ES&T GUEST EDITORIAL The name of the game - American

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ES&T GUEST EDITORIAL The name of the game Unlike most chemistry-related activities, the science and technology of the environment arose not out of scientific curiosity or the necessity to produce new commercial products but rather to answer the defensive needs of environmental polluters (and their trade associations) and the offensive needs of regu­ lators and "pollutees" or "spillees." The name of the game is conflict. The arenas in which this game is now played are the courts, legislatures, and government agencies; the object is to win, and the stakes are high. The key players and rule-makers are lawyers, a group that tends to think bimodally, i.e., in terms of black and white, with no middle ground. As scientists and engineers, we view such an ap­ proach as naive, simplistic, and fundamentally de­ structive to the community. We need new rules, new players, and a new location. The main action should be moved to the scientific arena, where uncertainty (the gray area) is recognized and dealt with and where the object is to create the best possible solutions for mutually recognized environmental problems. In the dialogue this new game would entail, the players would first seek to narrow their differences (shrink the gray area) so that there would be little to gain from litigation. Serious bargaining would close the re­ maining gap. Only then would attorneys enter to seal the deal. There would be no losers in such a game. The team owners, whether polluters or pollutees, would work toward the common objective of responsible envi­ ronmental management, which is to reduce risks to agreed-on levels at agreed-on cost. It is no small thing to rewrite the rules and to shift to the new arena of conflict resolution for environmental pollutants. I suggest that we establish the following: 1. Commonly accepted data collections for use where definitive studies of the pollutants are unavailable. Two compendia of this type are the NIOSH "Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances" and Hansch and Leo's "Substituent Constants for Correlation Analysis in Chemistry and Biology." 2. Commonly accepted methods for estimating chemical properties {and to a more limited extent toxicities) when experimental data are lacking—for example, Lyman, Reehl, and Rosenblatt's "Handbook of Chemical Property Estimation Methods: Envi­ ronmental Behavior of Organic Compounds."

3. Widely recognized systematic approaches to cal­ culating safe environmental concentrations or dis­ charge levels for pollutants. Starts have been made in this direction, but they have not yet caught hold. Such an approach is taken by Rosenblatt, Small, and Kainz in Swann and Eschenroeder's "Fate of Chem­ icals in the Environment: Compartmental and Mul­ timedia Models for Predictions," ACS Symposium Series No. 225. 4. Proven processes and procedures for hazardous waste disposal and for the treatment of dangerous pollutant release sites. Although this area is not well organized, some comprehensive literature exists, such as "Unit Operations for Treatment of Hazardous Industrial Wastes" by Berkowitz, Funkhouser, and Stevens. 5. A pool of accredited experts, the new key players, namely scientists and engineers who would represent the different sides in a dispute. These professionals would speak a common language and be familiar both with the sources of information or procedures and with exponents of needed disciplines. They would subscribe to a code of ethics and would be loyal both to the profession and to their clients. With such a program in place, we might expect a new and better climate for environmental conflict management applied to chemical pollution. As a col­ league once told me, "It doesn't matter so much whether you win or lose, or even how you play the game—but it's important to know what game you're playing."

This article not subject to U.S. Copyright. Published 1984 American Chemical Society.

David H. Rosenblatt is α research chemist and division chemistry advisor in the Health Effects Research Division of the U.S. Army Medical Bioengineering Re­ search and Development Laboratory, Fort Del rick, Frederick, Md. He is also a member of the Technology Advisory Board of The Scopas Technology Com­ pany, Inc., New York, N.Y. His current interests include the compilation of chemical property estimation methods, development of site-specific methods for pollutant limit values in soil and water, and certification of environmental pro­ fessionals. Environ. Sci. Technol., Vol. 18. No. 2, 1984

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