Politicizing science: The case of the Bush administration's influence on the lead advisory panel at the Centers for Disease Control

Since the 1970s, the CDC has depended upon independent scientists and policy consultants, who are experts in the field to gather information and provide advice to the CDC regarding policy initiatives for a variety of toxic materials. One of the most important safeguards of the scientific integrity of governmental policy and research has been the 258 scientific advisory committees to the various branches of the CDC that presently help policymakers decide on the appropriate means of addressing serious scientific issues. These advisory committees, while not possessing the actual power to reshape policy, are important in their role as the font of expert opinion available to various CDC chiefs. During the past two years, the Bush administration has sought to short-circuit the traditional manner in which appointments to the committees have been made and to substitute a process that by and large has reflected its own well-known anti-regulatory and anti-environmental agenda. In this paper we will look at this process, focusing on one important committee that has been responsible for protecting the nation's children from the devastating effects of lead on their neurological well-being.