Abstract Summary
French nineteenth-century toxicology was a science made for the prosecution in criminal poisoning cases – a science conceived for and mostly made in the Cour d’Assises. The main purpose of toxicologists was the detection of small quantities of poisons in corpses in order to provide unquestionable evidence in courts. This approach was based on high sensitivity tests based on qualitative analytical chemistry and proved to be very useful in many criminal cases. It faced the anxieties of the French notables and the main political and economic powers. However, this approach could hardly be employed in cases of industrial poisoning, where other forms of evidence were needed not only to detect but mostly to prevent poisoning in workers’ bodies. These dramatic health problems in the industry were largely neglected by toxicologists, judges and decision-markers during the nineteenth-century. The paper focusses on a particular case (the Pouchon affair, 1843-1844), which took place in a crucial period, either in the development of forensic medicine (new high sensitivity methods were introduced around 1840 and a controversy took place on their virtues and delusions) and occupational health (Tanquerel des Planches published his seminal book on lead poisoning in 1840). My paper is based on studies on history of toxic products connecting research on history of crime with recent works on history of occupational health, particularly the practices of agnotology and undone science related to the visibilization/invisibilization of toxic risks.
