Two recent articles in Environmental Science & Technology got me thinking more about the precautionary principal, defined here by Great Britain’s Health and Safety Commission:
The precautionary principle says that where you have good reason to believe that something might cause harm but there isn’t enough scientific knowledge to carry out a full risk assessment, this should not be used as an excuse to do nothing to prevent harm.
Generally speaking, the EU has embraced the precautionary principle in regulating manmade chemicals, while the U.S. approach to regulation, many would say, considers what research is available and perhaps favors more of an innocent until proven guilty strategy.
But back to those ES&T stories.
This one by Kellyn Betts is about flame retardants called polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), which are used in countless consumer items (foam cushions, computers, etc.) and turning up in wildlife and human breast milk. Researchers at the University of Birmingham (U.K.) found that old computers and TVs can be a significant source of the chemicals — particularly the more hazardous forms.
And there’s this piece by Janet Pelley about Canada’s impending release of a 7-year-long data review of the 23,000 chemicals being used in the country, making it “the first country in the world to systematically review all of the chemicals in current use within its borders.
“They flagged 4000 that are toxic and either persistent or bioaccumulative or that present the greatest potential for human exposure. Of these, 400 were found to be persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemicals, a combination that calls for immediate action…”
And I just did some reporting for this story on the ingredients found in beauty and hygiene products. Environmentalists and health advocates have challenged the FDA’s limited system of regulating these chemicals, calling for more stringent controls.