Critical Criminology 10: 153–172, 2001. © 2002 Kluwer Law International. Printed in the Netherlands. 153 TOXIC CRIMES: EXAMINING CORPORATE VICTIMIZATION OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC EMPLOYING MEDICAL AND EPIDEMIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE MICHAEL J. LYNCH & PAUL STRETESKY University of South Florida Abstract. This article examines the issue of corporate harm and violence using evidence from medical literature and related studies that focus on the health consequences associated with toxic waste, pesticide and dioxin exposure. These studies provide a useful alternative measure of the harms produced by corporate crimes of violence that are unmeasured in more traditional sources of data. Further, the kinds of health consequences associated with modern industrial production of toxic waste products can be thought of as “criminal” in the broadest sense since alternative, nontoxic methods of production are often available. Examples of these alternative methods of production are provided, along with a discussion of the impact current practices have on minority health. Recently, criminologists have expressed increased interest in toxic crimes and harms committed by corporations through the production, distribution, storage, and disposal of hazardous chemicals and wastes (Pearce and Tombs 1998, 1997; Lynch et al. 2001). In some cases, these actions violate regulatory law (Clifford 1998); in others, the “harms” are not illegal but are morally questionable, socially unacceptable, or widely debated (Pearce and Tombs 1998). In either case, controversy exists over the risks and benefits to humans. This article examines medical and related health research on the human health risks associated with three main categories of toxic chemicals: pesticides, dioxin, and hazardous waste. The goal is to demonstrate ways criminologists can employ medical evidence to identify toxic harms where other forms of data (e.g. standardized measures like the UCR) do not exist. 1 This article also addresses issues of responsibility and culpability for toxic crimes employing scientific evidence on human health effects and the neglect of alternative, non- polluting productive practices and alternative technologies. To provide some background for our study, we begin with a brief discussion of the deviance and legal definition of toxic crime.