08/25/2026
Strong science depends on strong safety culture.
At a thought-provoking panel today, Editors-in-Chief from across the ACS journal portfolio discussed how to make that culture the norm in chemical research and publishing.
Moderated by Mary Beth Mulcahy (ACS Chemical Health & Safety), the panel featured Carolyn Bertozzi (ACS Central Science), Erick Carreira (Journal of the American Chemical Society), Stefanie Dehnen (Inorganic Chemistry), Marisa Kozlowski (Organic Letters), and Shelley Minteer (ACS Au journals).
We've shared some of the key takeaways from the panel discussion below:
"We want people to be safety competent, not risk averse," said Mary Beth Mulcahy. "Because if you’re risk averse, then you don’t know how to deal with the real hazards that are around you.”
"So often we talk about safety after the fact, after an explosion or spill has taken place," noted Erick Carreira. "Instead, we need to have proactive involvements."
"I’d say the biggest threat is the fact that you can only be at top awareness for so long. If you’re in danger, the adrenaline surges, but eventually it wears off," reflected Marisa Kozlowski, reminding us to come in every day with a fresh perspective that doesn't take safety for granted.
As the American Chemical Society marks 150 years and continues its commitment to safety — which was the theme for June — conversations like this one are a reminder that safer science is essential to discovery.
