Reactions: Insulin discovery, gel nail polish, ACS conference locations, and biocement

Letters to the editor

Insulin discovery

The May 8 issue of C&EN reports on the American Chemical Society’s honoring Eli Lilly and Company with a National Historic Chemical Landmark designation for producing the first commercial doses of insulin (page 36). That was certainly an achievement well worthy of recognition. However, featuring an article about the introduction of insulin without mentioning that it was discovered by Frederick Banting, Charles Best, James Collip, and John James Rickard Macleod at the University of Toronto is a unique and likely unprecedented achievement. This is tantamount to discussing the discovery of penicillin at St. Mary’s Hospital in London without mentioning Alexander Fleming. C&EN does not stick the landing on this one.

Joe Schwarcz
Montreal

Gel nail polish

Your article on gel nail polish (June 5, 2023, page 18) critically fails to mention that by far the most common photoinitiator employed—diphenyl(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl)phosphine oxide, commonly known as TPO—has been reclassified as toxic for reproduction category 1B by the European Union and is currently deep into global harmonization. Without a suitable alternative, this sector of the cosmetics industry might collapse. There are a very few photoinitiators that would nearly match TPO in its ability to cure thick layers and avoid color development after irradiation (so-called postcure yellowing), and even fewer that will function at the long (and safe!) ultraviolet wavelengths (about 390 nm) that the light-emitting diode lamps emit. Omnirad 819, otherwise known as BAPO or bis(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl)phenylphosphine oxide, is one, but given its close structural relationship to TPO, it too may soon come under regulatory scrutiny.

Stephen Postle
Bradenton, Florida

ACS’s conference-siting practices

The American Chemical Society has made great strides in advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and respect (DEIR) as a core value. ACS works to meet its DEIR goals by allocating resources to committees, programs, workshops, and awards. ACS also holds national meetings in locations where basic human rights—especially bodily autonomy for reproduction and gender affirmation—are banned by state laws. ACS members now have to decide not only whether meeting attendance supports their professional needs but also whether doing so will put themselves in danger. So we call on ACS to change conference-siting practices and no longer locate national meetings in states whose laws conflict with our stated core values, where the generated revenue tacitly supports these policies in opposition to ACS’s core values. As the world’s largest scientific society, we have an opportunity to lead not just in discovery and innovation but also in DEIR. In fact, we will fail to do the former if we cannot do the latter.

If you wish to join the 118 people who have cosigned this letter as of the date of submission, go to bit.ly/DEIRletter.

Anne McNeil (Ann Arbor, Michigan), Alex Zhukhovitskiy (Chapel Hill, North Carolina), and Yutan Getzler (Gambier, Ohio)

Biocement

The article “Brewing Building Materials” was an excellent article, a perfect contribution to readership (C&EN, June 12, 2023, page 20). I’d like to hear more about how far this has actually been taken, particularly in the infrastructure field.

In particular, would this be a reasonable alternative explanation of how ancient civilizations accomplished their massive building feats, without the need for movements of massive blocks of stone over long distances? That is, cast in place. If so, this would reduce the need to invoke interventions of outside influence such as ancient aliens. Such would certainly fit in with Occam’s razor.

Lou Floyd
Independence, Ohio