Epistemic jurisdictions and standardized objectivity: observing regulatory science in nanotechnology in Argentina and Brazil

This article examines regulatory science as a co-production of technical and policy reasoning about the environmental and health risks of emerging technologies in Latin America. Focusing on nanotechnology in health applications (drugs and medical devices) in Argentina and Brazil, the article explores how scientific knowledge is mobilized to define standards for nano-risk within two national regulatory bodies: the National Administration of Drugs, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT) and the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA). Drawing on document analysis, interviews with regulatory officials and experts, and participatory research workshops, the study addresses the influence of international organizations (FDA, EMA, OECD, and ISO) on local regulatory science, analyzing the mediating mechanisms through which that influence operates. The article discusses how the objectivity of expert judgment becomes standardized under regulatory reliance approaches, and how epistemic and normative authority is consequently configured in these semi-peripheral contexts. The analysis contributes to Latin American STS debates by bringing the concepts of epistemic jurisdictions, subordinate integration, field-network, and emulation into dialogue with one another.