Improving public understanding of science A view of the past president of the American Chemical Society
By Clayton E Cnllis A major goal of the celebrants of the 20th anniversary of Eartb Day should be to improve public understanding of
science and of chemistry in particular. We live in a chemical world, and chemical science is central to much of our technological progress. This progress has created, in much of the world, a society that is more affluent, better educated, longer lived, and with more leisure time than ever before. People in developing countries and, as is so evident at this time, in Eastern Europe,want the freedom and life-style enjoyed by those living in the West. But 410
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in the United States, our way of life is threatened by the lack of public understanding of science and technology and of chemistry in particular. Polls (including one by ACS) have indicated that only 5 % of adult Americans claim to understand basic scientific concepts or issues of science policy, more than 70% want curbs on scientificactivities, and only half of our 17-year-olds believe science is useful. One facet of the problem is that our elected representatives interpret the public will as desiring more and tougher regulations on facilities using and handling chemicals. The regulation of American industry began in earnest
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1990 American Chemical Society
in the early 1970s. Smce that time, the amount of environmental regulation has exoloded. In 1972. there were fewer t h k 500 pages of federal environmental regulations; tcday there are more than 10,000. This does not include regulation of work place exposure by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The increase in the amount of state environmental legislation and regulation has been much greater. Let us consider, as an example, a leading current issue. Congress is considering the reauthorization of the Clean Air Act. It has vowed that we shall have clean air, and because of this it gets points from the voters. EPA has focused on cutting industrial emissions and putting catalytic converters on new automobiles. The agency got points, and budget increases, from Congress. Industry cut back on releases and got points from the agency. And so, at the end of the chain, the public expected the air would be cleaned u p b u t it didn’t happen. The air in some cities is still so bad that Congress is imposing prohibitions on industrial consbuction. But that won’t solve the problem either. The reason is that (m a typical midwestern city) vehicles account for 33% of emissions; dry cleaning and printing for 23%; and solvents, paint, and other surface coatings for 25%. Together that’s 81%, as opposed to the industrial portion of 18%. The portion attributable to automobiles is more significant in major metropolitan centers, where the air is generally of the poorest quality. On the pie chart of air pollution sources, industry has a relatively small slice, and you can’t reduce the sue of the pie very much by reducing the sue of the smallest uiece. The bottom line is that the public ;till does not understand that it is the activities of individuals that create the environmental problems we encounter. Let me cite another example. One regulation designed to inform the public is Title III of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, often called the right-to-know law. This law requires industries that use and handle chemicals to inform the public of much of their chemical processes and safety procedures. The law also requires every state and thousands of communities to set up emergency response and planning committees. EPA has estimated that decisions on planning and emergency response will involve 3000 local committees and at least 200,000 people across the United states. EPA also estimated the cost to industry at $4 billion over the next decade. These expenses are added on to the manufacturing cost of goods. And we
wonder why industry in the United States has problems being competitive with industrv in J a m and the develooing nations: Now’the public has &e right-to-know! But will this right-@ know achieve public understanding when roughly &O%of adult Americans lack even a rudimentary understanding of chemistry? Further, is there any requirement that chemists or engineers be appointed to the response and planning commiaees? Not that I can find. Shouldn’t their knowledge be used? These two examples alone should tell you that we must educate the public about science and technology. If we don’t, our technology-based society will not prosper and perhaps may not even survive.
The thrust of the ACS effort is education to overcome scientific illiteracy. Ignorance has alwavs been the most dam gerous enemy of mankind. It invariably spawns fear and superstition and invites the ~ r u p u l o among ~s us to exploit these weaknesses. Ignorance of chemistry and chemicals spawns irrational fears that result in legislative and administrative failures such as the examples I have described. Everything in the world is made of chemicals. We eat, wear, and use nothing else. Synthetic chemicals are rarely more hazardous than the natural ones that common vegetables and other plants generate for self-protection. The American Chemical Society is dedicatedto supporting effectiveeducation programs to help overcome the general scientific ignorance that pervades the thinking of the U S . population and its elected representatives. Another program is the ACS-sup we don’t have pub& ported exhibition, Science in American srcpport for the Life, planned for opening in 1993 at the Institution in Washington, of technoloa we wiR not be Smithsonian DC. The Smithsonian is visited by able to cope with the 5 million people of all ages each year. The campaign also includes major pmblems of feeding, support for the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center for the History of cb&g, and housing the Chemistry, located at the University of ppuiWon of the Pennsylvania. The center was established in 1981 through a joint effort of wo?lz. .?’ ACS and the university. The center has great potential for contributing to a better public understanding of human I am pleased to report that the ACS achievement in science. Achieving public understanding of Board of Directors has decided to take some action on the prohlem of the pub- science will require the best cooperalic understanding of science. It has tive efforts of all of those interested in launched several new, targeted pro- Earth Day activities. If we don’t have grams. Critical to implementing these public support for the development of DIOis the Campaign for Chemis- technology, we will not be able to cope &,-an ambitious thke-year, $35-mil- with thebroblems of feedimg, clothing, lion fund-raising drive. More than half and housing the ever-increasinc!wDulaof the funds =-targeted to provide as- tion of the world, nor will we beable to sistance for science education for all achieve the “sustainable global environment” sought by the organizers of age groups. The leading program is the imple- Earth Day celebrations. I hope these mentation of an innovative chemistry initiatives of the American Chemical curriculum for high school students, Society for improving the public underCHEMCOM (Chemishy in the C o r n - standing of science will inspire others nif)). CHEMCOM is a course for col- to embrace the same goal. lege-bound high school students who do not plan to pursue a science career. The strategy of the course is to identify Chyton E Callis is vice-presidenr of the several societal problems whose. solu- environmental consulting firm Chelan tions require knowledge of some chem- Associates of St. Louis, MO. He has istry and to have students study these held several positions at Monranto problems so they will recognize the C o m p ~ in y St. Louis, including direcneed to understand and then want to tor-level positions in environmenial opstudy the relevant chemistry. The text is erations, technology planning, and now available from a commercial pub- R&D. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. lisher. The successful implementation degrees from the University of Illinois. of this curriculum requires additional Callis was elected president-elect of training of teachers. Funds raised in the ACS for 1977 and served as president drive will be used for the training of in 1989 and as a member of the h a r d teachers. of Directorsfrom I977to 1990.
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