IN BRITAIN TODAY Scientists strive for biodegradable plastics

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32629, 10 June 1971, Page 9

IN BRITAIN TODAY Scientists strive for biodegradable plastics

(N.Z-P-A.-Retiter. Cable news digest)

LONDON. British scientists hope to solve the environmental hazard of plastic waste by making plastics which can be eaten by bacteria in the same way that vegetation rots or metal rusts, according to the business magazine, “Industrial Management.”

The scientists, who hope to begin micro-biological research into the subject soon, are attempting to make the molecular structures of plastics in such a way that they can be destroyed by existing bacteria. Work has already begun at Aston University on the principle of photo-sensitive plastics which would be selfdestructive when exposed to sunlight. The magazine says that, led by David Hughes, of Cardiff University, a group of scientists found recently that oil-slicks could be sent to the bottom of the ocean by blowing over them a sinking agent, such as ash from power stations. Even then, the oil was not harmless; but sea trials are

r tw being held with an additive to the ash which should expedite the breakdown of oil by bacteria. "Plastics will be tackled using the same principle of letting nature loose on seemingly indestructible material —with just a dash of science to help it on its way,” the magazine says. Some plastics manufacturers, however, are hostile to the idea, although two British firms are giving cautious, limited and anonymous support to it Professor Hughes is quoted as saying: "At the moment it is a pretty touchy subject Some firms are absolutely wild at the thought of us doing this.” Changing G.P. scene A quarter of ail doctors now working in Britain’s National Health Service were bom and were mostly trained, outside the country, according to Mr Laurence Dobson, a writer on medical affairs.

In his book, "The Changing Scene in General Practice,” he suggests that there is a psychological gap between the Commonwealthbom doctor and the British patient of which both patient and doctor may be unaware. “Doctors who come from lands where there is a stoical acceptance of very much more real suffering than there is in Britain may, subconsciously, be less tolerant of the moaner, who may, in fact, have incipient signs of some serious disease,” he writes, adding that these differences are not being faced and discussed.

“When a London suburban doctor advertised for an assistant he had 67 replies,” the author says. “Or the applicants, there was one British, one Irish and one Australian, and of the remainder, 58 were Indian or Pakistani, five were Nigerians, and one, a Chinese. “General practitioners requiring assistants are finding that they have no alternative but to ignore language shortcomings.”

Withdrawal by Onassis There is speculation among financial experts in London that the Greek shipping magnate, Mr Aristotle Onassis, may be about to dispose of his 26 per cent share in Belfast’s Harland ana Wolff shipyard, after his unsuccessful bid to take over full control of it Some sources say that he has approached the British Government to buy his 1.1 million shares in the company, but neither Mr Onassis’s spokesman in London nor the Department of Trade and Industry would comment on this report Mr Onassis’s plan to rejuvenate the ailing yard was rejected three months ago, when the British and Northern Ireland Governments announced that Harland and Wolff would remain under the same management and given State aid. The company’s shares, realising more than £1 each when Mr Onassis bought his, are now changing hands at only 17.5 new pence (38c), and It is thought in some circles that with little hope of a quick recovery, Mr Onassis may be prepared to cut his losses and back out Trade fair in Singapore

The largest British trade fair held so far in South-East Asia will take place in Singapore in October, partly to demonstrate Britain’s continuing interest and involvement m the area despite its troops reduction east of Suez.

The fair is also designed to help British exports to the region in the face of stiff competition from the United States and Japan. It will concentrate on industrial engineering products varying from cranes and weighing machines to aircraft and missiles. More than 200 firms will have products on display, and another 20 British companies will be exhibiting products manufactured in Singapore. The fair will cover about 70,000 square feet in two buildings at a British military maintenance installation which will be handed over to the Singapore Government

later in the year as the troop withdrawals progress. During the first two months of this year, Britain exported about £B.3m worth of goods to Singapore, or 8.9 per cent of the island’s total imports. During the same period, Japanese exports secured 21.1 per cent of the market, and those from the United States, 10.6 per cent. Theory about birth-rate

Influenza and the birthcontrol pill may have contributed to the sharp increase in the number'of births in England and Wales in the December quarter of last year, the "Evening Standard” reports. The Registrar • General’s quarterly return gives the estimated figure as 192,000 — an increase of 8000, or 4 per cent, on the corresponding period of 1969. The report of the Dunlop Committee in December, 1969, on the safety of the pill and the greater hazards of oral oestrogen contents may have caused many women to stop taking it. A spokesman for the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys pointed out that women were advised to finish the course of pills they were taking and then consult their doctors. “Those who came off the pill may then well have conceived in January, and this might account, in part, for the birth-rate boom last winter,” the spokesman said. A second reason for the increase might have been the virulent influenza epidemic that hit the country in the early part of 1969. “This could have artificially brought down the birth-rate figure for the last quarter of 1969,” the spokesman said. "The outbreak could have stopped a lot of conceptions that might otherwise have taken place. "To put it bluntly, influenza is not exactly conducive to sex. It is an intriguing possibility.”

Concern over pregnancies A warning has been issued about what the "Daily Express” describes as the dramatic increase in the number of pregnancies in girls under 16 in Britain. The Brook Advisory Centre, a birth-control agency specialising in helping single girls with problems, says that far more help should be given to young people seeking advice. "The number of very young girls becoming pregnant gives particular cause for concern,” it says. “In 1969, 2700 schoolgirls in Britain between the ages of 12 and 15 became pregnant. More than half of them went through with their