Abstract
The management of potentially carcinogenic chemicals in the environment has become a major concern throughout the world. Public exposures to tobacco, asbestos, diethylstilbestrol (DES), benzene, and chemical ‘stews’ from waste dumps and worker exposures to asbestos, benzene, vinyl chloride, and aniline dyes have led to vast anxiety, almost to the point of paranoia about current and future exposures (Epstein, 1978; U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, 1978; Effron, 1984; Whaler, 1985). In this chapter, I set out a framework for managing the risks of carcinogenic chemicals and explore its uncertainties and applicability to current problems (see also Lave, 1981, 1982). Current regulatory management of these chemicals is based on risk analysis (Lave, 1982; National Research Council, 1983; Travis, 1988). Rather than simply banning carcinogens, the goal is to estimate the risk of carcinogenicity to those exposed; this quantitative risk estimate is used to determine whether a carcinogen should be banned, regulated, or ignored.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Baram, M. S. (1982) Alternatives to Regulation, Lexington Books, Lexington, MA.
Byrd, D. and Lave, L. B. (1987) Narrowing the range: A framework for risk regulators, Issues in Science and Technology 3, 92–100.
Byrd, D. and Lave, L. B. (1989) Setting safety goals, Forum.
Doll, R. and Peto, R. (1981) The Causes of Cancer, Oxford University Press, New York.
Effron, E. (1984) The Apocalytics: How Environmental Politics Controls What We Know About Cancer, Simon & Schuster, New York.
Epstein, S. S. (1978) The Politics of Cancer, Sierra Club, San Francisco.
Hutt, P. B. (1985) Use of quantitative risk assessment in regulatory decision-making under federal health and safety statutes, in D. Hoel, R. Merrill, and F. Perera (eds), Risk Quantification and Regulatory Policy, Cold Spring Harbor, Laboratory, New York.
Lave, L. B. (1981) The Strategy of Social Regulation, The Brookings Institution, Washington.
Lave, L. B. (1982) Quantitative Risk Assessment in Regulation, Brookings Institution, Washington.
Lave, L. B., Ennever, F., Rosenkranz, H., and Omenn, G. S. (1988) Information value of the rodent bioassay, Nature 336, 631–634.
Lave, L. B. and Males, E. H. (1989) At risk: The framework for regulating toxic substances, Environ. Sci. Technol. 23(23), 386–391.
Lave, L. B. and Omenn, G. S. (1986) Cost-effectiveness of short-term tests for carcinogenicity, Nature 324, 29–34.
Morgenstern, R. and Sessions, S. (1977) EPA’s unfinished business, Environment 30, 15–39.
National Research Council (1974) Toxicity Testing: Strategies to Determine Needs and Priorities, National Academy Press, Washington.
National Research Council (1983) Risk Assessment in the Federal Government: Managing the Process, National Academy Press, Washington.
National Research Council (1989) Diet and Health, National Academy Press, Washington.
Travis, C. (ed.) (1988) Carcinogenic Risk Assessment, Plenum, New York.
U.S. National Cancer Institute (1987) Cancer Goals for 2000, Bethesda, MD.
U.S. Court of Appeals, DC Circuit (1987) NRDC v. EPA, 824 F2d, 1146.
U.S. Supreme Court (1980) Industrial Union Department, AFL-CIO v. American Petroleum Institute.
Whalen, E. (1985) Toxic Terror: The Truth About the Cancer Scare, Jameson Books, Ottawa, IL.
U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (1978) Estimates of the Fraction of Cancer in the United States Related to Occupational Factors, Washington.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lave, L.B. (1991). Environmental Regulation and Policy. In: Opschoor, J.B., Pearce, D.W. (eds) Persistent Pollutants. Economy & Environment, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3372-2_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3372-2_12
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-5491-1
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-3372-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive