The ASEH (American Society for Environmental History) proposes to organize and host an interdisciplinary workshop that brings together scientists, environmental historians, and historians of science to discuss new methodological approaches in environmental health. Called "Toxic Environments, Toxic Bodies," this workshop will take place in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and will include roundtable discussions followed by a visit to the "chemical corridor" between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, allowing participants to engage with communities affected directly by environmental health concerns, while continuing the discussions begun in the roundtable. The conclusions and information gained from these discussions will be published in the peer-reviewed journal, Environmental History.
Intellectual Merit New technologies and methods for the detection of toxins, particularly endocrine disruptors, have drawn increasing attention toward the pervasive and persistent presence of synthetic chemicals in our lives. As environmental historians and historians of science have shown, the traditional conceptual frameworks of toxicology, such as dose-response relationships, are inadequate tools for dealing with endocrine disruptors and other low-dose environmental toxins. Understanding the new chemical bodies of the twenty-first century requires new conceptual frameworks. Scientists and policymakers are struggling to create these new frameworks, and historians can help both by providing perspective on how earlier frameworks failed and by providing new tools for understanding changing conceptions of uncertainty. This interdisciplinary workshop can help those working in environmental history to rethink questions of how we understand science and how we communicate with scientists and the public, and it can help scientists understand the value of a historical approach to toxicology.
Broader Impacts Five articles from the workshop will appear in the peer-reviewed journal, Environmental History, in a special issue devoted to environmental health. To continue the interdisciplinary dialogue begun at the workshop, scientists and historians will co-author papers, and the set will include at least two scientific authors. ASEH will also post teaching units derived from the workshop on its website, featuring materials such as Geographic Information Systems layers of toxic sites that correlate historical maps of toxic deposits with areas of high rates of illness. These materials will be accessible to everyone. The audience for the teaching units includes undergraduate and graduate students as well as people interested in correlating contamination and illness in their communities. ASEH members and others who visit our website have requested online teaching resources, indicating an interest and an audience for these materials. We will work with the speakers to identify interested groups in Louisiana and elsewhere, and will send announcements once the teaching units are posted.
