Financial conflicts of interest's challenge to precautionary science: the case of pollution from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances

• Grant number: 21/13983-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: May 20, 2022
• End date: December 19, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - Epistemology
• Principal Investigator: Pablo Rubén Mariconda
• Grantee: Pedro Bravo de Souza
• Supervisor: Kevin C. Elliott
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Michigan State University (MSU), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 19/10200-3 - Model of interactions between scientific activities and values' contributions to the precautionary principle, BP.DR

Abstract

Defenders of the precautionary principle (PP) sometimes argue that it also has implications for how scientific research should be done. Decisions about what to study, how to study, and how to talk about scientific results for example should prioritize the same aim as PP: avoiding uncertain harms to the environment or human health. These normative assertions are often made under the ideal of a precautionary science. Precautionary science is theoretically plausible. Even different approaches in the science and values literature already amount to it. The question of how practically feasible it is though is less addressed. To fill this gap, this research aims to investigate how financial conflicts of interest (FCOI) pose a challenge to the feasibility of precautionary science. In order to do so, I will focus on the recent case of pollution from the class of chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). My hypothesis is that FCOI both hinder the prescriptions of precautionary science and promote non-precautionary decisions in scientific research. Since much of the science done for regulatory purposes has FCOI, its consequences in this context can constitute a major obstacle to a society which aspires to attain the PP's aim. (AU)