Sock-It-to-Me Time - C&EN Global Enterprise (ACS Publications)

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THE CHEMICAL WORLD THIS WEEK

THE PILL:

Court Clears Enovid The first court case alleging death from birth control pills has been decided. Last week, a jury of four women and eight men deliberated half-a-day before deciding in favor of the defendant—G. D. Searle & Co., Skokie, 111. The case was heard in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, South Bend, Ind. The suit for $750,000 in damages was filed on behalf of Raymond Black, a spacecraft engineer, and his five daughters. Mr. Black contends that his wife died as a result of taking Enovid for about one year. She was taking the pills to regulate her menstrual cycle so she could have more children. Mrs. Black died from lung collapse resulting from a blood clot lodged in the pulmonary artery, according to an autopsy. Also, the autopsy showed that Mrs. Black had influenza (respiratory infection) and possible myocarditis (heart inflammation). Physicians testifying for the Blacks said Enovid could cause blood clots by slowing blood circulation and increasing the coagulating ability of the blood. They cited British studies showing that women under 40 risk a clotting problem 7 to 9 times greater than do nonpregnant women of the same age not on the pill. The suit charged Searle with negligence, breach of warranties as to the product's safety, marketing a defective product, and falsely representing material facts about Enovid to the prescribing physician and Mrs. Black. G. D. Searle & Co., maker of Enovid, loosed a stable of medical experts who testified that there is no significant difference in the formation of blood clots in the user and nonuser of the pill. Dr. Irwin Winter, Searle medical director, says all evidence and all studies show that pulmonary embolism (lung blood vessel obstruction) and thrombophlebitis (blood clots) are no higher in Enovid users than nonusers. The prosecution also alleged that Enovid brochures given to patients do not include information about the possible dangerous side-effects of the drug, although such information is included in booklets given to physicians. Mr. Black's lawyers said that Mrs. Black had no warning to watch for any dangerous symptoms. The jury found Searle not guilty of the charges of negligence, breach of implied warranty, and strict liability and it recommended, though apparently without the force of law, that "G. D. Searle & Co. in instruc14 C&EN MAY 26, 1969

tion literature both to doctors and patients advise the dangers of the possibility of phlebitis, thrombotic, and embolic phenomena." At press time, Mr. Black's lawyer said that a decision on whether or not to appeal the jury's verdict had not been made.

CBW AGENTS:

Sock-lt-to-Me Time Last Wednesday Army officials were on the receiving end of Rep. Henry S. Reuss's own version of "Sock-It-toMe Time." The occasion was a hearing before the Wisconsin Democrat's Subcommittee on Conservation and Natural Resources. The topic was the safety factors involved in open-air testing of lethal chemical and biological agents at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, with special emphasis on the death of 6400 sheep in the surrounding area in mid-March, 1968. Although most investigators, except those of the Defense Department, agree that the sheep died as a result of an accident that occurred when VX, a nerve gas, was being sprayed from a plane, the Army still denies direct responsibility for the massive sheep kill. As the hearing opened, Rep. Reuss put the Army witnesses under oath, a procedure rarely invoked by this committee. Then, displaying a very hostile attitude, he proceeded districtattorney-style to examine the circumstances surrounding the sheep kill and what steps have been taken to control future open-air tests of CBW agents. The Army witnesses—Dr. K. C. Emerson, assistant for research, office of the assistant secretary of the Army (R&D); Dr. Martin Rothenberg, sci-

entific director, Dugway Proving Ground; and Brig. Gen. William W. Stone, Army director of materiel requirements—were reluctant to answer questions. In some cases the answers were less than candid and in other cases were downright evasive. This did little to ease the tension between Rep. Reuss and the witnesses. From the examination, it seems that the circumstances surrounding the sheep kill were something like this. On March 13, a test of VX was conducted by spraying the gas from a plane at an altitude of 150 feet over a carefully selected target within the proving grounds. After the pass was over, the pilot had trouble closing the valve on one of the tanks. Before the valve was closed, an unknown amount of VX was sprayed from a considerable altitude outside Dugway. A few days later, the sheep began to die. The Dugway public relations man, in response to questions, said that no biological agents had been tested in the previous week. He concealed the fact that VX had been tested because nobody asked a question about testing of chemical agents. And besides, the VX test was classified. The absence of information hampered diagnosis by veterinarians, because other Army officials had assured them that VX had not been tested in the open since July 1967. The veterinarians believe that had they known about the VX test earlier, many, if not most, of the sheep could have been saved. Although the Army does not admit responsibility for the sheep kill, but will say that the VX incident may have contributed something, it has paid more than $500,000 in indemnity—$376,000 for the sheep and $200,000 for damage to the range.

Sheep kill near Dugway Proving Ground, Utah Army witnesses at Reuss hearing evade direct answers

It further developed that the Army paid about $66 per sheep when deal­ ers in the area estimated them to be worth about $30 to $35 a head. Rep. Reuss then wanted to know what the Army was doing to prevent a recurrence of the VX incident. Dr. Emerson described in detail the safety procedures based on the recommen­ dations of an ad hoc advisory com­ mittee formed after the 1968 disaster. Dr. Emerson then revealed that a permanent Chemical Safety Commit­ tee had been set up "to provide ex­ pert, independent, non-Defense De­ partment advice on safety of the open-air testing program." All the members either work for other gov­ ernment agencies or are connected with a state agency or a university except the chairman. He is Dr. Jake T. Nolen of Wilmington, Del. (Dr. Nolen, a production manager in Du Pont's film department, served as Lt. Col. in the Chemical Warfare Ser­ vice. He is a member of the Ad­ visory Group of the Munitions Com­ mand and a member of the Scientific Advisory group of the Test and Eval­ uation Command of the U.S. Army.) Rep. Reuss was appalled that a Du Pont man could be placed on such a committee when Du Pont gets more than $150 million annually from DOD contracts and makes part of the VX gas. (It turned out that Du Pont makes the dye that is used as a tracer. ) "With a Du Pont man as chairman," Rep. Reuss asked, "how can you claim that the committee is independent?" At the end of the interrogation of the Army witnesses, Rep. Reuss is­ sued two orders. He instructed the committee counsel to get in touch with both the Justice Department and the General Accounting Office to de­ termine whether the law had been vi­ olated by the price the Army paid for the sheep. And he told the Army witnesses, "I instruct you and all other Defense officials with pertinent re­ sponsibilities to notify the committee in writing within 24 hours on a con­ tinuing basis the details of any CBW tests in the atmosphere."

OCEAN RESOURCES:

Caution from NAS-NAE The National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engi­ neering have just released a 100-page report outlining their views on U.S. participation in an International Dec­ ade of Ocean Exploration ( I D O E ) . The report calls for long-term research programs aimed at enabling man to make maximum use of the ocean and its resources. According to the report, prepared for the National Council on Marine

Petroleum is the most valuable mineral now extracted from sea floor Annual world production—millions of dollars» Resource Total Offshore 1 *

Petroleum Sulfur Sand and gravel

$26,000 340 900 (U.S.)

Heavy heavy minerals Gold 1,900 460 Tin 150 Platinum Light heavy minerals 54 llmenite 16 Rutile 10 Zircon 1.8 Monazite Gems 290 Diamonds Precious coral 2 Subsurface deposits 18,500 Coal Iron ore 4,300

$3,900 37 150 (U.S.)

* 24

* *

* 4 2

IDOE, proposed by President John­ son in March 1968, is envisioned as a period (1971-80) of planning among nations and developing national capa­ bilities, followed by national and in­ ternational programs of ocean re­ search and resource exploration. IDOE could be included within the national ocean program proposed by the Commission on Marine Science, Engineering, and Resources (C&EN, Jan. 20, page 3 0 ) , the report says. NAS and ΝΑΕ estimate that the un­ precedented program would cost as much as $500 million a year above current funding levels for marine sci­ ence. The report says that with less than $100 million per year, IDOE could not exist.

LUNAR SAMPLING:

Contamination Fears 35 17

a

A s t e r i s k i n d i c a t e s less t h a n $500,000 e x c l u d ­ i n g beach s a n d s . Estimated 1967-68 range. S o u r c e : U.S. B u r e a u of M i n e s

b

Resources and Engineering, IDOE should focus on programs to aid in in­ creasing net yield from ocean re­ sources, predicting oceanic conditions, and improving the quality of the ma­ rine environment. NAS and ΝΑΕ are cautious regard­ ing any quick economic benefits to be obtained from ocean resources. It would be a "serious mistake'' to saddle IDOE with the aim of defining im­ mediately exploitable resources, the report says. "Instead, the objectives should be a broad general survey to provide background for the later de­ tailed investigations of resources and the implementation of carefully se­ lected scientific programs designed to increase basic understanding of the earth and sea." However, the report predicts that long-term results of IDOE studies would lead to greater supplies of en­ ergy-producing resources and effec­ tive programs for detailed exploration and exploitation of other mineral and organic resources from the continental shelves and deep oceans. The report notes that the U.S. is already extensively engaged in devel­ oping ocean resources, both in local waters and in many other parts of the world. In 1967, the report says, the sea floor adjacent to the U.S. was the source of about $1.7 billion worth of oil, gas, and sulfur. It adds that stud­ ies such as those proposed for IDOE are necessary for protecting and ex­ tending investment opportunities.

While the eyes of the world were on the near-flawless performance of Apollo 10 last week, an anxious group of scientists was looking beyond this preliminary to the main event, Apollo 11, the manned lunar landing mission. These scientists, some 200 chemists, geochemists, and geologists, are charged with analyzing samples of the lunar surface which Apollo 11 astro­ nauts will bring back from their epic journey. With Apollo 11 slated to get off the pad in July, they are in­ creasingly concerned that they may not get the chance to work with true lunar samples. The bug-a-boo? Contamination. Scientists fear that the surface of the moon near the sample collection spots will be tainted by exhaust gases from the landed lunar module ( L M ) . They fear, too, that "outgassing," or exhaust from the astronauts' space suits, will contribute to the contamina­ tion threat. "These guys will be vir­ tually jets of gas," Neil Nickle, as­ sistant director of NASA's lunar sam­ ple analysis program, tells C&EN. During its descent, LM will spew forth "fantastic amounts" (one fifth of the total gaseous content of the lunar atmosphere) of organic gases on the moon's surface for more than 1000 feet from the landing spot. And because the astronauts will gather samples within 100 feet of the LM, contamination of the samples is likely, he says. To keep contamination to a mini­ mum, NASA had planned to use an "aseptic" device, which would scrape about 3 / 8 inch of lunar surface, leav­ ing pure moon material for collection. But it didn't pass vibration tests. However, the astronauts may take a coring device that permits them to penetrate the surface to 12 inches to obtain a "clean" sample. M A Y 26, 1969 C & E N

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