Risk Governance of Hazardous High-Consumption Chemicals. Unveiling the Complexity by Using Discourse Network Analysis

The ever-increasing consumption of food additives, prescription antidiabetics and neuroactive pharmaceuticals puts aquatic ecosystems under a heavy strain. Regulators of hazardous chemicals are particularly faced with difficult decisions because potential multi-scale chemical effects are scientifically not fully explored and complex. In addition, increasing influence of a variety of actors – such as NGOs, the private sector and the media – lead to further complexity in the challenge to govern these risks. In an environment characterized by such a high degree of complexity and uncertainty, it is important to identify relevant actors and their beliefs on the impact of these chemicals and on how to handle potential health, environmental and economic risks resulting from micro-pollution. This analysis maps stakeholders and their perception of biological hazards in aquatic ecosystems by analyzing discourse networks that are obtained by using text data. Focusing on 1031 newspaper articles in Germany collected between January 2013 and March 2017, we are able to identify multiple types of involved actors (educational institutions, policy-makers, public administration, civil society, companies, consumer organizations, scientific representatives, environmental groups, etc.). Interestingly, when considering their inter-relations over time, we observe that most stakeholders, independent of their affiliation, recognize micro-pollution as a risk for human health or the environment. In general, the level of attention with regard to this issue was surprisingly high. Regarding the question on how to solve potential problems, most stakeholders prefer solutions provided by the state (such as improved clarification) or consumer-based approaches (such as raising problem awareness and responsible consumerism). Findings on actor-subgroups and conflicting positions with respect to risk perception, causation and preferred solutions between these groups will follow. To sum up, our research identifies stakeholders and prevailing concepts in debates over the evaluation of biological hazards by analyzing discourse networks based on text data. Thereby, we provide insights into the cross-linking of consumer behavior and ecological impact and lay the foundation for future research on public (risk) perception and regulation of the discharge of micro-pollutants into aquatic environments. Keywords social network analysis, discourse network analysis, high-consumption chemicals, risk governance, risk perception, micro-pollution, ecological impact, wicked problems Authors: Jale Tosun, Simon Schaub, Andreas Fleig Preferred Panel: Panel 4 - From texts to networks: semantic, socio-semantic, and discourse networks (Chair: Lukáš Lehotský, Masaryk University)