NEWS OF THE WEEK ENERGY
POLICY
NATURAL GAS CRISIS LOOMS Concern, but no plan to increase gas inventory, voiced at national meeting
T
HE NEXT SIX MONTHS ARE
pivotal in addressing U.S. natural gas shortages and skyrocketing prices, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said in late June, committing the Bush Administration to a short-term gas strategy However, Abraham offered few hints at what that strategy might be at the end of a daylong meeting of some 200 natural gas suppliers and a sprinkling ofgas users. The meeting was organized by the Department of Energy and the National Petroleum Council, a privately funded federal advisory committee of oil and gas industries. The event's role was to
RISK
guide the council in a report to Abraham on a national shortterm strategy, due in September. Speaker after speaker stressed efficiency and conservation. And when quizzed by reporters about the meeting's significance, Abraham said the "consistent message of energy efficiency was important to hear," especially from the "production side" attendees. One of the nation's biggest natural gas users is the chemical industry, drawing about 12% of the U.S. total. In a statement, the American Chemistry Council criticized the Bush Administration for doing too little. William S. Stavropoulos, Dow
MANAGEMENT
DI0XINS IN THE FOOD SUPPLY Report recommends coordinated strategies to reduce exposure
A
FEDERAL I N T E R A G E N C Y
group should develop and implement a risk management strategy to reduce human exposure to dioxins and dioxin-like chemicals in food, says a report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM). The government should cooperate with the private sector tofindvoluntary ways to minimize levels of these compounds in food and animal feeds, the study says. Human infants and fetuses are especially sensitive to dioxins, which pass through the placenta to the fetus and accumulate in HTTP://WWW.CEN-ONLINE.ORG
breast milk, the IOM panel notes. Therefore, part of the government strategy should be to minimize girls' and women's exposure to dioxins in the years before childbearing. "Because the risks posed by the amount of dioxins found in foods have yet to be determined, we are recommending simple, prudent steps to further reduce dioxin exposure while data are gathered that will clarify the risks," says Robert Lawrence, an associate dean at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins
GAS LINES The chemical industry accounts for about 12% of the U.S. total natural gas use. Chemical president and CEO, told the council ofthe "double hit" the industry takes by using gas as a feedstock and energy source. Today's tripling of gas prices, he said, has helped push the chemical industry's historically positive trade balance to a deficit. He urged creation of a national conservation program; switching fuel at power plants from natural gas to oil; more natural gas production; and removal and retention | Stavropoulos of natural gas liquids, an industry feedstock, from gas pipelines.— JEFF JOHNSON
University, and chairman of the IOM committee. Although the levels of dioxins in foods have declined in recent years, effects of low-level exposure on human health remain a concern, says Michael R. Taylor, an IOM panel member and senior fellow at Resources for the Future. "Dioxins have been found to pose serious hazards at low doses in animal studies and have been associated with adverse effects at higher doses in humans," he says. Consumption of animal fats, where dioxins accumulate, is the principal source of human exposure. To reduce children's intake of dioxins, school lunch programs should increase availability of foods low in animal fats, such as low-fat meat and skim milk, the report says. Another strategy would be to reduce dioxins levels in livestock feed by excluding animal fat from feed.— BETTE HILEMAN
Taylor C&EN
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