COMMENT
Activism and hazards and toxins All too often we are exposed to the time-worn technique of throwing a statement at a problem in the mistaken belief that the problem has been solved or will at least fade away. Never mind that the problem may have no easy solutions or that the statement is little more than a self-serving collection of pious platitudes. There are people who could react that way to the statement of the Committee on Professional Relations (see below) that deals with the problem of hazards and toxins. It is my conviction that any who do are wrong, because I know—as the committee's chairman—all the searching analyses, deliberations, and debates that formed the background for this statement. It is not my purpose here to defend this recent statement, because only with the passage of time will we be able to judge whether the official concerns it expresses and the actions it promises have an impact upon the behavior of those who research, manufacture, and sell chemicals. It should be evident to all that this statement represents a beginning, not a solution or a palliative. What concerns me at this time is the need for all—chemists, their employers, the public, and the government—to recognize that chemists are sometimes the unpublicized victims of irresponsible policies and negligent inaction that lead to their unnecessary exposure to hazards and toxins, with consequent personal tragedy. Because the Committee on Professional Relations is known as the place for ACS members to seek assistance with their professional problems, whatever their type or scope, we are acutely aware that chemists can be exposed to hazards and toxins, knowingly or not. Because we do and will continue to assist members who seek our help in such instances, we also
know the fears and frustrations of addressing the bureaucracy—whether in a private sector corporation or the government—and, if the complaint is one of injury from exposure to hazards and toxins, discovering the truth and reaching a solution become more difficult than they might otherwise be. One such request came during 1978 from a chemist whom one department of the federal government had declared to be unable for health reasons to continue in a professional-level job. Eventually, disability retirement came through, but all attempts at workmen's compensation were stopped short of success. Our committee assigned one of its consultants to investigate and he reported that the chemist was being victimized and that he would offer help. After several months of often discouraging efforts, including discussions with the offices of this chemist's Congressman and Senator, we were delighted to learn that the compensation claim had been granted and to receive the following words directed to our consultant: "I can't begin to tell you what a great job you and the American Chemical Society are doing in assisting with cases such as mine. Without such help the individual doesn't have much of a chance." To report this is not to claim that we have made even a dent in one of the most distressing problems that confront us..But the Committee on Professional Relations is trying to assist ACS members who have been exposed to hazards and toxins as well as trying to prevent more widespread injury to other chemists and to the public at large. That is why I think that effective action on a broad scale will come only when, or if, two prerequisites are met: • Chemical professionals owe it to themselves and to society to become
Committee of Professional Relations develops statement on hazardous substances The following statement was prepared by the Committee on Professional Relations in response to a legal petition dated Oct. 14, 1977, from the California Section to consider possible ACS action on the Kepone situation. 36
C&EN Sept. 17, 1979
The American Chemical Society has a long-standing and recognized concern for the health and safety of the public and workers in the chemical industry. These concerns are reaffirmed in our Professional Employment Guidelines, which state that
increasingly aware of the toxicology of all chemicals, the ones they work with, manufacture, or sell. No professional endeavor, whether conceptualizing a research plan or designing a process or marketing a product, can justifiably neglect to consider the health and safety aspects. The time is past when these are second-order priorities. • Corporate entities—government installations and private sector companies—must not only impress upon their employees the overriding importance of health and safety but must be willing to provide dollars to implement management's memoranda and directives. This is a responsibility that is uniquely theirs and that, if translated into actions with financial support, will do much to allay private and public fear and suspicion. The whistle-blower could become an anachronism, but the decision is up to the decision-makers of corporations and of government. Until or unless these prerequisites are met, the Committee on Professional Relations can be expected to take an activist role in assisting ACS members who seek help with hazard and toxin exposures and in calling attention to those whose actions disregard the Professional Employment Guideline that enjoins chemists and their employers from endangering the public with inadequately tested products and processes. Perhaps the guiding principle for the committee's activism can be summed up in these words, once spoken by U.S. Circuit Court Judge David L. Bazelon of Washington: "It is easy to concede the inevitability of social injustice and find the serenity to accept it. The far harder task is to feel its intolerability and seek the strength to change it." F. William Kirsch, chairman Committee on Professional Relations
both the chemist and the employer "should strive to insure that products and processes are adequately tested and that potential hazards are properly identified to the public." Nevertheless, increasing public concern for the environment and an increasing awareness and knowledge of occupational hazards and diseases demand increasing vigilance on the part of both chemist and corporation.
Possibly our perception and exercise of responsibilities, both corporate and individual, have lagged behind the public's changing criteria of a responsible citizenship. The expectations of the lay public for the exercise of corporate and chemist responsibility obviously go far beyond those which have been felt as reasonable in the past. The damaging sequence of events that have made the public acutely aware of certain chemical companies points up the inadequacy of much previous corporate control over processes, products, and their discharges into the environment. This is amply illustrated by the cases of Kepone, polychlorinated biphenyls, and dioxin. Some companies have come into more notoriety than others and, though their culpability varies from one to another, none of them can be considered as unique or isolated in total innocence, total guilt, or total disregard for the public. But their recent history has spawned a public image of an industry and a profession concocting insidious poisons and threatening even the genetic future of the nation. Disclaimers on packages and assurances of rigorous controls during manufacture will no longer suffice to quiet public anxiety. Much damage has been done which will not be repaired either easily or soon. It must be recognized that carelessness and irresponsibility by one are an injury to all. A corrective, educational measure, deserving of ACS support, should be directed toward the educational establishment and the chemist himself. It is no longer excusable that a chemist as a professional be ill aware of the physiological hazards of his job. It is recommended that every chemist should complete a course or courses in toxicology and hazards, which will at least partially protect both himself and his fellow man. The society could well direct some of its resources toward impressing this message upon the academic community. Toward this end, it is recommended that (a) every school offer a course in toxicology and safe handling of chemicals, available to both undergraduate and graduate students of chemistry and chemical engineering and (b) that every chemistry department include chemical safety as an important feature in every chemistry laboratory course. Beyond the society's affirmation of responsible behavior and its propounding of guidelines, it possesses one significant tool for change and improvement—publicity. The Committee on Professional Relations urges that members bring to the attention of the Hazards & Toxins
Subcommittee of CPR any alleged violations of public health and safety by an entity. Only by full exposure can the dimensions of the task ahead be assessed and a basis for corrective action be established. •
ACS on women in science, patent bills Equal opportunity for women in science and patent legislation were the subjects of recent American Chemical Society public policy letters to government officials by ACS president Gardner W. Stacy. One letter, to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D.-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Health & Scientific Research, offered the society's views on S. 568, the Women in Science & Technology Equal Opportunity Act. The other letter^ to Sen. Adlai E. Stevenson (D.-Ill.), chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology & Space, commented on S. 1215, the Science & Technology Research & Development Utilization Policy Act. The society's Women Chemists Committee has endorsed S. 568. In a letter signed by Stacy and Wanda L. Brown, chairman of the committee, it finds the purpose of the bill, to encourage the full participation of women in scientific, professional, and technical fields, "most commendable." Such legislation is needed because of the underrepresentation of women on faculties of institutions granting Ph.D. degrees in chemistry, the committee points out. For the academic year 1976-77, of 4129 full-time faculty (excluding lecturers and instructors), only 98 were women, according to a survey by Agnes Ann Green for the committee. The committee "strongly supports" the educational goals of the bill, which calls for improving the quality of science and mathematics programs. "Attitudes toward careers in science and technology are formed early. For this reason, we believe that efforts must be made at the elementary and secondary school levels to develop more positive attitudes." Commenting on the incentive awards under the bill's section 312, for individuals or organizations that have made an outstanding contribution to the participation and advancement of women, and under section 313, for high schools that are actively encouraging women to enroll in mathematics and sciences courses, the committee urges using these awards to encourage institutions to expand the opportunities for ad-
vancement of women in science. It suggests that these awards should specify that the money received go toward further upgrading the quality of teaching, or expanding the research programs at the recipient institutions. Also, the accomplishments of these award winners should be widely publicized. In its letter to Sen. Stevenson, ACS notes that a strong patent system encourages innovation. Still, the system may have become eroded through court actions, through enactment of legislation, or by administration action within the government. Administration action may have been inhibitory, the society says, as a result of a lack of uniform patent policy among federal agencies. But S. 1215, ACS "is pleased to note," recognizes that a uniform policy is necessary for the most effective management and use of the results of federally assisted R&D. ACS also is pleased that S. 1215 authorizes the Secretary of Commerce "to develop, coordinate, and implement this uniform policy through a centralized office." However, the office should not be part of an existing government agency, but rather a separate, semiautonomous organization, ACS believes. Further,
A Short Course
Chemical Engineering for Chemists Gillette Park, Boston, Massachusetts Friday, October 19 and Saturday, October 20 Sponsored by Northeastern Section, ACS Cost of $150 per person ($175 nonmembers) includes course manual and coffee breaks Registration deadline October 10, 1979 Contact: Mrs. Janice Fine man
Northeastern Section, ACS \2 Janet Hd. Newton Centre, Mass. 02159 Phone (617) iMf>-.V24f>
Sept. 17, 1979 C&EN
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