Via C&EN, this news:  The US Environmental Protection Agency has banned most uses of methylene chloride, a solvent that has been linked to a number of adverse health effects and some deaths. Since 1980, at least 88 people have died from acute exposure to methylene chloride, the agency says. Longer-term exposure can also lead to liver damage and the development of at least six different types of cancers, it adds. Methylene chloride is the second compound, after asbestos, to be banned under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act. The ban, which follows a risk assessment and an Apr ..read more

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 554 research/teaching positions and 86 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 May 9, 2023, the 2023 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 626 research/teaching positions and 82 teaching-focused positions. 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.&nb ..read more

From the inbox:  The Department of Chemistry at Tulane University invites applications for a Professor of Practice position beginning in the Fall 2024. The successful applicant will have a Ph.D. in Chemistry with expertise in Organic Chemistry. Duties will include supervising General Chemistry Laboratories, which, in total, involves about 17 teaching assistants, and teaching a section of General Chemistry lecture class (~150 students).  The Department of Chemistry recognizes and rewards innovative and quality teaching. Candidates interested in creating and adopting pedagogical innov ..read more

In this week's C&EN, this letter to the editor:  I just had to comment on the two pieces from Newscripts in the April 1 issue of C&EN (page 40). In the first piece, the revelation by Jessica Pomerantz reminded me of an experience I had in 1977 in a senior-level physical chemistry class at Iowa State University.  It involved a Lewis acid-base reaction of boron trifluoride and trimethylamine in a rather complex glass network that included a liquid-nitrogen cold trap because the reaction was so exothermic. The instructions for valve settings and operation were quite specific an ..read more

In this week's Chemical and Engineering News, this good news (article by Alex Tullo):  First-quarter financial results are out from Dow and BASF. And if these two chemical giants are setting the trend for their peers—which are due to report their results over the next several weeks—the industry may be turning the corner after a dismal 2023. Dow’s sales fell 9.2% from the year-earlier period, while adjusted earnings slipped 5.1%. Sales and prices were down across all its business. But compared with the fourth quarter of 2023, Dow’s sales and earnings were up 1.4% and 28.8%, respectively ..read more

Well, this hasn't been the best week, to be honest. Here's hoping we get things done that need to get done. I hope you have a great weekend. See you on Monday.  ..read more

Via FiercePharma, this news:  As the BIOSECURE Act threatens to upend relationships with Chinese contractors and western biopharma companies operating in the U.S., Novartis has elected not to adopt a “wait and see” attitude. Novartis, like many drugmakers, has ties to Chinese firms in the manufacturing and contract research space, the Swiss pharma’s CFO, Harry Kirsch, said on a press call Tuesday during its first quarter financial results. Amid the threat of a looming biosecurity crackdown by the U.S. government against many of those Chinese biotechs, Novartis is now “actively” managing ..read more

Via Twitter, this tweet from Dani Schultz:  We have multiple openings in Boston, San Francisco and West Point (PA) spanning Bachelor's, Master’s, entry level PhD and PhD with experience. Go to http://jobs.merck.com and search for ‘Discovery Chemistry’ or ‘Peptide’!  Here's one of the ads for the West Point site:  Our company is currently seeking passionate synthetic organic or medicinal chemists for positions within the Discovery Chemistry Department located at our West Point, PA site. The successful candidate will join multidisciplinary, highly collaborative discovery teams to ..read more

Via the New York Times, I learned about auto-brewery syndrome:  ...In Belgium, the brewery worker — a 40-year-old man who wishes to remain anonymous, according to his lawyer — was pulled over by the police in April 2022 and registered a blood-alcohol reading that was more than four times the legal limit. A month later, he was pulled over again and registered more than three times the limit. It was the third time the man had been cited — he had been pulled over and fined for driving under the influence in 2019. He was unaware that he had A.B.S. until his latest charge — tests administered ..read more

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 552 research/teaching positions and 86 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 April 25, 2023, the 2023 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 622 research/teaching positions and 81 teaching-focused positions. 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 ..read more