U.S. courts overturn regulatory shortcuts In two sweeping decisions last week, U.S. appellate courts told federal regulatory agencies they cannot shortcircuit the law in setting regulations. The Environmental Protection Agency was told its efforts to permit low levels of carcinogenic pesticides in foods were illegal. And the Occupational Safety & Health Administration's standards for workplace exposure to more than 400 toxic substances were thrown out as invalid. A federal appeals court in San Francisco overturned EPA regulations that allow residues of certain carcinogenic pesticides in food, if the agency determines there is a minimal risk of cancer to humans. In setting this "de minimis" policy in 1988, EPA argued the pesticide law allows it to weigh benefits from pesticide use against any potential risks. EPA also maintained that the Delaney clause of the 1958 food safety law—which prohibits addition to food of any chemical shown to cause cancer in animals or humans—allows this de minimis consideration. However, the court said no: Delaney is absolute. EPA cannot change the policy without Congress first changing the law. Plaintiffs in the suit, including the AFL-CIO and the Natural Resources Defense Council, hail the decision as a victory for food safety. But a spokesman for the National Agricultural Chemicals Association, which represents pesticide manufacturers, points out food safety was not really the issue, just EPA's compliance with the law. EPA has not had time to decide what it must do to comply with the decision, but it may have to ban some fungicides. In addition, two bills are moving slowly through Congress that would give EPA the power to permit some residues. The OSHA case involves the agency's 1989 effort to revise workplace exposure standards that were adopted in 1971 when the agency was created and that were based on voluntary industry standards. In 1989, OSHA issued a sweeping regulation setting permissible exposure levels for 428 substances. This "generic standard" was seen as a way to cover a lot of complicated ma-
terial, and to improve workers' health protection, as quickly as possible, replacing a slow case-by-case approach. But the regulation was challenged by labor unions and trade associations. An appeals court in Atlanta threw out these new standards, finding that OSHA provided so little explanation why certain levels were set that it is impossible to determine if sufficient scientific evidence exists to support OSHA's decisions. The court also found OSHA did not determine if the standards are economically feasible. This means OSHA must return to the 1971 standards, and any future changes will have to be made on a case-bycase basis. The court said that if OSHA wants to consider such generic regulations, it must first get the Occupational Safety & Health Act amended. Bills now in Congress to revise the act do not include such a provision. OSHA says its attorneys are considering how to respond, and an appeal is possible. David Hanson
Cancer risk found from water chlorination People who drink surface water disinfected by treatment with chlorine are more likely to develop bladder and rectal cancer than those who drink unchlorinated water, concludes a study published last week in the American Journal of Public Health [82, 955 (1992)]. Robert D. Morris of the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and coworkers find that chlorinated surface water increases the risk of bladder cancer 9% and of rectal cancer 15%. Chlorine gas reacts with naturally occurring organic compounds in water to produce minute quantities of chlorinated compounds, some of which have been found to cause cancer in lab animals. The chlorination by-products found in the highest concentration and studied the most are trihalomethanes, especially chloroform. But other byproducts, such as haloacetic acids and
SAMPEX spacecraft to probe energetic particles A spacecraft designed to study energetic particles, shown here in an artist's conception, was put into Earth orbit July 3 by the National Aeronautics & Space Administration. In a U.S.-German collaboration, the Solar, Anomalous & Magnetospheric Particle Explorer (SAMPEX) is expected to yield unprecedented details about the composition of energetic particles from the Milky Way galaxy (galactic cosmic rays) and the Sun (solar energetic particles). But a principal goal is to confirm the origin of "anomalous" cosmic rays—thought to be atoms of interstellar gas that enter the solar system, become ionized, and then are accelerated to cosmic ray energies. SAMPEX will observe atoms stripped of some or all of their electrons and accelerated to speeds of 3400 to 140,000 miles per second. It also will measure relativistic electrons (at speeds just below the speed of light) that enter Earth's atmosphere and contribute to ozone destruction. SAMPEX carries four instruments: a low-energy ion composition analyzer, a heavy-ion large telescope, a mass spectrometer telescope, and a proton/electron telescope. Determining the abundance of elements up to nickel and many iso-
topes will shed more light on the Sun and interplanetary and interstellar environments. The mission, to last one to three or more years, is the first of the relatively low-cost and rapidly prepared NASA Small Explorer missions, each to launch within three years of startup. JULY 13,1992 C&EN
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