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International Journal of Toxicology Dec 2023The Expert Panel for Cosmetic Ingredient Safety reviewed updated information that has become available since their original assessment from 2001, along with updated...
The Expert Panel for Cosmetic Ingredient Safety reviewed updated information that has become available since their original assessment from 2001, along with updated information regarding product types, and frequency and concentrations of use, and reaffirmed their original conclusion that Methyl Alcohol is safe as used to denature alcohol in the practices of use and concentration as described in this report.
Topics: Methanol; Consumer Product Safety; Cosmetics; Ethanol
PubMed: 37752772
DOI: 10.1177/10915818231204251 -
Biotechnology Advances Dec 2023Microbial fermentation processes are expected to play an important role in reducing dependence on fossil-based raw materials for the production of everyday chemicals. In... (Review)
Review
Microbial fermentation processes are expected to play an important role in reducing dependence on fossil-based raw materials for the production of everyday chemicals. In order to meet the growing demand for biotechnological products in the future, alternative carbon sources that do not compete with human nutrition must be exploited. The chemical conversion of the industrially emitted greenhouse gas CO into microbially utilizable platform chemicals such as methanol represents a sustainable strategy for the utilization of an abundant carbon source and has attracted enormous scientific interest in recent years. A relatively new approach is the microbial synthesis of products from the C-compound ethylene glycol, which can also be synthesized from CO and non-edible biomass and, in addition, can be recovered from plastic waste. Here we summarize the main chemical routes for the synthesis of methanol and ethylene glycol from sustainable resources and give an overview of recent metabolic engineering work for establishing natural and synthetic microbial assimilation pathways. The different metabolic routes for C and C alcohol-dependent bioconversions were compared in terms of their theoretical maximum yields and their oxygen requirements for a wide range of value-added products. Assessment of the process engineering challenges for methanol and ethylene glycol-based fermentations underscores the theoretical advantages of new synthetic metabolic routes and advocates greater consideration of ethylene glycol, a C substrate that has received comparatively little attention to date.
Topics: Humans; Methanol; Carbon Dioxide; Ethylene Glycol; Biotechnology; Carbon; Metabolic Engineering
PubMed: 37918546
DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2023.108276 -
Science (New York, N.Y.) Nov 2023Biocatalysis harnesses enzymes to make valuable products. This green technology is used in countless applications from bench scale to industrial production and allows... (Review)
Review
Biocatalysis harnesses enzymes to make valuable products. This green technology is used in countless applications from bench scale to industrial production and allows practitioners to access complex organic molecules, often with fewer synthetic steps and reduced waste. The last decade has seen an explosion in the development of experimental and computational tools to tailor enzymatic properties, equipping enzyme engineers with the ability to create biocatalysts that perform reactions not present in nature. By using (chemo)-enzymatic synthesis routes or orchestrating intricate enzyme cascades, scientists can synthesize elaborate targets ranging from DNA and complex pharmaceuticals to starch made in vitro from CO-derived methanol. In addition, new chemistries have emerged through the combination of biocatalysis with transition metal catalysis, photocatalysis, and electrocatalysis. This review highlights recent key developments, identifies current limitations, and provides a future prospect for this rapidly developing technology.
Topics: Biocatalysis; Enzymes; Methanol; Technology; Protein Engineering; Substrate Specificity
PubMed: 37995253
DOI: 10.1126/science.adh8615 -
Chemosphere Sep 2023Industrial revolution on the back of fossil fuels has costed humanity higher temperatures on the planet due to ever-growing concentration of carbon dioxide emissions in... (Review)
Review
Industrial revolution on the back of fossil fuels has costed humanity higher temperatures on the planet due to ever-growing concentration of carbon dioxide emissions in Earth's atmosphere. To tackle global warming demand for renewable energy sources continues to increase. Along renewables, there has been a growing interest in converting carbon dioxide to methanol, which can be used as a fuel or a feedstock for producing chemicals. The current review study provides a comprehensive overview of the recent advancements, challenges and future prospects of methanol production and purification via membrane-based technology. Traditional downstream processes for methanol production such as distillation and absorption have several drawbacks, including high energy consumption and environmental concerns. In comparison to conventional technologies, membrane-based separation techniques have emerged as a promising alternative for producing and purifying methanol. The review highlights recent developments in membrane-based methanol production and purification technology, including using novel membrane materials such as ceramic, polymeric and mixed matrix membranes. Integrating photocatalytic processes with membrane separation has been investigated to improve the conversion of carbon dioxide to methanol. Despite the potential benefits of membrane-based systems, several challenges need to be addressed. Membrane fouling and scaling are significant issues that can reduce the efficiency and lifespan of the membranes. The cost-effectiveness of membrane-based systems compared to traditional methods is a critical consideration that must be evaluated. In conclusion, the review provides insights into the current state of membrane-based technology for methanol production and purification and identifies areas for future research. The development of high-performance membranes and the optimization of membrane-based processes are crucial for improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of this technology and for advancing the goal of sustainable energy production.
Topics: Methanol; Carbon Dioxide; Fossil Fuels; Technology; Global Warming
PubMed: 37253401
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139007 -
World Journal of Microbiology &... Oct 2023Methanol, the simplest aliphatic molecule of the alcohol family, finds diverse range of applications as an industrial solvent, a precursor for producing other chemicals... (Review)
Review
Methanol, the simplest aliphatic molecule of the alcohol family, finds diverse range of applications as an industrial solvent, a precursor for producing other chemicals (e.g., dimethyl ether, acetic acid and formaldehyde), and a potential fuel. There are conventional chemical routes for methanol production such as, steam reforming of natural gas to form syngas, followed by catalytic conversion into methanol; direct catalytic oxidation of methane, or hydrogenation of carbon dioxide. However, these chemical routes are limited by the requirement for expensive catalysts and extreme process conditions, and plausible environmental implications. Alternatively, methanotrophic microorganisms are being explored as biological alternative for methanol production, under milder process conditions, bypassing the requirement for chemical catalysts, and without imposing any adverse environmental impact. Methanotrophs possess inherent metabolic pathways for methanol production via biological methane oxidation or carbon dioxide reduction, thus offering a surplus advantage pertaining to the sequestration of two major greenhouse gases. This review sheds light on the recent advances in methanotrophic methanol production including metabolic pathways, feedstocks, metabolic engineering, and bioprocess engineering approaches. Furthermore, various reactor configurations are discussed in view of the challenges associated with solubility and mass transfer limitations in methanotrophic gas fermentation systems.
Topics: Methanol; Carbon Dioxide; Methane; Formaldehyde; Solvents
PubMed: 37891430
DOI: 10.1007/s11274-023-03813-y -
ChemPlusChem Jul 2023Utilizing renewable energy to hydrogenate carbon dioxide into fuels eliminates massive CO emissions from the atmosphere and diminishes our need for using fossil fuels.... (Review)
Review
Utilizing renewable energy to hydrogenate carbon dioxide into fuels eliminates massive CO emissions from the atmosphere and diminishes our need for using fossil fuels. This review presents the most recent developments for designing heterogeneous catalysts for the hydrogenation of CO to formate, methanol, and C hydrocarbons. Thermodynamic challenges and mechanistic insights are discussed, providing a strong foundation to propose a suitable catalyst. The main body of this review focuses on nanostructured catalysts for constructing efficient heterogeneous systems. The most important factors affecting catalytic performance are highlighted, including active metals, supports and promoters that can potentially be used. The summary of the results and the outlook are presented in the final section. During the past few decades, heterogeneous CO hydrogenation has gained much attention and made tremendous progress. Thus, many highly efficient catalysts have been studied to discover their active sites and provide mechanistic insights. This paper summarizes recent advances in CO hydrogenation and its conversion into various hydrocarbons such as formate, methanol, and C products. As for formate production, Au and Ru nanocatalysts show superior activity. However, considering the catalyst cost, Cu-based catalysts have an excellent prospect for methanol production, among other catalysts. Ultra-small nanoparticles and nanoclusters appear promising to provide highly active cost-effective catalysts. A growing number of researchers are investigating the possibility of directly synthesizing C products through CO hydrogenation. The major challenge in producing heavy hydrocarbons is breaking the ASF limitations, which have been achieved over bifunctional catalysts using zeolites. Using suitable support and promoter can lead to a superior activity, ascribed to structural, electronic, and chemical promotional effects.
Topics: Carbon Dioxide; Hydrogenation; Methanol; Formates
PubMed: 37263976
DOI: 10.1002/cplu.202300157 -
Environmental Research Jul 2023Intoxication with methanol most commonly occurs as a consequence of ingesting, inhaling, or coming into contact with formulations that include methanol as a base.... (Review)
Review
Intoxication with methanol most commonly occurs as a consequence of ingesting, inhaling, or coming into contact with formulations that include methanol as a base. Clinical manifestations of methanol poisoning include suppression of the central nervous system, gastrointestinal symptoms, and decompensated metabolic acidosis, which is associated with impaired vision and either early or late blindness within 0.5-4 h after ingestion. After ingestion, methanol concentrations in the blood that are greater than 50 mg/dl should raise some concern. Ingested methanol is typically digested by alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), and it is subsequently redistributed to the body's water to attain a volume distribution that is about equivalent to 0.77 L/kg. Moreover, it is removed from the body as its natural, unchanged parent molecules. Due to the fact that methanol poisoning is relatively uncommon but frequently involves a large number of victims at the same time, this type of incident occupies a special position in the field of clinical toxicology. The beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an increase in erroneous assumptions regarding the preventative capability of methanol in comparison to viral infection. More than 1000 Iranians fell ill, and more than 300 of them passed away in March of this year after they consumed methanol in the expectation that it would protect them from a new coronavirus. The Atlanta epidemic, which involved 323 individuals and resulted in the deaths of 41, is one example of mass poisoning. Another example is the Kristiansand outbreak, which involved 70 people and resulted in the deaths of three. In 2003, the AAPCC received reports of more than one thousand pediatric exposures. Since methanol poisoning is associated with high mortality rates, it is vital that the condition be addressed seriously and managed as quickly as feasible. The objective of this review was to raise awareness about the mechanism and metabolism of methanol toxicity, the introduction of therapeutic interventions such as gastrointestinal decontamination and methanol metabolism inhibition, the correction of metabolic disturbances, and the establishment of novel diagnostic/screening nanoparticle-based strategies for methanol poisoning such as the discovery of ADH inhibitors as well as the detection of the adulteration of alcoholic drinks by nanoparticles in order to prevent methanol poisoning. In conclusion, increasing warnings and knowledge about clinical manifestations, medical interventions, and novel strategies for methanol poisoning probably results in a decrease in the death load.
Topics: Humans; Child; Methanol; Pandemics; Iran; COVID-19; Poisoning
PubMed: 37072082
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.115886 -
Annali Dell'Istituto Superiore Di Sanita 2023Chemicals in foods enter the human body from early life likely posing chronic toxic health risks in the future. This study aimed to estimate the exposure to ethanol and...
INTRODUCTION
Chemicals in foods enter the human body from early life likely posing chronic toxic health risks in the future. This study aimed to estimate the exposure to ethanol and methanol in children consuming an acceptable daily amount of fruit purees.
METHODS
Different fruit purees were purchased and measured for methanol and ethanol by using HS-GC. The exposure dose of these alcohols was calculated based on a consumption of 125-250 g of fruit purees in children weighing 7, 12 and 16 kg.
RESULTS
The highest methanol was found in carrot-apple puree (29.07 mg/dL) and ethanol in peach-banana puree (42.07 mg/dL). Daily methanol exposure was estimated between 4.54 and 6.06, and ethanol between 6.57 and 8.76 mg/kg bw.
CONCLUSIONS
Our results show higher exposure doses of methanol and ethanol than allowable ones (methanol 2 and ethanol 6 mg/kg/day) in children consuming fruit purees. This should be handled as a public health risk and further comprehensive studies should be enrolled on the chronic toxic effects of food-derived alcohols. Besides, food-derived exposure to toxic chemicals from early life should be more questioned by physicians (in assessing chronic diseases), and related authorities should establish a sustainable, safe, and healthy food production policy.
Topics: Child; Humans; Fruit; Methanol; Ethanol
PubMed: 38088392
DOI: 10.4415/ANN_23_04_04 -
Open Veterinary Journal Sep 2023Malaria is still one of the most severe public health problems worldwide. The development of treatment, prevention, and control of malaria is one of the substantial...
BACKGROUND
Malaria is still one of the most severe public health problems worldwide. The development of treatment, prevention, and control of malaria is one of the substantial problems in the world.
AIMS
To investigate the antimalarial activity of methanol fruit fraction.
METHODS
L fruit powder was macerated with methanol (PA) and the extract obtained was fractionated using the liquid-liquid partition method with n-hexane, ethyl acetate, butanol, chloroform, methanol, and water solvents. antimalarial assay was conducted using the culture of 3D7 strain culture that had reached >5% growth and was examined for IC values using a 24-well microplate in duplicate. Each treatment and control well contained 1,080 μl of complete media. Well, number 1 was added with 120 μl fraction, and then the solution was diluted until it reached 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, and 100 μg/ml the final concentration in the microtiter well. The control only contained complete media and infected erythrocytes without the addition of anti-malarial drugs. The microplate was incubated for 48 hours. After 48 hours, a thin blood smear was made fixed with methanol and stained with 20% Giemsa for 20 minutes to determine the IC value by plotting sample concentrations and percentage of parasitemia in Excel.
RESULTS
The IC values of ethyl acetate fraction, n.hexane fraction, butanol fraction, and water fraction were 1.189, 76.996, 1,769, and 15.058 μg/ml, respectively. Whereases the IC values of C1 fraction (mix fraction from chloroform: methanol 100:0 and 90:10) and C4 fraction (mix fraction from chloroform: methanol 20:80, 10:90, and 0:100) were 100.126 and 1.015 μg/ml, respectively. The results showed that the IC value of ethyl acetate, butanol, and C4 fraction were lower than 10μg/ml and were considered as good activity (strong antimalarial activity).
CONCLUSION
The ethyl acetate, butanol and C4 subfraction from fruit have the potential to be developed as an antimalarial agent.
Topics: Animals; Antimalarials; Syzygium; Fruit; Methanol; Chloroform; Plant Extracts; Malaria; Water; Butanols
PubMed: 37842099
DOI: 10.5455/OVJ.2023.v13.i9.7 -
Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology Jul 2023Recombinant type III collagen plays an important role in cosmetics, wound healing, and tissue engineering. Thus, increasing its production is necessary. After an initial...
Recombinant type III collagen plays an important role in cosmetics, wound healing, and tissue engineering. Thus, increasing its production is necessary. After an initial increase in output by modifying the signal peptide, we showed that adding 1% maltose directly to the medium increased the yield and reduced the degradation of recombinant type III collagen. We initially verified that Pichia pastoris GS115 can metabolize and utilize maltose. Interestingly, maltose metabolism-associated proteins in Pichia pastoris GS115 have not yet been identified. RNA sequencing and transmission electron microscopy were performed to clarify the specific mechanism of maltose influence. The results showed that maltose significantly improved the metabolism of methanol, thiamine, riboflavin, arginine, and proline. After adding maltose, the cell microstructures tended more toward the normal. Adding maltose also contributed to yeast homeostasis and methanol tolerance. Finally, adding maltose resulted in the downregulation of aspartic protease YPS1 and a decrease in yeast mortality, thereby slowing down recombinant type III collagen degradation. KEY POINTS: • Co-feeding of maltose improves recombinant type III collagen production. • Maltose incorporation enhances methanol metabolism and antioxidant capacity. • Maltose addition contributes to Pichia pastoris GS115 homeostasis.
Topics: Recombinant Proteins; Collagen Type III; Maltose; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Protein Sorting Signals; Methanol; Pichia; Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases; Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins
PubMed: 37199749
DOI: 10.1007/s00253-023-12579-0