Burden of Proof in Toxicology

摘要

It has often been said that in the regulation of chemical hazards, the onus ofproof should fall to those who claim that a substance can be used with impunity, not those who wish to restrict its use. In Sweden, this view of the burden of proof is one of the basic principles of the Act on Chemical Products. The regulation and control of hazardous or potentially hazardous chemicals involves an intricate combination of legal, administrative, scientific, economic, and various political decision criteria. It is difficult to apply, in practice, any systematic standards of proof and evidence to this decision process. The purpose of the present report is to give some indications of how this can be done and, in particular, of how the above-mentioned principle for the burden of proof can be put to practice. The approach will be multi-disciplinary.