Chemical Passports: Environmental Science, Information, and Regulation in the Trade of Toxic Substances

 

Angela Creager, Thomas M. Siebel Professor in the History of Science, presented “Chemical Passports: Environmental Science, Information, and Regulation in the Trade of Toxic Substances.” Creager was the first speaker in the spring 2023 HMEI Faculty Seminar Series.

Creager examined how toxicological test data were taken up in efforts to establish international health and environmental standards for chemicals. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development played a major role in trying to develop standards for safety and information sharing in the global trade of toxics. However, their efforts ran up against the resistance of the chemical industry to provide toxicity data on their products. This story shows the limits of the “informational” turn in environmental regulation in the 1980s.

Chemical Passports: Environmental Science, Information, and Regulation in the Trade of Toxic Substances

Publish Date

February 8, 2023

Presenter(s)

Angela Creager

Link to Video

https://youtu.be/zDnBD3wh2MA

Video Length

1:00:42

 

Angela Creager, Thomas M. Siebel Professor in the History of Science, presented “Chemical Passports: Environmental Science, Information, and Regulation in the Trade of Toxic Substances.” Creager was the first speaker in the spring 2023 HMEI Faculty Seminar Series.

Creager examined how toxicological test data were taken up in efforts to establish international health and environmental standards for chemicals. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development played a major role in trying to develop standards for safety and information sharing in the global trade of toxics. However, their efforts ran up against the resistance of the chemical industry to provide toxicity data on their products. This story shows the limits of the “informational” turn in environmental regulation in the 1980s.