methods. For example, Dr. Max Costa and coworkers at the University of Connecticut are trying to develop a tissue culture method for assaying the carcinogenicity of metal compounds. Using Syrian hamster fetal cells, Costa told the meeting, they have found a correlation between the ability and potency of various nickel compounds to cause cancer in vivo and their relative abilities to cause a dramatic piling up of colonies of the hamster cells in culture. G
Smaller cost increases seen for hydrocarbons Cost increases for hydrocarbons used by the chemical industry have been smaller in the past half-year than in any similar period since the 1973 oil embargo. That's the good news. The better news is that cost increases are forecast to be even smaller during the next six to 12 months. Although there is reason for optimism among chemical producers who are benefiting from a surge in crude oil production at several world locations, the relief could just be temporary. A year or two away, the situation could change depending on the federal government's energy program at the time and actions by OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) nations. This year increases in costs of hydrocarbons used as feedstocks and fuels in chemical plants will be a double-digit gain, but only 10 to 15%, according to several company officials. Next year the gain likely will be less, according to Dow Chemical. World crude oil prices naturally Weigh heavily in cost forecasts for U.S. chemical producers. These prices, even now slightly softening, have some influence on domestic natural gas sold in the intrastate market that is so important to Gulf Coast chemical producers. Gas prices this summer are holding relatively stable. The most significant exception now to increasing prices are olefins, according to such companies as Celanese and Union Carbide. Ethylene prices, for example, have been steady to just marginally rising since spring. Ethylene is not expected to rise more than 2 or 3% the rest of the year. The outlook for 1978 is hazier because more work will be needed before contract negotiations on hydrocarbons during the fourth quarter. Pressure on sellers of hydrocarbons for potentially smaller increases in prices comes from the new sources of crude oil expected in much greater production next year and in various energy conservation efforts.
Although plagued with pipeline startup problems, Alaskan oil probably will flow at a rate near 1 million bbl a day. North Sea oil and gas production will jump, reducing Europe's demand for crude oil from Middle East sources. Less definite but potentially sizable production gains can be expected in Mexico, Indonesia, and several African countries that wish to finance social programs. This growth in world crude oil production could help to hold down costs of fuel oils especially. Although fuel oils are a relatively small part of the hydrocarbons used by the chemical industry, they are important to electricity generating plants. Costs of electricity, which the chemical industry uses in large quantities, therefore might not rise as fast as in the recent past. D
New NSF deputy head stresses basic research "My most immediate first task will be tofindout what the goals and aims of the director [Dr. Richard C. Atkinson] are and to support him in every way I can. That's what I consider the deputy director is for," Dr. George C. Pimentel comments following his nomination to the number two post at the National Science Foundation (C&EN, Aug. 29, page 15). President Carter has recommended his choice to Congress and it now awaits Senate confirmation. Not surprisingly, Pimentel believes that he can contribute in the area of science education. "It may well be that we will need to mount some new programs to meet the educational problems of today," he says. "As I see it, the scientific education challenge is to reach people who now do not take high school chemistry and to see to it that they have an opportunity to gain some scientific literacy." One subject that Pimentel feels strongly about is what he views as the diminishing appreciation of the importance of fundamental research. "That's one of the main reasons I took the job. I feel that people who have been engaged in scientific activities and teaching, like myself, have to do their part to persuade our representatives and the people at large that fundamental research is as important to the future of the country as looking at the immediate societal problems we face today. We live in an era where short-term results are put in very high value and mission-oriented supportive research is being pushed strongly. Questions are being raised about the usefulness of long-range research. I will use every opportunity while in
Pimentel: research is vital to future
Washington to try to persuade people that we need to maintain the reservoir of fundamental information that ultimately will be put to work to solve problems, and that the problems of the future and what knowledge will be useful just can't be predicted. If we starve our fundamental research programs we will pay for it later." Pimentel, 55, professor of chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, is a scientist of international repute. He led the team at Berkeley that designed and built the compact and highly sensitive infrared spectrometers that were launched on the Mariner VI and VII space probes and transmitted details to earth of the Martian atmosphere and surface composition. Other accomplishments of which he is proud are the development of the first chemically pumped laser in 1964, and development of the matrix isolation technique that allows "freezing" of highly reactive transient chemical species so they may be studied at leisure. But Pimentel also is deeply committed to education, and his freshman chemistry courses at Berkeley are among the most popular on campus. G
More tests link DBCP to worker sterility By all evidence, worker sterility caused by industrial exposure to the agricultural soil fumigant DBCP ( 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane) is more widespread than originally believed. Firms that either have made the compound or processed it into agricultural pesticides are finding increasing numbers of male workers with reduced sperm counts, or none at Sept. 5, 1977 C&EN 5
