Masquerade - Chemicals: The Precautionary Principle

See main article

A relatively new principle for guiding human activities, to prevent harm to the environment and to human health has been emerging during the past ten years. It is called the ‘principle of precautionary action’ or the ‘precautionary principle’ for short. An international group of scientists, government officials, lawyers, and labour and grass-roots environmental activists met to define and discuss the precautionary principle. After meeting for two days, the group issued the following consensus statement:

‘The release and use of toxic substances, the exploitation of resources, and physical alterations of the environment have had substantial unintended consequences affecting human health and the environment. Some of these concerns are high rates of learning deficiencies, asthma, cancer, birth defects and species extinctions, along with global climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion and worldwide contamination with toxic substances and nuclear materials.

‘We believe existing environmental regulations and other decisions, particularly those based on risk assessment, have failed to protect adequately human health and the environment — the larger system of which humans are but a part.

‘We believe there is compelling evidence that damage to humans and the worldwide environment is of such magnitude and seriousness that new principles for conducting human activities are necessary.

‘While we realise that human activities may involve hazards, people must proceed more carefully than has been the case in recent history. Corporations,  government entities, organisations, communities, scientists and other individuals must adopt a precautionary approach to all human endeavours.

‘Therefore, it is necessary to implement the Precautionary Principle: When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically. In this context the proponent of an activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof.

‘The process of applying the Precautionary Principle must be open, informed and democratic and must include potentially affected parties. It must also involve an examination of the full range of alternatives, including no action.’

Thus, as formulated here, the principle of precautionary action has four parts:

1. People have a duty to take anticipatory action to prevent harm.

2. The burden of proof of harmlessness of a new technology, process, activity or chemical, lies with the proponents, not with the general public.

3. Before using a new technology, process, or chemical, or starting a new activity, people have an obligation to examine ‘a full range of alternatives’ including the alternative of doing nothing.

4. Decisions applying the precautionary principle must be ‘open, informed, and democratic’ and ‘must include affected parties’.