Conflicts of Interest in the Assessment of Chemicals, Waste, and Pollution

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14310%2F23%3A00133180" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14310/23:00133180 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.3c04213" target="_blank" >https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.3c04213</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c04213" target="_blank" >10.1021/acs.est.3c04213</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Conflicts of Interest in the Assessment of Chemicals, Waste, and Pollution

Original language description

Pollution by chemicals and waste impacts human and ecosystem health on regional, national, and global scales, resulting, together with climate change and biodiversity loss, in a triple planetary crisis. Consequently, in 2022, countries agreed to establish an intergovernmental science-policy panel (SPP) on chemicals, waste, and pollution prevention, complementary to the existing intergovernmental science-policy bodies on climate change and biodiversity. To ensure the SPP's success, it is imperative to protect it from conflicts of interest (COI). Here, we (i) define and review the implications of COI, and its relevance for the management of chemicals, waste, and pollution; (ii) summarize established tactics to manufacture doubt in favor of vested interests, i.e., to counter scientific evidence and/or to promote misleading narratives favorable to financial interests; and (iii) illustrate these with selected examples. This analysis leads to a review of arguments for and against chemical industry representation in the SPP's work. We further (iv) rebut an assertion voiced by some that the chemical industry should be directly involved in the panel's work because it possesses data on chemicals essential for the panel's activities. Finally, (v) we present steps that should be taken to prevent the detrimental impacts of COI in the work of the SPP. In particular, we propose to include an independent auditor's role in the SPP to ensure that participation and processes follow clear COI rules. Among others, the auditor should evaluate the content of the assessments produced to ensure unbiased representation of information that underpins the SPP's activities.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

10511 - Environmental sciences (social aspects to be 5.7)

Project

—

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2023

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE &amp; TECHNOLOGY

ISSN

0013-936X

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

57

Issue of the periodical within the volume

48

Country of publishing house

US - UNITED STATES

Number of pages

12

Pages from-to

19066-19077

UT code for WoS article

001116612700001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85178382079