News Release

New American Chemical Society video explores the chemistry of egg dyeing

Reports and Proceedings

American Chemical Society

With millions of eggs about to have their annual encounter with red, green, blue and other dyes this holiday weekend, the American Chemical Society (ACS) today released a new video that will egg people on in discovering the chemistry that underpins the process. The video is at http://www.BytesizeScience.com.

Produced by the ACS Office of Public Affairs, The Chemistry of Egg Dyeing features Diane Bunce, Ph.D., professor of chemistry at The Catholic University of America. Bunce explains, for instance, why vinegar is so important for eggshells to take up dye. Eggshells consist of calcium carbonate, the same chemical that makes up marble chips. But try to dye a white marble chip. No way! So what is it that makes eggshells dye-friendly? The video explains that eggshells have a "protein cuticle," which reacts with vinegar-based dyes in a way that allows dye to bond to the exterior of the egg. Find out more in the video.

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For more entertaining, informative science videos and podcasts from the ACS Office of Public Affairs, view Prized Science, Spellbound, Science Elements and Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

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

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