Powerless Science?: Science and Politics in a Toxic World (Environment in History: International Perspectives Book 2)

In spite of decades of research on toxicants, along with the growing role of scientific expertise in public policy and the unprecedented rise in the number of national and international institutions dealing with environmental health issues, problems surrounding contaminants and their effects on health have never appeared so important, sometimes to the point of appearing insurmountable. This calls for a reconsideration of the roles of scientific knowledge and expertise in the definition and management of toxic issues, which this book seeks to do. It looks at complex historical, social, and political dynamics, made up of public controversies, environmental and health crises, economic interests, and political responses, and demonstrates how and to what extent scientific knowledge about toxicants has been caught between scientific, economic, and political imperatives. Introduction. The greatness and misery of science in a toxic world / Soraya Boudia and Nathalie Jas Part I. Knowledge, expertise, and the transformations in regulatory systems Precaution and the history of endocrine disruptors / Nancy Langston The political life of mutagens: a history of the Ames test / Angela N. H. Creager DES, cancer, and endocrine disruptors: ways of regulating, chemical risks, and public expertise in the United States / Jean-Paul Gaudilliáere Managing scientific and political uncertainty: environmental risk assessment in a historical perspective / Soraya Boudia. Part II. Activism and nonactivism: alternative uses of knowledge Work, bodies, militancy: the "class ecology" debate in 1970s Italy / Stefania Barca What kind of knowledge is needed about toxicant-related health issues? Some lessons drawn from the Seveso dioxin case / Laura Centemeri From suspicious illness to policy change in petrochemical regions: popular epidemiology, science, and the law in the United States and Italy / Barbara L. Allen Guinea pigs go to court: epidemiology and class actions in Taiwan / Paul Jobin and Yu-Hwei Tseng. Part III. Putting knowledge, ignorance, and regulation into perspective Reckless laws, contaminated people: science reveals legal shortcomings in public health protections / Carl F. Cranor Untangling ignorance in environmental risk assessment / Scott Frickel and Michelle Edwards Low-dose toxicology: narratives from science-transcience interface / Sheldon Krimsky Unruly technologies and fractured oversight: toward a model for chemical control for the twenty-first century / Jody A. Roberts. Contents Figures and Tables Acknowledgments Introduction: The Greatness and Misery of Science in a Toxic World PART I Knowledge, Expertise, and the Transformations in Regulatory Systems CHAPTER 1 Precaution and the History of Endocrine Disruptors CHAPTER 2 The Political Life of Mutagens: A History of the Ames Test CHAPTER 3 DES, Cancer, and Endocrine Disruptors: Ways of Regulating, Chemical Risks, and Public Expertise in the United States CHAPTER 4 Managing Scientific and Political Uncertainty: Environmental Risk Assessment in a Historical Perspective PART II Activism and Nonactivism: Alternative Uses of Knowledge CHAPTER 5 Work, Bodies, Militancy: The “Class Ecology” Debate in 1970s Italy CHAPTER 6 What Kind of Knowledge is Needed about Toxicant-Related Health Issues? Some Lessons Drawn from the Seveso Dioxin Case CHAPTER 7 From Suspicious Illness to Policy Change in Petrochemical Regions: Popular Epidemiology, Science, and the Law in the United States and Italy CHAPTER 8 Guinea Pigs Go to Court: Epidemiology and Class Actions in Taiwan PART III Putting Knowledge, Ignorance, and Regulation into Perspective CHAPTER 9 Reckless Laws, Contaminated People: Science Reveals Legal Shortcomings in Public Health Protections CHAPTER 10 Untangling Ignorance in Environmental Risk Assessment CHAPTER 11 Low-Dose Toxicology: Narratives from the Science-Transcience Interface CHAPTER 12 Unruly Technologies and Fractured Oversight: Toward a Model for Chemical Control for the Twenty-First Century Contributors Index