Seminari iHC

Abstract:

For several decades, chemical contamination of the environment by pesticides, PCBs, plastics or heavy metals, whether from mining, industrial production or consumer processes, has been a central concern for a range of experts, NGOs and national and transnational public authorities. More recently, a group of researchers has announced that chemical pollution has crossed a fifth planetary limit (Person et al 2022). This "toxification" of ecosystems and bodies, accentuated by climate change, is at the root of degraded living conditions for many of the planet's populations. 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 issues, problems surrounding contaminants and their environmental and health effects have never appeared so important, sometimes to the point of appearing insurmountable.

This paper examines the roles of scientific knowledge and expertise in the definition and management of toxic issues. 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 environmental pollution has been caught between scientific, economic, and political imperatives.