Title: Influencing Chemical Safety, Guiding Tomorrow’s Science

Abstract: Safety in the chemical sciences is too often seen as a matter of compliance — a box to check. Yet safety is far more than a set of rules. It is a rich domain of scientific inquiry, human behavior, organizational culture, and passionate collaboration. While safety principles inform research across all American Chemical Society (ACS) journals, they find dedicated focus in ACS Chemical Health & Safety (ACS CHAS). In this presentation, Mary Beth Mulcahy, Editor-in-Chief of ACS CHAS, will share stories of articles that have reshaped her own thinking—from a graduate student who lost consciousness while collecting dry ice, to an international collaboration between Stanford University and India’s Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research following a serious incident with acryloyl chloride, to a candid discussion of a paper the journal ultimately chose not to publish. Through these examples, the presentation will invite chemists to see publishing safety articles as a vibrant and essential part of advancing chemical research.