Effects of a Polluted Environment Research and Development Needs (1977) / Chapter Skim
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INTRODUCTION: NEEDS FOR INFORMATION ON THE EFFECTS OF A POLLUTED ENVIRONMENT
INTRODUCTION: NEEDS FOR INFORMATION ON THE EFFECTS OF A POLLUTED ENVIRONMENT
Pages 8-21
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From page 8... ...
While scientific and technical information is not in itself a sufficient basis for decisions, it is an essential prerequisite. Decisions to protect the environment require reliable scientific information en: • the physical and chemical nature of environmental pollutants; • the size, discharge characteristics, and distribution in space and time of sources cf substances of interest; • processes of transport, transformation, degradation, and removal of contaminants within and among the various compartments of the environment; • concentrations and durations cf exposures that may be encountered by diverse receptors; • the effects of such exposures on those receptors; f - 8
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From page 9... ...
, before taking regulatory action to limit or prevent such a change, since it is patently impossible to obtain information in such blanket fashion, research must concentrate instead on the development of detailed knowledge of selected specific effects of a limited nuicber of environmental agents. From that information, broad principles for evaluating the risks of changes in the environment may be deduced, to be tested and refined by subsequent research.
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From page 10... ...
Examples of changes in ecosystems include altered ecological succession, reduced species diversity, and changes in the capacity to assindlate wastes. The approach used in this report is based not on specific pollutants or classes of environmental contaminants, but rather on categories cf effects, as expressed in a variety of receptors, that might be produced by many different environmental contaminants or combinations of agents.
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From page 11... ...
Nevertheless, the primary thrust of environmental regulation is to protect against adverse effects, and our concern in this report must therefore be almost exclusively with these. Causative Factors Most research on the effects of environmental pollutants has fccused on individual chemicals or physical agents (for example, noise, heat, particles)
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From page 12... ...
Chronic effects may result from long-term, low-level exposure, or may be due to short-term, larger doses, but appear only long after exposure to causative agents has ended. Probably the greatest current needs for additional information about effects of environmental contaminants involve chronic effects (Congressional Research service 1975)
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From page 13... ...
Action must instead be taken to prevent adverse effects, using presumptive evidence and valid scientific estimates of the nature, magnitude, and probability of the effects. For instance, the risks to human health inherent in long-term exposure to low levels of toxic substances have been estimated from studies of the effects cf higher doses of the same substances on laboratory animals (e.g., Hoel 1976)
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From page 14... ...
Others may be theoretically answerable, but impractical to address because of the cost, time, and effort required. For example, it has been estimated that a study to determine experimentally whether genetic effects of radiation in mice are linearly related to doses at exposures that would increase the natural incidence of mutations by 0.5 percent, with statistically significant results at a confidence level of 95 percent, would require eight billion mice (Weinberg 1975)
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From page 15... ...
Improved economic measurements of effects depend, therefore, not only on advances in economic research and in data collection, but also on improvements in krcwledge of the nature of adverse effects of exposures to envircnmental pollutants and cf the likelihood of their occurrence. The Multidisciplinary Approach The study of the effects of environmental pollutants is a complex undertaking requirirg the coordinated participation of many scientific and technical disciplines.
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From page 16... ...
Despite obvious potential biases, however, the quality cf some such research may be high, and the results extremely valuable. To increase public confidence in the quality and integrity of the research used for decision making, peer review and similar safeguards against potential bias should be used extensively in gathering and evaluating information (NRC 1975)
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From page 17... ...
• the existence of adequate basic knowledge, methodologies, and theoretical constructs to make research feasible; • the resolvability of questions with a practical amount of resources and time; • the availability of capable trained personnel, appropriate facilities, a source of funding, a favorable research environment, and so forth; • the breadth of applicability of results. Popular interest in certain problems and resulting political pressures may drive research in the direction of seeking information on specific effects, regardless of whether other criteria are met.
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From page 18... ...
the month" can create an unstable atrrosphere that rrakes it difficult to maintain the continuity of research. The criteria spelled out here are intended to be applied to research programs that are undertaken by, or in support cf, agencies responsible for protection cf the environment.
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From page 19... ...
Pages 89-109, Research to Anticipate Environmental Impacts of Changing Pesource Usage. Proceedings cf a Symposium.
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From page 20... ...
(1976) Assessing the impact of low level chemicals on development: behavioral and latent effects.
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From page 21... ...
Pages 174-184, the Costs and Effects of Chronic Exposure to Low-Level Pollutants in the Environment, Hearings before the Subcommittee on the Environment and the Atmosphere, Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. Congress, House.
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