To all:

    I find the tone of this "conversation" very disturbing. I can not believe that some of you are suggesting that there is a need to do a 'cost-benefit" analysis on the value of advocating for safety in laboratory activities  versus "success" in your activities. You must be kidding!!  I am embarrassed for you, your teachers and mentors and the institution employing you. Let me provide some back ground.

  As a 7 year old kid I moved to Richland , WA to join my parents who were building the Hanford Engineering Works to produce Plutonium. I recently had occasion to review my fathers records and found a Certificate of Commendation August 6, 1945 from Secretary of War Stinson commending my father for his role in the production of the atomic bomb. I also found a memo dated August 24, 1945 from  W S Carpenter , President of Du Pont, the company that designed and built the Hanford reactors and separation plant. I quote from that communication --"Reference has been made to the hazards which we thought might be involved. Largely because of the great care taken by all who worked on various projects to see that all possible safety measures were provided and rigidly observed, construction and ordinary operating accidents were held to a minimum. There have been no accidents due to hazards inherent in the process."  I also located a pay stub for my father from that time period. Boldly written across it in red ink was the statement -- "Safety Pays!". I doubt that DuPont did  a cost-benefit analysis to justify that statement.

My early contacts in the 1950s with Hanford scientists influenced me to obtain a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree and to pursue a career investigating the toxicity of radionuclides, based on their radiological characteristics, and then later chemical toxicity, all as a basis for developing standards and work place practices protective of worker safety and environmental hazards. I had the good fortune to work under outstanding scientists at Hanford and the US Atomic Energy Commission. I recall several conversations with the late Glenn Seaborg. As you may recall he was awarded the Nobel prize for discovery of Pu-239. He proudly related sending the first 10 mg aliquot of Pu-239 to his colleague, Joe Hamilton at Berkeley, to evaluate its toxicity. He remembered the sad story of the Radium dial painters. One of my mentors at Hanford, Herbert M Parker,  regularly recalled that radiation standards were grounded in human misfortune and we did not want it repeated. Later in my career, I was responsible (1966 - 1999) the Lovelace Inhalation Toxicology Research Institute in Albuquerque, NM. We worked under strict radiation and chemical standards and general work place standards. It was accepted, as a condition of employment, safety, health and environmental compliance comes first. As the President of the Institute I  delegated to my senior EHS person the authority to "lock down" any operation or laboratory that was fully compliant with Health and Safety Standards. I wish a few more Department Chairs and Presidents of Universities would follow that same lead.

Compliance with rigid Health , Safety  and Environment rules is a cornerstone of successful research operations and fully compatible with success. Many of my colleagues have been recognized as leaders in their fields. I have personally received many honors for my scientific achievements including election to the National Academy of Medicine.

I think the time for debate about safety in any research operations has long passed. The time for the ACS and ALL of its members to strongly endorse safety in its broadest context is overdue. I find the clause relating to safety possibly getting in the way of success embarrassing and a legacy of the dark ages.

If any of the readers of this message or their students are ever harmed as a result of a failure to follow exemplary safety standards and practices I hope I can assist the plaintiff's lawyers suing you and your institution. You will not have a leg to stand on irrespective of the position of the ACS. I do hope the ACS leadership will recognize the time for debate over safety is past. It is time to endorse exemplary safety standards in ALL activities irrespective of whether they are conducted in the public or private sector and upgrade related teaching standards for safety in its broadest connotation.

Respectfully,

Roger O. McClellan, DVM, MMS, DSc(Honorary)

Advisor, Toxicology and Human Health Risk Analysis

Diplomate- American Board of Veterinary Toxicology and American Board of Toxicology

Fellow- Academy of Toxicological Science,  Society for Risk Analysis, American Thoracic Society, American Association for Aerosol Research, International Aerosol Research Assembly, Health Physics Society and American Association for Advancement of Science

Member- National Academy of Medicine

Contact; roger.o.mcclellan**At_Symbol_Here**att.net