Medical journal to retract water article
A medical journal plans to retract an article that claimed chromium-contaminated water was not causing high rates of cancer in China.
The article in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine was conceived, drafted and edited by consultants for PG&E Corp. in 1997. The PG&E consultants submitted the article for publication without letting on they or PG&E were involved, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
A PG&E spokesman said its role should have been acknowledged when the article was published with the bylines Zhang JianDong and Shukun Li.
Journal editor Paul Brandt-Rauf gave the Journal a copy of the retraction he intends to publish in the July issue.
The statement said the retraction was based solely on violations of editorial policy, and there is no evidence that suggests scientific fraud.
The objection to the story was submitted by the Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based organization for advocacy.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
