As an industrial company with a history stretching back over 120 years, Lonza is sustainably managing the legacy of contaminated sites and setting itself a range of environmental targets for the future.
As part of this effort, it is consistently reducing and avoiding emissions. This includes treatment of nitrous oxide emissions, which were first detected in a periodic measurement when a DeNOx catalyzer was changed, as confirmed by Lonza via an external company. Chemical analyses can only detect a substance if it is explicitly being tested for. As the emissions do not present a risk to health and are not regulated in the Ordinance on Air Pollution Control, no tests concerning nitrous oxide had previously been conducted in relation to niacin production.
Once Lonza had detected nitrous oxide emissions and confirmed their presence with an external agency, the development of a technical solution began immediately. While not a risk to health, nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas. To this end, the company was in close contact with the
Nitrous oxide (N2O), which is more commonly known as laughing gas, is a colourless gas and is an oxide of nitrogen used in medicine as an anesthetic. It does not present a risk to health for humans or animals in the concentrations present, meaning that there are no legal or regulatory limits regarding handling the substance. However, the physical properties of nitrous oxide mean that it has significant global warming potential: it accounts for 6% of all greenhouse gases. Nitrous oxide has stratospheric ozone-depleting potential due to its photochemical decomposition into reactive nitric oxide radicals. Lonza does not require nitrous oxide to manufacture any products and does not deliberately produce it; the substance is a waste-product in the manufacture of the vitamin niacin.
In connection with this topic we also refer to today's media release by the
About Lonza
Lonza is a provider of integrated solutions, combining science and technology in its segments Lonza Pharma Biotech & Nutrition and Lonza Specialty Ingredients. We focus on creating a healthy environment, promoting a healthier lifestyle and preventing illness through consumers' preventive healthcare, as well as improving patient healthcare by supporting our customers to deliver innovative medicines that help treat or even cure severe diseases. Patients and consumers benefit from our ability to transfer our pharma know-how to the healthcare, hygiene and fast-moving consumer goods environment and to the preservation and protection of the world where we live.
Founded in 1897 in the Swiss Alps, Lonza today is a well-respected global company with more than 100 sites and offices and approximately 15,500 full-time employees worldwide at the end of 2019. The company generated sales of
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