Academy elects new members At its 117th annual meeting last week in Washington, D.C., the National Academy of Sciences elected 59 members to the organization. They bring the academy's total membership to 1324. Among those elected, the chemists and those in chemically related areas include: Robert L. Baldwin, professor of biochemistry, Stanford University school of medicine. Helmut Beinert, chairman of the Institute for Enzyme Research, University of Wisconsin, Madison. R. Stephen Berry, professor of chemistry, James Franck Institute, University of Chicago. Stanley Cohen, American Cancer Society Research Professor of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University school of medicine. Earl W. Davie, chairman of the department of biochemistry, University of Washington school of medicine, Seattle. Mostafa A. El-Sayed, professor of chemistry, University of California, Los Angeles. Edward D. Goldberg, professor of chemistry, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, Calif. Donald R. Helinski, professor of biochemical genetics, University of California, San Diego. Frederick Kaufman, professor of chemistry, University of Pittsburgh. Barry M. Trost, Helfaer Professor of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison. Howard E. Zimmerman, Arthur C. Cope Professor of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison. •
be solved before taggants can be widely used. A primary problem is safety. Though proponents of taggants say such systems are safe, OTA cites two cases where a combination of taggant and explosive chemicals reacted at high temperatures. Cost estimates for implementing a taggant program vary widely. OTA estimates that a "baseline" program would cost about $45 million annually and would increase average explosives cost about 12%. Explosives manufacturers consider this cost too high. Law enforcement officials take a slightly guarded view of taggants. Taggants could prevent many bombings and aid investigators in almost all significant criminal bombings involving commercial explosives. However, technically skilled, highly motivated terrorists probably could find some effective countermeasure for taggants, officials say. So OTA characteristically has come down firmly on both sides of the fence. It believes that taggants should be developed and tested by 1983 and that a program could be in operation by 1985. But the agency says also that considerable research must be done and the controversies of safety, cost, and efficacy must be resolved. •
Chemical disposal site explodes and burns Explosions and fire last Monday swept through Chemical Control Corp.'s Elizabeth, N.J., chemical waste disposal warehouse and drums stacked in the yard outside. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection had been carrying out cleanup operations there since the firm was placed in receivership by the state's Superior Court in 1979. First explosions, of still unknown cause, occurred just before 11PM. The Elizabeth Fire Department declared the fire under control about 10 hours later, coincidentally on the 10th anniversary of Earth Day. Potential exposure to toxic chemicals prompted nearby schools and businesses to close for a day. Ironically, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had planned a press conference at Chemical Control Corp. for April 30 to dramatize a presentation of new EPA regulations for chemical waste disposal under the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act. Although the drama came sooner than expected, EPA officials still have not given up this plan and may hold the conference amid the ruins.
Taggants useful in preventing bombings A report just released by the Office of Technology Assessment concludes that using miniature labeling devices, or "taggants," in commercial explosives could be a useful tool against many terrorist and criminal bombers. Two types of taggants are being considered for simultaneous use in explosives: an identification taggant, which would permit police investigators to trace the manufacturer and the last legal purchaser of an explosive even after it had been detonated, and a detection taggant that could be detected by special sensors even with the explosive in a suitcase. According to OTA, however, a number of technical problems need to
Earth Day celebration stresses energy conservation The Capitol forms a backdrop for an electricity-producing windmill on the Mall in Washington, D.G., where several thousand people celebrate Earth Day'80. Washington's exhibition and rally were only part of the activities taking place in more than 1000 communities across the U.S. to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the first Earth Day. Energy conservation was the main theme of this celebration, and there were demonstrations and exhibits of such things as composting toilets, solar collectors made from used beer cans, and stills for making alcohol from grain. Speakers at a sunrise service at the Jefferson Memorial and later on the Mall, including Sen. Edmund Muskie (D.-Me.), Secretary of Transportation Neil Goldschmidt, and actor Eddie Albert, all praised the gains made by the environmental movement in the past decade and cautioned that there is still more to be done.
April 28, 1980 C&EN
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