IUPAC e-press 18 September 2003

IN THIS ISSUE....
* IUPAC Elects New Vice President, Secretary General; Treasurer Continues Service
At the 42nd IUPAC General Assembly, the IUPAC Council elected Bryan Henry (Canada) as Vice President and David Black (Australia) as Secretary General.  Christoph Buxtorf (Switzerland) was re-elected as treasurer.
<http://www.iupac.org/news/archives/2003/42nd_council/highlights.html>

* Highlights of the 42nd IUPAC Council Meeting, Ottawa, Canada, 13-17 Aug 2003
The 42nd IUPAC Council Meeting was held in conjunction with the 39th IUPAC Congress in Ottawa, Canada.  Major highlights include the approval of a name for the element of atomic number 110 and the admittance of the Bangladesh Chemical Society as a National Adhering Organization.
<http://www.iupac.org/news/archives/2003/42nd_council/highlights.html>


PUBLICATIONS

* Chemical Thermodynamics
Rossini and plenary lectures presented at the 17th IUPAC Conference on Chemical Thermodynamics, published in the July issue of Pure and Applied Chemistry.
<http://www.iupac.org/publications/pac/2003/7507/index.html>

* Chemicals in the Atmosphere: Solubility, Sources and Reactivity
A broad survey and theoretical basis of many aspects of the behavior of stable and unstable chemicals in the atmosphere
<http://www.iupac.org/publications/books/author/fogg.html>

IUPAC TECHNICAL REPORTS
* Atomic weights of the elements 2001
<http://www.iupac.org/publications/pac/2003/7508/7508x1107.html>

* Regulatory limits for pesticide residues in water
<http://www.iupac.org/publications/pac/2003/7508/7508x1123.html>


* IUPAC Elects New Vice President, Secretary General; Treasurer Continues Service
IUPAC Officer Elections were held at the Council Meeting during the 42nd IUPAC General Assembly. Bryan Henry of Canada was elected Vice President and President-elect of IUPAC.  As Ted Becker will be retiring from service as Secretary General at the end of 2003, David Black (Australia) was elected to the position, while Christoph Buxtorf (Switzerland) will continue his service as Treasurer. 

Werner Klein (Germany), Anders Kallner (Sweden), Nicole Moreau (France) and Oleg Nefedov (Russia) were elected to the Bureau.  Meanwhile, Dr. Becker and Past-president Alan Hayes received plaques in honor of their service to IUPAC. 
<http://www.iupac.org/news/archives/2003/42nd_council/highlights.html>


* Highlights of the 42nd IUPAC Council Meeting, Ottawa, Canada, 13-17 August 2003
There were 340 registered participants at the 42nd IUPAC General Assembly. Of that number, 225 were members of IUPAC bodies, 58 were invited Observers, and 93 were Council Delegates. A number of the Delegates are also Members of IUPAC Bodies.

Of great importance, the Council unanimously approved the name darmstadtium, with the symbol Ds, for the element of atomic number 110.  In 2001, a joint IUPAC-IUPAP Working Party (JWP) confirmed the discovery of element of atomic number 110, through the collaboration of Hofmann et al. from the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung mbH (GSI) in Darmstadt, Germany.  In accordance with IUPAC procedures, the discoverers at the GSI were invited to propose a name and symbol for the element to the Inorganic Chemistry Division.  At the Division's recommendation, the Council voted to approve the name.

The Council also voted without dissent to admit the Bangladesh Chemical Society as an IUPAC National Adhering Organization (NAO).  Bangladesh has been active within IUPAC as an Associate National Adhering Organization (ANAO).  At this meeting, the Council also admitted Mauritius as an ANAO.

Planning for the 43rd General Assembly and 40th IUPAC Congress, Innovation in Chemistry, at Bejing in 2005 is underway. The Council elected to hold the 44th General Assembly and 41st Congress in 2007 at Torino, Itlay.  The theme of the 2007 Congress will be Protecting Health, Natural Environment, and Cultural Heritage.

More information on the naming of darmstadtium may be found at <http://www.iupac.org/news/archives/2003/naming110.html>
and more highlights from the IUPAC Council Meeting may be found at <http://www.iupac.org/news/archives/2003/42nd_council/highlights.html>


* Chemical Thermodynamics
The 17th IUPAC Conference on Chemical Thermodynamics (ICCT), concurrent with the Laehnwitz Seminar on Calorimetry, was held 28 July-2 August 2002 at the University of Rostock, Germany.  Over 40 countries were represented by the 520 participants at the meeting.  The Rossini Lecture and most of the plenary lectures from the conference are published in the July issue of Pure and Applied Chemistry.

The conference began with the Rossini lecture, presented by Prof. John Prausnitz, on “Molecular thermodynamics for biotechnology ”. The conference program consisted of seven symposia: Molecular Simulations of Fluids and Statistical Thermodynamics; Phase Equilibria, Supercritical Mixtures, and Separation Techniques Including Polymer Systems; Electrolyte Solutions and Non-electrolyte Mixtures Including Reactive Chemical Systems; Thermodynamic Properties of New and Advanced Materials including Pharmaceuticals; Organised Solutions, Surface and Colloid Chemistry; Thermochemistry, Calorimetry, and Molecular Energetics; and Thermodynamics in the Biological Sciences: Theoretical Aspects and Technical Applications.

Thermodynamics will continue to be an important area of research for many years to come, with a wide range of applications from chemical engineering to the biosciences. The presentation and discussion of the results of further advances in chemical thermodynamics will occur at the 2004 ICCT, planned to take place in Beijing, China.

Pure and Applied Chemistry, 75(7), pp. 858-936, 2003
<http://www.iupac.org/publications/pac/2003/7507/index.html>

* Chemicals in the Atmosphere: Solubility, Sources and Reactivity
The outcome of a project of the Commission on Solubility Data, this book follows discussions between members of this commission and the Commission on Atmospheric Chemistry extending over several years.

The book provides a broad survey and theoretical basis of many aspects of the behavior of stable and unstable chemicals in the atmosphere. There is special emphasis on heterogeneous processes at all levels of the atmosphere. Modern techniques of investigation and of modelling such processes are discussed.  Many experimental data relating to interaction of gases with cloud droplets and with surfaces of solid particles are also included. There is a detailed account of theoretical and practical aspects of Henry's law constants including their relationship to infinite dilution activity coefficients. Experimental values have been compiled and evaluated for dissolution in pure water and in some cases sea water of 15 inorganic and 153 organic stable compounds.

The book includes a survey of many theoretical and experimental aspects of heterogeneous processes in the atmosphere, as well as evaluated solubility data for dissolution of stable and unstable compounds in cloud droplets and seawater.
<http://www.iupac.org/publications/books/author/fogg.html>

* Atomic weights of the elements 2001
prepared by R.D. Loss

The biennial review of atomic-weight determinations and other cognate data have resulted in changes for the standard atomic weights of the elements zinc, krypton, molybdenum, and dysprosium.  In this technical report, updated tables of the standard atomic weights and their uncertainties are presented, estimated by combining experimental uncertainties and terrestrial variabilities.

In addition, this report again contains an updated table of relative atomic mass values and half-lives of selected radioisotopes. Changes in the evaluated isotope abundance values from those published in 1997 are relatively minor and will be published in a major review of each element in 2003.

Many elements have a different isotopic composition in some nonterrestrial materials. For those interested, some recent data on parent nuclides that might affect isotope abundances or atomic-weight values are included in this report.
Pure and Applied Chemistry, 75(8), pp. 1107-1122, 2003
<http://www.iupac.org/publications/pac/2003/7508/7508x1107.html>

* Regulatory limits for pesticide residues in water
D.J. Hamilton, A. Ambrus, R.M. Dieterle, A.S. Felsot, C.A. Harris, P.T. Holland, A. Katayama, N. Kurihara, J. Linders, J. Unsworth, and S.-S. Wong

National governments introduced residue limits and guideline levels for pesticide residues in water when policies were implemented to minimize the contamination of ground and surface waters. Initially, the main attention was given to drinking water.

In this report, the basis for limits and guideline values issued by WHO, Australia, the United States, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, European Union, and Taiwan is described, and examples of the limits are provided. Limits have been most commonly developed for drinking water, but values have also been proposed for environmental waters, effluent waters, irrigation waters, and livestock drinking waters. The contamination of ground water is of concern because it may be used as drinking water and act as a source of contamination for surface waters. Most commonly, drinking water standards have been applied to ground water.

The Commission has made 12 recommendations for regulatory limits for pesticide residues in water. The recommendations will act as a checklist for authorities introducing or revising limits or guidelines for pesticide residues in water.
Pure and Applied Chemistry, 75(8), pp. 1123-1155, 2003
<http://www.iupac.org/publications/pac/2003/7508/7508x1123.html>

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