Chemical Pollutants: Science and Policy

S 34

Short term 2002

Website for work in progress: http://abacus.bates.edu/~raustin/Courses/s34work.html

 

 

Professor: Rachel Narehood Austin

Bardwell 111 #25 and Dana 320 (lab)

Phone: 786-6295 or 786-6154

Email: raustin@bates.edu

 

Course description:

 

On what basis are chemicals in the environment regulated?Ý How are acceptable levels of exposure determined?Ý How should policy decisions that involve technical and scientific issues be made?Ý This course examines how these sorts of public policy decisions are made in the United States by studying a few chemicals as examples.Ý In this course, we will consider both the scientific information that is used to assess the hazards particular chemicals pose and the legal framework in which decisions about these chemicals are made.Ý In keeping with the spirit of short-term, we will take a very active approach to learning this material.Ý Specifically, you will produce case studies on one of two cases involving chemical pollutants in Maine, either lead in Lewiston or Mercury in Maineís waters.ÝÝ In addition, each participant will prepare an individual report advising the group on the risk posed by any chemical or class of chemicals of interest to the individual.Ý

 

Course expectations and grading:Ý Short term courses are required to engage students fully throughout the short term.Ý The intention is that they be the equivalent of a semester-long course.Ý If one assumes that one spends ~9-10 hours per week per typical Bates course in a 12 week semester, you should expect to spend 24 hours a week on the short term course.Ý Attendance is required.Ý One absence will be excused but every subsequent absence will result in the semester grade being lowered by ‡ letter grade.Ý In addition, to required attendance, you will be graded on three other things:

…        Each week (on Monday) you will provide me with a notebook that includes notes on all assigned readings, any assigned problems, and any written assignments.Ý In grading these notebooks, I am looking for evidence that you are thinking carefully about the material, challenging yourself to learn material that is unfamiliar, and questioning your own assumptions.Ý Evidence that you are doing these things is more important than the quality of the writing.

…        A semester long group project to assess the riskiness of lead in Lewiston or mercury in maineís waters.Ý

…        A semester long individual project in which you assess the risk posed by any chemical or class of chemicals of interest to you.

 

Course schedule:Ý We are scheduled to meet every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 9-11 in the lounge of 111 bardwell.Ý There are three exceptions that I am currently aware of.Ý Thursday the 25th we will go to Portland to attend the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry North Atlantic Chapter meeting.Ý On Thursday May 9th there will be no class.Ý The last notebook will be due on the final Thursday of the semester (May 23rd) and not on the following Monday.

 

 

 

Semester-long assignments:

 

1.      As a group, assess the risk posed by either lead in Lewiston or mercury in Maineís waters.Ý The final product should be a case study of the issue that clearly describes the pertinent chemistry, biochemistry, biology, exposure assessment, and risk assessment.Ý You must be clear on the definition of risk you use.

 

 

Begin by clearly stating what the scope of your risk assessment is going to be.Ý Are you interested in assessing the risk to all living organisms in Maine from mercury exposure or do you want to narrow your assessment to the effects on large mammals and humans?

 

The assessment itself should consist of the four traditional components of a risk assessment.Ý These are: hazard identification, dose response assessment, exposure assessment, and risk characterization.

 

For the hazard identification step, you need to provide evidence indicating that mercury in Maine or lead in Lewiston may pose a hazard.Ý More than one line of evidence is desirable.Ý As much as possible, make connections between molecular level processes and global or organismal effects.

 

For the dose response assessment, you need to provide information about what levels of mercury or lead cause what sorts of responses.Ý This information should be species-specific or if interspecies extrapolations are required, the steps taken to extrapolate the data from one species to another should be clear.Ý Be careful to consider the chemical identity of various lead and mercury species.

 

For the exposure assessment, you need to gather information about what levels of mercury exist in Maine or what levels of lead exist in Lewiston.Ý You may want to limit the areas you explore to those areas where you are explicitly studying risk (e.g. water bodies in Maine for mercury or houses in Lewiston for lead).

 

As a group you may have different opinions about how the information above feeds into the risk characterization step.Ý I will happily accept majority and minority opinions here. How you assess risk does depend on how you define risk.Ý This step of the process is an opportunity for you to do a risk analysis and not just a risk assessment.

 

I am expecting that each section of the analysis will be at least 10 pages long and will be thoroughly referenced.Ý I am expecting that the final document will be very professional ñ something that I could hand to a policy maker in Maine or in Lewiston and feel confident that he or she could learn from the information inside.Ý

 

You may divide up the project tasks however you wish.Ý I want to see notes on the progress you have made on your tasks in your weekly notebook.

 

2.      As an individual, provide a report to the class about whether the current policies regulating chemical x in environment y are appropriate.Ý The final product should be a fifteen-minute class presentation and a policy summary.Ý The policy summary should be short ñ perhaps 1-2 pages ñ mainly with the pertinent data you used to draw your conclusion.Ý This project is not nearly as comprehensive as the group project.Ý It should be an initial investigation into a subject of interest.

 

3.Ý Attend class every day

 

Daily assignments:

 

These will be given out throughout the semester.Ý They are due in written form in your notebook at the beginning of the next week (with the exception of the last week) however you should come to class each day prepared to discuss whatever was assigned. The course is intended to emphasize individual research and writing and critical thinking.Ý You are responsible for doing the assigned work and tracking down necessary information.Ý


Week # 1 Assignments ñ Introduction to risk

 

First assignmentÝ (for class on Wednesday April 24th)

 

a) Read chapter 1 in ìShould we risk it?î.Ý Take notes and put in notebook.Ý Include your own reaction to the reading.

 

b) Read the two short (1 page) articles handed out on risk and uncertainty (ìIn risk assessment, one has to admit ignoranceî Nature 416, 2002, 123 and ìDecision-making when science is ambiguousî Science, 2002, 295, 1839.)Ý Write notes in your notebook.

 

c)Ý In a "free-write", respond to the following questions.Ý

…        What is risk? (think about how you think about risk in general)

…        Do you define risk differently when you are making a personal choice for yourself vs. when you are thinking about public policy decisions that affect many people?

…        What role should risk play in establishing national environmental legislation?Ý How should risk be defined for national policy making?Ý

…        What level of excess deaths should be tolerated in making public policy?Ý (For example, if regulating a chemical at 10 ppm would lead to 10 excess deaths in 1,000,000 and regulating the same chemical at 20 ppm would lead to 20 excess deaths in 1,000,000, how should the standard be set?)

 

 

Second assignment (due in notebook on April 29th)Ý

 

a) Select a topic for personal project and bring to class.Ý For this project, select a science policy question you are interested in.Ý Examples might include: Do estrogen-mimics reduce human fertility?Ý Does the widespread use of antibiotics in animal feed lead to increased antibiotic resistance in humans? Significant disruption of ecosystems?

 

b) Read chapter 2 in ìShould we risk it?î.Ý Take careful notes and put in notebook. Include your own reaction to the reading.

 

c) Decide what semester long group project you are going to work on.Ý Identify your groups. Identify a strategy.Ý

 

Week # 2 Assignments ñ Toxicology/exposure assessment

 

Third assignmentÝÝ (for class Tuesday April 30th)

 

a) read chapter 5 in ìshould we risk it?î.Ý Take careful notes and include your own reaction to the reading.

 

b)Ý Find the relevant legislation/regulations for the two cases you are studying.

 

Fourth Assignment ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ (for class Wednesday May 1st)

 

a) bring in all toxicological information/data that you have for all projects you are working on for discussion.Ý This data/information should also be outlined in your notebook along with notes indicating your level of understanding so far.Ý What questions do you have? Be sure to discuss both projects.

 

b) read Maryn Smithís article on ìThe Mechanism of Benzene-induced leukemia: A hypothesis and speculation on the causes of leukemiaî.Ý This article is available in the ST34 notebook.Ý It is a technically difficult article so try to get the big picture and donít get tense if you donít understand all the details. Also read ìRings of Controversy around Benzeneî Environmental Health Perspectives, 102, 1994

 

 

Fifth assignment (for class Thursday May 2nd)

a) read chapter 7 in ìShould we risk it?î. Take careful notes and include your own reaction to the reading.

 

Week # 3 Assignments ñ Epidemiology

 

 

Sixth assignment (for class Tuesday May 7th)

 

a) Read chapter 6 in ìshould we risk it?î.Ý Read ìBenzene and Leukemia: An Epidemiological Risk Assessmentî by Rinsky et al New England Journal of Medicine, 316: 1044-1050, 1987.

 

 

Seventh assignment (for class Wednesday May 8th)

 

a) Read Chapter 5 in the book: In Search of Safety: Chemicals and Cancer Risk, by Graham, Green, and Roberts (on reserve in the library).Ý

 

b) Write a paper in which you respond to the following questions.Ý The class is your audience.Ý It should be 3-5 pages in length and should be clearly written.Ý The paper is due in your notebook on Monday.

 

How should Congress decide what chemicals to regulate and how to regulate them?Ý What underlying principle should guide its actions?

 

As you work on this paper, keep the following questions in mind.

®      What end points should congress keep in mind (human health only?, cancer only?, etc.)

®      Should Congress try to establish exposure limits or demand certain outcomes and leave it to the responsible parties to meet them?

®      Should dangers from chemicals be weighed against their benefits?

®      Should dangers from chemicals be combined with other possible dangers and regulated together?

®      Should costs be considered?Ý If so, how?

 

 

Week # 4 Assignments ñ Science and the law

 

Eighth assignment (for class Tuesday May 14th)

 

a) read and discuss Supreme Court case on benzene (Industrial Union Department, AFL-CIO, Petitioner v. American Petroleum Institute and Ray Marshall, Secretary of Labor v. American Petroleum Institute,Ý 448 ES 607, 65 L Ed 2d 1010, 100 S Ct 2844, 1980.)

 

Answer the following questions:

 

1.Ý What is the central distinction between the majority and minority opinions?

 

2.Ý Which one of the decisions (if any) do you agree with and why?

 

Wednesday May 15th - individual meetings to discuss independent projects

 

Ninth assignment (for class Thursday May 16th)

 

a) Read and discuss some writings on the role of science in the legal system.Ý "Science and Uncertainty: A Jurist's View" by David Bazelon, Harvard Environmental Law Review, 5 209-215, and "Ö Administrative Resolution of Science Policy Questions: Regulating Carcinogens in EPA and OSHA", Thomas O. McGarity, Georgetown Law Review1979, 67, 729- 810, and ìExpert Witnesses and sufficiency of evidence in toxic substances litigations: The legacy of agent orange and bendectin litigationî, Northwestern University Law Review, 86, 3, 1992.

 

Answer the following questions and defend your answer:

 

1.Ý What are the competing views about how courts should make decisions in cases that involve science policy questions?

 

2.Ý What role do you think the courts should play in making science policy?Ý

 

 

 

ÝWeek # 5 Assignments ñ Assessing risk

 

Tenth assignment (for class Tuesday May 21st)

 

a)      read chapters 9 and 10 in ìShould we risk it?î.Ý Write notes in notebook.Ý Recall notebook is due on the 23rd.

 

Wednesday May 22nd ñ individual presentations

 

Thursday May 23rd ñ group presentations