Monday 26 May 2008

A break for work (Arsenic blues)

I was missing the past week due to job duties. I assisted the "2nd International Congress. Arsenic in the Environment”, also know as "As 2008", in the mediterranean town of Valencia (Spain).
"Arsenic is an element that has attracted people’s interest since ancient times. Public opinion used to consider it a powerful poison, and it is in the news again now as a result of the biggest arsenic calamity in the world, reported in Asian areas. This has led to a rediscovery of arsenic by the public, despite the fact that it has always existed in the environment as a “silent” toxin in numerous regions in the world. Every year, new areas are detected in which the presence of arsenic exceeds the levels considered normal by international organizations.
Scientific interest in arsenic has increased remarkably in the present century. By using the ISI Web of Knowledge as a search tool it is possible to ascertain that, of the 23,144 published works on arsenic recorded in its database for the period 1956-2007, 6,764 have been published in the 21st century. The increase in scientific productivity in the present century has been spectacular in areas such as Environmental Sciences, Food, Metabolism, Health and Remediation. Thus arsenic is an old-established toxin which currently continues to offer unparalleled opportunities for research." (
Taken form the As 2008 website
Incidentally, our research team was awarded as one of the six best Congress posters... amongst around 200!

Valencia is near
Sagunto (or Murviedro) where Marshall Suchet routed the Spanish General Blake ( October 25th, 1811).

And now... Goldberg is awaiting me.

2 comments:

  1. Rafa,

    Nice Poster. Of course, some people believe that Napoleon was poisoned with arsenic at St Helena.
    We will never know...

    Ian

    ReplyDelete
  2. IanMany thanks. The topics about the Arsenic posioning of Napoleon is always around....
    Rafa

    ReplyDelete