Policy Concentrates ▸ Women leave science majors for a host of reasons Female science majors will drop out of a science field only when presented with multiple signals that they don’t fit, a new study has found. Previous research suggested that women are more likely to drop out of a science major because of low grades than men are. A team of researchers from Georgetown University looked at eight years of data from a large, private university on the East Coast to test that theory. The study (Natl. Bureau of Economic Research 2017, DOI: 10.3386/w23735) shows that overall, men and women are equally likely to drop a major in response to poor grades. However, women are more likely to drop out of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields if the disciplines are dominated by men. “We find that it takes multiple cues signaling lack of fit with a major to impel students to switch majors,” the authors write. They also found that high school preparation and the racial and gender composition of the faculty have little impact on whether a woman drops a science major.—ANDREA
WIDENER
POLICY
▸ Consumer group sues USDA over biotech labeling Food safety advocates filed a lawsuit on Aug. 25 against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, claiming the government failed to complete a study as required under a food labeling law enacted last year. The law is intended to provide consumers with information about whether foods contain genetically modified ingredients. Lawmakers agreed to allow manufacturers to use codes that can be read by a smartphone, such as QR codes, instead of including text on food labels. Congress required USDA to study consumer behavior related to these “electronic and digital disclosures.” USDA was supposed to complete the study and solicit comments from the public by July, but the agency has yet to do either. The study is considered important because it
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C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | SEPTEMBER 4, 2017
SAFETY
Dispersant kept oil spill volatiles from surfacing Among the many responses to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster, from skimming oil from the Gulf of Mexico’s surface to capping the Macondo well, perhaps the most controversial was injecting dispersant at the wellhead. Dispersant was sprayed on previous surface spills but never injected below the water. In the Deepwater Horizon incident, responders used subsea injection to try to dissolve as much of the released oil and gas in the water as possible to keep the hydrocarbons away from cleanup workers’ lungs and coastal ecosystems. A modeling study now finds that subsea dispersant injection increased hydrocarbon dissolution by 25%, ultimately preventing 27% of petroleum fluids released on a representative day from rising to the surface and Injecting dispersant at the Macondo reducing workers’ exposure wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico reduced to volatile organic carbon oil spill responders’ exposure to volatile species (Proc. Natl. Acad. hydrocarbon species. Sci. USA 2017, DOI: 10.1073/ pnas.1612518114). The research team, led by Scott A. Socolofsky of Texas A&M University and J. Samuel Arey of the Eawag research institute, determined that injected dispersant increased hydrocarbon dissolution by reducing the size of hydrocarbon droplets and bubbles, increasing their surface area relative to their volume and slowing their ascent.—JYLLIAN KEMSLEY
will determine whether digital disclosures provide accessible information to consumers. Food safety advocates argue that consumers deserve clear, on-package labeling. “Allowing companies to hide genetically engineered ingredients behind a website or QR code is discriminatory and unworkable,” says George Kimbrell, legal director for the Center for Food Safety, the plaintiff in the lawsuit.—BRITT ERICKSON
PHARMACEUTICALS
▸ India, Johnson & Johnson to develop new TB treatments India’s Institute of Microbial Technology, which is part of the government-established Council of Scientific & Industrial
Research, has joined with Johnson & Johnson to help accelerate the discovery of innovative treatments for tuberculosis. Under the new partnership, scientists from Johnson & Johnson’s global public health team will work closely with institute scientists to explore oral treatment options that are more effective and safer than current regimens for tackling multi-drug-resistant TB. They will also develop new molecules to treat all people who have TB. “We are united with India in our determination to make TB history,” says Paul Stoffels, J&J’s chief scientific officer. “By bringing together some of India’s brightest minds with our scientists, we increase the potential to achieve major research breakthroughs that can lead to innovative new treatments for the millions of people in India and around the world who suffer from TB,” he said in a statement.—K. V. VENKATASUBRAMA-
NIAN, special to C&EN
C R E D I T: U.S . COAST GUA R D
EDUCATION
