A NASA engineer examines the SAGE IIIISIS aerosol measuring instrument during testing.
CHEMICAL REGULATION
▸ California lists vinylidene chloride as a carcinogen ... California has listed vinylidene chloride as a carcinogen. Also known as 1,1-dichloroethene, the chemical is used to make polymers, including flexible film food wraps, as well as fibers and adhesives, according to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) last year listed vinylidene chloride as “possibly carcinogenic to humans.” California Cl Cl requires that chemicals deemed to be carcinogens by IARC be listVinylidene ed under the state’s Proposition chloride 65, a 1986 statute that requires warning labels on products containing substances that cause cancer, birth defects, or reproductive problems. The state has proposed setting a no-significant-risk level for vinylidene chloride of 0.88 µg per day, which would require manufacturers and retailers to label only products that expose people to greater amounts of the substance.—CHERYL HOGUE
PESTICIDES
C R E D I T: N ASA LA N G LE Y/S EA N S MI T H
▸ ... as 11 states fight listing of glyphosate Eleven state attorneys general are siding with farm groups in a lawsuit against California, claiming the state has insufficient evidence to classify the herbicide glyphosate as a carcinogen under Proposition 65. The plaintiffs, led by the National Association of Wheat Growers, argue that listing glyphosate as a carcinogen under Prop 65 will irreparably harm the agriculture industry, impacting farmers and consumers throughout the U.S. The 11 state attorneys general are from major agricultural states—Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. They are joining the farm groups in asking the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California to issue an injunction to immediately halt Prop 65 requirements on herbicides that contain glyphosate. Regulatory agencies around the world, including EPA and the European Chemicals Agency, have found no evidence linking glyphosate to cancer. But California agrees with the World Health Organization’s cancer research agency, which declared in
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
Next decade of U.S. satellite observations proposed For the next 10 years of spacecraft-based studies of Earth, the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering & Medicine recommend several areas of atmospheric chemistry for further study. In particular, the National Academies’ Committee on the Decadal Survey for Earth Science & Applications from Space advocates continuing two missions that are already in the works to study the properties and distribution of atmospheric aerosol particles. It also suggests spending up to $350 million each on missions that could incorporate instrumentation to study the fluxes and sources of greenhouse gases as well as profiles of ozone and other trace gases. Those recommendations and others in the report are predicated on a projected $3.4 billion budget for Earth observation over the next decade. The committee noted that NASA opted to cancel several Earth-observing missions in the past 10 years because of funding constraints. Consequently, the U.S. is already relying heavily on the European Space Agency (ESA) to fill those gaps. The National Academies’ committee recommends NASA open discussions with ESA and other international partners to ensure critical measurements are being made. The strategy report was commissioned by NASA, the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, and the U.S. Geological Survey.—SAM LEMONICK
2015 that glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic” to humans.—BRITT ERICKSON
POLICY
▸ U.S. senators seek data on new EPA science advisers Two Senate Democrats are asking for conflict-of-interest information on newly appointed members to EPA science advisory boards. In October, agency Administrator Scott Pruitt created vacancies on panels of outside experts who advise EPA on scientific matters when he barred agency grant recipients from serving on the boards. He
then added more representatives from industry to the groups. “We are concerned that some of the newly-appointed members of these nonpartisan scientific advisory committees and boards may have financial and ethical conflicts of interests,” say Sen. Thomas Carper (D-Del.), the top Democrat on the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) in a Jan. 9 letter to Pruitt. They say they are concerned that Pruitt’s move has led to panels “that are not balanced in viewpoints” and to the appointment of “committee members who may be either not qualified or not impartial.” The lawmakers want Pruitt to explain how EPA addressed the new members’ potential conflicts of interest or lack of scientific expertise or credentials—issues that were raised in public comments.—CHERYL HOGUE JANUARY 15, 2018 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN
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