GOVERNMENT
"MCA heartily endorses this label bill," Pennsalt Chemicals' Nicholas M . Walker tells t h e Senate Commerce C o m m i t t e e . M r . Walker is flanked by Dr. J. H . Sterner of E a s t m a n Kodak (left), and Dr. T h o m a s A. Nale of Union Carbide
N e w Label Law Supported Chemical industry backs bill to update the law requiring warning labels on hazardous substances V v AHMNf;
L\HKLS
for
hazardous
chemicals in products ror household use are regulated bv the Federal Caustic Poison Act passed in 1927. Since then, t h e number of chemical products manufactured for household use has increased manyfold a n d the Act is no longer a d e q u a t e to protect t h e consumer, Dr. Kmil C Klarmann. representing t h e Chemical Specialties Manufacturers Association, told the Senate C o m m i t t e e on Interstate a n d Foreign Commerce. U p for committee consideration is S. 1*283, a bill that would repeal the Federal Caustic Poison Act and replace it with a set of regulations designed to cover present d a y operations. Representatives of t h e chemical industry u r g e d passage of S. 1283, b u t suggested a few a m e n d m e n t s designed to improve the measure. T h e Food a n d Drug Administration also backed t h e bill, a n d 30
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suggested a few a m e n d m e n t s of its own. At the hearings, CSMA presented its recommendations first. Representatives of other chemical industry trade associations —Manufacturing Chemists' Association, Association of American Soap & Glycerine Producers, and American Petroleum Institute—then testified that they endorsed the CSMA proposals. Sen. Vance Hartke ( D.-Ind. ). who conducted t h e hearings, was surprised at this show of unanimity. T h e industry men told Sen. H a r t k e that representatives of t h e associations h a d held many meetings to work out industry recommendations. And representatives of this informal industry group met with FDA officials to exchange views on proposed changes in t h e bill. Sen. Hartke was impressed with the amount of work that h a d gone into preparing for t h e hearings, a n d complimented the chemical industry repre-
sentatives on taking this forward a p proach to regulatory legislation. Said he. "If more conferences like these were held with regulatory agencies while legislation is in the discussion stage, there would be fewer complaints after the bills have become law." • New Rules. S. 1283 defines "hazardous substance" as any substance which is toxic, corrosive, an irritant, a strong sensitizer, flammable, or which generates pressure through decon _ o s i h'oii heat, or other means. Hazardous substances, as denned, a i e .viibject lw the provisions of the bill if they "mav cause substantial personal injury or illness during any customary or reasonably anticipated handling or use." Products lor household use which are covered by the bill and are shipped in interstate commerce must bear an a p propriate warning label. Among other things, t h e label .must contain the common, chemical, or recognized genericname of the hazardous substance. Substances which are extremely flammable, corrosive, or produce toxic effects when used in specified concentrations on animals, must bear the signal word "danger." All other hazardous substances require the signal word "warning" or "caution." Economic poisons subject to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and foods, drugs, and cosmetics subject to the Federal Food, Drug, a n d Cosmetic Act would be exempt from the provisions of S. 1283. • Few Changes N e e d e d . Amendments to the bill proposed by the chemical industry representatives would make no major changes. Instead, t h e proposals would change some of the details required on labels. For exampie, Dv. Klarmann of CSMA would eliminate the complicated toxicity tests required to determine if the word "danger" is needed on a label. Dr. Klarmann would substitute t h e simple animal test used by t h e Agriculture Department to determine if a pesticide is highly toxic. Only household products which proved to be highly toxic by this test woidd require the word "danger" on the label. Other amendments deal with permitted changes in the name to b e used on the label, redefinition of "strong sensitizer," a n d similar technical details. Nicholas M. Walker, representing the Manufacturing Chemists' Association, told the committee MCA endorses S. 1283 with the amendments proposed by Dr. Klarmann. Since 1944 MCA has been working on the problem of precau-
tionary labels for hazardous chemicals. Its Labels and Precautionary Informa tion Committee has jrked out a set of principles for labeling industrial chemicals. Many MCA members use these principles in labeling their house hold products. S. 1283 follows the labeling principles developed by MCA. If t h e bill is passed, it will promote uni formity in labeling, Mr. Walker says, because the same standards will b e set for household chemicals that are now used for industrial chemicals. George P. Luiiiuk, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, also urged passage of the bill. Most of the amendments he proposed would make it easier to enforce the law. However, Mr. Larrick is disturbed by one provi sion i\\ the bill—exemption of hazardous substai ces covered by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. T h e present Caustic Poison Act ap plies the labeling requirements of the Act to foods, drugs, and cosmetics. If these items are exempt, Mr. Larrick fears there will be a gap in protection; he doubts that proper labeling could be required under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Mr. Larrick makes this suggestion: Remove the1 exemp tion from S. 1283, or amend the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to close any possii gap in consumer protection.
How Many Scientists? House unit to ask N S F to report plans f o r census of U. S. scientists, engineers JNI OBODY
KNOWS exactly
how
main-
scientists and engineers there are in the United States. Precise figures are not available on the numbers or scientists in individual scientific disciplines and their degree of competence in their spe cialties. The National Register of Scientific and Technical Personnel, maintained by the National Science Foundation, is the only comprehensive listing of sci entists. But the register contains fig ures on only about IQ'.i of the scien tists who qualify for inclusion; there are no data on engineers. A n d the fig ures in the register are n o w several years out of date. The House Committee on Science and Astronautics is disturbed by the lack of complete statistics on the sup ply of scientists and engineers. Com mittee chairman Rep. Overton Brooks
(D.-La.) has introduced a bill (H.R. I 7981) designed to find a way to main tain a continuous up-to-date record I of all U. S. scientists and engineers. I The bill would create an ad hoc com- I mittee made up of representatives from eight government agencies. The com mittee would have nine months to study the problem and come up with a solu- I tion. However, in informal discussions with representatives of the National I Science Foundation, the committee de cided to sidetrack the bill. Instead, the committee plans to rcdiuft the bill in the form of a committee resolution. The resolution would ask N S F to re- | port its plans to update the register and make it more comprehensive, rec ommend what should be done about a complete census of scientists and engi neers, and estimate how much such a I program would cost. NSF's report would be d u e when Congress recon venes next January. Last week the committee was scheduled to vote on the resolution. The 1950 act which created the Na- | tional Science Foundation makes NSF responsible for keeping a register of the nation's scientists. After nine years. Rep. Brooks says, the register should be in better shape than it is; however, he thinks N S F is doing the best it can with the money available for this work. As Rep. Brooks sees it, NSF's report next January will outline procedures needed to get the data. Then Congress can decide how complete the census of scientists should b e and how much money should be spent to get the in formation. • Problems. Advice from profes sional societies has played a big part in shaping the register of scientists, says NSF's Thomas J. Mills who is iu charge of the register. This is the rea son there is no roster of engineers in the register—a fact which surprised members of the committee. When N S F took over the register in early 1953, engineering societies saw no need lor a detailed census o! engineers. Now, the societies are tak ing another look at the problem. The Engineers Joint Council is making a study of the advisability of including engineers in the register. Since the re sults of this study will not be known un til next June, it is unlikely that NSF will make firm recommendations on a census of engineers in its January re port. A big problem in keeping the register up-to-date is the delay between the
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