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Should a chemist engage in research to produce safer cigarettes? On the one hand, it might be argued that such research would reduce the risks of smoking. On the other hand, the chemist is helping to perpetuate an industry that produces an intrinsically harmful product. Whatever the substance to be made, there are ethical issues related to the method of production.
Since its inception, the modern chemical industry has been responsible for widespread environmental degradation Bensaude-Vincent and Simon, Well publicized accidents such as the disaster in Bhopal, where thousands of Indians were poisoned by methyl isocyanate leaking from a Union Carbide plant, have added to the negative public image of chemistry.
There are practical, economic, and ethical reasons to improve safety at chemical plants and to reduce the environmental impact of the production of chemicals. The effort to make chemical production more environmentally benign is usually called Green Chemistry.
I think we can stipulate that the chemical industry will adopt cleaner and greener methods of production if they make economic sense or are required by government regulation or severe public pressure. The question is who will develop the new chemistry. The ideal of shared fate individualism suggests that chemists in research universities should focus more of their research efforts on green chemistry: atom and energy economy and benign solvents.
It will be a hard sell because there is a prejudice that such research is boring, routine industrial-style research to find a new way to make something ordinary. What self-respecting academic organic chemist would want to find a greener synthesis of ibuprofen? What glory in that? As Hoffmann points out, polymer chemistry once had a similar reputation of being a mundane, mainly industrial field. Today, because of the research accomplishments of some outstanding academic chemists polymer chemistry has become a respectable academic endeavor.
If a few prominent academic chemists responded to the moral ideal of shared-fate individualism and showed that Green Chemistry is both scientifically interesting and attractive to graduate students, the field might blossom. Adding case studies of the successes of green chemistry to the curriculum in textbooks and laboratory courses would also help interest students in this field.
The current environmental crisis raises other scientific and ethical questions. First is environmental remediation, cleaning up the messes that industrial chemistry has made over the past century and more. A second one is what has come to be called sustainability, finding ways to use renewable resources rather than petroleum as both fuels and feedstocks.
There is an obvious link to global warming, reducing the production of greenhouse gases. There has been progress; the development of the modern catalytic converter has done much to reduce air pollution, but much more needs to be done. Bensaude-Vincent and Simon argue that we need a new chemical culture in relationship to the environment, one that proscribes the causes of dangers to human and environmental health Bensaude-Vincent and Simon, They suggest that chemists embrace the Hippocratic principle of medical ethics: first, do no harm.
It lists the responsibilities of chemists to various groups beginning with the responsibilities of chemists to the public:. Chemists have a professional responsibility to serve the public interest and welfare and to further knowledge of the science.
Chemists should actively be concerned with the health and welfare of coworkers, consumers and the community. Public comments on scientific matters should be made with care and precision, without unsubstantiated, exaggerated, or premature statements.
American Chemical Society, Michael Davis contrasts this statement with several of the provisions of the code of ethics for engineers adopted by the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology ABET which presumably applies to all engineers Davis, One of the fundamental principles of the ABET code is the following one:.
Engineers uphold and advance the integrity, honor, and dignity of the engineering profession by:. Engineers shall hold paramount the health, safety, and welfare of the public in the performance of their professional duties ABET, Although the two codes are similar, there are important differences.
Further, engineers should advance human welfare, not just be actively concerned with it. As Davis points out, the ACS code lists various responsibilities with no guidance as to how to deal with conflicts. For the engineer, the priorities are clear. Take care of the public first; everything else comes second. Davis raises an important issue for the chemical profession. Should chemists also be encouraged to use their talents for the advancement of human welfare?
The profession needs to be held to a higher standard, and the codes of ethics for chemists need to be revised. Throughout its history, chemistry has made significant contributions to human progress but with those successes have come problems, especially problems of environmental pollution. Synthetic chemicals have become a major part of our lives. In this article, I have outlined many of those challenges focusing on ethical questions that derive from the unique nature of chemistry as a science.
Perhaps the most important ethical issues involve chemical synthesis. When a new substance is created, chemists need to think about the long-term effects of that compound. Chemists also need to think carefully about their role in preserving the health and safety of the planet, including their role in the creation of weapons. More than the other sciences, chemistry is centered in the laboratory so it is important that laboratory practice adhere to the highest professional and ethical standards.
Of course, chemists face the same ethical challenges that all other scientists, and indeed all human beings must confront. Our future depends on our willingness to ask and answer these crucial ethical questions.
I am grateful to Jeffrey I. Seeman, Roald Hoffmann, Stan Guffey, and Christopher Pynes for reading drafts of this article and providing suggestions for its improvement. Ideas and Experiences Worth Sharing. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Accountability in Research.
Account Res. Published online Jul 9. Jeffrey Kovac , Ph. Author information Copyright and License information Disclaimer. E-mail: ude. This is an Open Access article. Non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly attributed, cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way, is permitted.
The moral rights of the named author s have been asserted. Abstract This article discusses the ethical issues unique to the science and practice of chemistry. Jeffrey I. Open in a separate window. Figure Professionalism and Moral Ideals for Science In several articles, I have argued that science should be considered a profession based on a definition given by Michael Davis: A profession is a number of individuals in the same occupation voluntarily organized to earn a living by openly serving a moral ideal in a morally-permissible way beyond what law, market and morality would otherwise require.
Davis, Davis goes on to say that a code of ethics is a central feature of a profession. Moral Communities All chemists simultaneously belong to several communities and each has its own set of responsibilities Sinsheimer, What Should Chemists Synthesize? Ethics in the Laboratory Chemistry is rooted in the laboratory where ideas, knowledge, and technique come together. Chemical Weapons and Other Dangerous Substances A very difficult ethical question for chemists is whether to conduct research on chemical weapons.
Environmental Pollution and Green Chemistry Whatever the substance to be made, there are ethical issues related to the method of production. It lists the responsibilities of chemists to various groups beginning with the responsibilities of chemists to the public: Chemists have a professional responsibility to serve the public interest and welfare and to further knowledge of the science.
American Chemical Society, Michael Davis contrasts this statement with several of the provisions of the code of ethics for engineers adopted by the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology ABET which presumably applies to all engineers Davis, One of the fundamental principles of the ABET code is the following one: Engineers uphold and advance the integrity, honor, and dignity of the engineering profession by: 1. Thing knowledge: A philosophy of scientific instruments.
Simon J. Chemistry: The impure science. London: Imperial College Press; Science and human values. New York: Harper Torchbooks; Decent people. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield; Hudlicky T. On hype, malpractice, and scientific misconduct in organic synthesis. Helvetica Chimica Acta. Do the professional ethics of chemists and engineers differ?
The FDA perspective on the development of stereoisomers. Science in trouble. The American Scholar. Can science be ethical. This book is an introduction to professional ethics in chemistry. After a brief overview of ethical theory, it provides a detailed discussion of professional ethic for chemists based on the view that the specific codes of conduct derive from a moral ideal.
The moral ideal presented here has three parts. The first refers to the practice of science, the second to relationships within the scientific community and the third to the relationship between science and society, particularly the uses of science. The question of why a scientist should obey the professional code is discussed in terms of t The question of why a scientist should obey the professional code is discussed in terms of the virtue of reverence, after which the ethical issues unique to chemistry are identified.
A method for approaching ethical problems is presented. Finally, there is a large collection of specific ethical problems, or cases, each followed by a commentary where the issues raised by that case are discussed.
However, the expiration of a duty to notify a court that false evidence was presented could produce arbi- trary results. A thoughtful practitioner might elect to report such a matter to a tribunal even if the proceeding had concluded. This analysis is helpful but does not produce a definitive conclusion. If Isaiah believes that the prosecutor is obliged to reveal to the judge what the police officer said in the hallway, then what should Isaiah do?
If Isaiah were admitted to the bar, he might be obliged to report the perjured testimony to the judge. If he believes the prosecutor is obliged to do so and has declined to do so, then Isaiah if he were a member of the bar might be obliged to report Steve's violation of Rule 3. Isaiah is not yet admitted to the bar, so the ethical rules in the juris- diction in which he is doing his externship do not formally bind him.
Isaiah might decide to consult with another attorney in the office about what should be done. Isaiah may be hesitant even to talk with someone else in the office about Steve's behavior.
Any attempt to address the problem could disrupt Isaiah's externship and destroy his relationship with Steve. Isaiah might worry that Steve would give him a negative letter of reference or retaliate in some other way.
Model Rules of Professional Conduct Rules 1. Rule 8. Isaiah's professor may be a mem- ber of the bar and therefore be obliged to report Steve's conduct to the "appropriate professional authority. Also, she probably would do serious damage to her externship program.
What fieldwork supervisor would accept a student from a school that had previously reported to the bar alleged misconduct by another placement supervisor? The teacher is then in an awkward situation. Her obligation to comply with Rule 8. One solution to this problem would be for the teacher to invite stu- dents who wish to discuss possible misconduct by field supervisors with her to do so in private and to preface the disclosure by a request to seek legal advice from the teacher in confidence.
This would create a lawyer-client relationship between the teacher and the student; the teacher would then be exempt from the obligation to report the super- visor's misconduct, because Rule 8. In that case, however, the teacher also would not be subject to that state's rule requiring reporting of misconduct.
The teacher might be a member of another bar whose ethical rules impose a duty to re- port. She would be obliged to comply with those rules even if she is working in another state. Model Rule 8. Even if the information is discussed with the teacher in confidence, it could later become the basis of a classroom discussion.
This might destroy any possible claim of attorney-client privilege but would not affect the teacher's obligations of confidentiality to the student. Competency, Diligence, and Neglect Some of the most troubling ethical dilemmas that arise in extern- ships involve supervisors who are incompetent, lazy, or neglect their cases. Many externship programs try to avoid such problems by ask- ing faculty or staff at the law school to screen each possible placement supervisor and to avoid sending students into organizations in which See idL See id.
See id Rule 8. Even in a small program, such efforts are very difficult to implement; in a large program, this type of screening is impossible. Furthermore, some of the best learning experiences tend to emerge from some of the most troubling field experiences. Query whether the students should be shielded from problematic professional practices, or whether they might gain more as professionals by exposure rather than protection. Here is an example of such a situation. It looks like a very challenging position.
He has so much more work than he can do that the students who work for him wind up working as lawyers. The only problem is, I'm not sure I can hack it.
Last Thursday, for example, he gave me a file and told me to go down to the INS hearing office and take care of this "little hearing. He told me to ask the clerk when I got there.
He had a trial in federal court that day, so there was no way he could go with me, and the other extern was doing another hearing. Needless to say, I was completely petrified since I knew nothing about immigration law and had never done a hearing of any sort before. I tried to get him to explain the case to me, but he said he had to leave. He just handed me a treatise and said, "Read the file. The hearing isn't till two. Anything you need to know about the law you will find in that book.
The client's English wasn't so good, but she was happy to see me. Almost as soon as I got there she started crying and begging me not to let them send her back to Rwanda. I was sweating; I didn't have a clue what to do. The hearing started; the judge started asking questions to the client.
We really needed an interpreter, but we did the best we could. I felt really bad that I couldn't do more for her. I don't know which was worse, my insecurity or my lack of preparation.
I kept wondering how much Mr. Helman was charging the client for my brilliant assistance. The case hasn't been decided yet. When I got back to the office, Mr.
Helman's secretary gave me two more files and told me Mr. Helman wanted me to handle the hearings on those matters. Both hearings are scheduled for Tues- day, which is the next day I work. He wasn't around. I asked her why he is dumping all this work on his externs, and she told me he has active cases. There are more hearings scheduled each workday than Helman can attend. If you have any time, I'd really like to talk to you about this before I go in on Tuesday.
I'll stop by tomorrow to see if you are in. Quit and find another externship? Call the bar counsel's office? Tough it out so that she can avoid harming cli- ents? Suppose Helman turned down other applicants after Aleah ac- cepted his offer to work as an extern. Suppose that Helman could not get another extern this semester?
What if he cannot even minimally meet his obligations to clients without the externs? Helman obviously is engaged in serious professional miscon- duct. He is neglecting his cases and is failing to provide even minimal supervision to the law students who are working for him. The situa- tion is so extreme that the teacher must intervene. First, the lawyer's misconduct is so serious that if the teacher is a member of a bar that has a reporting obligation, the teacher would be obliged to report the misconduct to the disciplinary authorities.
Helman's conduct first hand. However, because she is not a member of the bar, she is not obliged to report the conduct. The teacher might claim that her second-hand "knowledge" of the situation was insufficient to impose a reporting obligation, but if the misconduct is flagrant and the student is a credi- ble source of information, the knowledge probably would be sufficient to trigger a reporting obligation.
Even if the obligation is clear, it might be very difficult for the teacher to report the lawyer's misconduct in this situation. Doing so might harm the student's professional prospects and might disrupt the externship program. Furthermore, the reporting of the misconduct may lead to a hearing in which the student would be required to tes- tify.
The student might feel that this action would jeopardize her chances of obtaining employment as a lawyer. She might fear that she would be branded as a troublemaker. The teacher and the student should discuss the reporting question in depth, consult the rules and relevant case law, and perhaps seek guidance from an ethics expert. The student cannot be allowed to continue at the placement; the school cannot allow a student to work for academic credit in an envi- ronment in which there is no supervision or where there is a serious pattern of client neglect.
This raises some awkward questions about how the student's extrication is to be handled. Most students prefer to handle problems with their supervisors without the teacher being di- rectly involved. The teacher should offer to call the fieldwork supervi- sor or to participate in a meeting in which the student's work at the placement is terminated. The teacher should defer to the student's preferences on how this process might proceed, as long as the result is The latter probably would be impossible in this instance because of the supervisor's heavy caseload and irresponsible attitude, and because of the obligation to report the misconduct to the disciplinary authorities.
They should terminate the placement before the next workday and then begin to seek an alternate externship. The report to the disciplinary authorities can wait until the student is no longer an extern at the law office of Solomon Helman. Unauthorized Practiceof Law Some placement supervisors, especially in organizations with high caseloads, have so much to do that they ask the student externs to do work that really should be done by a lawyer. Sometimes adequate supervision is available, sometimes not.
This type of environment can offer excellent learning opportunities for externs, but may risk asking them to engage in unauthorized practice of law. Here is an example: "Fitz MacMillan" accepted a position as an extern with the county attorney's office. Once he reported in class that he was get- ting some really great experience-actually trying cases.
He said his boss told him that he was so impressed with MacMillan's work that he had decided to let him try some misdemeanor cases. Fitz spent one day in court watching a prosecutor trying cases. He made his first court appearance the following week. Another student asked whether the judges before whom Fitz had appeared knew that he was a law student. Fitz said he had just in- troduced himself by name. Another student asked if Fitz was ad- mitted under the student practice rule.
He said no. He said he had been concerned about whether he was eligible to speak in court, but the lawyers in the County Attorney's office said it was really no problem-they knew he would do a good job. If they want to let me do it, I don't see why I should be such a goody-two- shoes.
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