STS Scholars Award: Toxic Shock Syndrome, Tampon Technology and Testing

一般受众摘要本项目调查宝洁公司自愿召回瑞瑞卫生棉条的后果，原因是该产品与中毒性休克综合症有致命联系。它侧重于制定政策的方式，警告妇女注意卫生棉条的一般危险，特别是高吸水性卫生棉条的危险。该项目有三个核心研究问题。关于棉条吸收能力的材料测试的标准是如何建立的；包括公司、联邦机构和健康倡导团体在内的各个利益攸关方是如何努力制定关于使用卫生棉条的政策的；关于风险的警告是如何根据吸光度标准来构思的？为了回答这些问题，PI将在哈佛大学亚瑟和伊丽莎白·施莱辛格图书馆从事妇女史的档案研究；具体地说，她将专注于图书馆收集的埃丝特·罗马的论文，埃丝特·罗马是卫生棉条安全的妇女健康倡导者和波士顿妇女健康书库的创始人。这项研究的结果将引起STS学者的兴趣，特别是那些从事女权主义科学和以女性为中心的技术研究的学者，以及更广泛的领域。它们也将引起卫生保健专业人员和卫生保健政策专家的兴趣。此外，它们还将对妇女有广泛的吸引力，她们对个人健康的叙述和技术科学对她们身体的影响非常感兴趣。这个项目将增进一些交叉领域的知识，包括性别和妇女研究、科学和技术研究、医学史、科学史和技术史。它促成了“生物催化技术”的新框架，这种技术被定义为对人类不是主要危险的技术，但具有催化微生物活动的潜力，这些微生物活动可能会通过使用这些技术而导致伤害。生物催化技术的框架有助于解释、分析和理解微生物技术界面。这项研究将身体概念化为一个生态空间，并对新兴技术、性别和微生物成分的关系进行了历史化。它证明了实验室需要不同的声音，不仅是女科学家，还有投入资金的公众。它呼吁医生了解物质物体的影响，以及它们可能不仅对身体，而且对微生物生态系统产生的意想不到的影响。

General Audience Summary This project examines the aftermath of Procter & Gamble's voluntarily recall of Rely tampons, due to the product's deadly association with Toxic Shock Syndrome. It focuses on the ways in which policy developed to warn women about the dangers of tampons in general and super-absorbent tampons in particular. The project has three core research questions. How were standards concerning materials testing for tampon absorbency established; how did various stakeholders, including corporations, federal agencies, and health advocacy groups, work to shape policy about tampon use; and how were warnings about risk conceptualized in light of absorbency standards? To answer these questions, the PI will engage in archival research at the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women, Harvard University; specifically, she will focus on the library's collection of the papers of Esther Rome, a women's health advocate for tampon safety and founder of the Boston Women's Health Book Collective. The results of this research will be of interest STS scholars, particularly those engaged in research on feminist science and women-centered technology, and more broadly. They will also be of interest to health care professionals and experts in health care policy. In addition, they will have wide appeal to women, who are deeply interested in narratives of personal health and the impact of techno-science on their bodies.Technical Summary This project will advance knowledge in a number of overlapping fields including gender and women's studies, science and technology studies, history of medicine, history of science, and history of technology. It contributes the new framework of "biocatalytic technology" defined as technologies that are not primarily dangerous to humans, but have the potential to catalyze microbial activity that may result in harm through their use. The framing of biocatalytic technology helps to interpret, analyze and understand micro-biotechnological interfaces. This research conceptualizes the body as an ecological space and historicizes relationships of emergent technology, gender, and microbial constituents. It exemplifies the need for different voices in the lab, and not only women scientists but also invested publics. It calls upon medical practitioners to understand the effects of material objects, and the unexpected influence they may have not only on bodies but also upon microbial ecosystems as well.