The Precautionary Principle in the 20th Century

by Harremoes, Poul; Gee, David; Macgarvin, Malcolm; Stirling, Andy; Keys, Jane; Wynne, Brian

• ISBN13: 9781853838934
• ISBN10: 1853838934
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-06-01
• Publisher: Earthscan / James & James

Summary

The Precautionary Principle is widely seen as fundamental to successful policies for sustainability. It has been cited in international courts and trade disputes between the US and the EU, and invoked in an growing range of political debates. Understanding what it can and cannot achieve is therefore crucial. This volume looks back over the last century to examine the role the Principle played or could have played, in a range of major and avoidable public disasters. Among the studies it examines are: asbestos and asbestosis, BSE in cattle, CFCs and the depletion of stratospheric ozone, the pollution of the Great Lakes in America, the collapse of Atlantic fish stocks, PCBs, etc., for all of which there is good information on the science, the health and environmental impacts, and the costs and benefits. From detailed investigation of how each disaster unfolded, what the impacts were and what measures were adopted, the authors draw lessons and establish criteria that could help to minimize the health and environmental risks of future technological, economic and policy innovations. The result is an absorbing, informative and valuable book for all those from lawyers and policy-makers, to researchers and students needing to understand or apply the Principle.

Table of Contents

List of figures, tables and boxes	ix
Foreword	xi
Tim O'Riordan
Preface	xiii
Domingo Jimenez Beltran
Acknowledgements	xvii
List of acronyms and abbreviations	xviii
Introduction	1	(9)
Late lessons from early warnings: an approach to learning from history	1	(3)
What is the `precautionary principle'?	4	(1)
An early use of the precautionary principle: London, 1854	5	(3)
Forestalling disasters: integrating science and public policy	8	(2)
Fisheries: taking stock	10	(16)
Malcolm MacGarvin
Early warnings	10	(1)
19th-century British fisheries	11	(3)
Californian sardine fishery, 1920s to 1942	14	(1)
Newfoundland cod	15	(4)
Precaution becomes explicit	19	(3)
The ecosystem approach	22	(1)
Late lessons	23	(3)
Radiation: early warnings, late effects	26	(9)
Barrie Lambert
X-rays	26	(2)
Radioactivity and radioactive materials	28	(1)
Early moves towards control of exposure	29	(1)
The post-war watershed: justification, optimisation, limitation	30	(2)
Conclusions	32	(3)
Benzene: a historical perspective on the American and European occupational setting	35	(14)
Peter F. Infante
Early warnings	35	(1)
Actions and inactions	36	(6)
Discussion	42	(5)
Conclusions and lessons for the future	47	(2)
Asbestos: from `magic' to malevolent mineral	49	(15)
David Gee
Morris Greenberg
Introduction	49	(1)
The first `early warnings' of asbestosis and some responses	50	(2)
Early warnings on asbestos cancers	52	(2)
Early, devastating warnings about mesothelioma cancer	54	(1)
Actions and inactions by regulatory authorities and others	55	(3)
The costs and benefits of actions and inactions	58	(1)
What are the lessons of the asbestos story?	59	(5)
PCBs and the precautionary principle	64	(15)
Janna G Koppe
Jane Keys
Introduction	64	(3)
Growing evidence of persistence, presence and toxicity	67	(1)
Action from industry and governments in the 1970s	68	(3)
Scientific understanding becomes more sophisticated	71	(1)
Government action in the 1980s and 1990s	72	(2)
Routes of environmental exposure	74	(1)
The most recent PCB accident	75	(1)
Conclusions	76	(3)
Halocarbons, the ozone layer and the precautionary principle	79	(11)
Joe Farman
Overview	79	(3)
Early history	82	(1)
The 1930s: the CFC industry is born	83	(1)
The 1970s: the seeds of doubt	84	(1)
The Montreal Protocol and the ozone hole	85	(2)
Late lessons	87	(3)
The DES story: long-term consequences of prenatal exposure	90	(10)
Dolores Ibarreta
Shanna H Swan
Introduction	90	(1)
Optimistic beginnings	90	(1)
Tragic consequences	91	(2)
DES ineffective for prevention of miscarriage	93	(1)
Assessing the extent of the damage	94	(1)
Lessons from the DES story	95	(5)
Antimicrobials as growth promoters: resistance to common sense	100	(11)
Lars-Erik Edqvist
Knud Borge Pedersen
Introduction	100	(1)
The first early warning	101	(1)
Subsequent action or inaction	102	(5)
Advantages and disadvantages of the use of growth promoters	107	(1)
Conclusions and lessons for the future	107	(4)
Sulphur dioxide: from protection of human lungs to remote lake restoration	111	(10)
Arne Semb
Dead fish, dying forests	113	(3)
The 1985 CLRTAP Protocol and beyond	116	(3)
Late lessons	119	(2)
MTBE in petrol as a substitute for lead	121	(17)
Martin Krayer von Krauss
Poul Harremoes
Introduction	121	(1)
Lead in petrol	122	(1)
The MTBE case	122	(1)
The benefits of MTBE	123	(1)
The impacts of MTBE	123	(5)
Responses	128	(1)
Present trends	129	(1)
Discussion in relation to the precautionary principle	130	(6)
Conclusions	136	(2)
Early warnings of chemical contamination of the Great Lakes	138	(10)
Michael Gilbertson
The first significant early warnings	138	(2)
Date and nature of subsequent action or inaction	140	(2)
Consequences of institutional responses	142	(1)
Costs and benefits	143	(2)
Conclusions and lessons for the future	145	(3)
TBT antifoulants: a tale of ships, snails and imposex	148	(13)
David Santillo
Paul Johnston
William J Langston
Introduction	148	(1)
The emergence of the TBT problem	149	(1)
Arcachon Bay	150	(1)
UK harbours and coastal waters	151	(2)
A global pollutant	153	(1)
Effectiveness of controls on small vessels	153	(1)
The significance of seagoing vessels	154	(2)
Progress towards a global phase-out	156	(1)
The question of alternatives	156	(1)
Late lessons from the TBT story	157	(1)
Conclusions: precaution or retrospective action?	158	(3)
Hormones as growth promoters: the precautionary principle or a political risk assessment?	161	(9)
Jim W. Bridges
Olga Bridges
Introduction	161	(4)
Impacts of oestrogenic compounds on wildlife	165	(1)
What were the uncertainties regarding the use of Oestrogenic growth promoters for human health?	166	(1)
Has the approach adopted by the European Commission proved to be sound?	167	(1)
Conclusions	168	(2)
`Mad cow disease' 1980s-2000: how reassurances undermined precaution	170	(15)
Patrick van Zwanenberg
Erik Millstone
Introduction	170	(1)
A new cattle disease	170	(1)
Initial decisions	171	(3)
Expert advice and regulatory controls	174	(2)
Constructing a house of cards	176	(3)
The failures and eventual collapse of the policy edifice	179	(2)
Conclusions	181	(4)
Twelve late lessons	185	(31)
Introduction	185	(2)
Twelve late lessons	187	(18)
The wider implications of precaution	205	(11)
Conclusions	216	(4)
Late lessons from early warnings	218	(2)
About the author	220	(7)
References	227	(34)
Index	261