A large number of American corporations have decided to withdraw funding from the American Council on Science and Health, a unique, readily available source of peer-reviewed scientific information on a spectrum of public health subjects. ACSH responds to several hundred calls per week on subjects including margarine, dioxin, popcorn, flesh-eating bacteria, antibiotics, AIDS, and many more. (For information on their excellent publications, write 1995 Broadway 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10023, 212-362-7044.)

ACSH has debunked a number of environmentalist scare stories: notably, ones about Alar, asbestos, and low-calorie sweeteners. Unable to refute reasoned argument and hard evidence, enviros, backed by such formerly respected publications as Consumer Reports, resort to name calling.

``It may seem ironic that the group called the ``industry front'' cannot generate sufficient industry funds to survive, but it is a reality,'' stated Executive Director Elizabeth Whelan, PhD, author of Toxic Terror.

An alarming number of corporations explained their decision to withdraw funds by stating that ``science no longer matters in scientific debates.''

One large American paper company stated: ``We are fighting for survival. The essential chemical chlorine─and our corporation in particular─are under attack by Greenpeace. We have no money to support science at a time like this. We have to get into the political arena.''

The company considered ACSH work on a consumer/media booklet on chlorine, polyvinyl chlorine, and dioxin to be meaningless. They are interested solely in pragmatic political issues.

Many corporations are betting billions of dollars on ``popularity points'' reported by pollsters, not on good science.

Here are examples of their reasoning:

They are sensitive to consumer concerns about animal testing. Either they do not test on animals (and brag about it) or do test but do not want to call attention to it by supporting a pro-science group.

They are ``going green,'' attempting to convince consumers that their products are ``all natural'' and distancing themselves from pesticide use.

They fear that statements made by ACSH (e.g. about the benefits of aspirin or moderate alcohol use in preventing heart attacks) might be attributed to the corporation, resulting in FDA charges against them for making unapproved ``claims'' about their product.

They accept lucrative government subsidies for politically correct ventures, such as building small cars, and having made that decision do not want to hear that small cars may save fuel but at the cost of human lives.

They prefer to fund public relations agencies whose product they can control, or projects (such as artistic works) that buy prestige and a good image.

Government-funded scientists may see the destruction of their life's work due to a politically incorrect statement (see, for example, Access to Energy May, 1994, PO Box 1250, Cave Junction, OR 97523, or Environment Betrayed, PO Box 1161, Winona, MN 55987.) Industrialists are rushing to surrender to the same political forces. Most universities were pre-empted long ago. Now, private voices may also be silenced.

Who will speak for science? Or is science really necessary?

According to the California Risk Project, a 2.5-year study intended to guide the state's Environmental Protection Agency, science-based risk assessment is too uncertain, given its heavy reliance on animal tests. Pollution can run rampant while regulators wait for definitive studies on the dangers of pesticides or industrial emission, according to the report.

In lieu of objective measurements, the new California method takes into account people's values, opinions, fears, and anxieties. It has invented a new risk: ``peace-of-mind pollution.'' The report defines peace of mind as ``good mental health, trust of governing institutions, access to reliable information, personal security, and healthy personal relationships'' [emphasis added].

The report, obtained by The Los Angeles Times in advance of its release, says an environmental problem can damage social welfare if it mars a scenic view or damages a child's ``view of the world as a safe and nurturing place.''

The most serious hazards, according to the report, are secondhand tobacco smoke, radon, ozone (or do they mean ozone depletion?), and mercury and arsenic found in fish and drinking water (LA Times 6/11/94).

Not included in the Times summary of social welfare risks were gang wars, unemployment, roaming mountain lions, or infectious diseases.

The American Council on Science and Health honored the Natural Resources Defense Council on the fifth anniversary of the successful fear campaign against the apple growth regulator Alar and its continuing effort to hyperbolize about other insignificant environmental risks. The 1994 Pinocchio Prevaricator's Award honors an ``unparalleled contribution to the spread of misinformation and unjustified fear.''

Marine organisms residing near the coast of California are responsible for the manufacture of many members of the dreaded ``organochlorine'' class of chemicals. Methyl chloride has been found in rural air over the West Coast of the USA as well as in southern England. One possible source is the reaction between the chloride ion of sea water and the methyl iodide produced by marine algae, found in all ocean waters so far examined. It has been suggested that 80% of the chlorine making its way into the stratosphere might originate from natural methyl chloride (Nature 256:193-194, 1975), though as far as we know, no radioactive tracer studies have been done to test this hypothesis.

Marine organisms also produce more than 400 halogen-containing compounds with from one to thirty carbon atoms. Bromine is the major component although chlorine and iodine also occur. A review of some major halogenated organic byproducts of numerous species can be found in Marine Organic Chemistry, edited by E.K. Duursma and R. Dawson, Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, 1981.

The halogenated compounds are stored at levels of 5 to 6 percent of the dry weight of the animal, in contrast to the ppb or ppm quantities of halogenated synthetics (e.g. DDT and PCB) encountered in pollution analyses. Because of their similar chromatographic spectra, sample contamination can present a problem in determining anthropogenic contributions to chlorine- and bromine-containing compounds in sea water.

Soil organisms might also be a problem as several groups of fungi are know to produce chlorinated antibiotics. Streptomyces aureofaciens makes chlortetracycline; Penicillium griseofulvum makes griseofulvin.