Recovery of phosphorous from industrial waste water by oxidation and precipitation.

This paper describes the development of a method for recovery of phosphorous from one of the waste waters at an Akzo Nobel chemical plant in Ale close to Göteborg. It was found that it is possible to transform the phosphorous in the waste water to a saleable product, i.e. a slowly dissolving fertilizer. The developed process includes oxidation of phosphite to phosphate with hydrogen peroxide and heat. The phosphate is then precipitated as crystalline struvite (ammonium magnesium phosphate) by the addition of magnesium chloride. The environmental impacts of the new method were compared with those of the current method using life cycle assessment. It was found that the methodology developed in this project was an improvement compared with the current practice regarding element resource depletion and eutrophication. However, the effect on global warming would be greater with the new method. There could however be several ways to decrease the global warming effect. Since most of the carbon dioxide emissions come from the production of magnesium chloride from carbonates, changing to utilization of a magnesium chloride from desalination of seawater or from recycling of PVC would decrease the carbon footprint significantly.

Low levels of anti-secretory factor in placenta are associated with preterm birth and inflammation.

INTRODUCTION: Anti-secretory factor is a protein that regulates secretory and inflammatory processes and preterm birth is associated with inflammation. Therefore, our hypothesis was that anti-secretory factor might play a role in immune reactivity and homeostasis during pregnancy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Following spontaneous onset of labor and preterm or term delivery, placenta biopsies were collected. The levels of anti-secretory factor and markers of inflammation (CD68, CD163) and vascularization (CD34, smooth muscle actin) were analyzed by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The 61 placental biopsies included 31 preterm (<37 weeks of gestation) and 30 term (37-41 weeks) samples. The preterm placentas exhibited lower levels of anti-secretory factor (p = 0.008) and larger numbers of CD68-positive cells (p < 0.001) compared to term. Preterm placentas had blood vessel of smaller diameter (p = 0.036) indicative of immaturity. The level of interleukin-6 in cord blood was higher after very preterm than term birth, suggesting a fetal inflammatory response. The placenta level of anti-secretory factor was positively correlated to the length of gestation (p = 0.025) and negatively correlated to the levels of the inflammatory markers CD68 (p = 0.015) and CD163 (p = 0.028). CONCLUSIONS: Preterm delivery is associated with low levels of anti-secretory factor in placenta. Inflammation, a potential trigger of preterm birth, is more pronounced in the preterm placenta and inversely related to the placental level of anti-secretory factor, suggesting both a link and a potential target for intervention.

Investigation of an Electrochemical Method for Separation of Copper, Indium, and Gallium from Pretreated CIGS Solar Cell Waste Materials.

Recycling of the semiconductor material copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) is important to ensure a future supply of indium and gallium, which are relatively rare and therefore expensive elements. As a continuation of our previous work, where we recycled high purity selenium from CIGS waste materials, we now show that copper and indium can be recycled by electrodeposition from hydrochloric acid solutions of dissolved selenium-depleted material. Suitable potentials for the reduction of copper and indium were determined to be -0.5 V and -0.9 V (versus the Ag/AgCl reference electrode), respectively, using cyclic voltammetry. Electrodeposition of first copper and then indium from a solution containing the dissolved residue from the selenium separation and ammonium chloride in 1 M HCl gave a copper yield of 100.1 ± 0.5% and an indium yield of 98.1 ± 2.5%. The separated copper and indium fractions contained no significant contamination of the other elements. Gallium remained in solution together with a small amount of indium after the separation of copper and indium and has to be recovered by an alternative method since electrowinning from the chloride-rich acid solution was not effective.

Recycling of high purity selenium from CIGS solar cell waste materials.

Copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) is a promising material in thin film solar cell production. To make CIGS solar cells more competitive, both economically and environmentally, in comparison to other energy sources, methods for recycling are needed. In addition to the generally high price of the material, significant amounts of the metals are lost in the manufacturing process. The feasibility of recycling selenium from CIGS through oxidation at elevated temperatures was therefore examined. During oxidation gaseous selenium dioxide was formed and could be separated from the other elements, which remained in solid state. Upon cooling, the selenium dioxide sublimes and can be collected as crystals. After oxidation for 1h at 800°C all of the selenium was separated from the CIGS material. Two different reduction methods for reduction of the selenium dioxide to selenium were tested. In the first reduction method an organic molecule was used as the reducing agent in a Riley reaction. In the second reduction method sulphur dioxide gas was used. Both methods resulted in high purity selenium. This proves that the studied selenium separation method could be the first step in a recycling process aimed at the complete separation and recovery of high purity elements from CIGS.

Comparison of therapeutic efficacy and biodistribution of 213Bi- and 211At-labeled monoclonal antibody MX35 in an ovarian cancer model.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to compare the therapeutic efficacy and biodistribution of the monoclonal antibody MX35 labeled with either (213)Bi or (211)At, both α-emitters, in an ovarian cancer model. METHODS: One hundred female nude BALB/c (nu/nu) mice were inoculated intraperitoneally with human ovarian cancer cells (OVCAR-3). Two weeks later, 40 of these mice were injected intraperitoneally with ~2.7 MBq of (213)Bi-MX35 (n=20) or ~0.44 MBq of (211)At-MX35 (n=20). Four weeks after inoculation, 40 new OVCAR-3-inoculated mice were injected with the same activities of (213)Bi-MX35 (n=20) or (211)At-MX35 (n=20). Presence of tumors and ascites was investigated 8 weeks after therapy. Biodistributions of intraperitoneally injected (213)Bi-MX35 and (211)At-MX35 were studied in tumor-free nude BALB/c (nu/nu) mice (n=16). RESULTS: The animals injected with (213)Bi-MX35 or (211)At-MX35 2 weeks after cell inoculation had tumor-free fractions (TFFs) of 0.60 and 0.90, respectively. The untreated reference group had a TFF of 0.20. The groups treated with (213)Bi-MX35 or (211)At-MX35 4 weeks after inoculation both had TFFs of 0.25, and the reference animals all exhibited evidence of disease. The biodistributions of (213)Bi-MX35 and (211)At-MX35 were very similar to each other and displayed no alarming activity levels in the investigated organs. CONCLUSIONS: Micrometastatic growth of an ovarian cancer cell line was reduced in nude mice after treatment with (213)Bi-MX35or (211)At-MX35. Treatment with (211)At-MX35 provided a non-significantly better result for the chosen activity levels. The radiolabeled MX35 did not accumulate to a high extent in the investigated organs. No considerable signs of toxicity were observed.