Much of the commercial rayon manufacturing utilizes the "viscose" process, in which the purified cellulose is converted to xanthate, the xanthate dissolved in dilute caustic soda and the cellulose regenerated from the product as it emerges from the spinneret.
-- DNA was isolated from a 20 mg portion of ground root material from three replicates of each of the nine original root samples by the modified potassium ethyl xanthate (PEX) extraction method of Edwards et al.
With a supply of mixed alcohols available, Alan Vanterpool, Jean Watt and Ken Nelson developed a process which allowed Chemcell to enter the xanthate market.
Xanthate, ingestion of which is harmful, methyl isobutyl carbinol, which is a severe skin irritant in concentrated form, and polyacrylamide monomer, which is toxic and can be absorbed through the skin, were also discharged into the river.