Helium is invisible, yet used widely by the pharmaceutical community. Professor Tom Welton, Imperial College London, and Steve Westcott, Melbourn Scientific, warn of the implications of an impending helium shortage.
Every time you see a child with a helium balloon, imagine somebody not being able to have an MRI scan that they desperately need. According to Tom Welton, professor of Sustainable Chemistry, Imperial College London, this is a real possibility and the professor warns that the helium shortage may soon affect the pharmaceutical industry. Contract research organisation Melbourn Scientific, based in Melbourn, Herts, UK, is already responding.
‘Helium is truly a finite resource,’ Welton says. ‘With increasing demand from places like China, supply cannot keep up. We have already been warned that availability is patchy and we may not always be able to have our usual amount.’
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