The Chemical World This Week

EXECUTIVES AIR ENERGY POLICY PRIORITIES In the spirit of their newfound polit­ical activism, chemical producers are wading into the fray leading up to President Carter's promised energy policy. This policy is to be presented to Congress April 20.

How much bite and coverage the new policy will have are matters of some doubt among chemical execu­tives. Even if the President proposes a program with some teeth in it, Congress may choose not to enact the program into law in deference to its constituents.

Hence, there is a hint of compro­mise in much of the industry's current lobbying. As one company chief put it last week at the national meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in Houston, it may be best to yield a bit on some points such as the timing of price decontrol on hy­drocarbons. The reason is a political fact of life: Far more consumers vote than do chemical producers.

With this in mind, a number of managements have put forth priori­ties for the new energy policy. One of these comes from the source of the above caution on the basic instincts of Congress, John E. Swearingen, chairman of Standard Oil (Ind.).

Swearingen's agenda delivered to AIChE members starts with the fa­vorite item in many other listings, energy conservation. Swearingen wants a pragmatic conservation pro­gram that will trim perhaps just 1% off the average 4%-per-year economic growth rate in the U.S. To cut back to

Plow back profits Into energy projects

6 C&EN March 28, 1977

the 1% growth rate favored by some, he warns, will mean closing plants and increasing unemployment. He echoes a key point in many other ex­ecutives' energy strategies: Ameri­cans' accustomed economic way of life must not be crimped too much by any new energy policies. To do so will risk having no policy at all.

Energy conservation also tops the list of energy policy proposals given an AIChE audience by the chairman of Gulf Oil Chemicals, Z. D. Bonner. Says Bonner, "Americans must come to understand that the choice is be­tween voluntary and mandatory conservation measures. We will get the mandatory controls unless there is a widespread national commitment for conservation. This would mean smaller, lighter cars, driven less often. We simply must jilt that great American love, the large car."

On another pet industry goal in­volving a strong comsumer reaction,

ACS Council takes key < A lot of things were on the grand scale at the ACS national meeting in New Orleans last week. The technical program was the second largest for an ACS meeting and was the biggest ever for a spring gathering. It attracted a considerably larger attendance than expected.

Also, the meeting of the ACS Council turned out to be the longest in living memory. And, in the opinion of both ACS president Henry A. Hill and board chairman Herman S. Bloch, councilors made it an historic occasion by approving what will likely turn out to be two very significant changes in the way the society is op­erated through its committee system. One of these changes is experimental, the other is permanent. The 2400-paper technical program brought more than 8000 attendees to New Orleans—an influx that quickly overflowed the major hotels in town. The only larger program was in San Francisco last fall at the second na­tional gathering of ACS's centennial year.

Both the organizational changes approved during the nine-hour council meeting are aimed at, among other things, giving the council a considerably greater voice in the way

Swearingen advocates a moderated five- to seven-year decontrol program for oil and natural gas prices. How­ever, he still urges immediate decon­trol of gasoline prices. Bonner's pro­posals on decontrol advocate a second measure to placate consumer resent­ment, a plowback provision to direct resulting profits into energy-pro­ducing projects.

Other Swearingen proposals in­clude prompt development of new energy sources such as U.S. offshore hydrocarbons, coal reserves, synthetic fuel, nuclear options, and solar ener­gy. As insurance, Swearingen also urges prompt action on the already legislated program to build a 1 billion bbl emergency crude oil storage.

A final main point from Swearin­gen is a universal desire among in­dustry voices: Ease up on environ­mental restrictions to establish a reasonable trade-off with economic development. •

;tions in New Orleans the society is run. Both stem from the society's reaction to the 1974 study by Arthur D. Little Inc. of the gover­nance, structure, and business man­agement of ACS.

One change establishes, on an ex­perimental basis, two commissions— one on scientific affairs, the other on education. The experiment, which still needs ACS Board approval, can run up to three years, starting Jan. 1,

Crawford, Stacy are president-elect candidates

At New Orleans, councilors voted to select Dr. Bryce Crawford Jr. and Dr. Gardner W. Stacy to run in the society-wide election in the fall for ACS presi­dent-elect for 1978. Both candidates are incumbent directors and both previously have run unsuccessfully for president­elect—Crawford in the fall of 1974 and Stacy last fall. Also in New Orleans, councilors learned that they had elected by mail ballot Dr. Clayton F. Callis to fill the unexpired term of Dr. Raymond P. Mariella, who will leave the board of di­rectors at the end of June prior to be­coming the society's associate execu­tive director on July 1.

1978. The other change establishes, on a permanent basis, three society committees—on budget and finance, publications, and Chemical Abstracts Service.

The commissions are a new concept for ACS. They represent a step toward decentralization of the power now vested in the board as they will have considerable responsibility, in­cluding some financial authority, delegated to them by the board. They will be made up mostly of council members, including some board members, and they will report to both board and council.

The science commission will be concerned with divisional and other scientific and technical affairs of the society; national, regional, and other meetings; expositions; nomenclature; science-oriented awards; and policy on ACS-administered awards. It will be made up of representatives from committees covering these areas. The education commission will perform a parallel function in its area. The new society committees represent a somewhat simpler concept—the amalgamation of current separate but overlapping committees of the board and council. The move is made to eliminate duplication and to give the council members involved in the new society committees a direct role in decision making in these areas, rather than the purely advisory role they now have through council com­mittees. •

New EPA head plans hard look at chemicals Less than two weeks after becoming head of the Environmental Protec­tion Agency, Douglas M. Costle has made it clear that chemicals are one of his top priorities. At his first press conference last week Costle charac­terized implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act as "one of the most difficult challenges and impor­tant priorities now facing EPA." And he announced that one of his first of­ficial actions has been to order an in-depth review of 15 chemical sub­stances as a first step toward possible regulation. In addition, he says that next month the agency will propose regulations on both polychlorinated biphenyls and chlorofluorocarbons.

The 15 substances are: acryloni-trile, arsenic, asbestos, benzene, benzidine, cadmium, hexachloro-benzene, lead, mercury, phosphates, polybrominated biphenyls, polynu-clear aromatic hydrocarbons, tri-chloroethylene, Tris (a flame retar-dant), and vinylidene chloride. For each of these, Costle says, there "ex-

Costle: minimal risks are inescapable

ists significant evidence of injury to human health or the environment, enough to trigger a presumption that some regulatory action will be neces­sary." Many of the substances are known or suspected carcinogens. Others have been linked to organ damage, skin or respiratory diseases, or nerve disorders. Only phosphates apparently pose a purely ecological threat.

EPA's examination, Costle says, will include an assessment of the hazards associated with the particular substance, a review of the sources of the chemical or the circumstances through which the hazard is pro­duced, a study of possible substitutes and their expected environmental and economic impact, and assessment of possible regulatory action. Costle hopes to have the examinations completed within a year.

This action is necessary, Costle says, because "we have neglected the subtle but lethal effects of chemicals for decades. Now we must extend the frontiers of scientific knowledge to evaluate what those risks really are and find ways to bring them under control. We must act in haste but not in panic." He adds that EPA "must recognize that minimal risks are in­escapable," but says "society must take any needed precautions to pre­vent the occurrence of silent epi­demics of cancer and other health risks."

Reaction among the chemical in­dustry to Costle's announcement can best be described as calm. It's not "overly surprising," says Dr. Fred Hoerger, manager of regulatory and legislative affairs for Dow Chemical, pointing out that EPA has been studying most of the substances for several years. He adds that he hopes EPA will consider each on a case-by-case basis, since it will take a lot of data on each to come up with a ratio­

nal regulatory approach. And a spokesman for Monsanto says that the company is "pleased" that EPA has formally begun work reviewing the safety of chemicals under the toxic substances act. The company say it hopes that "EPA will make full use of existing chemical industry knowledge about the substances during its review." •

/V-nitrosamines found in toiletry products The latest potential health hazard to be unveiled caused a stir in New Or­leans last week as TV and newspapers proclaimed iV-nitrosodiethanolamine to have been found in a number of toiletry products—cosmetics, hand and body lotions, and shampoos.

Although the compound belongs to a class of known animal carcinogens, the hazard to man from the toiletry products is at present questionable. iV-nitrosodiethanolamine causes liver tumors in rats. However, such studies involve ingestion, not absorption through the skin.

Speaking at the 173rd National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Dr. David H. Fine of Thermo Electron Research Center, Waltham, Mass., said the AT-nitroso compound found in the toiletry products prob­ably results from nitrosation of di-and/or triethanolamine emulsifiers by a nitrite compound. Where the nitrite impurity comes from isn't known, he said.

Fine and his coworkers at Thermo Electron carried out their analyses using high-pressure liquid chroma­tography. iV-nitrosodiethanolamine was also isolated from Fine's samples and identified by Dr. Klaus Bie-mann's group at Massachusetts In­stitute of Technology using high-resolution mass spectrometry.

The possibility that a significant amount of the compound may be ab­sorbed through the skin is not un­reasonable, Fine says, since trietha­nolamine is a wetting agent. For ex­ample, Fine points out, it is used in­dustrially to increase penetration of organic liquids into wood.

iV-nitrosodiethanolamine was found in analyses of about 30 prod­ucts to range from 1 ng per gram (ppb) to a high of about 48,000 ng per gram. Among the products with comparatively high AT-nitrosodi-ethanolamine contents were Max Factor Ultralucent Whipped Creme Makeup (48,000 ppb), Revlon Moon Drops (3700 ppb), Helena Rubinstein Silk Fashion (1200 ppb), Clairol Herbal Essence Shampoo (260 ppb), Scholl Rough Skin Remover (140

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