From Alan Massam
Hertford
I, like Pearce, was around when Lawther and his committee were aggressively
dismissing the theory that the British population was ingesting lead from air.
What he may not recall, however, was the dirty tricks used by government
spokesmen to discredit the lone voices asking that this should be
considered.
I was told on several occasions, as a newspaper science writer, that one of
the main protagonists of the lead in air theory was mentally unsound and that
others were communists wanting to undermine the oil industry.
I think Pearce may have unwittingly identified a major reason why the public
does not trust scientists. Perhaps they are not just unaware or ill-informed.
It is, after all, government-sponsored scientists who get most
exposure to public scrutiny. I think official scientific spokespersons have been
willing to sweep unpleasant or expensive, although perfectly valid, theories
under the carpet for years and the public has lost faith in scientists as a
result.
Certainly the scientists who frequently assured us that there was absolutely
no risk of BSE transmitting to humans should be called to task.
