Doctoral Dissertation Research: Plastics, politics and production: The Political Economy of Bisphenol A

这篇论文的改进项目，由科学与社会计划资助，探讨了双酚A分子的历史，作为一种手段，用于检查政治，经济和科学的变化，塑造了社会和科学在过去的五十年在美国。双酚A用于塑料生产，并以模仿天然激素雌激素而闻名，它是一种经济上至关重要且在科学上有争议的化学品，到20世纪90年代，它在环境中无处不在。这项研究追溯了从20世纪50年代末到现在双酚A的经济成功和科学争议的兴起。它讨论了塑料工业协会，联邦机构，研究机构和环境倡导组织如何塑造化学品政策，市场和科学知识，以及这些个人和机构之间经常有争议的关系如何告知风险，毒性和安全性的理解。 研究方法包括档案文献分析、口述历史、访谈等。这项研究的档案收藏包括以下内容：Hagley图书馆和博物馆的塑料工业协会的论文，Theo Colborn的私人论文收藏，以及制造化学家协会的论文。与西奥·科尔伯恩的口述历史和对研究双酚A的研究人员的采访，提供了对过去15年来有关化学品毒性和作用机制的知识发展的当代见解。此外，这项研究还包括对已发表的科学论文、行业期刊、报纸、政府报告和国会听证会的文件审查。 这项研究旨在通过其独特的关注特定化学品进入市场，塑造科学知识，制定法规并改变我们生活的分子环境，来推动科学和社会历史上的知识。这段历史使分子环境变得可见，并将其叙述与化学法规建立后，全球化经济的兴起以及向自由市场经济和放松管制的转变期间更广泛的政治，经济和环境变化联系起来。因此，这项工作有助于对战后化学革命对社会和科学的影响进行更广泛的智力调查。 关于双酚A毒性的科学争论的核心是对科学知识的权威性的争夺。为了解开真理和科学合法性的相互竞争的要求，这一历史研究解释了科学和外行观众一样，知识如何随着时间的推移在特定的政治和经济背景下发展。随着加州可能立法禁止双酚A，以及几个相关的档案收藏向公众关闭，这项研究是令人难以置信的及时。研究结果将以多种形式传播，包括论文，与关注双酚A的倡导团体进行一系列的brownbag讨论，并参与关于双酚A等无处不在的化学品对美国政治，社会，环境和经济发展的影响的跨学科圆桌讨论。

This dissertation improvement project, funded by the Science and Society Program, explores the history of the molecule bisphenol A as a means for examining the political, economic and scientific changes that shaped society and science in the last five decades in the United States. Used in plastics production and known to mimic the natural hormone estrogen, bisphenol A is an economically vital and scientifically controversial chemical that by the 1990s was ubiquitous in the environment. This research traces the rise of bisphenol A's economic success and scientific controversy from the late 1950s up to the present. It discusses how the plastics industry association, federal agencies, research institutions and environmental advocacy organizations shaped chemical policies, markets and scientific knowledge, and how the often contentious relationship among these individuals and institutions informed understandings of risk, toxicity and safety. The methods employed in this research include document analysis of archival collections, oral history and interviews. The archive collections for this research include the following: the papers of the Society of the Plastics Industry at Hagley Library and Museum, a private collection of the papers of Theo Colborn, and the papers of the Manufacturing Chemists Association. An oral history with Theo Colborn and interviews with researchers studying bisphenol A provide contemporary insight into the development of knowledge about the chemical's toxicity and mechanisms of action over the past fifteen years. In addition, this research includes document review of published scientific papers, trade journals, newspapers, government reports and Congressional hearings. This research proposes to advance knowledge in the history of science and society through its unique focus on a specific chemical as it entered markets, shaped scientific knowledge, informed regulations, and transformed the molecular environment in which we live. This history makes visible the molecular environment and ties its narrative to the broader political, economic and environmental changes during the period after the establishment of chemical regulations, the rise of a globalized economy and a shift towards free market economics and deregulation. As such, this work contributes to a broader intellectual inquiry into the implications and affects of the post-war chemical revolution on society and science. Central to the scientific debates about bisphenol A's toxicity is the battle to claim authority over scientific knowledge. In order to untangle the competing claims of truth and scientific legitimacy, this historical study explains to a scientific and lay audience alike, how knowledge developed over time within a specific political and economic context. With possible legislation for a ban of bisphenol A in California, and several relevant archival collections closing to the public, this research is incredibly timely. Research findings will be disseminated in multiple forms including the dissertation, a series of brownbag discussions with advocacy groups concerned about bisphenol A, and participation in an interdisciplinary roundtable discussion about the impacts of ubiquitous chemicals like bisphenol A on the political, social, environmental and economic development of the United States.