Reckless Laws, Contaminated People: Science Reveals Legal Shortcomings in Public Health Protections

Item Type

Abstract

Based on the analysis of the U.S. law, this chapter argues that a much more systemic approach with appropriate premarket testing is needed to reduce exposures to toxicants. I describe the contamination of citizens, sketching some findings from developmental toxicology. I review failures of reckless postmarket laws and diagnose some of these failures. Learning from the ethics of medical experimentation and premarket laws, I suggest more prudent legal structures. The chapter first highlights that the adverse health effects of toxicants are much wider than cancer. People are at risk for reproductive effects, immune system dysfunction, and neurological problems, among others.

Publication Title

Publication Year

2014

Publication Date

2014

Publisher

Source

JSTOR

License

ISBN

978-1-78238-236-2

Physical Description

pp. 195-214

Series

Science and Politics in a Toxic World

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Reckless Laws, Contaminated People: Science Reveals Legal Shortcomings in Public Health Protections, dans Science & Ignorance, consulté le 21 Novembre 2024, https://ignorancestudies.inist.fr/s/science-ignorance/item/5464

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