Document ymXQb0e7OJeGGLD55Ex94BnN2

lower now than in 1871 Concentrations of lead in the atmos phere have risen steadily since 1940, says the National Academy of Sciences. Even so, human absorption of environ mental lead may have decreased signicantly in the past 50 years, according to a report in the Oct. 6 Sc ie n c e. The research is based on comparisons of the lead content of antique and contenfporary samples of human hair. The presence of lead in the hair reflects the prior presence of lead in the blood because during growth the emerging hair accumulates and retains heavy metals such as lead. Advertisements for samples of old hair produced 130 specimens (from mu seums and private individuals) dated be tween 1871 and 1923 (the year tetra ethyl lead was introduced into gaso line). Contemporary hair samples were collected from rural and urban barber shops. Donald Weiss of Newton, Pa., and Bert Whitten and David Leddy of Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Mich., used atomic absorp tion spectrophotometry to analyze the lead content of the hair. They found the amount of lead in antique hair to be as much as 10 times the amount in 1971 samples--'both rural and urban. Whitten admits that the technique may not be sensitive enough to detect small differences (significant differences were not found between urban and rural sampies), but the difference between preand post-1923 samples was obvious. These results may seem surprising; in recent years much of the emphasis on lead pollution has focused bn getting the lead out of gasoline and thus out of the air. But, in fact, the amount of lead absorbed through the lungs by breathing polluted air is minor com pared with the amount of lead ingested through the stomach by eating leadbased paint. The use of lead in in terior paints was largely discontinued by 1950. Similarly, water is no longer collected from lead roofing nor stored in leaded jugs as it was in the early part of the century. Lead-contaminated stills, lead-glazed pottery, lead tooth paste tubes and lead in food and cos metics are all sources of lead poisoning much more closely monitored than they were 50 years ago. "Thus," say the re searchers, "the lower lead content in human hair in our contemporary popu lation is probably a result of greater precautions in the use of lead in spite of a general increase in atmospheric concentrations." Still, lead pollution and lead poison ing are problems. In 1971, a Gov ernor's Task Force in Connecticut dis covered that seven percent of a sam ple of inner city children in that state ,October 14 1972 poisoning, usually associated with ex posure to lead-based paints, can cause mental retardation, behavioral difficul ties, perceptual disabilities, emotional instability and distractibilty. But similar information is not avail able on the effects of low exposure to stitute of Mental Health suggest that low chronic exposure levels may have subtle effects on behavior Without prior acute exposure; the nearly universal ex posure to low levels of lead makes re search into the problem an urgent con cern. 'Pay as you launch' plan for foreign satellites President Nixon announced this week a formal "launch assistance" policy for satellite projects of other nations or in ternational organizations. The policy provides for a "pay as you launch" plan for any nation that wants to orbit spacecraft for peaceful purposes, n as a has launched satellites for other coun tries in the past. But `there has been some confusion about the U.S. posi tion toward n as a's launching corhmuncations satellites for the Europeans if those satellites would be in direct com petition with Intelsat, an international communications consortium of which the United States is a member. The new policy says in effect that the United States will consider launch- ing communications satellites such as the French-German Symphonie (SN: 8/29/70, p. 165) and the French re gional system for communication with North Africa. One n as a official noted that the recent domestic communica tions system decision opened up the market for competition in the United States and that Nixon's policy state ment followed the same spirit on the international scene. The policy would also eliminate un necessary duplications in world space communities; the need of a nation to develop its own booster when it could buy a booster from the United States and launch it from either U.S. facilities or foreign launch sites. Interstellar particles 'seen' in solar system The sun is traveling through the galaxy toward Hercules at about 20 kilometers per second relative to the near stars. So it is reasonable to as sume that the observed du&t particles in the galaxy and from other stars would pass through the solar system at times. But until now, no one has detected them. . Now, micrometeorite detectors aboard Pioneer 8 have detected at least two particles, mass IQ-*13 grams, from out side the solar system---and possibly many more. The instruments provide data for scientists to calculate not only the direction of particles hitting the Pioneer spacecraft but also their speed. Pioneer 8 detected two particles moving in the direction opposite that which the sun is traveling. Their velocity was around 100 kilometers per second Some 400 other events have been de tected, and Otto Berg of the Goddard Space Flight Center estimates that a significant number of these may also be passing through the solar system. Since such particles are most likely primordial material, the next step is for scientists to calculate their com position. That chance may come later in this decade. Berg has proposed an instrument on the possible Jupiter-Sat- urn mission in 1977 (SN; 3/4/72, p. 152) that can detect not only the size, speed and direction of the particles, but also their composition. Aiding mass transif via highway fund: Hopes dim Hopes by urban mass transit sup porters that this year's federal highway bill would include a provision for di version of some Highway Trust Fund monies to urban transit were dimmed in House action last week. Claiming "betrayal," House sponsors of diversion amendments charged that last minute parliamentary maneuvering by Krifsc Speaker Carl Albert (DOkla.X nnd Parliamentarian Lewis Deschler had thwarted their efforts to in troduce their amendments. In this case, the environmentalist legislators and the Administration were on the same side, with Transportation Secretary John A. Volpe also supporting diversion of the funds. But the Senate version of the bill in cludes diversion amendments, and sup porters said there is some hope these can be incorporated into a conference committee version. Advisory committee act With no fanfare and no public state ment, President Nixon late last week signed the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The act (SN: 10/7/72, p, 234) goes further than an earlier executive order in opening the operations of many Federal advisory committees, in cluding many involving scientific mat ters, to press and public scrutiny. Whether the President would sign or veto the bill was in doubt until the final day left for Presidential action. Q t/&( 247