BASF is developing chemicals from bacteria and fungi instead of processing oil derivatives, cutting back on smokestacks that belch carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Royal DSM NV will start a project by year-end with enzymes to produce succinic acid for car coolants. Mass production may start 2012.
“Its not voodoo anymore,” said Claus Bollschweiler, a trained biologist who heads up BASFs research into hydrophobin proteins derived from fungi. “This is a good investment.”
Engineering - - - - >

In a letter sent late Friday by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics to J&Js chief executive, William Weldon, the seven-year-old group asks the company by the end of August to reformulate its personal care products so that they are free of 1,4-dioxane and any preservatives that release formaldehyde.
The letter was signed by nearly 50 groups representing about 1.7 million members, from the Environmental Working Group and Friends of the Earth to the American Nurses Association and Physicians for Social Responsibility.
Johnson & Johnson spokesman Bill Price said, “The trace levels of certain compounds that were noted by the Campaign for Safe - - - - >

Because Dows chemicals are used in such a wide variety of products, from toys to automobiles, the global economic downturn has hit the company especially hard.
The company earned $24 million, or 3 cents per share, compared with $941 million, or 99 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding charges and other one-time items, Dow earned 12 cents per share during the period.
Sales fell 39 percent to $9.09 billion from $14.82 billion a year earlier.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of 21 cents per share on revenue of $11.69 billion. Analysts typically exclude one-time items.
“Our positive earnings in this recessionary - - - - >

High levels of these chemical byproducts of tobacco smoke in the urine were linked to lung-cancer rates as much as 8.5 times higher than those of other smokers, said Jian-Min Yuan, the study leader and an associate professor of public health at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. He spoke in Denver today at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting.
Lung tumors are the most lethal form of cancer in the U.S., spurring 161,840 deaths and 215,020 new cases in 2008, according to the American Cancer - - - - >

Since that July bid, Dows market capitalization - or the total value of all its shares - has fallen well below that of its target, Rohm & Haas, and even below its $15.4 billion offer for the Philadelphia-based specialty chemicals maker.
On Friday, Dow Chemical moved nearer to closing the deal, one that CEO Andrew Liveris has said would be an economic disaster in the current environment.
Both companies confirmed they were in direct talks, yet a Delaware court date is still scheduled for Monday if the two cant come to an agreement.
The news sent shares of both companies soaring.
Whether Rohm & - - - - >

Researchers led by Chunyuan Fei, from the University of California in Los Angeles, studied data on 1,240 women and found those with higher levels of fluorine-containing compounds in their blood took longer to conceive. The study is published in next months issue of the medical journal Human Reproduction.
The compounds, known as perfluorinated chemicals or PFCs, may interfere with hormones that are involved in reproduction, Fei wrote in the study. The fathers sperm quality may also be affected by the chemicals and contribute to the problem, he - - - - >

Sabic Plastics has experienced a quarterly loss, but the estimate report has not been provided. Sales have been missing the mark as need for chemicals have plateaued over the past few months.
Net income declined to 7.24 billion riyals ($1.92 billion) from 7.4 billion riyals a year earlier, Riyadh-based Sabic said in an e-mailed statement after market close today. The chemical maker was expected to report a 6.8 percent rise in net income to 7.9 billion riyals, according to the average of three analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
The global economic crisis is curbing Sabic’s earnings after it spent $11.6 billion last - - - - >