n e w s of t h e
week
ing market. Over the past 11 years, ARL libraries have faced a 142% increase in serial expenditures while having to cut back the number of titles they carry by 6%, says ARL Executive Director Duane E. Webster. Kenneth Frazier, chairman of SPARC'S working group and director of the University of Wisconsin libraries, adds, "Many libraries have already been priced out of the most expensive scientific and medical journals." As a result, "there is a he American Chemical Society has will be supported by seven associate edi- real market opportunity to provide highbecome the first partner of a coali- tors (five from outside the U.S.) and an quality journals at reasonable prices. The tion of research libraries in a ven- editorial board of 30 to 40 members. ACS potential is to have not only a sustainable ture to develop reasonably priced jour- already features other organic chemistry base of subscribers but also a much largnals to ensure widespread and rapid ac- publications among its 26 journals, but er readership ultimately because of this this will be its first rapid-communication new model." cess to research results. SPARC has discussions under way with ACS has signed an agreement with letters journal in the field. Organic Chemistry Letters initially will additional potential publishing partners. the Association of Research Libraries' Sophie Wilkinson (ARL) Scholarly Publishing & Academic cost subscribers $2,300 per year. That Resources Coalition (SPARC), Washing- compares with approximately $8,000 for ton, D.C., to publish at least one new sci- Elsevier's weekly, Tetrahedron Letters, entific journal each year for the next and $483 for Thieme's considerably smallthree years. Members of SPARC, which er monthly, Synlett, says Robert D. Bovencurrently includes 81 ARL libraries with schulte, ACS Publications Division direcan annual purchasing power of about tor. The society plans to share financial $500 million, are expected to both sub- data on its new journal with SPARC. Representatives from about 120 counscribe to the new publications and enACS and SPARC want to "offer com- tries met in Montreal last week to craft a courage academics at their institutions to petitive alternatives to other publications new global agreement, one that would submit research papers to them. that are well used but are very high phase out production and use of 12 perThefirstnew journalfromACS, tenta- priced and take a disproportionate share sistent organic pollutants (POPs). This meeting, sponsored by the United tively named Organic Chemistry Letters, of library funding in a given discipline," Nations Environment Program, is the firstwill be published every other week be- he says. By doing so, they hope to hold the ever effort aimed at controlling a group of ginning in mid-1999 and will progress to a weekly publication schedule. A search line on the high prices and steep increas- man-made substances on a global basis. is under way for an editor-in-chief, who es that characterize the journal publish- They are polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), hexachlorobenzene, dioxins, dibenzofurans, and eight pesticides: aldrin, chlordane, DDT and its metabolites, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, mirex, and toxaphane. Most of these are classified as endocrine disrupters and are known to bioaccumulate in animals, including humans, at the top of the food chain. "Because POPs show up all over the world, a regional agreement on these chemicals is not sufficient," says Rafe Pomerance, the State Department's deputy assistant secretary for the environment. By far the most contentious issue the countries have to deal with is whether to call for a complete phaseout of the production and use of DDT. DDT and its metabolites can be detected in the tissues of almost every person on Earth. They are found at especially high levels, with mean concentrations up to 5 ppm, in marine animals and indigenous people living in the Arctic. Inuit women, for example, who subsist on food caught locally, have very high levels of the DDT meClockwlse from left, Webster, SPARC Enterprise Director Richard K. Johnson, Frazler, tabolite DDE in their breast milk. and Bovenschulte at signing of Journal publishing agreement.
EN ROUTE: LESS COSTLY JOURNALS
ACS and a library coalition are developing alternatives to high-pricedjournals
T
Pollutant conference struggles with DDT ban
4 JULY 6, 1998 C&EN
But DDT is a health safety net to many nations in Africa and Latin America. Mosquito-borne tropical diseases have occurred with a vengeance in recent years, even some that had seemed nearly eradicated, and DDT remains the cheapest and least acutely toxic weapon against mosquitoes. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), every year 300 million to 500 million people become ill with malaria and between 1.5 million and 2.7 million people die from it. WHO approves spraying DDT inside houses in order to kill mosquitoes. At the Montreal meeting, WHO presented a paper that called for reducing, but not eliminating, use of DDT. However, many environmental groups represented at the meeting advocated phasing out use of DDT by 2007. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) presented a report with examples of alternative methods for fighting malaria. "Our report shows it is possible to completely ban DDT and work to eradicate malaria in ways that protect the environment and human health," says Clifton Curtis, director of the WWF-U.S. Global Toxics Program. Alternatives include eliminating standing water, biological control of mosquitoes, and applying other insecticides. The Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA) agrees with WHO'S position. "A lot of this is a matter of money," says Frederick C. McEldowney, CMA's director of international issues. The question isn't whether substitute pesticides or sanitary practices could stop malaria, he says. They could. But most alternative measures are more expensive than DDT. Compared with DDT—which is still produced in Mexico, Russia, China, and India—the other 11 POPs present less of an obstacle to an international agreement. Dioxins and furans are not made deliberately. Velsicol Chemical, the last known producer of heptachlor and chlordane, stopped making them last year. Russia, which continues to manufacture PCBs for use in transformers, has promised to halt production by 2005. Argentina is still producing a small amount of mirex. The remaining POPs, it appears, are no longer made. At the Montreal meeting, the participating countries worked on protocols to phase out only these 12 chemicals. But they set up committees to develop criteria for adding more substances to the POPs list and methods to deal with obsolete stocks of banned pesticides. Treaty negotiations are expected to conclude by 2000. Bette Hileman
Challenging Chinese students
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During his trip to China, President Bill Clinton urged students at Peking University to "make it your mission to ensure today's progress does not come at tomorrow's expense. China's remarkable growth in the past two decades has come with a toxic cost—pollutants that foul the water you drink and the air you breathe. The cost is not only environmental, it is also serious in terms of the health consequences to your people and in terms of the drag on economic growth.... This is a huge chal lenge for you, for the American people, and for the future of the world, and it must be addressed at the university level, because political leaders will never be willing to adopt environmental measures if they believe it will lead to large-scale unem ployment or more poverty.'' Science was not specifically addressed by Clinton in his speech at the university, but when asked on a Shanghai radio call-in show what he was planning to do asforas expanding and promoting scientific cooperation be tween the VS. and China, he replied: "I thmk we should do more sdenœ together.''
Monsanto spends more to grow seed business Its merger with American Home Products still pending, Monsanto continues to buy and sell, although it's buying more than it's selling. The company has signed a definitive agreement to purchase CargiU's seed operations in Central and Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa for $1.4 billion. It has also agreed to sell its lawn and garden pesticide business to Scotts, Marysville, Ohio, for $300 million. Minneapolisbased Cargill won't disclose the size of the seed business being sold, but says it has about 2,200 employees at seed research, production, and testing facilities in 24 countries and has sales and distribution operations in 51 countries. The sale doesn't include CargiU's seed operations in the U.S. and Canada or Cargill Agricultural Merchants in the U.K. However, a Cargill official says the company is considering options for these businesses as well. According to Cargill, its seed unit has
strong distribution channels and good products made by traditional techniques, but it lacks the cost-effective access to biotechnology that is the third leg of a successful seed business today. "The biotechnology revolution is rapidly changing the international seed industry, and Monsanto has been a key player in this area," says Ernest S. Micek, CargiU's chairman and chief executive officer. For its part, Monsanto says the CargiU business wiU provide quick international access for its geneticaUy enhanced products. "The potential for our existing biotechnology traits outside North America is roughly double the acreage potential within North America," says President Hendrik A. VerfaiUie. The sale foUows an eariier agreement between Monsanto and CargiU to form a joint venture that wiU develop products improved through biotechnology for the grain processing and animal feed markets (C&EN, May 18, page 6). It also foUows stiU-pending Monsanto acquisitions of the U.S. seed companies DeKalb Genetics and Delta & Pine Land for some $4.2 biUion. The Justice DepartJULY 6, 1998 C&EN 5
