Sofiya Kamalova is a PhD candidate in historical and social studies of science, medicine, and scientific communication at the López Piñero Inter-University Institute (University Alicante - University Miguel Hernández - University of Valencia). She completed her bachelor’s degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Alicante, a master’s degree in history of science and scientific communication (Extraordinary Award) at University of Alicante, and an advanced master’s in bioethics at KU Leuven (with a scholarship from Fund Roger Borghgraef).
Her thesis is about Ardystil Case, an industrial poisoning due to plastic paints used for textile airbrushing in the context of historic study of toxic environments. More than 70 people had alarming symptoms and six people died due to lung failure in 1992 in the region of Cocentaina (Alicante, Spain). She approaches the topic from multiple perspectives: the role of different experts and the construction of ignorance; the media coverage as a representative of public debate about the intoxication, the regulation of safety and security at the workplace; and the perspective of the workers at the textile factories. As part of her thesis, she uses oral history methodology to conduct interviews with different stakeholders involved in the Ardystil Case.