Madeleine Jacobs, editor-in-chief of the American Chemical Society journal Chemical Engineering News, all but blamed chemists and the chemical industry of being responsible for the mysterious occurrence of frog deformities.
In an accusative editorial (May 25, 1998), Jacobs writes "Chemistry and chemists should be in the vanguard of monitoring and understanding environmental stress and degradation. The chemical industry also needs to do more thorough testing before introducing new chemicals. We all must work proactively to preserve the world we inhabit."
Earth to Madeleine: chemists and the chemical industry are already on the vanguard of environmental protection -- more so than the so-called "environmentalists." Testing of new chemicals has been mandatory for more than two decades.
Jacobs melodramatically writes "...I want to live in a world filled with birds and bees and frogs." I'm sure members of the American Chemical Society would like to live in a world where they are respected for the tremendous work they do--or at least be respected by the employees of their own professional society.
Come out of the closet Madeleine. Go work for Greenpeace where throwing rocks at chemists is fashionable and not subsidized by your unwitting victims.
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