Newsletter February 2011 Santa Clara Valley Section American Chemical Society Volume 33 No. 2 FEBRUARY 2011 NEWSLETTER TOPICS March Dinner Meeting • March Dinner Meeting: Making Making Chemical Testing Chemical Testing Relevant to Breast Cancer Relevant to Breast Cancer • Chair’s Message Dr. Megan R. Schwarzman • February Dinner Meeting: Sex, Love Abstract ductive environmental health, and Oxytocin Although breast cancer is U.S. and European chemicals one of the leading causes of can- policy, and the implications for • Welcome to the Santa Clara Valley cer and death in women, even human health and the environ- Section of ACS the small numbers of chemicals ment of the production, use and • New Members List for December that undergo safety testing are disposal of chemicals and prod- • Volunteer with Kids and Chemistry not routinely evaluated for their ucts. She is a research scientist at impacts on mammary (breast) the Center for Occupational and • Black History Month tissue. Likewise, there is no well- Environmental Health (COEH), • Committee Chair Needed established set of tests for screen- in UC Berkeley’s School of Public • Albert Ghiorso, Nuclear Researcher ing chemicals for their ability to raise the risk Health, and Associate Director of Health and • SPLASH is Coming to Stanford of breast cancer. Environment for the interdisciplinary In 2010, Dr. Schwarzman served as continued on next page Principal Investigator of a project to tackle this Chair's Message issue. The Breast Cancer and Chemicals Policy project, supported by a grant from the March Dinner Meeting As I write this, California Breast Cancer Research Program, Joint Meeting with Palo Alto AWIS we’ve just experi- convened a panel of 20 scientists and policy enced a New Year experts to review the biological mechanisms Date: Wednesday, March 23, 2011 celebration and associated with breast cancer and propose a Time: 7:00 Networking Dinner jumped into the strategy for screening and identifying chemi- 7:30-7:45 Announcements International Year of cals that could increase the risk of the disease. 7:45-9:00 Presentation Chemistry! I hope The panel followed a unique “disease end- Location: Xerox PARC you enjoyed a point” model, working backwards from a dis- 3333 Coyote Hill Road Palo Alto, CA 94304 relaxing end to your ease to identify the changes caused by chemi- 2010 with some extra time to spend with cals that could serve as early indicators of tox- Speaker: Dr. Megan Schwarzman your friends and loved ones. If you cele- UC Berkeley, School of Public icity. While this approach was recommended brate the winter season with gift-giving Health by the National Academy of Sciences in their traditions, I hope you received fun goodies Making Chemical Testing report “Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century”, that were made possible by the transform- Relevant to Breast Cancer this is the first time it has been implemented ing power of chemistry. At my house, Cost: $10.00 Light dinner buffet for any disease, including breast cancer. Santa visited and brought one especially Reservations: www.scvacs.org The Breast Cancer and Chemicals Policy nifty toy laden with cool chemistry— Sally Peters 650-812-4994 project model is intended to dovetail with the “Princess Bath Beauty Belle”. This Disney Reservations MUST be made by State of California’s Green Chemistry Princess has a lovely little orange swim suit Sunday, March 20th, stating your name, and pink-streaked hair, but once dipped Initiative, as well as ongoing efforts by federal address, company affiliation, and number into the bath by my 4-year old, her bath- scientific agencies working to create new and of people in party. Watch the web site for ing suit and hair instantly turn bright yel- more effective comprehensive chemical testing more information. If you are unable to low. At age 4, my daughter can’t appreci- approaches to better protect human health. honor your reservation and do not cancel ate the interesting thermochromic proper- Biography by Tuesday, March 22nd, you will be ties of Belle’s bathing suit, but I’m looking Dr. Megan R. Schwarzman’s work focus- invoiced following the dinner meeting. continued on page 2 es on endocrine disrupting substances, repro- Breast Cancer, continued from front page Reminder February Dinner Meeting Reminder Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry. She earned her medical degree from the University Sex, Love and Oxytocin of Massachusetts, completed her specialty Susan Kuchinskas training in Family Medicine at the University Abstract training to become a certified Slow of California, San Francisco, and earned a We tend to think of our emo- Sex Coach. master’s of public health from the University tions as coming from our minds. She has a B.A. from Rutgers, of California, Berkeley. Dr. Schwarzman also In fact, what we call emotion can and an M.A. in creative writing practices medicine part time at San Francisco be seen as the expression of a bodi- from San Francisco State General Hospital. ly state. As chemicals like cortisol University. Her websites are www. kuchinskas.com www.chemis- Chair's Message, continued from front page or adrenaline prep our bodies for , fight or flight, they tweak our tryofconnection.com and www. forward to the day when I can share the minds into the state we call fear. hugthemonkey.com, which covers oxytocin chemistry behind this ‘trick’ with her. The sunnier emotions are also the result news, research and cultural sightings. What nifty chemistry gifts or gadgets have you received recently? Tell us about it on of chemicals flooding our bodies and brains. the Santa Clara Valley ACS Facebook The emotions of positive interaction with oth- page! Click on “Like” the Santa Clara ers -- trust, friendship, connection and every Valley ACS page in order to automatically kind of love -- are all based on oxytocin, the February receive real-time updates to the page. neurochemical of bonding. This includes sex- Are you tired of calling months in uality. While lust is driven in both men and Dinner Meeting advance for the best Valentine’s Day din- women by testosterone, when we're touched, Thursday, February 17, 2011 ner reservations and then paying double and especially when we orgasm, our brains Date: for half the service? Do we ever have the release oxytocin. You could say that sexuality, Time: 6:00 Social Hour solution for you during the month of love! love and intimacy -- when you read them as 7:00 Dinner Check out our February 17th dinner neurochemical states -- are all one thing. And 8:00 Presentation meeting, where Susan Kuchinskas, author they're all the result of oxytocin. Location: Shiva's Indian Restaurant of The Chemistry of Connection will If the need to propagate our species has 800 California St, Suite 100 enlighten us with her research on oxytocin driven human evolution, it's not surprising Mountain View, CA 94041 and the biochemistry of love. Any that sex would be one of the most fun things Speaker: Susan Kuchinskas research topic that can actually make me to do. What is surprising is that the sheer joy Science writer “Sex, Love and Oxytocin” blush while describing is sure to be of sex is so closely tied to our most transcen- intriguing! Bring your special someone, or dent emotions. Cost: $27.00 come just to hone your dating skills using In this lecture with Susan Kuchinskas, Indian Buffet that includes both vegetarian and chicken dishes. a new tool—your knowledge of chemistry. author of the new book, The Chemistry of www.scvacs.org We’ll meet at Shiva’s Restaurant in Connection, we'll explore the effects of oxyto- Reservations: Sally Peters 650-812-4994 Mountain View, so bring your saffron-re- cin as a hormone coursing through the blood- ceptor taste buds for a special Indian food stream and as a neurochemical, exciting the Reservations MUST be made by February 14th stating your name, address, treat. emotional pathways of the brain. We'll review Did you know that it’s possible to company affiliation, number of people in research in biology, neuroscience and psychol- party. Watch the web site for more infor- etch the entire Periodic Table of the ogy to examine the connection among the Elements on a human hair? I did not— mation. If you are unable to honor your myriad kinds of love we're capable of and until one of my Ex Comm colleagues reservation and do not cancel by Monday, ponder what it means for each of us that sex (thanks, George!) sent me the fascinating February 15th, you will be invoiced follow- and love are so intertwined. YouTube video of this laser-etching proce- ing the dinner meeting. Biography dure explored by Dr. Martyn Poliakoff at University of Nottingham. It is posted on Journalist Susan Kuchinskas, M.A., is the the Santa Clara Valley ACS Facebook page author of The Chemistry for you to enjoy too! I would love to hear of Connection: How the about the surprising chemistry projects Oxytocin Response Can you’ve heard about—email me at akenne- Help You Find Trust, [email protected] and I’ll post your Love and Intimacy. She links and comments. writes about science, Finally, have you made your housing technology and culture reservations for the ACS National Meeting for a variety of publica- in Anaheim in March? Housing is open tions, and is a frequent and I’m thrilled to report I scored the guest on talk radio, where Disneyland Hotel and I can’t wait to see she discusses how neuro- some great talks and meet Princess Belle in science can improve our person! relationships. She is in Welcome to Black History Month February is Black History Month the Santa Clara Valley Section of ACS and it would be nice to remember some Each month the section receives a be our guests.