Document yreG93Yv4RazqYLzvjV8zbMGE

<C prsssntalion of a statement from Canada'a prime minister Pierre Trudeau. Speaking on behalf of ACS at the ceremony, ACS president William J. Bailey expressed the hope that the meeting would lead to closer cooperation between Mexican and U.S. chemists in such areas as edu cation, publications, and techno logical exchange. He also stressed that ACS is interested in interna tional exchanges in general as chemistry itself is international in scope. He said it is in the self-inter est of ACS to see the development of a strong chemical community in Mexico. And he offered the cooper ation of ACS in such development. Elaborating on his remarks at a later conference with the Mexican prees, Bailey said that the congress recognises that chemistry in Mexi co has advanced to the point where U.S. chemists can have very mean ingful dialogue with their Mexican colleagues and learn a great deal from them. This growing strength of Mexican chemistry was well reflected in the congress program. 15% of all papers were by Mexican chemists. And in some divisions their participation was very high--for instance, 41% in the petroleum division, 35% in the industrial and engineering division, 27% in the biological, medicinal, and pharmaceutical division. Stauffer exec blasts EPA on pesticides The Environmental Protection Agency has mismanaged the ad ministration of the Federal Insecti cide, Fungicide, & Rodenticide Act, according to H. L. Straube, vice president and general manager of Stauffer's agricultural chemicals dir vision. At a panel discuasion held in Chicago, Straube, who also is chairman of the National Agricul tural Chemicals Association, charged that although F1FRA re quires EPA to consider both risks and benefits of pesticides, the agen cy has in fact adopted a "no-risk" altitude. He also took issue with an EPA Pesticide Enforcement Policy Statements (PEPS) that allows use of pesticides at lower-than-label dosages, if recommended by a rec ognised authority. "We stand be hind our labels,' Straube declared. "Who is now responsible if a prod uct doesn't perform?" In addition, Straube argued that EPA'e "self generated" principles of carcinoge nicity "established a far-reaching principle without even asking the Sfrauba: we eland behind oarlabels scientific community to comment or contribute." Dr. Jay Turim, an EPA pesticide programs official, defended the agency's aimB and past actions. But he admitted steps were being taken "to improve decision-making," partly because of recent amend ments to F1FRA. There will be more open evaluation of risks and benefits, Turim said, and there will be more emphasis on nonadversary fact-finding hearings before moving to cancel or suspend a pesticide registration. As to carcinogeniciM the EPA-developed principles ft "provide a firm basis in point ff law," Turim contended. But he agreed that some of the principles are controversial and that they "leave basic questions unanswered. Even if there is a hazard, what should EPA do?" Two groups are now at work within EPA to formu late an overall cancer policy, which will include economic as well as health aspects, Turim revealed. John J. Neylan 111 of EPA's pes ticide enforcement, division, main tained that the division will in crease the predictability of enforce ment actions. However, "they aren't fixed in granite." Neylan also answered Straube's question about deviations from labor recom mendations: "The user is responsi ble." PCB substitute is safe for environment Removing polychlorinated biphen yls (PCB's) from the environment altogether may have moved a step closer last week as Dow Chemical and McGraw Edison announced development of a less environmen tally hazardous substitute for PCB's in high-voltage capacitors. The compound will begin replacing PCB's in McGraw Edison's capaci tors in mid-1976. The new substitute material, butvlated monochlorodiphenyl oxide, was developed by Dow and extensively tested by McGraw Edi son in a four-year joint program. It shows dielectric losses as low as or slightly lower than PCB mixtures while showing superior performance in corona discharge testing at most temperatures. In addition, it is ex pected to be safe from fire hazards at the normal operating tempera tures of capacitors, the company says. Environmentally, the new com pound performs substantially bet ter than PCB's, Dow says. Its major component is 45 times more biodegradable than PCB's, 30 times less bioconcentratable, and 20 times less toxic to fish in company testing. The materia) probably wifi cost 60 to 76% more than PCB mixtures, according to Dow, but since it will require less special handling and monitoring than PCB's do, the difference in cost for capacitors will be considerably lass. PCB's have beerf^used for the past 40 years in electrical equip ment because of their excellent di electric properties and low risk of explosion or fire. The evidence of their environmental hazard has led to strong opposition to their contin ued use (C&EN, Dec. 1, page 7). Since 1971 Monsanto, the only U.S. manufacturer of the compounds, has restricted their sales to closed- system electrical applications where no acceptable substitute ma terial has been available. High-voltage capacitors of the type McGraw Edison makes proba bly are the second largest market for PCB's, after electrical trans formers. They represent about 20% of the estimated 40 million lb of these compounds consumed each year. The Dow-McGraw Edison mate rial joins several other PCB substi tutes already being tested or mar keted. Among them are foxpn Chemical's diisononvlphthalat^ for capacitors, Dow-uortunge poly methyl siloxane fluid for transform ers, and an experimental fluid for transformers being developed by RTECorp. Dow says it will have manufac turing capacity to produce 1 million lb per year of the new material by the first quarter of 1976. Should the fluid prove acceptable to the indus try, Dow is willing to make a com mitment to produce the fluid in multimillion Jb-per-yaar quantities by the end of 1976. o ft HONS 033777 aaaaaSsSu-. \ .1 I I I I Chein Showstill an equipment spectacular Colored liquids surged through pumps and filters and plastic chips gushed from hoppers into separa tors. On four floors of New York City's Coliseum, chemical process equipment makers and their muchsought-after customers gathered last week for the 36th Exposition of the Chemical Industries, the bien nial Chem Show as it's catted. The atmosphere in the Coliseum was low key and restrained com pared with the lavish productions of previous yoars-~gonc were many of the free giveaways and pretty models. But the 660 or so exhibitors nonetheless presented a generous offering of items for the chemical process industries. Like the last show, pollution control equipment and process control units still were prominent. U.K.'s dames A. Jobilng 4 Co. exhibited whet wett mey be the big brother of the temblor laboratory rotary evaporator, it s about 10 feat tab MONS 033778 ML