flEWS OF THfflffiBBK ETHICS
CONFLICTING INTERESTS Congress responds to review panel report on conflict of interest at N I H
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ATIONAL INSTITUTES OF
Health policies on conflict of interest for its employees should be tightened; more disclosure is needed; and activities such as teaching, speaking, and writing should be less restricted, according to a report released on May 6 by an independent review panel. Director Elias A. Zerhouni set up the 10-member N I H BlueRibbon Panel on Conflict-of-interest Policies in February Panel members were charged with examining and suggesting changes to current policy (C&EN, Feb. 9, page 22). Completed in just 66 days, the report contains 18 recommendations to improve the current system that governs the outside professional activities of N I H employees. T h e recommendations include barring all senior N I H officials from engaging in paid consulting with industry or academia. For lower level N I H scientists who are not involved in management, policy, or financial decisions, the amount of time and compensation for consulting work will be limited. In addition, N I H employees will no longer be allowed to accept stock or stock options for consulting work. The panel did recommend allowing N I H employees to accept bona fide cash awards for meritorious public service or achievement. The panel supports broadening the rules that govern public disclosure of consulting relationships such that more people must report such activity and the panel would like to see fewer restrictions on N I H intramural scientists so that these scientists may more readily accept teaching, speakHTTP://WWW.CEN-ONLINE.ORG
ing, and writing engagements. The House Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations, which has held a close watch over this issue in recent months, responded quickly to the panel's report. At a hearing on May 12, subcommittee members questioned Zerhouni and panel cochairs Bruce Alberts, president of the National Academy of Sciences, and Norman R. Augustine, retired chairman of Lockheed Martin. The House members noted that the report is a good first step, but asked whether the panel's recommendations are strong enough. "The blue-ribbon panel report
PLASTICS
seems to handle the conflict-ofinterest issues gently^nd seems almost blithely to^ccept the retention and recruitment arguments for maintaining some form of outside consulting and compensated scientific activities by N I H scientists," subcommittee Chairman James C. Greenwood (R-Pa.) said. He called for supporting data, asking: 'Are there facts or information that back up these arguments about N I H ' s ability to retain or recruit?" Rep.Joe Barton (RTèxas), chair of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, which oversees the subcommittee, noted that the hearing was not a witch-hunt. Every member of Congress wants to see N I H succeed, he added, but sufficient checks and balances must be in place. "We have to have transparency and we have to have accountability," he said. The panel's complete report is available at http://www.nih.gov/ about/ethics_COI_panelreport. pdf-SUSAN MORRISSEY
Zerhouni
RECYCLING
China Spells Crisis For Postconsumer Plastics
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he rate of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle recycling is declining, and China is pricing domestic buyers of empty bottles out of the market, according to the Association of Postcon sumer Plastic Recyclers (APR). The situation is enough of a crisis that APR has retained lobbying firm Kinghorn, Hilbert & Asso ciates to help find government policies that could reverse these problems. "We are dangerously close to irre versibly losing significant amounts of recycling capacity," says Robin Cotchan, executive director of APR. "Business as usual cannot continue." APR represents U.S. plastics recycling companies and gets additional funding from the Ameri can Plastics Council. Cotchan explains that although U.S. bottle production has increased, recy cling has declined, leaving supplies of reclaimed bottles flat. According to the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR), about 800 million lb of bottles were recycled in both 1995 and 2002. Moreover, because of low labor costs, Chinese producers can offer more money for reclaimed bottles, Cotchan says. In fact, according to NAPCOR, nearly 35% of the bottles collected for recycling in the U.S. in 2002 went to China. Cotchan worries that without its feedstock, the U.S. bottle recycling industry will dry up. And goods based on recycled polyester such as nonwoven fabrics and pillow stuffing will be increasingly imported. "It could follow in the same footpath as the textile industry," she warns.-ALEX TULL0 C & E N / MAY 1 7, 2 0 0 4
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