Carter, Ford differ on getting science advice With the first of the debates between the Presidential and Vice Presiden tial contenders only 10 days away, the Carter and Ford campaign organiza tions are taking distinctly different tacks in obtaining participation of the nation's science and engineering community in their campaigns. The Carter organization has set up a science policy task force headed by Dr. Lewis Branscomb, vice president and chief scientist of IBM, and for mer director of the National Bureau of Standards. Branscomb would seem to be a likely choice for Presidential science adviser if Carter is elected. Carter campaign officials have yet to make public a full listing of the task force membership. But the group does include such well-established science and technology luminaries as Dr. Harold Brown, president of Cal ifornia Institute of Technology; Dr. Harvey Brooks of Harvard Universi ty; Michael Michaelis of Arthur D. Little Inc.; Dr. George Pake, director of research for Xerox Corp.; and Dr. George Low, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and former deputy administrator of the National Aeronautics & Space Administration. And at least two former Presidential science advisers have been asked to join the task force—Dr. Edward David, science adviser to President Nixon, and Dr. Jerome Wiesner, science adviser to President Kennedy. The task force members so far haven't held formal meetings. In stead, they individually provide commentary to the Carter organiza tion on various issues. Whether any formal position paper in the area of science and technology will emerge from all this isn't clear. The Ford campaign organization has not set up a similar science policy task force arrangement. Nor are there any intentions of doing so, according to the Ford campaign organization. The Ford camp apparently will rely on its research division in the cam paign headquarters for advice and counsel on science and technology issues. Not that Ford, as the incum bent President, lacks science advice. Dr. H. Guyford Stever, former direc tor of the National Science Founda tion and designated Presidential science adviser, was formally installed as Ford's adviser on Aug. 12. Also, there is the new White House Office of Science & Technology Policy, headed by Stever, which is now set ting up shop. What use, if any, the Ford campaign organization will make of these remains to be seen. D
Dane particles, 42 nm in average diame ter, are thought to represent the complete hepatitis Β virus
Interferon effective in hepatitis tests Scientists at Stanford University school of medicine have successfully treated chronic hepatitis Β virus in fection with interferon, an antiviral cellular glycoprotein produced by the body to limit the spread of viral in fections [New England J. Medicine, 295, 517 (1976)]. Although prelimi nary in nature, the findings are praised as "encouraging" and "an auspicious beginning" in work toward possible hepatitis therapy in a state ment from the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases, a chief supporter of the research, and in a journal editorial accompanying the Stanford paper. Some 100 million people worldwide may be chronically infected with hepatitis Β virus, notes the group of six scientists, led by Dr. Thomas C. Merigan and Dr. William S. Robin son. In the U.S., as many as 1 million persons currently may be infected. And about 10% of U.S. patients hos pitalized with acute hepatitis Β con tinue to carry its surface antigen (HBsAg) chronically in their blood and are thus potential transmitters of the infection (for example, through use of contaminated blood transfu sions or unsterile syringe needles). Most chronic infections persist for many years and spontaneous recovery is rare. There is no effective treat ment at present, and elimination of the virus by vaccination is unlikely in the foreseeable future, the group adds. The six Stanford scientists gave injections to four hepatitis Β patients of human leukocyte interferon, pro duced in vitro by Sendai virus stim ulation of white blood cells. Before treatment, three of the patients had consistently high levels of circulating Dane particles, as indicated by several markers. The complex Dane particles, an average of 42 nm in diameter, are thought to represent the complete hepatitis Β virus and contain several markers of activity, including HB s Ag on their surface, a unique internal core antigen (HB c Ag), a DNA-de-
pendent DNA polymerase, and small, circular double-stranded DNA. Administration of interferon at levels of 6000 to 170,000 units per kg per day rapidly and reproducibly decreased three specific Dane particle markers measured—DNA polymer ase activity, HBcAg, and DNA—in all three patients with previously ele vated levels. HB s Ag also fell in two of the three patients. And prolonged interferon doses suppressed levels of e antigen, a hepatitis B-associated soluble antigen. The California team finds that the suppressive effect is transient when interferon is given for 10 days or less. For instance, polymerase marker levels promptly rise again when treatment is stopped. However, sup pression appears to be more perma nent when interferon is injected for a month or more. For example, two cases show depressed or negative polymerase values for nine and 15 weeks, respectively, after termination of therapy. Higher doses also have a more complete effect. Merigan and his colleagues point out that the interferon effect was shown on patients ranging from early to advanced liver disease victims. Use of interferon was well tolerated in all cases. The mechanism by which inter feron works is not clear. However, the group says, it appears to be exerting a suppressive effect on some stage of production of Dane particles. In any case, the Stanford group stresses, there is much research ahead. The researchers do not know whether the lowered Dane particle levels indicate lowered infectivity of the hepatitis carrier, for example. But they already are finding in three pa tients a return toward normal liver function from virus-caused liver dis ease. Their findings moreover are receiving additional support from studies on chimpanzees using an in terferon inducer. The studies are to be published shortly in Lancet by a team of National Institutes of Health scientists led by Dr. Robert Purcell. •
Conferees near accord on toxic substances Senate and House conferees working on toxic substances control legislation are very close to total agreement. Of the more than 40 major issues iden tified by the conference committee as needing compromise between the Senate and House versions, at press time only one remained to be re solved. So far, the compromise ver sion has mostly taken the shape of the Sept. 13, 1976 C&EN
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Viking II sending clear photos from Utopian Plains Despite an initial scare, National Aeronautics & Space Administration scientists again made it look easy when Viking II, the sister ship to the first unmanned Mars probe, landed safely on the Red Planet on Sept. 3. The second 1300-lb robot laboratory is 4600 miles away from the first on the opposite side of the planet, but nearer Mars' north pole in a region called the Utopian Plains, where scientists believe there is more water and thus a better chance of finding life. The initial scare came when NASA controllers at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena temporarily lost radio contact with Viking ll's orbiting mother ship, which serves as a radio relay with earth. Apparently during separation of the lander, the orbiter flipped over and its radio antenna was pointed aimlessly away from earth. The problem later was corrected with new instructions from earth. Instead of finding an expected sand dune landscape, Viking scientists were surprised by the remarkably clear pictures that show a flat landscape stretching off to the horizon evenly littered with many small rocks, some of which appear to be volcanic in origin. Fine-grain material similar to that found by Viking I appears to be built up by wind between the rocks. The slope of the horizon in the picture above is due to a 8° tilt in the lander. NASA scientists speculate that one of its tripod legs may be resting on top of a rock.
House bill. And Manufacturing Chemists Association president William J. Driver is hopeful that conferees will accept the House version on the remaining issue. The Senate passed its bill, S. 3149, in March; the House passed its bill, H.R. 14032, last month. The last issue that has to be resolved has given conferees the most trouble, and more time has been spent on it than on any other issue. The two-part issue concerns the kinds of authority that should be given to the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to "halt or limit" the manufacture of new chemicals during the premarket notification period, if "there is inadequate information to evaluate the health or environmental effects of the new substance," or if "there is adequate information to evaluate the health and environmental effects and if that information indicates that the chemical is hazardous." S. 3149 would give EPA the authority to halt or limit the manufacture of new chemicals under the above conditions without prior notice or hearing. H.R. 14032, on the other hand, would require EPA to go to court to obtain an injunction enjoining the manufacture. (The premarket notification requirement in both the Senate and House bills would have 8
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manufacturers give 90 days' notice to EPA of any intention to market new chemicals.) Among the areas agreed upon by the conferees is a provision that requires EPA to consider the relative costs of various testing methods in determining the kinds of testing required for new chemicals and for new uses of existing chemicals. Another compromise provision allows the agency to propose an immediate ban on a chemical that is likely to result in unreasonable risks to health or the environment. Further, conferees have agreed to lower the filing fee from $2500 to $100 for small businesses. They also have agreed to provide the EPA administrator the discretion to choose among the agency laws in regulating a chemical, and the discretion to refer the chemical to another agency for action if appropriate. •
Health activities of unions appear modest In an effort to determine what unions are doing on occupational health, the Public Citizen's Health Research Group recently surveyed 15 major unions representing more than 7 million workers, which, the group
says, are "believed to be particularly prone to chemical health hazards because of the industry they work in." The survey included questions on occupational health activities such as staffing, budgets, education, and research. Results of the survey were released last week. They show that six of the 14 unions responding to the survey spend less than $50,000 per year on occupational health activities. Of the six others that claimed to spend more than $100,000 per year on health activities, only the United Mine Workers pinpointed its budget at $170,000. The other five unions in the latter group—the United Auto Workers; the Steelworkers; the Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers (OCAW); the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers; and the American Federation of Government Employees—say they have no fixed budget but spend money as it is needed. The United Rubber Workers, which reported no expenditures, entered into a contract in 1971 under which companies are required to set aside a fraction of a cent per workerhour to finance occupational health research at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. The survey also finds only one full-time and four part-time physicians employed in occupational health in all 15 unions. Other health personnel reported were seven fulltime and one part-time industrial hygienist; one epidemiologist; two chemists; four full-time and one part-time public health specialist; two full-time and three part-time engineers; one full-time and three parttime economists; two full-time and three part-time lawyers; and no nurses. The unions with the highest ratio of health staff to union members are OCAW and UMW, each with 1:30,000. The Health Research Group notes that much union occupational health work "calls not for advanced academic degrees, but rather for basic health training, an eye for hazards, and organizing talent." Along these lines, the 15 unions report 11 full-time and 25 part-time nonhealth professionals working on occupational health and safety on their international staffs. In addition, UAW lists 320 and the Steelworkers list 800 field health representatives among their rank and file. And OCAW has two health representatives for each of its nine districts. The survey also finds that staff expansion plans for the future seem minimal, with only the International Union of Electricians and the International Chemical Workers Union planning to hire additional industrial hygienists. D
