Precaution Principle Versus Danger Prevention in Toxicology

Abstract

The pollution of water, soil, air, food, and everyday products with harmful chemicals is accompanied by risks for public health. The active defense or control of these risks can be effected using the principles of hazard prevention or precaution, respectively. Toxicological information is a basic contributor to preventing and controlling hazards together with data from other disciplines.

Protection of the health of consumers and their environment is dependent on scientific information and associated policy with preservation of public health through various measures. More specifically, consumers of food and everyday products are afforded protection by official regulations which concentrate on surveillance of the market and manufacturers and warnings against goods recognized as presenting actual or potential adverse effects for the public.

Environment-related health protection aims at safeguarding the public from toxic (carcinogenic, genome-altering, and other) effects that may come from contaminated water, soil, and air. Necessary tasks include the recognition and description of environmental influences adverse to health, the prevention or the removal of these influences where applicable, and the development and the transfer/mediation of findings such that harmful inputs from the environment may be avoided.

The administrative regulation of substance-related risks in this field is based on hazard prevention and/or precaution.