Abstract
This chapter has explored a variety of ways that ethical and societal values associated with environmental policy making move “upstream” into the practice of policy-relevant scientific research. In the case of nanotoxicology, researchers face value-laden decisions about what materials to study, what biological models to employ, which effects to examine, and what standards of evidence to demand. Depending on how these choices are made, they can support the interests of those who want to aggressively protect environmental and public health, or they can benefit the regulated industries that are trying to market new products. In order to incorporate more effective ethical and societal reflection on these decisions, the chapter suggests developing socially-sensitive research-ethics training, developing appropriate forms of deliberation, and strategically investing in independently funded research.
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Notes
- 1.
I should emphasize that, while Barrett and Raffensperger do an admirable job of highlighting the implicit value judgments that can permeate scientific research, their proposal of a sharp distinction between “mechanistic science” and “precautionary science” is questionable. Particular research practices can arguably be classified as precautionary only relative to a particular context (including, for example, the threats that are under consideration, the preventive actions being considered in response to the threats, and an alternative set of research practices that are less precautionary).
- 2.
It is important to recognize that advocates of the precautionary principle are by no means the only thinkers who have studied how scientific practices can privilege some ethical or societal values over others. I have focused on this particular group of thinkers because they have done a good job of highlighting the value-ladenness of scientific research and because their concerns apply well to nanotoxicology.
- 3.
It is worth emphasizing that even decisions about whether to emphasize in vitro, in vivo, or in silico experimental systems involve a wide range of value judgments about how to prioritize considerations like the speed of research, avoidance of false positive and false negative errors, expense, and animal welfare.
- 4.
Regarding the sensitivity of biological models, Tom Chandler (personal communication, 2009) provides a good example. He notes that daphnia and copepods are both small crustaceans that are used for studying the effects of environmental toxicants. Daphnia have been used more frequently, in part because they have generally been more convenient to study and to grow in the laboratory. Nevertheless, copepods tend to be more sensitive to some toxicants. Regarding the ethics of animal experimentation, Lafollette and Shanks (1997) provide an excellent overview of the issues. In some cases, computer modeling and bioinformatics may enable researchers to identify potential threats more quickly and with less harm to animal welfare than by using traditional in vivo approaches.
- 5.
For more information about this program, see http://www.cspo.org/outreach/phdplus/; last accessed on August 19, 2009.
- 6.
For more information, see http://www.cns.ucsb.edu/education/; last accessed on August 19, 2009.
- 7.
For more information about the National Citizens’ Technology Forum, see Philbrick and Barandiaran (2009). The final report for the DEEPEN project is available at http://www.geography.dur.ac.uk/projects/deepen/NewsandEvents/tabid/2903/Default.aspx (last accessed on March 5, 2010), and more information about the Demos project and its nanodialogues is available at http://www.demos.co.uk/ (last accessed on March 5, 2010).
- 8.
Admittedly, government agencies are also influenced by a wide range of values and concerns. The point of promoting government funding is not to remove all value influences from scientific research but rather to counteract the radical, egregious biases associated with much industry-funded research (see McGarity and Wagner 2008; Michaels 2008).
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Acknowledgments
I thank Tara Sabo-Attwood and Tom Chandler for very helpful scientific input and examples. This work was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0809470. Any opinions, findings, conclusion, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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Elliott, K.C. (2014). Ethical and Societal Values in Nanotoxicology. In: Gordijn, B., Cutter, A. (eds) In Pursuit of Nanoethics. The International Library of Ethics, Law and Technology, vol 10. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6817-1_10
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