Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => The Environment => Topic started by: Talia on 24/06/2013 18:13:00
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Hay!
Where can I find interesting examples of... for example... how many new compounds are synthesized daily, how many of that compounds are in sale (pharmaceuticals, pesticides, etc.)
So, I'm in general interested about the facts about poisoning of the Earth.
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"So, I'm in general interested about the facts about poisoning of the Earth."
The first fact to note is that, on the whole, nobody is poisoning the earth.
The most toxic chemicals known are natural.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botulinum_toxin
Shocking as you may find this, the people who make drugs, pesticides etc actually try to find the least toxic materials which will do the job- and the same is true of other chemicals.
There are a few exceptions, but those are mostly by-products (like TCDD) and (ironically) natural materials like crude oil.
Outside of rather odd research labs, nobody makes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin
deliberately.
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tnx for the answer but i'm interested in statistic numbers.
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Talia,
I used to work in pharmaceutical production and currently work to clean up toxins from the environment. I'll tell you that there is no way to determine how many "new" compounds are synthesized daily. There is no easy or highly simplified way to final all the information about current or emerging issues. Because of proprietary concerns, ongoing research, and patent positioning, the only readily available resource in the US is the FDA and USDA websites.
Some of the information you can find on these sites include how many compounds are submitted for various uses (drug, food, animal, cosmetics, etc.). You can download the NDC database file and sort based on "Start Marketing Date" to get a sense for how often new products are approved.
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/InformationOnDrugs/ucm142438.htm
The US Food and Safety Service compiles a report periodically discussing their meat monitoring efforts, including chemicals, bacteria, hormones, pharmaceuticals, etc.
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/f511ad0e-d148-4bec-95c7-22774e731f7c/2011_Red_Book.pdf?MOD=AJPERES
For toxins in the environment, you can search the EPA's CERCLA database or STORET/WQX databases for new/emerging issues.
www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/f511ad0e-d148-4bec-95c7-22774e731f7c/2011_Red_Book.pdf?MOD=AJPERES
Then there are Contaminants of Emerging Concern, which are compounds we think might be a problem in the environment, but science hasn't caught up to the issue.
http://water.epa.gov/scitech/cec/index.cfm
Hopefully this will give you a place to start.