In a study of 900 US residents, individuals perceived US Environmental Protection Agency science advisory boards with a majority of industry scientists as more likely to promote business interests than boards with a majority of academic scientists; furthermore, conservatives were more likely than liberals to perceive industry-majority boards as making unbiased, evidence-based decisions and promoting environment and human health, which suggests the potential for politicization of scientific advice to the government, according to the authors.
Article #20-12571: "Public perceptions of federal science advisory boards depend on their composition," by Caitlin Drummond, Sara Goto Gray, Kaitlin T. Raimi, Robyn Wilson, and Joseph Árvai.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Caitlin Drummond, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ; tel: 215-779-8919 e-mail: < Caitlin.Drummond@asu.edu >; Joe Árvai, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA; tel: 734-834-2075; e-mail: < arvai@usc.edu >
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences