Environmental Health Risks and Public Policy

by Bates, David V.

• ISBN13: 9780774805063
• ISBN10: 0774805064
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1994-12-01
• Publisher: Univ of British Columbia Pr

Summary

Modern industrial societies have created not only the goods and services that add productivity and pleasure to modern life, but also hazardous and unlooked-for side effects. Many significant technological advances - automobiles, fire retardation, durable paints, electrical appliances - have a dark side, their proven or putative implication in major risks to public health. How democratic societies discover and deal with such health hazards is the theme of Environmental Health Risks and Public Policy. Often frightening in its direct recitation of medical evidence, always compelling as the work of a medical man deeply concerned with human health, it examines the ways in which science and public policy interact, sometimes to protect the public, sometimes to thwart prompt action.
As society's awareness of environmental effects on public health has grown, scientists (especially epidemiologists) have been increasingly drawn into the public arena. The design of studies, the manipulation of statistics, and additional risk factors influence the acceptance of "hazards" as clearly causing certain diseases. In addition, the often major economic effects of reducing these health hazards make formulation of public policy concerning their control a fractious business. Environmental scientists, the media, lawyers, and politicians have difficulty dealing with multifactoral disease, and are still learning how the questions should be framed for an informed public debate on the issues raised. Environmental Health Risks and Public Policy compares decision making in Canada, Britain, and the United States, and the impact of different political traditions on the process. The place and limitations of formal risk assessment are discussed.

Author Biography

David V. Bates is professor emeritus of health care and epidemiology, and formerly dean of medicine, at the University of British Columbia.