science certainly affects everything we do, but it's also true that we affect the
scientific process. Imagine that science and society communicate through a game
of telephone. Information is passed from hand to hand, or institution to
institution- you see, scientists published research papers, which eventually reach
policymakers, who then apply the knowledge in ways that benefit the world.
Right? Well, sort of. This picture gets complicated once you realize that
society creates a climate of social, economic, and political factors that
influence scientists and policymakers. The linear game of telephone becomes a
loop, and the scientific message is more likely to become distorted. Here, we can
show you how this loop is formed by telling the story of asbestos mining in
South Africa. Wait, wait, wait. You've probably heard of asbestos, but do you really know
what it is?
Asbestos is a mineral that's stronger than steel, inflammable, sound-absorbent,
and flexible, which makes it an economically important resource. Between
1910 and 2002, South Africa was the world's third largest exporter of
asbestos. During that time,
South Africa turned a huge profit, mining more than 10 million tons of it- that's
equivalent to almost 28 Empire State Buildings! But let's take a closer look
at the social context. In twentieth-century South Africa, life was
divided along racial lines of apartheid. The government enforced segregation of
public spaces, medical care, even citizenship. With limited employment
opportunities, many Black South Africans turned to manual work like asbestos
mining. Entire families would work together to drill, collect and separate
asbestos from the earth. But asbestos, as it turns out, is particularly
dangerous to mine. Although asbestos may look like solid rock, when it's drilled
and blasted by miners, it can unravel into millions of small fibers, which
people can breathe in. Normally, when a foreign substance enters the lungs, it
gets digested into mucus and coughed up. But asbestos dust built up over time,
eventually causing inflammation
and the formation of scar tissue. Daily exposure to asbestos may cause serious
respiratory problems that appear later in life.
Illnesses can lay dormant for decades within the body, such as mesothelioma,
which are cancerous tumors that form in vital organs. Families of
mine workers knew they were getting sick from asbestos exposure, but the industry
ignored their protests. As more people found out about the dangers of asbestos,
how long do you think it took for mines to start implementing workplace safety
regulations? In 1959, scientists presented extensive research demonstrating that
mesothelioma was unusually common in South African miners, and that even
brief exposure to asbestos could cause symptoms to appear. It wasn't until 1986
that mining companies started negotiating with miners to improve
workplace safety-- it took over a quarter of a century for this science to be
implemented into policy. What happened here to cause such a delay between
science and action? Well, remember how society shapes the game of telephone
into a loop? Between 1959 and 1986, South Africa's economic interests
favored asbestos mining, further distorting the scientific message. The
1959 publication prompted the mining industry to fund research on the health
effects of asbestos, but this research wasn't at all designed to examine the
link between workplace conditions and lung disease. For example, one study even
attempted to link mesothelioma to a polio vaccine that most South Africans hadn't
even received. Meanwhile, the mines continued business as usual while black
laborers protested their unsafe working conditions. In the mid -70s and
early 80s, the asbestos trade slowed as both global and domestic economic
pressure against apartheid increased. In 1986, after a national anti-asbestos
campaign and several more strikes, the first health and safety requirements for
the asbestos mining industry were finally put into place. In the end, it
took a 'perfect storm' of social, political and economic factors for science done in
the lab to directly benefit workers in the mine. Today,
scientific discoveries are made at an accelerated rate. All of the new
information goes
through a similar game of telephone. The story of asbestos mining shows us that
while society depends on informed science, scientists also need reminding
of social contexts.
A study in 2008, for example, showed that carbon nanotubes have a fiber shape
similar to asbestos. When mice were exposed to these nanotubes, they
developed mesothelioma-like symptoms. Billions of dollars are funding
nanotechnology research, and carbon nanotubes can already be found in a
variety of products for sunscreen to eyeglasses. In short, scientists have
introduced promising material, but ongoing research points to potentially
harmful effects of its use. Sound familiar?
Science is a series of social interactions, and especially when it
comes to health,
any conflicting messages in the conversation can have serious
consequences. People such as science writers, professors and citizen
scientists work against the likelihood of these miscommunications! Moving
forward, it is important to shorten the gap between scientists and the public, to
fortify the imperfect loop and keep scientific messages connected to their
social contexts!