GOVERNMENT CONCENTRATES Next President urged to loosen data controls Over the past decade a broad system of national security controls has curtailed the ability of American scientists to communicate data and collaborate freely with their foreign counterparts, charges a new report issued by the American Association of Universities. Ironically these controls not only damage the national economy but are likely to damage national security by impeding technological development in defense-related areas, the report says. Revising the current system, the report says, should be a first order of business for the President who takes office in January 1989. It urges issuance of an executive order that would reverse the current presumption in favor of classification in all cases in which officials are in doubt about whether secrecy is necessary; eliminate the authority of officials to reclassify information that is already in the public domain; and lift restrictions on the communication of unclassified information between Americans and foreigners. Further, it recommends that federal agencies be precluded from exercising control over the content and conclusions of federally sponsored basic research by means of prepublication review.
Current sulfur dioxide standards are fine After nine years of study, EPA has concluded, "based on the best available data/' that existing ambient air quality standards for sulfur dioxide are adequate to protect public health and welfare from the direct effects of the gas. The Clean Air Act requires EPA to set "primary" standards to protect public health and "secondary" standards to protect public welfare for certain pollutants. The current primary standard for sulfur dioxide is 0.14 ppm in air, averaged over a period of 24 hours. The secondary standard is 0.03 ppm, averaged over three hours. Neither standard is to be exceeded more than once a year. EPA admits that sulfur dioxide, largely through its transformation products in the atmosphere, is a major contributor to acidic deposition and visibility degradation. The agency points out that only a small fraction, 2%, of the nation's counties are not in compliance with the current standards and says that, based on the current scientific understanding of the acid rain problem, "it would be premature and unwise to prescribe any regulatory program at this time." However, EPA promises that when scientific uncertainties have been reduced through ongoing research, it will craft and support an appropriate set of control measures.
President Reagan has kind words for science President Reagan devoted his first weekly radio address this month to the importance of science to the nation's future. He pointed out that "today, when we're witnessing some of the most exciting discoveries in the history of science, things similar to the breakthroughs associated with Einstein, Galileo, and Newton, federal funding for science is in jeopardy 12
April 18, 1988 C&EN
because of budget constraints. That's why it is my duty as President to draw its importance to your attention and that of Congress." After describing the importance of basic research, Reagan maintained that investment in research is indispensable to America's future. "Some say we can't afford it—that we're too strapped for cash. Well, leadership means making hard choices, even in an election year. We've put our research budget under a microscope and looked for quality and cost effectiveness. We've put together the best program for the taxpayers' dollars," he concluded.
King of Sweden attends technology forum A special seminar sponsored by the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and the U.S. National Academy of Engineering commemorating scientific and technological cooperation between the two countries was attended by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden during his tour of the U.S. The prestigious meeting, in Washington, D.C., included talks by Sune Bergstrom, Nobel Laureate in physiology or medicine, and Arno Penzias of Bell Labs, a Nobel winner in physics. Also in the audience were Glenn T. Seaborg and American Chemical Society president Gordon L. Nelson. The symposium featured an overview of Swedish technological accomplishments in telecommunications, medicine, and education.
First animal patent approved In a historic decision, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has granted a patent for a genetically engineered mammal, a highly cancer-prone mouse. PTO has been moving in the direction of approving patents on animals for months and says it has 21 other such applications pending. The modified mouse, containing an especially high number of breast cancer genes, was developed by Harvard researchers whose work was supported by Du Pont, which will license the animal to research laboratories. PTO's announcement sparked a predictable outcry from activists and members of Congress who fear industrial monopolies of a type that never existed before on higher organisms. Several bills are pending in Congress to place a moratorium on animal patenting until the ethical and legal issues are fully debated.
Washington roundup • OSHA has set a new excursion limit for exposure to ethylene oxide at 5 ppm in air, averaged over a sampling period of 15 minutes. The agency says the change will provide added protection for about 68,000 workers employed primarily by hospitals and medical product manufacturers. • Massachusetts has agreed to pay EPA a $425,000 fine and set up a $2 million trust fund as a result of a 1985 lawsuit against the state for discharging pollutants into Boston Harbor in violation of the Clean Water Act.
