Regulating Toxic Substances: A Philosophy of Science and the Law

by Carl F. Cranor

Book Overview

The proliferation of chemical substances in commerce poses scientific and philosophical problems. The scientific challenge is to develop data, methodologies, and techniques for identifying and assessing toxic substances before they cause harm to human beings and the environment. The philosophical problem is how much scientific information we should demand for this task consistent with other social goals we might have. In this book, Cranor utilizes...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195113780
• ISBN13: 9780195113785
• Release Date: August 1997
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.2" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Regulating Toxic Substances: A Philosophy of Science and the Law

Regulating Toxic Substances: A Philosophy of Science and the Law provides a sophisticated and educational analysis of the complexities associated with regulating, assessing and conceptualizing toxic substances. Cranor does an impressive job at dissecting and disentangling the perplexing relationship between scientific risk assessment analysis as it pertains to Tort law, regulatory agencies and their epistemic and philosophical considerations. Theories of distribution and variants of Rawls's concept of Utilitarianism provide an atypical way of conceptualizing ethical justifications for the regulation of carcinogens and other toxic substances. The universal consideration taken by Cranor is the relationship between scientific assessment of toxic substances and public-healthcare policy efficiency. Of particular value, the last four appendices discuss the theoretic and scientific cancer potency estimates in the California Department of Health Sciences (CDHS) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Models of risk act as a function of Alpha and Beta values, statutes authorizing the regulation of carcinogens, and derivation of TD50 (tumorigenic dose) potency values. Regulating Toxic Substances: A Philosophy of Science and the Law will be best suited for those who are interested in the toxic Tort litigation and familiar with moderate to advanced statistic models of risk assessment and public-healthcare policy. Clanor puts together a cohesive evaluation of the synergetic relationship between toxic substances, policy and scientific method.