ML20072M507
| ML20072M507 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 07/13/1983 |
| From: | Jun Lee AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED |
| To: | Gotchy NRC |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8307140453 | |
| Download: ML20072M507 (2) | |
Text
.
D 00:'IT ?:U,?CEa
~~
F.';01 & CTlL, T." 9..., 7,..... L..
l When scientists testify for hire Mrs Cotchy*
Of all the values that perlade science, one of the highest is objectivity, f
ch I ta e t nx2Nu4rnent unc mPromised. This value leads the public 7 hic article was written for people to place greater trust in the pronouncements of sc;entists than of, say, lawpcs likayou/
or used car dealers.
I an enclosing a brochu n on Dr.
But scientific objectisity is sometimes invoked more for appearance than for substance. Whenever science moves into the commercial world, scientists (
Cofman's book, Radiation & Human Health.
c me face t face with Mammon and manufacturers. When profits are l
threatened by legislation, lawsuits, or bad publicitv, many companies like to Thua far nothing else seems to reach have their positions bolstered by academic scientis'ts. A professor's utterances.,
- you, are far more persuasive than those of the corporate chemist who developed the su:pect 2,4,6-super-oxo-kleptane, or whatever.
It'a a pity that you are so unaware Many companies will recruit academic scientists whose opinions they like.
J cf what many of us have discovered about They may hire them as consultants or sponsor their research. When there's a debate, tiie companies will make sure their fasored scientists are heard. Often Met Ed's operation including the many the financial tie remains undisclosed. Scientists whose positions oppose the company's may never be heard. I have followed nutrition and food additive
- relrases, debates 'for more than a decade and witnessed numerous instances in which a If cne is going to sell one's soul.'
Professor espoused one point of view on behalf of a corporate sponsor while ignoring or denymg scienufic opinions on the other side.
it'c c pity that you can't make it worth-There is one academic, for example, w ho has long been a consultant to the sugar, breakfast cereal, and other food industries. Despite national epidemics whilo. NRC Staff sells so cheaply, of tooth decay and obesity, this professor has defended a doubling of our sugar intake. Another is popular with chemical companies because of how he interprets studies of animals exposed to chemicals. When some of the animals get cancer, he insoles statistical quibbles to suggest that the tumors really g
JANE LEE don't mean anything.Just recently, professo s from three major institutions l
$ g p3h spoke at a press conferente on caffeine saying there was no conclusive evidence the ch-mical harmed humans. The affair was sponsoied by the
}
f international Life Sciences institute, a creature of the food and drug
.]
_C industries, in*cluding makers of coffees and soda pops. There is evidence link. 3 g
-jng caffeine to fibrocystic breast disease. birth defects in animals, and sleep 4
g and behavioral disorders in humans. The professors ignored these studies.
3 gh The food area is not unique. Nuclear power, air pollution, and other realms 7
op where public safety and industry profits collide are much the same. Whether j e
,g Q l academic scientists who speak on behalf of a corporation's goals deliberately I-2 hg \\
slant their remarks is hard to say. But financiallinks to an industry generally h
.H go hand in hand with endorsements of the industry's products and practices. f
^
/
The public is cheated by being given the appearance but not the substance p 1
of objective scientific analysis. Individuals ind governments may make poor h f
4 y
decisions based on one-sided information. The biggest loser in the long run, $
N though, could be the scientific community itself, including the vast majority 1 of scientists who do not testify for hire. The public supports research in the d belief that scientists seek the truth, uncompromised bv conflicts ofinterest. i:N Disenchanted taxpayers might wish to retaliate.
~
~
Academics need not stop consulting for industry, and industry does
~
l deserve their advice. But the public can demand full disclosure: When j
scientists speak out on public issues, they should say explicitly whether have links to affected companies. Such forthrightness would help maintain 9 I
the integrity that is essential if science is to deserve its public trust.
2
-Mschael EJacobson, executrw director, Centerfor Science in the Public Interest, a 1:
l Washington-based consumer advocacy group B
2 18 1
5 E$
0307140453g70 9
7
.e.
~
Blamed on Fallout ~r,~*
HA1UUSBURG,'PA., DECEMBER 26,1976 Mot 6ph.!'.,:pesF&uhn~
.}'; Q.b'$ T';'.
h
.{ f ' f.,,..
- ?
- s. 1 , y o'
e yin d, 4.,rsOA,,g,ain: c s e
~
1 u.(.
- ,1>,; 5Y JOHN M. b 9 'f.
, Mimes" ilhghe[ than.baci g' ound
[y
$i r
, If.',p}y Teadings { f R,, *,,..-
4 g, ;
t6' f
isotopes?well'above,0f' radioactive.g M,.. Arnold said nine separate radio-Concentrations
- H v
normal back-active isotopes were detected, in.
~7 de.
D
.g grcund levels have been detected in. cluding lodine 131 and cobalt 58.He the ' Susquehanna River near the said the elements found provide no
(
Three Mile 1sland Nuclear Power l'ndication that they'came from the.
1
/f
. Plant south of liarrisburg;. -
power plant, adding that while the State and federal officials said plant produces most'of the isotopes -
< the levels pose no threat to public ' detected, there would have been safety.
'h greater quantities of cobalt if there The Metropolitan Edisoi 'Co.
~
~
"-"'""-=- e.- -
(Met Ed) of Reading, operators of IkCliVe Isoto es Discovered
- the plant, reported the findings to the u.S. Nuclear Regulatory Ccm.
mission (NRC)last week,and attrib-said state officials ha've not ccaduct-uted the abnormal readings to fall.
Froin Page AI-ed any sediment tests since the fall-out from two Chinese a'tomic bomb had been a fuelleak atthe site. NRC out incidents.
tests in September and November.
officials said 'the. company is' re-Met Ed and the NRC indicated-E
- h i
- sediment -which exceed 10 times topes can be expected ior some time.
men fro e ri er a a site miles south of the plant, according ; normallevels.While the' company ls 'In areas of waterways where f)pw -
to a company spokesman..
1 not required tb notify state officials. ~ is.less than rapid. The sediment in i of such findings Ar5old said Met Ed.. such areas, they said, collects n!ateV
. State officials were not notified i. generally does so-as a c.ourtesy'andN-rlais ~which, are' wash
",but the findings {
' Reilly said it is unlikely that any
.n.
.Although* a press
- release from. adited that the state > was not-loid stream.
r thecompanysaidlevelsdetectedare { this' time because of."an oversight."
-,710 times above background levels,..
An NRC spokesman said the aquatic life aff ected by the isotopes
' two of the'nfne isotopes found were
. coinpany findings will be analyzed would pose a health threat if eaten'.
30 to 34' times normal readings.,.
by the agency. He added he believes Karl Abraham, an NRC spokes.
RobehC3drno'Id. Met Ed's vice h Mment nport b de h Ed Man, W 2e Mgs simph cm-1 report from a nuclear plant filed, firm the fact that radioactivity from ;
president for generation,Jtold The.
since the fallout incidents.
the recent fallouts "is still with us, E Patriot that the press release,which '
Margant A. My, h Me's wm M M us for a lag he.aq',u
' was; dated Dec. 23 contained "a chief of environmental surveillance, there is nothing we can do about it.
poor choice *of words " and'said lev-
,els,of: cerium 141 dere' r.ecorded at /
- l c
34 times normal levels'and lantha '
L mA' i""%"#"tVM 1
- e m
..M g
s.
N i
r
'4
(..c I'p
,h5'b. *^
h
., 4
%Af' A
M l'
$$l&
M
.nett
-