Exposure Science and Policy Challenges of the Future: Learning from European Experience

摘要

This multidisciplinary research explores the EU practices of bridging exposure science and policy decisions in order to design efficient policies that protect human health and ecosystem health. In particular, these policies are designed to limit human exposure to hazardous chemicals in food and consumer goods. These practices then are compared with those in the United States, and policy recommendations are provided for a possible adaptation of European experience in the U.S. legislative landscape. Using qualitative methods of policy analysis, combined with the latest findings in exposure science, the results of this research show that European standards are more protective of the consumer because of the precautionary principle that requires produces to use the most advance exposure science methods in order to prove the absence of adverse effects in their products. In the United States, however, the burden of proof of harm from hazardous chemicals falls on the consumer through lawsuits. In conclusion, the way to improve the U.S. legal landscape for consumer protection is to expand the exposure science education at universities and high schools, which in turn will bring more visibility to such issues and more weight in the policy landscape.