Reactions: Working remotely to save the planet, and recognizing ACS members’ contributions to glyphosate research

Letters to the editor

Climate benefits of remote work

It seems that this is such a mundane topic, but during the pandemic, data showed that carbon dioxide levels were reduced significantly because there were fewer people on the road. As the pandemic expanded, the workplace continued to include those working at home. The Zoom tool showed itself as the model to work remotely. Eliminating high-rise office buildings and urban office environments appears to be relevant in the global business environment. It seems to me the logic shows that if people stay home and work from home, their CO₂ footprint will be smaller. The CO₂ reduction during the pandemic was so significant that it should be taken as a signal to change the way we do business.

The American Chemical Society should encourage remote work space and reduced urban work spaces in favor of working at home. ACS policy should support enterprise stewardship in encouraging remote working to passively reduce CO₂ emissions.

Martha Dibblee
Portland, Oregon

ACS members’ contributions to glyphosate research

Glyphosate has been the subject of one American Chemical Society Division of Agrochemicals (AGRO) symposium (2016), put together by Stephen O. Duke. Although the presentations were never published in an ACS Symposium Series, the participants contributed to a special issue of Pest Management Science published in 2018 ( DOI: 10.1002/ps.4902). As editor of ACS Symposium Series volume 1099 and member of the Editorial Board of Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (RECT), I contacted Dr. Duke and requested he organize RECT volume 255 using presentations from the ACS AGRO symposium on glyphosate. The editor of RECT asked me to edit volume 255 on glyphosate. The volume includes four chapters: “Glyphosate Uses Other than in Glyphosate-Resistant Crops, Mode of Action, Degradation in Plants, and Effects on Non-target Plants and Agricultural Microbes,” “History and Outlook for Glyphosate-Resistant Crops,” “Evaluation of Glyphosate-Resistant Weeds,” and “Ecotoxicology of Glyphosate, Its Formulants, and Environmental Degradation Products.” Table i of the last chapter reviews key publications on the carcinogenicity of glyphosate.

I believe RECT 255 should be mentioned in C&EN’s recent article on glyphosate (June 27, 2022, page 15), as it represents the work of ACS AGRO members and their contributions to herbicide chemistry.

James B. Knaak
Fort Myers, Florida