Prudent precaution

Does the disappearance of many animal and plant species threaten ecosystem functioning and human health? Is the cultivation of genetically modified crops a threat to people and the environment? Are people working in the cosmetics industry at risk from nanoparticles? Can variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob’s disease be communicated in blood and blood products? Science cannot currently answer these and many other questions. However, the uncertainty that surrounds such issues does not mean that they can be relegated to the bottom of the political and policy agenda. In recent decades, there have been increasingly insistent calls for the precautionary principle to be applied in cases of scientific uncertainty, for the protection of public health and the environment. The European Union has incorporated the principle into its treaty and the environmental movement is constantly asking for the precautionary principle to be used to address potential hazards in our surroundings.