The impact of energy production on human health.

Abstract

Private industry is properly concerned with the prevention of disease and the maintenance and promotion of health of employees, as well as the health of consumers as affected by its products, and the health of the community as it is affected by the industry. To operate responsibly, industry critically needs scientific information in each of these areas. And, it follows that industry's involvement in the generation, communication, and use of scientific information is obligatory. The petroleum industry represents a dominant form of energy for the nation. A thorough evaluation of its health relationships is important not only in its own right, but also because the petroleum industry can serve as a basis for comparison with other energy sources, especially the new and alternate resources to be developed in the future. To view in perspective industry's role in handling health-related information, a number of examples from the petroleum industry wich deal with the occupational health status of employees are presented. The areas of industry's impact upon the health consumers and community health, while equally important, are considered more briefly. Finally, certain inappropriate devices are pointed out, which - when applied to the derivaton and utilization of scientific information - ill servemore » the scientific community and the public, with particular reference to regulatory processes.« less