The Politics of Chemical Risk: Scenarios for a Regulatory Future

All industrial countries have developed regulatory systems to assess and manage the risk of chemical substances to the working and natural environment. The pressure to harmonize these often specialized regulatory systems is increasingly strong at the international level. Such harmonization not only entails the assessment of particular chemicals, but also the way assessment procedures and their boundary with risk management is organized. As these initiatives intensify, they increasingly raise important questions of how to integrate national differences in the international regulatory arena. How will national consultation procedures relate to international decision-making on chemical risks? How will differences in national risk assessment procedures be accommodated? How will the international regulatory system be integrated with different national styles of regulation and government?
Presenting the experiences and insights of both people from within the worlds of risk assessment and management and from the field of Science Studies, this book forms a state-of-the-art in the discussion on the Politics of Chemical Risk. By offering scenarios, or sketches of a regulatory future, it points to the choices that can be made and the opportunities to be explored. As such, it offers an agenda for environmental and occupational scientists, policy-makers and students of science and technology alike.

General Introduction; W. Halffman, R. Bal. Part I: The Risk Assessment - Risk Management Boundary. 1. The Risk Assessments/Risk Management Boundary - Myth Making and its Implications in the UK; S. Mayer, G. Glegg. 2. Exposure Limits, Practicability, and Health Risks - Arguments for a Paradigm Shift; M. Piney. 3. Boundary Dynamics in Dutch Standard Setting for Occupational Chemicals; R. Bal. Part II: The International Arena. Introduction. 4. Recommending Health-Based Exposure Limits in the International Arena: Personal Experience and Views; V. Feron. 5. The European Union and the Politics of Chemical Risk for Workers' Health; K. van Damme. 6. Integrating Sweden in the European Union: Problems Concerning Chemicals Control; R. Nilsson. 7. Harmonization: The Politics of Reasoning Together; S. Jasanoff. Part III: Standardization. Introduction. 8. Risk Management of Chemical Substances in the European Union; P. McCutcheon. 9. Regulatory Science and the European Control of Agrochemicals; A. Irwin, et al. 10. Standards, Science, and the Politics of Chemical Risk; P. Calow. Standardization as a Trust Device; W. Halffman. Part IV: Scenarios and Reflexions. 12. The Politics of Chemical Risk: Scenarios for Regulatory Policy; W. Halffman, R. Bal. 13. Postscript on the Workshop as an Experiment; W. Halffman, R. Bal. Contributors. Workshop Participants. Abbreviations. Index.