all. In response to demands from environmental groups and organized labor, federal agencies are moving against DBCP, and a related compound, ethylene dibromide. At the same time, the two major producers of DBCP, Dow Chemical and Shell Chemical, have begun recalling existing stocks of the compound. A formulation plant at Lathrop, Calif., operated by Occidental Chemical and the scene of the initial findings of worker sterility, was the first plant to shut down. Thus far some workers employed by all three firms have been found to have reduced sperm counts. The latest data are from Shell Chemical where a small number of employees apparently have been affected. Earlier, 28 of 79 workers examined at the Occidental plant and about half of the workers at Dow's Magnolia, Ark., plant had been found to be affected to some extent. It is not known whether the sterility is reversible. Because of the mounting evidence,
the Occupational Safety & Health Administration two weeks ago issued workplace guidelines for all manufacturers calling for use of protective devices, a personal hygiene program, and medical surveillance. OSHA also said it shortly will set an emergency temporary standard for DBCP. Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency, along with its investigation of DBCP, will start looking into ethylene dibromide, a related soil fumigant, at the request of the Environmental Defense Fund. EDF contends that, like DBCP, ethylene dibromide can cause damage to the male reproductive system and is carcinogenic in animal tests. Dow is testing male workers at its Midland plant who have been exposed to ethylene dibromide as well as those who have been involved with DBCP production. Ethyl Corp., meanwhile, a major producer of ethylene dibromide, has been testing its male workers and thus far has not found unusual sperm counts. G
All went well at ACS Chicago meeting The American Chemical Society's 174th National Meeting last week in Chicago came off remarkably smoothly, as 7700 or so registrants attended the more than 2200 technical presentations. And the several hundred of those who helped conduct the society's business did so with cooperation and little controversy. Another upbeat factor at the meeting was an increase in activity at the society's National Employment Clearing House. As ACS president Henry Hill remarked, this may be an early indicator of an upswing in the nation's chemical employment. By midweek NECH had arranged about 1500 interviews, for more than 500 candidates vying for about 350 positions listed by 235 employers. For the ACS Council and Board of Directors, it was business as usual, each dealing with a wide assortment of issues. Perhaps the most important action taken by the council was adoption of an amendment to the ACS constitution to increase divisions' representation on the council from 13% of elected councilors to 20% (C&EN, Aug. 15, page 28). Assuming the amendment is ratified by the membership, the number of divisional councilors will increase while the number of councilors representing local sections will remain the same, thus raising the total number of voting councilors from 450 to 484. Among its other decisions the council voted to set the allocation for C&EN from member dues on a percentage basis (23%)—as distinguished 6
C&EN Sept. 5, 1977
from a flat dollar allocation from the dues as is now the case. The percentage allocation, if confirmed by the board, will allow the dollar volume for C&EN to increase as the member dues increase via the automatic escalator tied to the consumer price index for services. The board of directors among other things endorsed a 1960 resolution of the National Academy of Sciences and a 1958 resolution of the International Council of Scientific Unions, both of which, in effect, affirm the basic policy opposing political discrimination in international scientific matters. At the end of the council meeting president Hill told C&EN that "this is the most exhausting ACS meeting I have ever attended." Not only did he preside over the council meeting as is the president's task, but he chaired the board meeting as well, filling in for board chairman Herman S. Bloch, who was unable to attend because of illness. D
NSF kills RANN in aim to reunite agency The National Science Foundation's Research Applied to National Needs (RANN) program, begun with aspiration, has ended in dispersion. A memo sent last week from NSF director Richard C. Atkinson to the National Science Board informed the board of the decision to kill RANN,
once thought to be the foundation's most innovative effort to make science relevant to human needs. At press time NSF had not determined whether the memo could be made public, but sources say the gist of Atkinson's decision was that RANN projects should be dispersed throughout various elements of the foundation. The major reason was Atkinson's growing concern that the RANN staff had become too separated from other foundation activities with too detached a focus on applied science. The assessment is ironic because during the directorship of William D. McElroy the hope was that RANN would lead the foundation into research and funding policies that would direct knowledge from basic research into meeting problems of society. Its concept was mainly one of managing research results, and excitement swirled around the idea. Atkinson has insisted that applied research is by no means dead in NSF. Indeed, the current RANN budget of about $67.6 million remains intact. The difference is that grantees soon could find their projects managed by others elsewhere in the foundation. Exactly what the change means in terms of the RANN philosophy of disseminating results is by no means clear. One of RANN's major purposes was to ensure that research results were distributed to relevant users and it developed several approaches— workshops, mailings, word of mouth—for seeing that it was done. But RANN never escaped being controversial. One reason was RANN's tendency to uncover problems that were potentially embarrassing to other agencies (RANN's philosophy was basically to perform research the mission agencies somehow were missing) or to local governments criticized in RANN reports. RANN's social science projects were unpopular with an NSF committee assembled last year to assess social science programs at NSF. Moreover, when the Energy Research & Development Administration was established in 1974, all of RANN's energy section was delivered over to the new agency. That in itself left RANN badly decimated and may have had the effect of putting excessive focus on social science. At any rate, NSF remains in the business of applied research and the dispersion of applied research could, some say, give proper focus and balance to projects that truly meet the national needs criteria. How well Atkinson meets that challenge depends on the performance of the person he has chosen to head applied research, JackT. Sanderson. D
