Limit values and the boundaries of science and technology

Limit values are an important instrument of regulatory science and politics.1 The focus of this article is on occupational exposure limits in the Federal Republic of Germany from the 1950s to the 1980s. Public statements of a chairman of a regulatory commission are studied with respect to the representation of the relationship of science and technology. The article closes with some thoughts about the coincidence of models for the relationship between science and technology dominating innovation theory with models underlying regulation.