‘Doubt Is Their Product: How Industry’s Assault on Science Threatens Your Health’, by academic (and subsequently head of the US workplace safety regulator OSHA), argues product defence consultants have increasingly skewed the scientific literature, manufactured and magnified scientific uncertainty, and influenced policy decisions to the advantage of polluters and the manufacturers of dangerous products. To keep the public confused about the hazards posed by global warming, second-hand smoke, asbestos, lead, plastics, and many other toxic materials, industry executives have hired unscrupulous scientists and lobbyists to dispute scientific evidence about health risks. In doing so, they have not only delayed action on specific hazards, but they have constructed barriers to make it harder for lawmakers, government agencies, and courts to respond to future threats.

David Michaels. Doubt Is Their Product: How Industry’s Assault on Science Threatens Your Health, Oxford University Press, April 2008. ISBN: 978-0-19-530067-3.