When the hazards of smoking first started to surface, a clever public relations firm figured out that by casting doubt on the emerging science, the tobacco companies would be able to fend off regulation for years. This tactic worked so very well that other industries have taken note. Environmental groups may worry about endocrine disruptors like bisphenol A and phthalates, but the chemical industry insists that the science is no good. This leaves consumers in a quandary. How do you determine which dangers are real?
Guest: David Michaels, PhD, is Research Professor and Associate Chairman in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health (EOH) at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services and directs the Department’s doctoral program. He directs the Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy and holds faculty appointments at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
His book is Doubt Is Their Product: How Industry’s Assault on Science Threatens Your Health (2008).
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