Convenient classifications. Management of controversial chemicals.

In their article, published in Natures, Sciences, Sociétés, Henri Boullier (sociologist) and Karine Bertholon (veterinary public health inspector) examine the construction of inventories and lists as a tool for managing problematic molecules.

Summary of the article :

Inventories and lists are an extremely common tool of government, but their stakes and the processes of their development are sometimes overlooked. These seemingly neutral and apolitical artifacts, often described as “boring things”, are in fact particularly rich gateways for analyzing the power relations at work in the implementation of health and environmental policies. Here we focus on two classification systems: the list of “substances subject to authorization” created in the context of the European REACH regulation, which contains toxic substances destined to be withdrawn from the market, and the categorization of veterinary antibiotics by the European Medicines Agency, which aims to preserve molecules of critical importance for human medicine. Derogatory provisions, omissions and blind spots allow these lists to display an objective of change while at the same time preserving the activities of the industries and professionals of these sectors. In doing so, they demonstrate a certain flexibility: they emphasize the urgency to act by regulating certain problematic uses but avoid pronouncing firm bans.

The article is available here.