Science or public relations? The inside story of the Asbestosis Research Council, 1957-1990.
In 1957, the leading British asbestos companies (Turner & Newall, Cape Asbestos, and British Belting & Asbestos) founded the Asbestosis Research Council (ARC). This was a response to rising asbestosis and asbestos cancer mortality in the UK and the attendant political and social problems that threatened the existence of the asbestos industry. An ARC research program was launched, that by the 1970s was mainly based within the Institute of Occupational Medicine at Edinburgh University. By the end of the 1980s, well over a hundred papers had been published with ARC support. The bulk of the work involved animal experiments and the chemical analysis of fibers, but the asbestos companies showed little enthusiasm for wider epidemiological studies or for exploring the cancer threat. The sponsoring companies dictated the ARC's research strategy and also vetted (and sometimes censored) publications; while using the ARC as a counterweight to government regulation and media attacks. The ARC's history highlights the compromises that were made by individual scientists and demonstrates the dilemmas inherent in industry-controlled research.
Tweedale
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Faculty of Management & Business, Manchester Metropolitan University, England. G.T.weedale@mmu.ac.uk
D001194:Asbestos; D019652:Extraction and Processing Industry; D006801:Humans; D011057:Politics; D011641:Public Relations; D012109:Research Support as Topic; D006113:United Kingdom
D001194:Asbestos