Application Of Precaution Research Articles

The application of precaution in elasmobranch conservation and management in the Mediterranean Sea

This study examined the integration and application of the precautionary principle at national level for the conservation and management of elasmobranchs. Three countries, Greece, Malta, and Cyprus were assessed. Based on national legislation, policies, and reports, the assessment shows limited integration and application of the precautionary approach for the conservation and management of this group. The review of existing measures and relevant literature revealed potential applications of the precautionary principle for two model species, the blue shark (Prionace glauca) and the bull ray (Aetomylaeus bovinus). Sixteen measures, ranging from basic to strong precautionary actions, are proposed to aid the conservation and management of these two species.

Problems with precaution: the transfusion medicine experience

The precautionary principle is a dominant paradigm governing risk-based decision-making. Today, there are increasing pressures to re-examine aggressive precautionary approaches, and to assess how the principle should be applied in the modern system. In this paper, we examined three key applications of precautionary approaches in the field of transfusion medicine to provide insight into the risks and benefits of these approaches. The three case studies examined were the donor deferral policies to safeguard against transfusion transmission of human immunodeficiency virus, variant Creutzfeldt–Jacob disease, and, lastly, xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus. Characterization of precautionary applications was conducted using an embedded case study design. Our findings indicate that transfusion transmission mitigation strategies have become increasingly aggressive in the face of theoretical risks. In contrast, the review processes for implementation and reversal of precautionary policies have been slow, and historical donor deferral policies are still in place today. Application of precautionary approaches has proved challenging with both benefits and pitfalls. In light of emerging threats to the blood system, policy-makers should consider the implementation of frameworks to guide the appropriate application of precaution in transfusion medicine in the future.

“It's the Politics, Stupid.” Or is Reality more Complex?

Reality is complex, and often does not lend itself to generalization or simplifying explanations. Yet at the same time, explaining reality often requires the shaping of notions and concepts of it through generalization and the reduction of complexity. This tension between complexity and particularity on the one hand and generalization and the search for abstracting explanatory patterns on the other is beautifully illustrated by two recently released publications on precaution and risk regulation in the United States and Europe, namely “The Politics of Precaution” by David Vogel1 and “The Reality of Precaution” edited by Jonathan Wiener, Michael Rogers, James Hammitt, and Peter Sand.Both books together can be seen as the latest significant contribution to the ongoing debate on the role of the precautionary principle in risk regulation in a comparative EU-US perspective. Both contributions are significant in that they consolidate the trend towards an empirically informed analysis of the actual practice of the application of precaution in risk regulation.

Mitigating uncertainty using alternative information sources and expert judgement in aquatic non-indigenous species risk assessment

Aquatic non-indigenous species (ANS) management employs risk assessment as a tool to prioritize prevention and control efforts, but timely and comprehensive risk estimates are difficult due to various sources of uncertainty, particularly knowledge gaps. Several fields use or endorse the use of precaution, as well as group Delphic processes, to mitigate this uncertainty. To test the application of these methods in ANS risk assessment, we surveyed the knowledge and attitudes held by ANS scientists and managers regarding uncertainty and involved these experts in a modified Delphic process to determine consequence for a suite of 10 ANS. We found that participants supported the application of precaution in risk assessments. We also found the Delphic process aided the risk assessment process by facilitating outcomes that are supported by experts and stakeholders involved, account for uncertainty, and are therefore useful for policy and management purposes. Finally, we provide several recommendations for mitigating uncertainty in consequence assessments. These outcomes and recommendations provide increased understanding of the presence and sources of uncertainty, and the potential use of precaution and Delphic processes to facilitate the completion of comprehensive biosecurity risk assessments, despite the challenges posed by existing knowledge gaps in ANS impact information.

A Framework for Applying the Precautionary Principle to Transfusion Safety

The precautionary principle has become highly influential in the formation of policies concerning transfusion safety. The adoption of the principle to address theoretical risks has resulted in highly risk averse policy which has both enhanced the safety of the blood supply but also contributed to rising blood costs. The application of the precautionary principle to transfusion medicine has presented some challenges including clearly defining the principle and recognizing that the application of precaution can itself create risks to health by reducing the donor supply. This article provides a guide to applying precaution to matters of transfusion safety. Types of risk-based decision-making can be classified as strong, intermediate/weak, or no precaution by determining the strength of evidence required to apply a protective measure and the extent of the protective measure applied. The decision on what type of precaution to implement can then be determined based on the response to the following questions for a given transfusion safety matter: (1) Is the extent of the exposure large? (2) Is the consequence of the exposure serious? (3) Is the consequence of the exposure irreversible? (4) Is there minimal cost associated with the removal of the exposure? (5) Is there a minimal negative health effect associated with removing the exposure? Using this approach can help standardize the approach to applying precaution in transfusion safety.

The United States’ Application of Precaution in Managing Living Marine Resources

AbstractThis article surveys the application of “precaution” by the United States (US) in its management of living marine resources. The US has not yet implemented the precautionary principle into its environmental legislation, but regulators, courts, and agencies often rely on precautionary approaches in applying the legislation. An overview of precaution, its background and a description of the many forms it can take is presented first, followed by an overview of the major US federal legislation intended to protect living marine resources, how regulators, courts and agencies apply precautionary approaches in applying the legislation and how federal rules allow individual states to manage living marine resources. A sampling of states and regional state alliances that have applied precautionary approaches is provided and finally a unique international agreement that applies precaution in managing the waters of the Great Lakes is assessed.

Can we manage ecosystems in a sustainable way?

Fisheries have often become unsustainable, despite efforts of policy, management, and science. FAO has reviewed this undesirable pattern and identified six major factors contributing to unsustainability: inappropriate incentives, high demand for limited resources, poverty and lack of alternatives, complexity and lack of knowledge, lack of effective governance, and interactions of fisheries sector with other sectors and the environment. It also identified eight classes of actions that provide pathways to addressing the factors causing unsustainability of fisheries: allocation of rights; transparent, participatory management; support for science, enforcement and planning; equitable distribution of benefits; integrated policy development; application of precaution; building capacity and public understanding; and market incentives and economic instruments. The review highlighted that “sustainability” is a multi-dimensional concept (economic, social, ecological, and institutional), and measures implemented to address problems on one dimension of sustainability will move the fishery in a negative direction in at least one other dimension. In this paper I apply the FAO framework to the whole ecosystem. For each factor of unsustainability, I consider whether redefining the sustainability problem to the greater ecosystem makes the factor more or less serious as a threat to sustainability. For each pathway to improvement I consider whether the redefinition of the problem makes the pathway more or less effective as a management response to the threat. Few of the factors of unsustainability becomes easier to address at the ecosystem scale, and several of them become much more difficult. Of the combinations of pathways of responses and factors of unsustainability, more than two thirds of them become more difficult to apply, and/or have even greater negative impacts on other dimensions of sustainability. Importantly, the most promising pathways for addressing unsustainability of fisheries alone become particularly hard to apply when addressing unsustainability at the ecosystem scale. The ecosystem approach may be a necessary step to take, because the problem of sustainable use of fish stocks may not be solvable at the scale it has been defined historically. However these results imply that moving to an ecosystem scale of considerations is going to make the search for sustainability even more difficult. Moreover there is still no guarantee that a solution can be found — at least not any solution without major reductions in social and economic expectations.

Mobile phones: are children at higher risk?

The use of mobile phones by children has in recent years been increasing, the onset starting earlier and earlier. This has led to concern about whether children might be at higher risk and whether mobile phone use should even be forbidden. Advice from highly reputed committees on both national and international levels is contradictory and on the whole more confusing than helpful to worried parents and physicians, but this can be explained. It is shown here that different opinions derived from the same database reflect the different way in which uncertainty of knowledge is dealt with. Based on the assessments of the international committee and established knowledge on children's development it can be concluded that existing exposure limits do in fact provide reasonable safety. Compared to adults, however, children do in fact need to be considered at a relatively higher potential risk, depending on their phase of development. If adults are advised to minimise their exposure, this is even more justified for children. However, circular reasoning must be avoided: the uncertainty-triggered application of precaution must not be misinterpreted as evidence for definite risk.

The Precautionary Principle in Context: U.S. and E.U. Scientists' Prescriptions for Policy in the Face of Uncertainty*

Objective. Our objective is to explain how scientists interpret less‐than‐certain scientific findings to inform policymakers' choices on controversial science policy issues. We focus on two particularly difficult policy cases concerning global climate change and low‐dose radiation protection.Methods. Our method is to analyze data from a unique multination survey of scientists to analyze the ways their views about what is scientifically correct are translated into judgments about appropriate policy. The surveys asked scientists, randomly drawn from U.S. and E.U. subscribers to the journal Science, to indicate the “most likely” relationships between greenhouse gas emissions and average global temperatures and between radiation dose and incidence of cancer in humans. Follow‐up questions asked for their judgments about appropriate policy targets for reductions in greenhouse gas emission and safety standards for radiation exposure. The data permit analysis of the relationships between scientific certainty and policy judgments in these two cases.Results. Our results shed light on when and how scientists reach precautionary policy conclusions, demonstrating that scientists' application of precaution is dependent on context. In the case of radiation protection, greater certainty is associated with less precaution. But with respect climate change, we found the opposite relationship.Conclusions. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for the role of scientists, and scientific advice, in the policy process.

What Does the Precautionary Principle Mean for Evidence-Based Dentistry?

The precautionary principle calls for preventive actions in the face of uncertain information about risks. It serves as a compass to better guide more health-protective decisions in the face of complex risks. Applying precaution requires thinking more broadly about risks, taking an interdisciplinary approach to science and policy, and considering a wide range of alternatives to potentially harmful activities. While often criticized as antiscientific, the precautionary principle represents a challenge to scientists and public health professionals to develop newer and more effective tools for characterizing and preventing complex risks, in addition to being more explicit about uncertainties. This article examines the role and application of precaution in the context of dental practice, where activities that may convey risks also have public health benefits, and risk trade offs are a possibility. We conclude that the precautionary principle is not at odds with, but rather complements evidence-based practice in situations of scientific uncertainty and complex risks.

The precautionary principle: torn between biodiversity, environment-related food safety and the WTO

At the WTO, the precautionary principle/approach is considered as a protectionary mechanism, i.e. and alleged justification for potentially WTO-illegal trade restrictions. This article presents a survey of some pronouncements of the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body including two case studies at opposite ends of the spectrum with regard to the operationalisation of the PP. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety has gone further than any other multilateral environmental agreement in specifying the application of precaution. It regulates the measures a member country may take in order to limit or ban the importation of living modified organisms such as seeds or GM commodities. On the other hand there is the Codex Alimentarius that is the WTO's reference point for food safety. Although it has discussed precautionary measures extensively, consensus looks unlikely here in the near future. We shall limit our discussion of the Codex to environment-related food safety, specifically GM food.