Soviets refute chemical warfare charges
not presented a single shell, bomb fragment, rocket, or cylinder to indict the U.S.S.R. for chemical warfare in Southeast Asia. They rely instead on innuendo and illogical statements. In one case, the Soviets argue, by implication, that crates seen being offloaded from a Soviet vessel in the port of Saigon contained captured U.S. weapons. At press time, State Department officials had only glanced at the Soviet paper. On first reading, they found it "bizarre," suspecting that "it will ultimately prove to be an embarrassment to the Soviets." •
In a critique submitted to the United Nations, the Soviet Union dubs the State Department's March report to Congress on chemical warfare in Southeast Asia and Afghanistan a "malicious fabrication." The Soviets say the report is designed to divert attention from chemical warfare the U.S. conducted in Southeast Asia during the Vietnamese conflict, to justify renewed U.S. chemical arms production, and to cloak the Reagan Administration's "reluctance to engage in serious negotiations" on a chemical weapons ban. The 19-page critique was prepared Women and minorities by experts from the U.S.S.R. Acad- in science make gains emy of Sciences and the Ministry of Health. In it, the Soviets admit that The National Science Foundation, "yellow rain" toxins are present in as required by law, has sent ConSoutheast Asia, but they reach the gress its first biennial report on the startling conclusion that the fungal participation of women and minoritoxin-induced diseases and deaths ties in science and engineering emnow alleged to be occurring in South- ployment and training. east Asia stem from the "herbicide For the most part, this first rewar waged by the U.S. in Vietnam." port represents a compilation of alAccording to the Soviet scenario, ready known facts and thus its by U.S. overuse of herbicides, indig- conclusions are not new. What is enous vegetation, especially forests, important is that the report for the was wiped out. By use of napalm, first time pulls together in one place exposed soil was sterilized. Then the the available data on these groups denuded areas "were artificially and fits that data into the overall seeded" with elephant grass, pre- perspective of the total science and sumably from U.S. aircraft. engineering community. This "malignant" weed, according Among the report's findings on to the Soviets, became the "nutri- women are that employment of feent medium" for previously dormant male scientists and engineers rose Fusarium fungi, the producers of the almost 32% between 1974 and 1978, trichothecene toxins detected by U.S. increasing their share of the total scientists in plant, water, and blood science and engineering (S/E) worksamples collected from areas and force from 7.8 to 9.4%; the proporfrom victims allegedly under chem- tion of S/E women employed part ical attack. The fungal spores— time was seven times as large as which are native to the region, the that of men, 14% versus 2%; the proSoviets claim—were carried by pre- portion of women holding non-S/E vailing winds from Vietnam to those jobs was about three times as large provinces in Kampuchea and Laos as that of men, 43% vs. 14%; and the "in which the U.S. Air Force used proportion of female scientists and herbicides in 1972" to prepare the engineers reporting management as soil for plant fungal infestation. their primary work activity was less The Soviets claim that the evi- than one half that of men. dence presented by the U.S. can be Data on minority-group scientists best explained by natural intoxica- and engineers are much scarcer than tion. They cite the unequal myco- those on women, which also are toxin levels reported by the U.S. for scant. However, the report says the different parts of a leaf sample and S/E employment of these groups rose the lack of toxin contamination in 25% between 1974 and 1978, increasthe leaf stem as evidence for this. A ing their share of the workforce to U.S. government mycotoxin expert, about 4%. Despite this gain, blacks who requests anonymity, says "the still are underrepresented. Minority detection method for mycotoxins has scientists and engineers received a high degree of imprecision," and lower salaries than whites, but there detected levels wouldn't be identical. was little difference between racial The Soviets fail to develop their groups in unemployment rates and best argument—that the U.S. has career advancement.
NSF says that in designing its data collection systems for the 1980s, emphasis has been given to increasing the samples for women and minorities so that more statistically reliable data will be available in the future. n
Aspirin products must carry warning label Health & Human Services Secretary Richard S. Schweiker has ordered the Food & Drug Administration to require a warning label on aspirincontaining products saying that there is a link between aspirin use in some childhood diseases and development of Reye's syndrome. Critics say that a link has not been established firmly enough to warrant such labeling. Schweiker also has ordered FDA to start a mass education program among parents, doctors, and pharmacists to alert them to the alleged link. Reye's syndrome is a brain disease that also causes fatty degeneration of organs such as the liver. It can occur during recovery from chicken pox or flu, with a child vomiting and then becoming lethar-
Aspirin at a glance
C~OH
Producers—Dow Chemical, Midland, Mich.; Monsanto, St. Louis; MortonNorwich, Norwich, N.Y.; Sterling Drug, Trenton, N.J. Capacity—43 million lb per year How made—Acetylation of salicylic acid Drug action—Thought to inhibit the cyclooxygenase that catalyzes reaction of oxygen with polyunsaturated fatty acids during biosynthesis of prostaglandins. Excessive prostaglandin production causes fever, pain, and inflammation Price—$1.65 per lb (bulk) Value—$60 million for the 40 million lb production estimated in the U.S. in 1981
June 14, 1982 C&EN
7
News of the Week gic, confused, irritable, or aggressive. Coma and death sometimes result. Some children who survive coma may suffer brain damage. Of the 250 to 650 cases per year in the U.S., one quarter are fatal. Schweiker's order to FDA comes hard on the heels of publication of two new studies by physician Ronald J. Waldman and coworkers at the Center for Disease Control, Atlanta [J. Am. Med. Assoc, 247, 3089 (1982)], linking occurrence of Reye's syndrome with children who had been treated with aspirin for fever during chicken pox or flu. CDC outside consultants studied these new data in October 1981. As a result of their report, CDC issued an advisory on Feb. 12, 1982, saying that "until the nature of the association between Reye's syndrome and salicylates is clarified, the use of salicylates should be avoided when possible for children with varicella, chicken pox, and during presumed influenza outbreaks." In a study conducted during the winter of 1980-81, Waldman and his associates surveyed 12 of the 18 school-age children who had Reye's syndrome in Michigan. All 12 children had taken aspirin, compared with 13 of 29 controls. Aspirin marketing firms criticize the Michigan and other studies, saying that children who did not develop Reyes also may not have had the same original illness as those who later got Reye's syndrome. The critics also suggest that Reye's syndrome may have developed before children s t a r t e d taking aspirin. Waldman and his coworkers state that the origin and development of the disease involves more than just viral infection and aspirin ingestion. Current retail sales of children's aspirin are $38 million per year, down from $53 million in 1980, largely because of publicity about Reye's syndrome. •
Slaughter to leave NSF, join U. of Maryland More than 10 years ago, the University of Maryland hired basketball coach Charles "Lefty" Driesell to make the College Park institution into the "UCLA of the East." Lefty, notorious for his "ain'ts" and double negatives, has never quite pulled off the feat. Now, the university wants to become the Berkeley of the East in academic excellence and has hired National Science Founda8
C&EN June 14, 1982
Slaughter: leaving NSF regretfully
tion director John B. Slaughter to work his magic as chancellor. Slaughter, a computer scientist, says he is ready for the job, and clearly is itching for the chance to take the university into the nation's academic Top Ten. He starts no later than next January, he says, but he could leave NSF as soon as late August if the Reagan Administration can find a successor by that time. Slaughter says he leaves NSF with regret and a slight sense of guilt at moving on after only about two years.
But he says the board members gave his decision, made late in May, their full endorsement and told him not to feel bad about it. Sources say Slaughter, with two children in college, was feeling some financial pinch in the $60,000-a-year job. The Maryland job will pay $75,000 a year. But more important, he says, is the chance to go back to a university campus and take on a formidable challenge in his first love— academics. Maryland, with its 37,000 students, currently ranks nowhere near the Top Ten. It rates low in professorial salaries, and faculty members are disgruntled. Moreover, the university has only a mediocre record in minority recruitment, and no nationally significant programs in public affairs on a campus only 5 miles from the nation's capital. Slaughter's career as NSF director was short and anything but sweet. He probably is the most well-liked and least controversial of NSF directors, and he guided the foundation through one of the toughest fiscal periods in its history. Last year, the Administration cut out all social and behavioral science programs at NSF, as well as Slaughter's pet minority-support programs. Though it took a year to restore about half the social science programs, Slaughter, with Congress' help, succeeded in restoring and even increasing minority-support programs. •
Kuwaitis appear to own bout 18% of Hoechst The mystery of Arab ownership of Hoechst, the giant West German chemical firm, has cleared up a little. Last month, widespread reports in German business circles had it that Kuwaiti interests had bought about 25% of Hoechst stock (C&EN, May 24, page 6). It now appears that the Kuwaiti block is more like 18%. The Hoechst management is taking a neutral stance on the matter, and the Kuwaiti parties will have no management role in the company. As it said it would, Hoechst surveyed available information on ownership of its equity. Such a study is complicated, because in West Germany stockholders can choose to be anonymous. They must notify the West German government if they gain more than 25% of a company's stock. Hoechst found that no country belonging to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, including Kuwait, has claimed more than 25% ownership of Hoechst stock.
However, Hoechst chairman Rolf Sammet said at the Hoechst annual stockholders' meeting last week in Frankfurt that foreign ownership of the company's stock had jumped to 33% at the end of 1981 from just 19% in 1978. Further, about 50% of Hoechst stock is in the hands of just 1000 large shareholders, including investment firms, estates, insurance firms, banks, and other institutions. Unofficially, Hoechst knows more than that about its stock ownership. Sources within the company confirm the likelihood of a report in the New York Times t h a t the collective Kuwaiti stake is about 18% at the moment. Hoechst shows no public concern over the large Kuwaiti purchase. Sammet says the firm maintains a neutral attitude about any large ownership of its stock. If there were a large shareholder, he adds, the deciding question would be whether a friendly agreement exists between the shareholder and management. D
