Scientific symposium on the toxicology of alternate fuels

Note to journalists: Please report that this research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.

A press conference on this topic will be held Wednesday, Sept. 11, at 10:30 a.m. in the ACS Press Center, Room 211 in the Indiana Convention Center. Reporters can attend in person or access live audio and video of the event and ask questions at www.ustream.tv/channel/acslive.

INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 11, 2013 — “Biofuel” has become a global buzzword, with cars and trucks powered by fuel made from corn, corncobs and stalks, switchgrass and even waste oil from cooking french fries, envisioned as a way to stretch out supplies of crude oil and cope with global warming.

A symposium being held here today at the 246^th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest scientific society, considers a topic that has received less attention: What are the health and environmental effects of green gasoline, biodiesel and other alternative fuels, and how do they stack up against conventional gasoline and diesel?

The talks in the symposium, among almost 7,000 presentations on scientific and other topics at the meeting — which continues here through Thursday in the Indiana Convention Center and downtown hotels — will discuss topics that include:

• New evidence that emissions from biodiesel vehicles are less mutagenic than those from petroleum-based diesel.
• Research on the toxicity of conventional diesel and traditional diesel.
• Human health effects of biofuels.
• How engines have changed with changing fuels.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

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