That is just what the NCI-FDA project purports to be. It will involve taking careful case histories from about 3000 newly diagnosed bladder cancer patients living in nine different regions in the U.S. Also to be interviewed will be 6000 matched control individuals—healthy people randomly chosen from the same regions. The size of the joint study will permit determining whether saccharin increases bladder cancer risk by as little as 10%, says Robert N. Hoover, head of NCFs environmental studies section. Previous Canadian studies involved smaller surveys, thus making analysis unreliable. The NCIFDA study also will develop information on other factors, such as smoking, artificial sweeteners other than saccharin, hair dyes, occupation, and drinking water, that might affect bladder cancer incidence. Both reports are expected to be available to Congress when deliberations about saccharin resume in June 1979. D
Daddario reports on oppression in Argentina Mistreatment of scientists in Argentina may be eased, after government actions for almost two years that have "made a shambles of scientific freedom" and resulted in mass firings, arrests, disappearances, murders, torture, and emigration. That, at least, is the tentative conclusion and hope expressed by Emilio Q. Daddario, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, after a 10-day visit to Argentina. During the trip last month— AAAS's first on-site visit to a country where scientists are in difficulty—
Daddario: bad scene in Argentina 8
C&EN Jan. 30, 1978
Ammonia arrives in Florida from Soviet Union Long after the ammonia shortage that helped to bring about the transactions, the first shipment of the important fertilizer material arrived earlier this month at Tampa, Fla., from the Soviet Union on the Latvian tanker M. V. Yurmala. This shipment is the first ammonia delivery in a 20-year trade agreement dating from 1973 between Occidental Petroleum and the Ministry of Foreign Trade of the Soviet Union. The agreement set up an exchange under which the Soviets will supply ammonia to Occidental to market in the U.S. and other parts of the world. In return, Occidental will supply superphosphoric acid from its Florida facilities of an equivalent dollar value. The tortuous execution of the agreement has had to await construction of a multitude of ammonia plants in the Soviet Union, whose product is now entering a glutted world ammonia market. Imports such as this one have been a prime cause for concern among U.S. ammonia producers. Daddario met freely with officials, heads of scientific institutes, intellectuals, scientists formerly imprisoned, and relatives of missing scientists. He discussed his findings last week and outlines them in the Feb. 3 issue of Science (page 520). "There is a bad scene in Argentina," Daddario notes. More than 8000 people (including perhaps several hundred scientists) have been arrested and abducted since a military government took power in March 1976 and began a campaign to suppress widespread leftist terrorism (C&EN, June 6, 1977, page 8). Scientists—particularly physicists, psychiatrists, and psychologists— have been hit hard, but other intellectuals and middle class citizens have suffered equally. And there is no logic to it, he stresses: many were not politically active, much less terrorists. Daddario believes that U.S. scientists can influence the situation. Government officials "are tremendously interested in our opinion" and concerned for Argentina's image, he says. For instance, they are very concerned about a move by U.S.,
French, and other scientists to boycott the 12th International Cancer Congress if it is held in Argentina next October. And, he notes, relatives of imprisoned scientists and other scientists he spoke to oppose such a boycott. They believe "it would be helpful to them" to have scientists come in and ask questions. Daddario went with two aims: to demonstrate U.S. scientists' concern, and to explore whether the authorities are ready to moderate their policies. These aims were achieved, but he will consider the trip successful only when concrete steps are taken, such as release of prisoners, identification of those killed and those still imprisoned, restoration of constitutional protections, reinstatement of fired scientists and engineers, replacement of military officials administering labs and universities, and encouragement of the return of emigre scientists. Further influence will be exerted by a National Academy of Sciences delegation—Dr. Christian Anfinsen and Dr. Robert Perry—visit to Argentina in March. D
