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  • March 2020
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

The Trouble with TCE

By: Vincent Pons, Rafael Di Tella and Galit Goldstein
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:37
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Abstract

Trichloroethylene, or TCE, was a chemical used by tens of thousands of businesses in the United States. It was an affordable tool for many. Yet, TCE had been associated with important health risks, including cancer and autoimmune disease. TCE potentially posed other risks as well: some researchers argued that low doses of TCE caused deformities in fetal hearts, while others argued that there was not enough science to back up this claim.

Over twenty years, a vigorous debate encompassing academic, government and industry voices played out around just how toxic TCE was. The American chemical industry and TCE end-users used lobbying to advocate for their positions. A loose coalition of activists, academics and journalists promoted their own, different, perspectives on TCE. Developments in the TCE story were often communicated to the public through investigative reporting, a field of journalism facing economic crisis.

The U.S. government and its Environmental Protection Agency were responsible for assessing TCE’s toxicity, leading to secondary policy decisions around how the chemical should be regulated. Yet, by the end of 2020, controversy remained around whether successive governments had been untowardly influenced by special interests in their TCE decision-making. Which stance should the Biden administration take in regards to TCE? More broadly, which broader lessons could be drawn from the TCE case? In particular, should the influence of lobbying on regulations and policies be constrained in any way?

Keywords

Trichloroethylene; Toxicity; Lobbying; Chemicals; Health Disorders; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Ethics; Business and Government Relations; Chemical Industry; United States

Citation

Pons, Vincent, Rafael Di Tella, and Galit Goldstein. "The Trouble with TCE." Harvard Business School Case 721-031, March 2021.
  • Educators

About The Authors

Vincent Pons

Business, Government and the International Economy
→More Publications

Rafael M. Di Tella

Business, Government and the International Economy
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • 2022
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    Causal Inference During A Pandemic: Evidence on the Effectiveness of Nebulized Ibuprofen as an Unproven Treatment for COVID-19 in Argentina

    By: Sebastian Calonico, Rafael Di Tella and Juan Cruz Lopez Del Valle
    • 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Small Campaign Donors

    By: Laurent Bouton, Julia Cagé, Edgard Dewitte and Vincent Pons
    • April 2022
    • American Economic Review

    Does Context Outweigh Individual Characteristics in Driving Voting Behavior? Evidence from Relocations within the U.S.

    By: Enrico Cantoni and Vincent Pons
More from the Authors
  • Causal Inference During A Pandemic: Evidence on the Effectiveness of Nebulized Ibuprofen as an Unproven Treatment for COVID-19 in Argentina By: Sebastian Calonico, Rafael Di Tella and Juan Cruz Lopez Del Valle
  • Small Campaign Donors By: Laurent Bouton, Julia Cagé, Edgard Dewitte and Vincent Pons
  • Does Context Outweigh Individual Characteristics in Driving Voting Behavior? Evidence from Relocations within the U.S. By: Enrico Cantoni and Vincent Pons
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