L’expertise à l’épreuve d’une controverse environnementale et sanitaire : la production des savoirs et des ignorances à propos des PCB du Rhône (France)

The objective of this article is to reflect on the history of PCB alerts in France since the 1980s in order to identify physical, social and political reasons which explain why these chemical compounds are still the object of lively controversies, despite having been banned. After recalling the circ...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Christelle Gramaglia, Marc Babut
Format: Article
Language:fra
Published: Éditions en environnement VertigO
Series:VertigO
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/vertigo/15067
_version_ 1797223489404403712
author Christelle Gramaglia
Marc Babut
author_facet Christelle Gramaglia
Marc Babut
author_sort Christelle Gramaglia
collection DOAJ
description The objective of this article is to reflect on the history of PCB alerts in France since the 1980s in order to identify physical, social and political reasons which explain why these chemical compounds are still the object of lively controversies, despite having been banned. After recalling the circumstances of their scattering into the environment at large and examining knowledge that was produced at various times on their toxicity, we describe the events which lead to the crisis of 2005. We are interested more particularly in the emergence of citizen concerns and claims about environmental and health issues which, in the case of PCBs of the Rhône, succeeded in weighing in the orientations of research and public authorities’ choices. At the same time, we discuss what the standards of risk assessment have taught us about PCBs and what they still cannot tell us about them. We also investigate what knowledge is still lacking as it corresponds to issues left aside or ignored while they would interest the public directly.
first_indexed 2024-03-08T02:27:33Z
format Article
id doaj.art-f61e04beeef1410d8612debacb3b7c1d
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1492-8442
language fra
last_indexed 2024-04-24T13:38:02Z
publisher Éditions en environnement VertigO
record_format Article
series VertigO
spelling doaj.art-f61e04beeef1410d8612debacb3b7c1d2024-04-04T09:08:29ZfraÉditions en environnement VertigOVertigO1492-844214210.4000/vertigo.15067L’expertise à l’épreuve d’une controverse environnementale et sanitaire : la production des savoirs et des ignorances à propos des PCB du Rhône (France)Christelle GramagliaMarc BabutThe objective of this article is to reflect on the history of PCB alerts in France since the 1980s in order to identify physical, social and political reasons which explain why these chemical compounds are still the object of lively controversies, despite having been banned. After recalling the circumstances of their scattering into the environment at large and examining knowledge that was produced at various times on their toxicity, we describe the events which lead to the crisis of 2005. We are interested more particularly in the emergence of citizen concerns and claims about environmental and health issues which, in the case of PCBs of the Rhône, succeeded in weighing in the orientations of research and public authorities’ choices. At the same time, we discuss what the standards of risk assessment have taught us about PCBs and what they still cannot tell us about them. We also investigate what knowledge is still lacking as it corresponds to issues left aside or ignored while they would interest the public directly.https://journals.openedition.org/vertigo/15067knowledgeexpertisecontaminationsciencePCBsrisk assessment and management
spellingShingle Christelle Gramaglia
Marc Babut
L’expertise à l’épreuve d’une controverse environnementale et sanitaire : la production des savoirs et des ignorances à propos des PCB du Rhône (France)
VertigO
knowledge
expertise
contamination
science
PCBs
risk assessment and management
title L’expertise à l’épreuve d’une controverse environnementale et sanitaire : la production des savoirs et des ignorances à propos des PCB du Rhône (France)
title_full L’expertise à l’épreuve d’une controverse environnementale et sanitaire : la production des savoirs et des ignorances à propos des PCB du Rhône (France)
title_fullStr L’expertise à l’épreuve d’une controverse environnementale et sanitaire : la production des savoirs et des ignorances à propos des PCB du Rhône (France)
title_full_unstemmed L’expertise à l’épreuve d’une controverse environnementale et sanitaire : la production des savoirs et des ignorances à propos des PCB du Rhône (France)
title_short L’expertise à l’épreuve d’une controverse environnementale et sanitaire : la production des savoirs et des ignorances à propos des PCB du Rhône (France)
title_sort l expertise a l epreuve d une controverse environnementale et sanitaire la production des savoirs et des ignorances a propos des pcb du rhone france
topic knowledge
expertise
contamination
science
PCBs
risk assessment and management
url https://journals.openedition.org/vertigo/15067
work_keys_str_mv AT christellegramaglia lexpertisealepreuvedunecontroverseenvironnementaleetsanitairelaproductiondessavoirsetdesignorancesaproposdespcbdurhonefrance
AT marcbabut lexpertisealepreuvedunecontroverseenvironnementaleetsanitairelaproductiondessavoirsetdesignorancesaproposdespcbdurhonefrance