Chemical Safety Ecosystem of the American Chemical Society: A Primer

RecommendationsT he American Chemical Society (ACS) began formally supporting chemical safety in 1963 with the creation of the Committee on Chemical Safety (CCS).Dr.Howard Fawcett, a pioneering advocate for chemical safety at ACS, described CCS's formation as a response to concerns about the underuse of existing safety knowledge in chemical practice:"Whenever a fully qualified chemist or engineer is seriously injured in an incident which could have been predicted, and therefore prevented, the request is made for wider dissemination of previously ignored knowledge.Specific areas where available knowledge was not recognized or applied have included: the instability of ether peroxides, failure to understand the unstable nature of alcohol-acid mixtures used as etching agents, and the violence of the explosion produced by ignition of propylene-air mixtures.Such incidents led to the formation of the ACS Committee on Chemical Safety, which, for the past two years, has attempted to publicize chemical hazards." 1 ACS still aspires to be a transformative force in advancing chemical safety and actively seeks member participation in various efforts and author contributions through peer reviewed scientific articles toward achieving this mission.ACS has grown beyond simply publicizing chemical hazards to developing chemical safety education materials, guidelines, and communities and leaders.Volunteer members of CCS, the Division of Chemical Health and Safety (DCHAS), the Division of Chemical Education Safety Committee (DivCHED SC), and the recently created Safety Engagement Subcommittee of the Committee on Corporation Associates (CASE) contribute to these efforts.Additionally, ACS staff across the Science, Research, and Sustainability Unit (which houses the Office of Safety Programs), the Education and Career Development Unit, and the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) Unit, support the development of chemical safety projects and programs in collaboration with these volunteers.Journals across the ACS Publications portfolio also support chemical safety, with ACS Chemical Health& Safety (ACS CHAS) offering a focused venue for publishing safety-centered research and information.The roles of these groups and ACS journals in ACS's ecosystem are distinct yet symbiotic, and they collectively support the advancement of chemical safety.The history and relationships of these various groups appear in the following sections. ■ THE STRUCTURE OF CHEMICAL SAFETY LEADERSHIP AT THE ACSThe ACS Community of more than 230,000 individuals includes members, student members, society affiliates and community associates from 195 countries and regions. 2 ACS governance is member-driven (Figure 1):• Members elect leaders through local and national elections.