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FLAME-RETARDANT MAKERS REGROUP The three major U.S. firms that make flame retardants—Albemarle, Chemtura, and ICL Industrial Products—have abandoned the advocacy group Citizens for Fire Safety. Instead, they are embracing the North American Flame Retardant Alliance (NAFRA), an organization under the auspices of the American Chemistry Council, the large chemical industry trade group of which the firms are members. “We have decided that our message about public policy and fire safety is best served by managing all of our state and federal advocacy” through NAFRA, the firms say. The three companies weathered bad publicity after a Chicago Tribune series on flame-retardant chemicals, published this spring, charged that Citizens for Fire Safety hid its industrial sponsors and provided false or misleading information about flame-retardant chemicals or helped conceal safety and efficacy information. The three firms denounce the Tribune series as misleading and factually wrong. Through their association with NAFRA, the firms say they will conduct new research on the safety and efficacy of flame-retardant chemicals and focus on “educating policymakers and stakeholders.”—WGS
NASA SENDS PROBES TO VAN ALLEN BELTS Riding atop an Atlas V rocket, NASA’s twin Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) were launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug 30. The RBSP program will explore the Van Allen belts, which consist of charged cosmic particles that become trapped in Earth’s magnetic field. It will also study Artist’s rendering of RBSP with solar panels and booms deployed.
how the belts change in response to space weather such as solar storms. The Van Allen belts, akin to the aurora borealis or northern lights, are a hazard to astronauts and spacecraft. Better understanding of the belts may lead to improvements in the Global Positioning System, telephone communications, and other systems that
UN PROGRAM CALLS FOR BETTER MANAGEMENT OF CHEMICALS As production of chemicals grows throughout the world, governments and industry need to step up efforts to protect people and the environment from improper management of commercial substances, says a new report. Released last week by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the report says poor management of chemicals results in billions of dollars in environmental costs—such as crop losses and fisheries damage—and medical bills. Most of these costs are borne by governments or individuals, not by chemical manufacturers or others along product value chains, the report says. It recommends regulation and reduction in use of chemicals that pose the greatest threats to health and the environment, along with substitution of these substances with safer alternatives. All industries should integrate sound management of chemicals into corporate policies and practices, UNEP says. In addition, chemical makers should be encouraged to make public all health and safety data on their products, along with “all but the most business-sensitive” information needed to reduce risks from commercial substances, the report continues. UNEP adds that the financial sector should evaluate chemical risks more carefully for the activities and corporations it funds.—CH
depend on satellites, many of which orbit in or near the outer Van Allen belt. The probes will spend two years exploring both belts. Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory, based in Laurel, Md., designed and built the probes.—CB
PROFESSORS FAULT RESEARCH REVIEW PROCESS Institutional review boards (IRBs), which decide whether research that involves human subjects can be conducted, are threatening academic freedom, according to a report released last week by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). The report suggests that university departments, faculty committees, and researchers themselves could handle many of the responsibilities currently assigned to IRBs. AAUP claims that IRBs are often made up of members who don’t have specific qualifications to evaluate research projects in a wide range of disciplines. The group also states that IRBs consider limited information when evaluating research proposals and place significant demands on researchers. The report is the third from AAUP that focuses on the tension between preservation of academic freedom and the use of IRBs to protect human subjects in research. AAUP released the report to urge
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the Department of Health & Human Services to overhaul regulations related to the IRB review process. Last year, HHS asked the public for input about the review process, but it has yet to propose a rule.—BEE
FREIGHT RAIL SAFETY INQUIRY SOUGHT After a series of recent accidents involving freight trains, the chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee is seeking a review of freight railroad safety. Sen. John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) has asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate how well the Federal Railroad Administration’s safety policies and procedures are working, as well as those of state agencies. “By and large the rail system is safe, but recent incidents show that our rail system can still be deadly when things go wrong,” Rockefeller says. “We need a thorough review to identify gaps that may exist in our safety programs and policy and to reduce the risk of accidents.” In the past two months, coal train derailments in Northbrook, Ill., and Ellicott City, Md., have resulted in four deaths. In addition, a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying ethanol, which is highly flammable, derailed on July 4 in Columbus, Ohio. Three tank cars each carrying 30,000 gal of ethanol exploded and burned.—GH
