How is the precautionary principle used in environmental health? What is an alternative philosophical approach?
What will be an ideal response?
The precautionary principle states that substances, such as potential toxicants, are assumed to be harmful until shown to be harmless. This approach allows us to identify troublesome toxicants before they are released into the environment, but it may also significantly impede the pace of technological and economic advance. Thoroughly testing every existing substance for its effects is long, complicated, and expensive. So some may favor the innocent-until-proven-guilty approach. This approach assumes that substances are harmless until shown to be harmful. This approach may lead to putting substances into wide use that may later turn out to be dangerous.
You might also like to view...
Why are the melting temperatures of most ionic compounds far greater than the melting temperatures of most covalent compounds?
A. Covalent bonds are not as strong as ionic bonds. B. Most covalent compounds have at least one weak bond in their structure that is easily broken when heat is added. C. Ionic bonds are so much stronger than the molecular attractions between covalently bonded compounds. D. As a solid, salts have a very organized crystalline structure which takes a lot of energy to break apart.
When do black smokers occur?
A) during plate tectonics movement B) during underwater volcanic reactions C) components dissolve below the seafloor, but then precipitate when they contact cold water D) components squeezed from beneath the sea floor dissolve upon contact of cold water
According to the primate city rule, the largest settlement has:
A) about the same size as the second ranking settlement
B) slightly more people than the second ranking settlement
C) more than twice as many people as the second ranking settlement
D) about four times the population of the second ranking settlement
E) about ten times the population of the second ranking settlement
A large urban region characterized by low-density residences, shopping malls, industrial parks and other commercial structures clustered around multi-lane highways illustrates
A) a pedestrian mall and green community. B) a rust-belt area. C) urban blight. D) urban sprawl.