Risky business: An analysis of claimsmaking in the development of an Ontario Drinking Water Objective for tritium

On December 22, 1994, the Minister of Environment and Energy for Ontario an nounced an interim Ontario Drinking Water Objective for tritium (a radioact ive waste product released into drinking water supplies during nuclear powe r production) of 7,000 Bq/L. The Minister's decision overrode the advice of his own advisory committee which had recommended a much lower level (100 B q/L). Concerns have surfaced with respect to the potential adverse health e ffects associated with long-term exposure to low doses of tritium, though m uch uncertainty remains. This paper explores the struggle over the interpre tation of the tritium 'problem' as claimsmaking in the context of the socia l construction of risk. Specifically, the paper documents how coalitions in the dispute constructed and communicated the risks associated with tritium in drinking water through the use of identifiable rhetorical idioms and cl aimsmaking styles that reflect, reinforce, and legitimize their contrasting core values and interests. The coalitions also adopt fundamentally contras ting risk assessment methods. Using excerpts from public hearings oil the i ssue, the payer explores use of risk as a rhetorical resource through an ex amination of the contrasting risk assessment paradigms adopted by rival coa litions. Such analysis can contribute to our understanding of the use of sc ientific information in debates ol rr contentious social problems.