NO CRISIS FOR BIG-BANG NUCLEOSYNTHESIS

Contrary to a recent claim, the inferred primordial abundances of the light elements are quite consistent with the expectations from standar d big bang nucleosynthesis when attention is restricted to direct obse rvations rather than results from chemical evolution models. The numbe r of light neutrino (or equivalent particle) species (N(n)u) can be as high as 4.53 if the nucleon-to-photon ratio (eta) is at its lower lim it of 1.65 x 10(-10), as constrained by the upper bound on the deuteri um abundance in high redshift quasar absorption systems. Alternatively , with N(n)u = 3, eta can be as high as 8.90 x 10(-10) if the deuteriu m abundance is bounded from below by its interstellar value. These con clusions follow from the upward revision of the primordial helium abun dance inferred from recent observations of blue compact galaxies, usin g updated atomic physics inputs.