Pharmacy Daily | Dispensary Corner 14 May 10

SCIENTISTS in China have found a use for the highly toxic chemicals in cigarettes. A paper published in the Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research journal this week details the breakthrough, in which the researchers soaked cigarette buts in water and then extracted nine chemicals from the mixture. They applied the extracts to a type of steel used in oil pipes and found that the substances protected the metal from rusting. Apparently corrosion of the pipes costs the oil industry millions of dollars a year - not to mention the toxins in cigarette butts which kill fish once they find their way into the environment. “Recycling could solve these problems, but finding practical uses for cigarette butts has been difficult,” the scientists from Xian Jiaotong University said. About 60% of men in China smoke, with the nation consuming a third of the world’s cigarettes. THE latest quirky Japanese support garment is a bra that can also grow rice (pictured below). Instead of cups, the Triumph brassiere features two pots, along with a plastic water hose - doubling as a strap - to ensure that the seedlings don’t dry out. The bra also comes with a pair of “detachable farming gloves,” with the manufacturer saying it designed the underwear “to raise awareness of food self-sufficiency” by allowing wearers to cultivate rice any place, any time. “Over the last year, young Japanese women have taken a tremendous interest in agriculture,” said Triumph spokesman Yoshiko Masuda. “We wanted other women to experience farming as well - that’s what inspired this bra,” he said.

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