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April 19, 2006
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One University
Avenue
Lowell, Massachusetts 01854
tel. 978.934.3224
fax:
978.934.3033
Communications &
Marketing News Release |
UMass Lowell News
Release
Printer Friendly PDF |
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Contact: |
Karen Angelo,
978-447-1438, Karen@turi.org
Renae Lias Claffey, 978-934-3233 or renae
lias@uml.edu |
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UMass Lowell Institute Provides
Technical Assistance to
Eliminate Cyanide with Novel, Safer Industrial
Process
LOWELL - A Woburn-based
company has demonstrated the feasibility of replacing cyanide - a highly toxic
chemical - with safer iodine-based compounds with the assistance of the Toxics
Use Reduction Institute (TURI) Laboratory. Cyanide is used widely in industrial
etching applications and is a mainstay of the gold mining
industry.
TURI's Surface Solutions Laboratory (SSL)
provided an assessment of Union Etchants International's GoIdEX
Kit™, a one-of-a-kind test kit demonstrating the iodine technology for
etching and gold extraction applications. In manufacturing, etching is a
process in which an image is chemically incised onto a surface, usually a metal
plate.
"More than 80% of the world's approx. 1.5 million
tons of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is produced annually for a full range of
industrial uses like surface finishing. Almost all of the other HCN is
chemically converted for use in the extraction of precious metals, including
gold. GoldEX shows that we might also be able to replace cyanide in
these mining applications in the not-too-distant future," reports Carole
LeBlanc, SSL director.
The environmental and health
hazards of cyanide are well known. Exposure to high levels of cyanide causes
brain and heart damage, and may lead to coma and death. Exposure to lower
levels may result in breathing difficulties, heart pains, vomiting, blood
changes, headaches, and enlargement of the thyroid gland. Cyanide has been
found in at least 471 of the 1,647 National Priorities List sites identified by
the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). At high concentrations,
cyanide is also toxic to soil micro-organisms and, since these microorganisms
can no longer convert cyanide into other chemical forms, the cyanide can pass
through soil and into underground water reserves, according to the U.S. Agency
for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
"It remains to
be seen how many occupational illnesses associated with exposure to this
chemical can be avoided by eliminating its use in the U.S. alone. How many
other lives could be saved in the mining industry worldwide?" says LeBlanc. In
contrast, iodine is an essential micronutrient for human health.
The Technical
Challenges and the Role of the Toxics Use Reduction Institute
Nevertheless, cyanide-containing compounds offer
an effective, readily available and inexpensive method to perform these kinds
of industrial practices. One of the challenges facing Union Etchants
International (UEI) was to determine how much of an impact their
patent-pending process would have on other upstream processes, that is, the use
of more traditional etching-related chemicals. "Because of our customer base,
we knew what was being used in the industry," says UEI's Robert Union,
President and CEO. "We felt that if we got the technology into the hands of the
end-users, we could convince people to give it a try; that they didn't have to
give up performance to do the job safer."
And that's where
TURI's Lab came in. SSL first provided the technical expertise to select and
validate the cleaning performance of the process' pre-treatment phase. This was
important, since etching results can be negatively impacted by the presence of
surface contaminants such as fingerprints, light oils and greases, and dust.
Next, LeBlanc worked with the company to develop the kit's directions.
"Obviously, the hazards associated with cyanide are not new," says LeBlanc.
"What is new are companies like UEI's willingness and ability to respond with
environmentally-friendlier processes to meet increasing demands for greener
products."
Finally, the test kit was piloted by SSL
Manager, Jason Marshall. "Similar to microscale chemistry, the ability to
miniaturize an industrial process is extremely useful because it provides
manufacturers with the information they need, without generating a lot of
waste," reports Marshall.
For the
Future
UMass Lowell professor and author of the book,
Materials Matter: Toward a Sustainable Materials Policy (MIT 2001), Dr.
Kenneth Geiser says, "The mining of precious metals throughout the globe and,
in particular, in developing nations is extremely hazardous. It would be a
tremendous accomplishment to reduce the occupational risks associated with the
mining industry. Furthermore, the ability to re-use gold that would otherwise
be lost to various waste streams would reduce the depletion of already strained
natural resources." Plans are accordingly underway to explore the invention's
ability to reclaim the gold found in electronic waste
streams.
For more information about UMass Lowell Toxics
Use Reduction Institute's Surface Solutions Laboratory, visit: www.turi.org or
call Carole LeBlanc at 978-934-3249. For more information about etching
products and related cyanide-free processes, visit: www.unionetchants.com or
call Robert Union at 781-935-8878.
The University of
Massachusetts Lowell, a comprehensive university with special expertise in
applied science and technology, is committed to educating students for lifelong
success and conducting research and outreach activities that sustain the
economic, environmental, and social health of the region. UML offers its 11,000
undergraduate and graduate students more than 80 degree programs in the
colleges of Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Management, the School of Health
and Environment and the Graduate School of Education. Visit the website at
www.uml.edu. |
