The Planet Green Chem platform is amongst the signatories, together with some of the members of the Italian Chemical Society of the appeal addressed to Iupac (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry), which is the competent organization of chemical nomenclature at a world level, in order that one of the four new, recently discovered chemical elements be called Levium, in memory of Primo Levi.

Primo Levi, the chemist and historian born in Turin in 1918, was arrested and deported to Auschwitz in 1943, being Jewish. His book entitled the “Il sistema periodico” (The periodic system) in which he told of his experiences during the Holocaust, in which he metaphorically associated them to the 21 chemical elements in the periodic table, was in 2006 acknowledged by the Royal British Institution as being the best science book ever written.

The name proposed for this new chemical element has a great symbolic significance, as remembered by the scientific writer Philip Ball. “Levi's tales of his life in  Auschwitz in his book entitled “Se questo è un uomo” (If this be a Man), written in 1947, is one of the most profound and humane works of the century, testifying to the fact that science has the power to act as a force of liberation and universal salvation, without however ignoring the possibility of abusing of the same in the most terrible of ways. The name Levium would give the periodic table a significance for all of humanity”.

To coincide with the Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27th January, the Planet Green Chem,  platform, created to promote the interaction between research, industry, finance and civil society in favour of green chemistry for the purpose of sustainable human development, has committed itself to promoting the appeal through all available channels and media, to reach over 5000 recipients comprising research institutes, industries and chemical companies, in order to add their signatures to the over 1000 already obtained. The appeal can be signed at the following link://ilblogdellasci.wordpress.com/2016/01/17/chiediamo-alla-iupac-diassegnare-il-nome-levio-levium-ad-uno-dei-4-nuovi-elementi