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

这个研究项目将研究一个有争议的假设，将环境雌激素化学物质与各种动物和人类的疾病和病理联系起来，在这个假设的演变和政策反应中，科学、伦理和社会因素。环境雌激素假说（EEH）认为，包括抗氧化剂、增塑剂、洗涤剂和杀虫剂在内的相当大的一类化学物质模仿内源性生物雌激素的作用，这些激素在性成熟和生殖中起着核心作用，因此这些化学物质在人类和野生动物的男性性功能异常和生育率下降，鸟类、鱼类和哺乳动物的代谢紊乱以及人类的癌症中起着怀疑作用。这项研究包括收集和分析相关的科学和大众文献，以及对科学家、监管机构、政策制定者和非政府组织代表的采访。调查人员将研究决定雌激素假说是否会成为一个主要的公共政策问题，在公共议程中保持休眠状态，或者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是如何被提出的，科学家如何提出并向公众传达这一假设，科学家之间争议的来源，以及这一假设对公共政策的影响。要检查的价值维度包括：科学家的道德和伦理判断以及他们对假设的社会责任的表述；主张或批评该假说者在科学方法选择上的隐含价值和规范；道德和价值维度与性别，男性气质和女性气质，以及社会意识中的物种灭绝假说的含义有关。本研究的结果将有助于通过跟踪和检查潜在的引人注目的风险事件的风险选择和沟通的理论讨论。它们将增进我们对科学家在制定公共政策和他们的社会责任概念方面的作用的认识。他们将提供对不同社会群体关于特定类型风险的伦理和价值含义的概念的见解，以及对风险评估的科学贡献所涉及的规范因素。研究者将撰写文章报告这些结果，并在相关的会议和会议上做报告。* * *

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. ***