed by the accompanying aura of glamour and sophistication. “It’s
not that consumers don’t value safe cosmetics, judging by the number of beauty
ads that emphasize the words healthy, clean, pure and natural,” writes Malkan.
“But with no standards in the industry, the commercial advantage goes to compa-
nies that spend the most money on ads to convince consumers their products are
pure — regardless of what’s actually in them.”
Deacon, for her part, underscores the physical damage that could be wrought by
cosmetics. Referring to the use of under-eye night creams, for example, she explains
that the thin, porous skin around the eyes sits directly atop blood vessels that can
serve as conduits to the body’s vital organs. In this way she casts a pall over what
should be one of life’s happier moments, the venerable ritual that sees mothers
introduce their daughters to the use of such products. “And yet without being selec-
tive about cosmetic ingredients,” writes Deacon, “they inadvertently begin a process
of loading their precious daughters with toxins that do the very thing no mother
would ever want done to her child — make her unwell.”
Both authors are eager to link the intricate chemical cocktails found in cosmetics
to known ailments, especially cancer. Readily accessible cosmetic ingredient data-
bases offer up hundreds of candidates to consider, such as triethanolamine (TEA),
which is found in three distinct types of commonly used products: sunscreen,
body lotion and liquid makeup. “I delve deeper in the database and find that
the chemical (spelled 32 different ways on product labels) forms carcinogenic
nitrosamine compounds if mixed with other ingredients that act as nitrosating
agents,” writes Malkan. “It is also a skin sensitizer and possibly toxic to the lungs
and brain.” Malkan concedes that the amount of this agent found in any given
batch of cosmetics can be all but undetectable. But she adds that the cumulative
exposure — and thus the risk — from multiple sources could wind up being far
greater. “Triethanolamine, I learned in my research, is also used in floor polish,
pool cleaners, rug cleaners, laundry detergent, toilet bowl cleaners and other
products I have been exposed to on the day I used the three beauty products. The
risk assessment didn’t account for that. It also can’t tell me what happens when
TEA is mixed in combination with the 16 other potential carcinogens, two dozen
endocrine disruptors and other toxic substances in my daily routine. Few if any
of the chemicals in my cosmetics have been tested in mixtures to understand the
long-term health impacts of chronic use over time.”
Joe Schwarcz, for his part, rejects this depiction as fear mongering. The McGill
University chemist has made a second career out of soothing public panic over the
chemicals around us. Schwarcz regularly harkens back to the Renaissance scientist
Paracelsus, who is regarded as one of the founders of modern medicine. Among the
16 l’acTualiTé chimique canadienne OCtObre 2011
Government makeup tips
Health Canada’s current regulations for cosmetics have deep legislative roots. they date from the Adulteration Act of 1906, which subsequently became the Food and drugs Act in 1920. As the use of chemical processing burgeoned in the decades after the Second world war, the legislation diversified to deal more specifically with particular industries. this process extended to personal care products in 1977, when the existing Cosmetics regulations emerged.
this legislation has been amended many times since then, most recently in 2004. the latest change imposed a requirement on manufacturers to label all of the ingre-dients in their products according to a common code known as the International Nomenclature for Cosmetic Ingredients. this standard system is intended to make it easier for consumers and scientific investigators to identify agents that might be of concern, wherever in the world those agents might be found.
Among the most significant distinctions of Health Canada’s approach to chemical-based risks is a consideration of exposure. while the european Union’s regulatory framework simply labels any compound with negative health effects as a hazard, Canadian authorities will consider how likely people are to encounter these compounds and how much of that compound they will encounter. If these interactions are sufficiently low, as they tend to be in the case of many cosmetics ingredients, then even the deadliest carcin-ogen can be deemed to pose little or no risk.
while that approach may not satisfy observers who would prefer to banish all traces of such chemicals from their lives, Health Canada does nevertheless publish all potentially hazardous materials in its Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist. this data-base, which is updated several times a year, ensures that both companies and consumers are aware of the substances that could be problematic, if individual exposure becomes sufficient.
most important precepts established by Paracelsus was the principle that
there are no inherent poisons; instead, it is the dosage of any particular
agent that makes it poisonous.
That principle is crucial to the way Schwarcz approaches prominent
concerns about chemicals found in everyday products such as cosmetics.
“Without a doubt, the scariest allegation is that cosmetics may contain
carcinogens,” he acknowledges. “Indeed, some do. It is important to
realize, though, that the definition of a carcinogen is a substance that
is capable of causing cancer in some animal at some dose. Dioxane, for
example, is found as an impurity in some cosmetics and is listed as a
carcinogen because it triggers the disease when fed to rodents. Amounts
in cosmetics, however, are vanishingly small, known to be present only
because of the availability of extremely sensitive detection techniques.”
Those same techniques can reveal the carcinogenic qualities of even the
healthiest foods. Malkan confronts this apparent paradox as she recounts
a presentation by University of California professor of biochemistry and
molecular biology Bruce Ames, who pointed to assessments that indicate
the extremely limited, but still measurable, cancer-causing potential of
extremely low levels of synthetic chemical residues found in staples such as
carrots or apples. Even so, Malkan and others remain adamant that cosmetic
manufacturers should be forced to account for the content of their products.
In fact, that disclosure does take place, although the particular regula-
tory regime can vary from one country to another. The European Union
has erected one of the world’s most comprehensive legislative structures to
deal with cosmetics, resulting in outright bans on some constituent chemi-
cals, as well as products that might be commercially available elsewhere.
In the U.S., this responsibility generally falls under the federal purview
of the Food and Drug Administration, but in 2005 the state of California
highlighted weaknesses in this oversight by imposing its own separate set of
more stringent stipulations to inform the public of any hazardous materials
found in cosmetics. California’s move subsequently prompted a revision
of the federal regulations that are currently working their way into revised
legislation that specifically deals with the safety of cosmetics.
In this country, such questions of safety fall to Health Canada, which
demands specific background information before a cosmetic product
can be sold in this country. Elizabeth Nielsen, who used to work for
that department but has since become an independent consultant
and representative of the Consumers Council of Canada, points out
that this information does not pertain to the safety of the product.
Under Section 30 of Health Canada’s Cosmetic Regulations, manu-
facturers are only asked for the purpose of a product, its physical form,
its ingredients and the concentration of those ingredients. “Health
Canada does not require the manufacturers to provide it with the
results of toxicological and other safety tests prior to bringing a product
to the market,” she says.
OCtOber 2011 canadian chemical news 17
Even more significant to Nielsen is the paucity of scientific data on exposure
and long-term health effects of the various ingredients that appear at extremely
low levels. Some enforced limits do exist, especially in the case of the metals lead,
arsenic, cadmium, mercury and antimony, which are restricted to set measures
of parts per million. In the absence of direct evidence to justify their elimina-
tion, agents like TEA or dioxane continue to appear in marketed goods, although
Health Canada does publish this fact on a Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist. “As far as
I am aware, very little or no research has been carried out to determine the effect
of persistent low doses of substances in products like cosmetics,” says Nielsen.
That shortcoming was revealed in a report on metals in cosmetics, which drew
a great deal of media attention early in 2011. Issued by an interest group called
Environmental Defence, the report offered up case studies of the amount of partic-
ular metals that particular individuals would find in their daily cosmetic regime. A
comprehensive bibliography was intended to support the assertion that these ingre-
dients posed a clear health hazard. However, more than one-third of the 71 entries
on this list consist of links to American and Canadian government websites, while
others refer to mass media reports. Even where references to peer-reviewed scien-
tific journal articles occur, many of them only describe analytical techniques that
might be used to study low-level exposure to cosmetic ingredients, rather than docu-
menting any cases of such exposure. In fact, no more than a handful of articles
actually deal with such cases, and even these may not be immediately applicable to
the circumstances of cosmetics users in North America. For instance, several articles
deal exclusively with the use of surma, an antimony-based eye shadow that is tradi-
tionally used on children in North Africa and the Middle East.
Schwarcz, for his part, insists that cosmetic firms have a vested interest in ensuring
that their wares do not harm the health of customers. Despite a popular perception
that leaving industries to police their own standards is the equivalent of letting the
fox guard the henhouse, he maintains that companies are sensitive to the concerns
voiced by observers like Malkan and Deacon. In the U.S., for example, members of
an industry trade association known as the Personal Care Products Council have been
conducting this kind of research since 1976, using procedures developed with the Food
and Drug Administration and the Consumer Federation of America. The results of
this collaboration, known as the Cosmetic Ingredient Review, include safety assess-
ments that are published in the International Journal of Toxicology.
Nevertheless, industry critics could well remain unsatisfied by this organization’s
track record. By the time California was introducing its legislation in 2006, for
example, one account of this development noted that the Cosmetics Ingredient
Review had considered 1,286 agents over the previous 30 years and just nine of
them had been formally removed from use in products.
In the meantime, even more tantalizing aspects of this debate are emerging.
Schwarcz puts forward a proposition that is likely to prove to be even more unsat-
isfactory to critics of the cosmetics industry: small quantities of toxic agents might
actually benefit human health. Dubbed hormesis, this idea has been championed
in the peer-reviewed scientific literature by University of Massachusetts toxi-
cologist Edward Calabrese. Not surprisingly, his work has generated some lively
debate. “It does make biological sense,”
observes Schwarcz. “When an organism
is attacked by poisons, it responds by
unleashing a variety of molecules,
mostly enzymes, which attempt to repair
the damage. If the amount of toxin is
minute, there may be an overreaction,
with more defense chemicals being
churned out than needed, leaving an
excess to deal with the molecular insults
of everyday life. It may yet turn out that
the apocalyptics who warn us of the
perils of exposure to parts per trillion of
toxic chemicals are on the wrong track.”
Along with the emergence of this
new perspective on chemical exposures,
Nielsen sees the very definition of “low-
level” moving to an entirely different
plane. She suggests that a host of new
problems could be posed by the growing
use of agents that are being manipulated
at the nanometre scale. And if little
has been revealed about the impact of
conventional chemical use over the past
few decades, even less is known about
the health effects that might ensue from
recently launched nanotechnological
methods. Nielsen has conducted surveys
on consumers’ knowledge and concerns
about nanotechnology. The results of
these surveys reveal the public’s suspi-
cion and skepticism toward the use of
nano-scale materials in cosmetics. For
her, this attitude is an extension of the
disappointment she has heard individ-
uals express when they learn about the
limitations of Canada’s regulations on
cosmetics. “Most consumers believe that
the government looks at every product
before it is sold,” she explains. “Most
believe that their interests are being
looked after. They will react with disbe-
lief, however, when told that no safety
assessment is carried out on cosmetics
before they are allowed to be sold.”
Do not resize or alter ad in any way. Please contact us with any concerns, 780.424.7000.
The Department of Chemistry at the University of Alberta invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position in Inorganic or Materials Chemistry. The starting date is July 1, 2012. The rank for this position is directed at the Assistant or Associate Professor level. Outstanding individuals with research interests in areas related to Inorganic Chemistry that complement current expertise in the department are encouraged to apply.
The Department has vibrant research programs encompassing most areas of modern chemistry including structure, dynamics, spectroscopy, synthesis, materials, instrumentation and analysis (www.chem.ualberta.ca). An outstanding research environment is offered with access
to excellent support facilities.The candidate will have a
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20 l’acTualiTé chimique canadienne OCtObre 2011
Can research, innovation and clever chemical
engineering overcome the environmental chal-
lenges facing Alberta’s oil sands industry? Murray
Gray believes they can. Gray is the scientific
director of the Centre for Oil Sands Innovation (COSI),
a multi-million dollar network dedicated to funding break-
through research that will eliminate oil sands tailings ponds
and greatly speed up the reclamation of land disturbed by
mining operations. Based at the University of Alberta,
COSI celebrated its fifth anniversary of operation this year.
ACCN spoke with Gray to find out more about his vision
for sustainable oil sands.
accn Is there such a thing as sustainable oil sands development?
mg If you look at the most widely accepted definition
of sustainability from the United Nations’ Brundtland
Commission, it talks about sustaining communities and main-
taining a long-term natural environment for local people. It
doesn’t preclude use of fossil fuels. From that perspective,
what you’re looking at is not to make the oil sands renewable,
but to minimize the impact on the local environment.
One of the biggest problems that the industry faces right
now is with tailings. The current practice is to accumulate
wet tailings materials until the mine is played out and then
put that material back into the mine site. That gives a very
long delay time between when the mine first starts operation
and when serious reclamation work can begin. Our biggest
single research program is focused on trying to extract the
bitumen without using water. It would essentially eliminate
this problem; you still have the sand and the clay, but if it’s
dry it can go back in the mine immediately.
accn How do tailings form in the first place?
mg Bitumen is a naturally occurring, highly biodegraded
crude oil. The current mining operations extract this from
AQ& murray gray is leading a research network that seeks to eliminate tailings ponds of bitumen waste from the northern alberta landscape.
by Tyler irving
tailings termination
the oil sands by digging up the sand and mixing it with warm
water. The bitumen is melted as it warms up, then it releases
from the sand and attaches to air bubbles. That material is
collected as a froth, which is then cleaned up to remove the
water and mineral particles and sent for upgrading.
When you mix the oilsand ore with water you get sand,
which is no problem, but you also take any clay that’s in
the ore and disperse it. Those fine clay solids do not easily
release water, so they form a huge volume of water-rich
sludge which does not re-compact nicely. You can’t just
put sludgy paste back into the mine so it accumulates in
tailings ponds over the mine’s life span. As well, some
of the components of bitumen dissolve in water at low
concentrations and those are toxic to aquatic organisms.
At present, the water is intensively recycled. In the future,
some of that water will have to be released and so there’s an
interest in technology for treating it.
accn what kind of research are you focusing on to deal with this problem?
mg Most of our work is on the fundamental properties of the
oil and how it interacts with clays. One major problem is
that high molecular weight molecules in the bitumen bind
to each other, forming aggregates. This aggregation is very
important in terms of how the oil dissolves and how it releases
from minerals. We’re working on understanding the basic
molecular structure, how these molecules aggregate and how
they stick to surfaces.
On the non-aqueous extraction side we have several proj-
ects looking at using different solvents to extract material
instead of using water. It’s a two-step problem: you want to
get the bitumen away from the mineral material and then you
have to clean up the bitumen to remove any suspended solids.
We’re looking at a whole range of solvents but whatever ones
we use, we have to be very sure of what happens if they go
back into the environment.
OCtOber 2011 canadian chemical news 21
chemical engineering | OIL SANdS
accn people have been working with bitumen for more than 60 years, why do we still need fundamental research?
mg Bitumen is an extraordinarily
complex mixture that defies proper
analysis . It contains millions of
different components and that’s a
conservative estimate. The molecular
weight isn’t all that high, in the range
of 1,000 to 3,000 daltons, but the
aggregation makes measuring proper-
ties and doing chemical analysis very
challenging. We’re making progress:
we have new tools that we can use to
probe interfacial behaviour and we can
use techniques from nanotechnology
to better understand what’s happening
with these molecules at interfaces. But
we’re still not there and, as it stands,
nobody in the world has the capability
of completely analyzing one of these mixtures.
Another factor is a big change that has come from the
industry side. When the oil sands mining industry started,
nobody was too worried about wet tailings. Now, the compa-
nies understand that there’s a huge cost associated with that
practice. When you change the ground rules, you open up a
lot of possibilities for new approaches. So techniques that
were rejected in the past as too expensive now have tremen-
dous potential.
accn what prompted the creation of the Centre for Oil Sands Innovation?
mg The centre was initially started in partnership with
Imperial Oil, which wanted new technologies because the
current practices of the industry were not sustainable enough.
They committed $10 million over a period of five years.
They’ve subsequently renewed that commitment for the next
five years, so they’ve committed $20 million in total.
After that, we were able to get two provincial agen-
cies on board: Alberta Ingenuity and the Alberta Energy
Research Institute, which has since been restructured as
Alberta Innovates, Energy and Environmental Solutions.
The commitment from Alberta Ingenuity was in the range
UN
Iver
SIty
OF
ALb
ertA
, FA
CULt
y O
F eN
gIN
eer
INg
of $7 million over five years and the commitment from
Alberta Energy and Research Institute was in the range of
$10 million over five years.
accn How has the centre evolved over the past five years?
mg As we expanded the program and developed major
initiatives looking at non-aqueous extraction and new tech-
nologies for upgrading, we quickly realized that we couldn’t
just focus on one group of people at one university. So we
started organizing projects with collaborating universities.
One example is Keng Chou at the University of British
Columbia, who’s using unique spectroscopic techniques to
understand the structure of water, solvents and bitumen at
the interfaces with solids like silicon dioxide, which mimics
some of the minerals of the oil sands. By using non-linear
spectroscopic techniques, he can cancel out the signals
from the bulk liquid and look only at the material that’s
Murray gray, scientific director of the Centre for Oil Sands Innova-tion, holds up a sample of cracked bitumen that is being prepared for injection into a gas chromatograph. Understanding the funda-mental properties of bitumen and its interactions with sand and clay could help industry deal with the problem of wet tailings.
22 l’acTualiTé chimique canadienne OCtObre 2011
immediately at the interface. Given that our major objec-
tive in recovering bitumen is to get it off of clay and sand
surfaces, that kind of scientific insight is very important.
Another is Juliana Ramsay’s group at Queen’s University.
They’re using microorganisms to degrade some of the soluble
components that go into the water in the oil sands. A tiny
fraction of the bitumen will dissolve in water and those
components that dissolve are toxic to aquatic organisms. But
they’re also biodegradable, so the team is trying to develop
novel bioreactors and active bacterial cultures that will
rapidly degrade those components.
accn How do you expect your industrial and government partnerships will change?
mg The big change over the past number of years has been a
growing realization of just how big an issue the tailings ponds
are for the oil sands industry. Earlier this year, all of the oil
sands companies signed an accord in which they agreed to
share all of their technology, data and research and develop-
ment on trying to deal with wet tailings. As a result, one of
the new initiatives that we’re starting is a theme on aqueous
tailings in partnership with Imperial Oil and all the other oil
sands companies. That’s a new initiative and it’s part of our
proposal to the government of Alberta to renew funding for
our centre for another five years.
accn what do you say to skeptics who doubt the industry’s ability to make good on sustainability?
mg The environmental groups typically don’t like big
industry so there’s a political component there. But there
are also a number of misconceptions, for example, the issue
of acid mine drainage. In other mines, the extraction and
milling of the ore pulverizes minerals that contain sulphur.
The sulphur oxidizes and is released into ground water as
acid, which then leaches out heavy metals. That whole cycle
is irrelevant in the oil sands; the kinds of components in the
tailings are radically different from what you get in any other
mining operation. Yet people have written a number of times
about the toxicity of acid tailings in the oil sands when in fact
the pH is 8.5.
Then you have to look at what has been proposed in terms
of the time frame. These mines are planned on a 20-to 30-year
cycle, so you can’t go in after five years and say, “You’ve made
a big mess, why isn’t it all reclaimed?” When people who have
never visited a mine in their life see the oil sands they’re horri-
fied at all the destruction, but they’re not paying attention
to the efforts being made. Companies are being successful in
reclamation, the problem is the time lag. Last fall, Suncor
successfully reclaimed its first tailings pond, which was
first put into service in 1967, so that’s the timeline that I’m
concerned about. The industry clearly needs to step up and
reclaim much more quickly.
accn when you look back at the past five years, what are you most proud of?
mg My biggest source of pride is in developing a multi-
university, multi-disciplinary network of people who are
committed to making a difference. Canada has a wonderful
resource opportunity but has to use it wisely. Clearly we need
to do research and understand the fundamentals in order to
create a foundation to have much more sustainable oil sands
technology. The experience of recruiting interested scientists
and engineers from across Canada has been very exciting and
I think that’s probably the single biggest satisfaction.
accn How will you measure success?
mg I’d like to see two or three major technologies rolled out.
It obviously takes time to go from the laboratory to practice
but I think we will be in a situation with several technolo-
gies being piloted and tested in industry in three to five years.
I think that would be a fair measure of success.
peMb
INA
INStItU
te
DnA artisaN
Hanadi Sleiman’s tastefully decorated office at McGill University’s
Department of Chemistry is dominated by a large picture window
revealing the spires and rooftops of the 190-year-old Montreal insti-
tution. Displayed on the windowsill are several DNA knick-knacks:
Francis Crick and James Watson bobble head dolls and a model of the iconic
double helix. “This model of DNA is accurate down to the structure of nucleotides
and bases,” Sleiman says, contemplating the intricate model.
DNA — its mystery, its still-untapped potential for scientific innovation — has
long fascinated Sleiman who, as a post-doctoral student, studied under French
chemist Jean-Marie Lehn, winner of the 1987 Nobel Prize for his pioneering work
in supramolecular chemistry. Sleiman and her research team, which works out of a
bright, airy new laboratory in McGill’s Otto Maass Chemistry Building, is expanding
upon Lehn’s work, focusing on the supramolecular chemistry of DNA. Backed by a
number of funding agencies, including NSERC, the Sleiman Research Group uses
the unique chemistry of DNA to design new nanomaterials for drug delivery, diag-
nostic tools and anti-tumour therapeutics. “It’s not just the molecule of life — now we
mcgill university's hanadi sleiman looks to dna as a template to pattern materials like nanotubes that
act as smart delivery systems for therapeutics.
by melora Koepke
24 l’acTualiTé chimique canadienne SepteMbre 2011
Special report for the international year of chemistry
OCtOber 2011 canadian chemical news 25
to “learn how to control the interac-
tions between molecules the way nature
controls them,” she recalls. Soon, Lehn
predicted, scientists could combine
supramolecular “components to make
something: a machine, a functional
molecule, a device, whose function is
greater than the sum of its parts.”
Lehn’s talk changed the course of
Sleiman’s studies, propelling her along
a journey of scientific discovery to her
current position as one of Canada’s
foremost researchers in supramolecular
chemistry and DNA nanotechnology.
Although nanotechnology is still
considered an emerging field, nature
itself already builds on this scale; a
double strand of DNA is about two
nanometres wide. Moreover, DNA is
wonderfully programmable; sequences
can be created that bind only to each
other in certain ways. Combine that
with excellent structural properties
and DNA becomes one of the most
promising templates to pattern mate-
rials with nanoscale precision. Sleiman
and her team have used it to create
one-, two- and three-dimensional nanostructures, including DNA nanotubes,
which have a variety of possible applications. For example, they could act as
templates for the growth of nanowires, aid in the structural determination of
proteins, or even provide new platforms for genomics applications. Nanotubes
could also act as “smart” delivery systems for therapeutics, or become implantable
nanoelectronic devices to sense, predict and diagnose disease. “We’re hoping this
will be a whole new generation of molecules,” Sleiman says.
One of Sleiman’s major innovations has been the incorporation of synthetic
organic or metal-based linking molecules into the DNA structure. These act as the
junctions, or corners, of the supermolecules and allow many short DNA sequences
to be linked together in a modular way. Using this strategy, the team recently devel-
oped nanotubes that can selectively encapsulate molecular “cargo,” in this case gold
nanoparticles, along the DNA nanotube length. This cargo can then be released
by the nanotubes in response to specific external stimuli. The innovation could be
used to deliver cancer drug molecules directly to tumours thus reducing the toxic
effects on the body and enhancing efficacy.
chemisTry | NANOteCHNOLOgy
can do something with it. It’s the differ-
ence between studying what’s there and
making your own versions of it,” Sleiman
says. Sleiman was at Stanford University
in the late 1980s completing her PhD in
organic chemistry when she attended
a lecture by Lehn on supramolecular
chemistry — a discipline that examines
the noncovalent interactions between
molecules, from molecular self-assembly
to molecular recognition. At the time,
Sleiman had the idea that she would
focus on the synthesis of small molecules
for her post-doctoral work. Lehn, ever
the visionary, articulated a challenge to
his audience, which included Sleiman,
trIS
tAN
br
AN
d
26 l’acTualiTé chimique canadienne OCtObre 2011
The research is at a crucial juncture, Sleiman says. “This is the time for the field
of DNA nanoscience to start producing useful things.” Easier said than done. For
example, while DNA structures hold promise for biological applications, their ability
to resist enzymes, to penetrate into cells and their safety in organisms all need to be
examined and optimized. “There is a bright future and a lot of possibilities in DNA
assembly, but there is still a lot of work to be done,” says Sleiman.
Sleiman isn’t focusing solely upon DNA nanoscience. Other areas of research relate
to her background synthesizing small molecules and polymers. Her team also works on
designing and synthesizing biomimetic materials. Among some of the group’s research
highlights, their work on the creation of hybrid polymer-DNA and gold nanoparticle
DNA structures were selected as editor’s choices in Science and Nature.
Sleiman’s science may be complex, but behind it is the simple but lofty goal
of contributing to society in a meaningful way. This passionate sense of purpose
grew out of the most dire of circumstances — war. The eldest of two children,
Sleiman grew up in a family that emphasized achievement. Born in Beirut in
1965, Sleiman’s mother, Leila El-Horr, was a journalist, her professor father,
Farouk Sleiman, chair of the biology department at Lebanese University Beirut.
A happy home life was interrupted on Sleiman’s 10th birthday by the thud of
falling bombs — malevolent heralds of the 15-year Lebanese Civil war. But the
fear and devastation of that protracted conflict entrenched a sense of resolve in
the precocious young girl. “If you’re going to school and there’s snipers and there’s
bombs, it gives you a resilience,” Sleiman says. “You internalize the fact that no
matter what happens around you, you’re going to get that education.”
As the war worsened, Sleiman became determined to leave her beleaguered
nation. “When I was in university, it was really tough, because the war got worse,”
she recalls. “At that point, I said to myself, ‘I’m going to get really great grades so
I can go to a really good graduate school and make it out of here.’ ”
Sleiman received a B.Sc. in chemistry with high distinction and was accepted
to Stanford University when she was only 20 to do a PhD in organic chemistry. It
was at Stanford that Sleiman met her future husband, Bruce Arndtsen, who also
became a chemistry professor at McGill. The couple has two children, Ryan, 12,
and Maya, 7, both born while Sleiman’s career as an academic and researcher was
in its early stages. By becoming the first female faculty member to have a child in
the chemistry department in 1999, Sleiman broke through a glass ceiling of sorts
— embracing her role as academic researcher and mother. McGill was supportive
of their star researcher’s dual demands and, as it turns out, the children adapted
well to their mother’s career. “I remember when Maya was two months old; I was
invited to a conference to give a speech that was very important for my career.
I held her in my arms as I paced back and forth, practicing my speech. She lay in
my arms happily while I practiced.”
It is a lesson that Sleiman hopes to
pass on to her female students: moth-
erhood and a career in science is not
a contradiction in terms. Many female
students have “internalized societal
pressures” telling them that they can’t
be both mothers and researchers, says
Sleiman. “I tell them if they follow
their dreams, they’ll be happier people
as a result. And they’ll be passing on
this happiness to their children; I really
do think it’s a gift to my boy that he
is growing up knowing that women are
active contributors to society.”
Sleiman has always shown such support
and empathy for students, which is one
of the reasons she was recognized several
years ago with McGill’s Leo Yaffe Award
and Principal’s Prize for excellence in
teaching. She has also been recognized
for academic achievement, winning,
most recently, the Strem Award for Pure
or Applied Inorganic Chemistry from
the Canadian Society for Chemistry
and McGill’s William Dawson Scholar
Award (McGill’s equivalent to a Canada
Research Chair Tier II).
Research and teaching in tandem
has given Sleiman the means to “try to
transform the world.” As a researcher,
orchestrating and manipulating nature’s
tiniest particles, she seeks positive
changes for humankind. As a teacher,
the change is more immediate, but no
less lofty because of it. “As a teacher,
you really see your impact, it’s a person
who’s changed by you.”
Special report for the international year of chemistry
28 l’acTualiTé chimique canadienne OCtObre 2011
In MeMorIaM
A special endowment fund has been created to honour the memory of Simon Fraser
University chemistry professor Melanie O’Neill, 37, who was found slain in her home
by Vancouver Police Department officers the evening of July 26, 2011.
The Melanie O’Neill Chemistry Undergraduate Research Endowment Fund,
established by SFU’s chemistry department as well as friends, family and colleagues,
will be granted annually to a chemistry undergraduate student who demonstrates
research excellence.
Zuo-Guang Ye, chair of the chemistry department, gave a eulogy celebrating
O’Neill’s many academic achievements at SFU at a packed memorial service
Aug. 8. Born and raised in Halifax, O’Neill attended Dalhousie University for her
undergraduate and graduate studies, receiving a PhD in physical organic chemistry in
2001. Afterwards, O’Neill attended California Institute of Technology as an NSERC
postdoctoral fellow. After her postdoctoral work, O’Neill was hired by SFU, where
she established an active and diverse research program in the interdisciplinary area of
biophysical chemistry and chemical biology.
O’Neill, MCIC, was a gifted researcher. In addition to setting up a molecular
biology laboratory, O’Neill also established a first-class biophysical chemistry lab
where she studied protein and other nucleic acid dynamics. She was considered a
pioneer — one of only a handful of scientists around the globe who researched how
humans use light to synchronize their metabolic and behavioural patterns with the
outside world. Her most recent work attempted to correlate structural dynamics in
the RNA editing process with primate evolution.
O’Neill’s work netted accolades; in 2005 she won the Career Investigator Award,
Scholar, from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, the provin-
cial support agency for health research in British Columbia. The foundation cited
simon fraser university mourns chemistry professor
O’Neill’s work in describing the mech-
anism of action of cryptochromes as
circadian photoreceptors at the molec-
ular and cellular level. The research
enabled an understanding and potential
manipulation of biological timing that
had the potential to aid in the treat-
ment of sleeping disorders and diseases
like depression and cancer.
A devoted instructor and mentor as
well as researcher, O’Neill taught lower-
and upper-division undergraduate and
graduate chemistry courses.
Described as a force of nature who
lived life with passion in her professional
and personal life, O’Neill especially
loved the ocean and spent much of her
free time boating, camping, hiking and
bird watching. One of her favourite
quotations was from 17th century French
mathematician Blaise Pascal, whose own
high-minded outlook on life resonated
with O’Neill’s contemplative nature. In
response to a Pascal quotation, O’Neill
penned: “These are some of the most
wise words I have known: ‘Beauty is a
harmonious relation between some-
thing in our nature and the quality of the
object which delights me.’ ”
O’Neill is survived by her brother,
Andrew O’Neill, and many aunts and
uncles and their families.
Donations to the Melanie O’Neill
Chemistry Undergraduate Research
Endowment Fund can be made online at
www.sfu.ca/advancement.
By deadline, no one had been
arrested in connection with O’Neill’s
murder and police weren’t releasing a
cause of death.
IAN
rOb
ertSON
OCtOber 2011 canadian chemical news 29
SOCIety NewS
csche and green winners announced The 2011 winners of the annual CSChE awards are:
choon Jim lim, University of British Columbia: Bantrel Award in Design and Industrial Practice, sponsored by Bantrel, for his research on the fundamentals of spouting and fluidization phenomena and the application of these technologies to environmentally friendly processes and clean energy production.
david shook, KemeX Ltd.: D. G. Fisher Award, sponsored by the Chemical Education Fund, for designing control schemes for new SAGD processes in the oil sands.
della wong, MCIC, Shell Energy Canada: Process Safety Management Award, sponsored by AON Reed Stenhouse. Wong has been a leader in the development of PSM programs such as inherently safe designs, process hazard analysis, risk assessments, operational risk studies, incident investigations and audits.
charles xu, MCIC, University of Western Ontario: Syncrude Canada Innovation Award, sponsored by Syncrude Canada Ltd., for his work on developing forest biorefineries.
John f. macgregor, MCIC, McMaster University: R. S. Jane Memorial Award, sponsored by the CSChE, for research in the application of statistical methods to chemical engineering systems.
The 2011 winners of the Canadian Green Chemistry and Engineering Network awards are:
ecosynthetix inc.: Ontario Green Chemistry and Engineering Award (Organization), sponsored by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. EcoSynthetix’s flagship product line represents a breakthrough in clean technology products that resulted in the production of the world’s first and only waterborne biopolymer latex derived from renewable raw material feed stocks such as corn or potato starches.
franco berruti, University of Western Ontario: Ontario Green Chemistry and Engineering Award (Individual), sponsored by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, for his research on particle technologies, gas-solid fluidization, heavy oil upgrading technologies and biomass conversion into biochemicals and biofuels.
r. Tom baker, MCIC, University of Ottawa: Canadian Green Chemistry and Engineering Award (Individual), sponsored by GreenCentre Canada, for research into ‘green’ routes to hydrofluorocarbons, base metal complex catalysts for selective, oxidative C-C bond cleavage for lignocellulose disassembly and mechanistic studies of metal complex- catalyzed amine-borane dehydrogenation.
Turkish delight for canucks at chemistry olympiadCanada scored its best results in 26 years in Ankara, Turkey July 9-18 at the 43rd annual International Chemistry Olympiad for high school students. Steven Song of Semiahmoo Secondary School in Vancouver won a gold medal, coming in 22nd overall out of 273 students from 70 countries. Silver medals were won by Shuoli Liu of Glebe Collegiate Institute in Ottawa and Melody Guan and Richard Liu, both of University of Toronto School in Toronto.
John polanyi gets stamp of approval
In honour of the International Year of Chemistry, Canada Post has issued a stamp celebrating the work of John Charles Polanyi, HFCIC, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1986. In giving the prize, the Royal Swedish Academy stated that Polanyi’s ground-breaking research in reaction dynamics forged a new field of research in chemistry. Polanyi, of the University of Toronto, was also cited for developing infrared chemi-luminescence, where the extremely weak infrared emission from a newly formed molecule is measured and analyzed. This method provides a detailed understanding of how chemical reactions take place. “I am surprised and honoured to find myself a part of this intriguing stamp,” says Polanyi.
order of canada for bandraukUniversity of Sherbrooke professor of theoretical chemistry André Bandrauk, FCIC, was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada June 30 in Ottawa in recognition of his pioneering work in attosecond chemistry.
The Chemical Institute of Canada wishes to extend its condolences to the family of Saul Wolfe, FCIC, who died at age 78 in Vancouver. Wolfe was professor emeritus in the chemistry department at Simon Fraser University.
STudenTS In MeMorIaM
aChIeveMenTS InTernaTIonaL
year oF CheMISTry
30 l’acTualiTé chimique canadienne OCtObre 2011
The quirky and convoluted history of cocaine
ocaine may have an infamous and well-deserved reputation as a dangerous drug when it is abused, but its contribu-
tion to the discovery of local anesthesia was spectacular. We have here another classic case of a chemical that can be beneficial or detrimental depending on how it is used.
Long before the arrival of European explorers to South America, the Incas had discovered that chewing a concoc-tion made by mixing coca leaves with lime had a stimulating effect and warded off hunger. They also noted that applying coca-laced saliva to skin injuries numbed the pain. This effect was eventually documented by Albert Niemann, a chemistry graduate student working in the laboratory of Friedrich Wohler, one of the fathers of organic chemistry. Wohler had been given some coca leaves brought back by an Austrian expedition and asked his student to undertake a chemical analysis.
In 1860, Niemann managed to isolate a pure white powder he christened cocaine. As was common practice in those days, he tasted the newly isolated substance. The powder, he reported, left a peculiar numbness, followed by a sense of cold when applied to the tongue. Not much was made of this observation until Karl Koller came along. Koller began his career as a surgeon at the Vienna General Hospital where he collaborated with Sigmund Freud, who at the time was exploring the effects of cocaine on the central nervous system. Confronted with a young colleague who had become addicted to morphine after the amputa-tion of a thumb, Freud treated him with cocaine to try to break the morphine habit. It worked, but it turned the unfor-tunate patient into the world’s first cocaine addict.
Freud became intrigued by cocaine and, when he went on leave to Germany, asked Koller to continue the experi-ments. Koller collaborated with another colleague, Dr. Engel. It was Engel’s tongue that would become pivotal in the discovery of local anesthesia.
One day, after tasting a little cocaine from the end of a pen knife, Engel remarked, “How that numbs the tongue!” It was at that moment that the scales fell from Koller’s eyes. He had already become interested in eye surgery and had experimented with anesthetizing the eye with morphine, ether spray, chloral hydrate and potas-sium bromide, all of which were known to have effects on the nervous system. None of these was effective and general anesthesia with chloroform or ether, already widely practiced at the time, was not suitable for eye surgery because it failed to stop involuntary eye reflexes. Interestingly, Koller had been aware of the numbing effect of cocaine, but had never made the connection to his eye research until Engel’s comment.
A classic experiment quickly followed. A solution of cocaine was placed into the protruding eye of a frog. Koller was then able to touch the eye with a needle without any reflex action occurring. The frog’s other eye responded in the usual fashion. Koller then bravely trickled a solution into his own eye, and using a mirror, touched his cornea with the head of a pin. There wasn’t the slightest unpleasant sensation or reaction! Local anesthesia was born!
Before long, cocaine found wide acceptance in eye surgery, although it wasn’t problem-free. It dilated the pupils and caused other undesirable central nervous system effects. Eventually, it was replaced by synthetic compounds that retained the essential features
of the cocaine molecule but elimi-nated most of the undesirable effects. The most successful turned out to be procaine, familiar under the trade name Novocaine. It was followed by lido-caine, benzocaine and a host of others. All because Engel noted that his tongue became numb and Koller capitalized on this observation.
Such a discovery should have secured a position for Koller as an ophthalmologist in the Vienna hospital. But fate inter-vened. After being called an impudent Jew by a colleague, Koller responded with a punch. This led to a duel with sabers. It seems Koller was as good with a saber as with a scalpel because he managed to inflict two gashes on his opponent without being harmed himself. But duels were illegal and when news of the confrontation reached hospital administrators, Koller’s hopes of a posi-tion were dashed.
Koller immigrated to the United States where he worked as an ophthal-mologist in private practice in New York until his death in 1944. To what extent he used cocaine is unknown, but the drug is still occasionally used for eye and nasal surgery. It is available from the Mallinckrodt Company, the only one licensed to produce purified cocaine for medical use. The raw material is purchased from the Stepan Chemical Company in New Jersey which has government approval for the importa-tion of coca leaves from Peru. After the cocaine is extracted, the leaves are sold to cola manufacturers for use as a flavouring agent. But don’t look for any cocaine in cola beverages. The extrac-tion process is very efficient.
Joe Schwarcz is the director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society.
Read his blog at chemicallyspeaking.com.
CHeMfusion
by Joe schwarcz