JFFICIAL USE ONL — some suitable journal to give a more balanced view of the hazards. Drs. Langham and Hempelmann had sent a letter to the editor of Science pointing out that there had been a very long follow-up of the small sample of persons exposed at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. (As of the first of March 1972, however, this letter to the editor has not been published.) Dr. Burr asked the committee's advice on whether some attempt should be made to rebut the article that had appeared in Science. Dr. Moseley felt that a point-by-point rebuttal was not a good idea. He felt that the Division of Biology and Medicine had shown good foresight in anticipating problems with plutonium and that a point-by-point rebuttal would simply drag out the controversy. Dr. Haagen-Smit expressed considerable displeasure with the editorial policy of Science Science is the official publication for the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a very small group of staff writers has been writing biased articles of various scrts which do not necessarily reflect the views of the membership of the AAAS, Dr. Moseley pointed out that only the previous week they had written a very biased article on the value of chest x-rays. Dr. Moseley was of the opinion, however, that on the basis of a meeting he had had with the people from Rocky Flats, that perhaps some of the criticism might be justified. Dr. John Totter pointed out that the management had been changed at the Rocky Flats plant and he considers this an indication that the Division of Military Application recognizes some possible deficiencies in the earlier management. General Giller, from the Division of Military Application, apparently still does not understand that the Division of Biology and Medicine does not have a program in Rocky Flats and is unable to help to the extent that General Giller expects. The studies at Colorado State University represent the first DBM work that involves Rocky Flats in any way. Dr. Lincoln pointed out that only last fall was there a meeting of medical directors from various AEC installations to consider the treatment of plutonium exposure. At the present time, treatment is on a piece meal basis and Dr. Lincoln feels that better coordination is required. Dr. Goldstein replied that at the present time he is attempting to collate information from the various plants and is attempting to obtain the opinions from the industrial physicians on best methods of treatment and for action levels which determine when treatment should be instituted. Research is continuing on the effectiveness of DTPA, a chelating agent which presently seems to be the best method of treatment. The discussion then turned to the question of the size of the work force at Rocky Flats that might have had significant exposures to plutonium. Many of these employees have since been terminated. Dr Burr pointed out that the plant is sufficiently new that social security numbers could be obtained to determine whether the terminated work force is living or dead and a crude estimate of whether there was a significant hazard could be obtained. Dr, Totter pointed out that one of the problems faced by DBM has been a lack of any central coordination concerning the plutonium problem within the entire AEC, To rectify this situation, a committee was named with George Kavanaugh as chairman. Membership of the committee crossed divisional -11- OFFICIAL USE ONLY