The Genesis of an Environmental Risk Over Estrogenic Chemicals: The Interplay Between Science, Ethics and Public Policy

9412973 Krimsky 该研究项目将研究一个有争议的假设的演变和政策反应中的科学、伦理和社会因素，该假设将环境雌激素化学物质与各种动物和人类疾病和病理联系起来。 环境雌激素假说 (EEH) 假设，包括抗氧化剂、增塑剂、清洁剂和杀虫剂在内的一类化学物质模仿了内源性生物雌激素的作用，这些激素在性成熟和生殖中发挥着核心作用，从而使这些化学物质怀疑导致男性性异常、人类和野生动物生育率降低、鸟类、鱼类和哺乳动物的代谢紊乱以及人类癌症。 该研究包括收集和分析相关科学和通俗文献以及对科学家、监管者、政策制定者和非政府组织代表的采访。 研究人员将研究决定雌激素假说是否成为主要公共政策问题、在公共议程中保持休眠状态或因缺乏证据支持而被驳回的因素。 该研究的范围包括分析环境雌激素问题的框架、科学家如何向公众提出和传达假设、科学家之间争议的来源以及假设对公共政策的影响。 要审查的价值维度包括：科学家的道德和伦理判断以及他们对假设的社会责任的阐述；主张或批评假设的人在选择科学方法时隐含的价值观和规范；以及与性、男性气质和女性气质以及社会思想中的物种灭绝假设的影响相关的伦理和价值维度。 这项研究的结果将通过跟踪和检查潜在的备受瞩目的风险事件，为风险选择和沟通的理论讨论做出贡献。 他们将增进我们对科学家在制定公共政策中的作用及其社会责任概念的了解。 他们将深入了解不同社会群体对特定类型风险的伦理和价值影响的概念，以及对风险评估的科学贡献所涉及的规范因素。 研究人员将撰写报告这些结果的文章，并在相关会议上进行演示。 ***

9412973 Krimsky This research project will examine scientific and ethical and social factors in the evolution of and policy responses to a controversial hypothesis linking environmental estrogenic chemicals to a variety of animal and human disorders and pathologies. The Environmental Estrogen Hypothesis (EEH) postulates that a sizeable class of chemicals including antioxidants, plasticizers, detergents, and pesticides mimic the action of endogenous biological estrogens, hormones that play a central role in sexual maturation and reproduction, thereby making these chemicals suspect in male sexual abnormalities and reduced fertility rates in humans and wildlife, metabolic disorders in birds, fish and mammals, and cancer in humans. The research involves collection and analysis of relevant scientific and popular literature and interviews of scientists, regulators, policymakers, and representatives of non- governmental organizations. The investigators will study the factors that determine whether the estrogen hypothesis emerges as a major public policy issue, remains dormant in the public agenda, or is dismissed for lack of evidentiary support. The scope of the study includes an analysis of how the environmental estrogen issues are being framed, how the hypothesis is presented and communicated to the public by scientists, the sources of controversy among scientists, and the impact of the hypothesis on public policy. The value dimensions to be examined include: moral and ethical judgments by scientists and their articulation of social responsibility with respect to the hypothesis; implicit values and norms in the selections of scientific methodologies of those advocating or criticizing the hypothesis; and the ethical and value dimensions associated with the implications of the hypothesis for sexuality, masculinity and femininity, and species extinction in the social mind. The results of this study will contribute to the theoretical discussion on risk selection and communication by tracking and examining a potentially high-profile risk event. They will advance our knowledge of the roles of scientists in shaping public policy and their conceptions of social responsibility. They will provide insights into conceptions of various social groups about ethical and value implications of particular kinds of risks, and about the normative factors involved in scientific contributions to risk assessment. The investigators will produce articles reporting on these results, and make presentations at relevant conferences and meetings. ***