Beware of Mercenary Science

Epidemiologist David Michaels has been nominated to be the head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and this is good news for workers in danger of asbestos exposure. Dr. Michaels, a research professor at George Washington University, has personally studied of the health effects of exposure to asbestos, which causes asbestosis and the deadly lung disease mesothelioma.

More significantly, Dr. Michaels has warned against what he calls “mercenary science.” A “mercenary” scientist is one who is paid by an industry to cast doubt on studies showing a product is dangerous. The purpose of mercenary science is to stop or at least stall regulation that would hurt business, even if the regulation saves lives.

In 2005, Dr. Michaels explained in an article for Scientific American (“Doubt Is Their Product”) that companies hire scientists to dispute and re-analyze data that show a product, drug or chemical is dangerous. The scientists’ task is not to prove the product is safe, but to cast doubt on the data that show a product is dangerous.

“Their conclusions are almost always the same: the evidence is ambiguous, so regulatory action is unwarranted,” Dr. Michaels wrote. “Out of the almost 3,000 chemicals produced in large quantities (more than one million pounds annually), OSHA enforces exposure limits for fewer than 500. In the past 10 years the agency has issued new standards for a grand total of two chemicals; the vast majority of the others are still ‘regulated’ by voluntary standards set before 1971, when the newly created agency adopted them uncritically and unchanged. New science has had no impact on them.”

Mercenary science impacts asbestos use. In 2007 Dr. Michaels spoke out against adding industry-affiliated scientists to the Environmental Protection Agency’s asbestos panel. Scientists on the “short list” for appointment to the panel had worked for the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association, appearing at a public meeting to discuss asbestos research on the industrial organization’s behalf.

Last year Dr. Michaels published a book with Oxford University Press titled Doubt is Their Product: How Industry’s Assault on Science Threatens Your Health. Dr. Michael explained how mercenary science has delayed life-saving restrictions on tobacco, pesticides, unsafe drugs, lead, and benzene as well as asbestos. It is also delaying action on global climate change now.

Would so many scientists be dishonest about science? Well, as Upton Sinclair said, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”

The blog OSHA Underground reports that Dr. Michaels has three recommendations for keeping research honest:

· All health and safety data should be disclosed.

· The science advisory boards of government regulatory agencies should not include employees of the industries being regulated.

· Research published in a peer reviewed journal can be tainted by conflict of interest. Dr. Michaels cautioned, “Peer review is not the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.”

During the Clinton Administration, Dr. Michaels served as Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environment, Safety and Health, where he was responsible for protecting the health and safety of the workers, neighboring communities, and the environment surrounding the nation’s nuclear weapons factories. He currently directs the Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 3rd, 2009 at 10:18 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.