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Whither risk assessment? An overall perspective
1Health Policy Center, Bethesda, Maryland 20816.
Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology : RTP
|April 1, 1993
Summary
Major health and safety regulations are criticized for being costly and unjustified. Reforming regulatory agencies by curbing self-serving motives and demanding strict scientific evidence can improve fairness and reduce overregulation.
Area of Science:
- Health and safety regulation
- Risk assessment policy
- Environmental economics
Background:
- Current health and safety regulations face criticism for high costs and lack of objective justification.
- These issues undermine the equitable distribution of societal rights and burdens.
- Overregulation is driven by arbitrary assumptions in cancer risk assessment and vague legal frameworks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the factors contributing to the perceived failure of major regulatory initiatives.
- To propose solutions for mitigating regulatory crises and improving the justification of regulations.
- To advocate for a shift towards evidence-based standards in regulatory decision-making.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of regulatory initiatives in health and safety.
- Examination of assumptions in cancer risk assessment.
- Review of statutory language and institutional motivations of regulatory agencies.
Main Results:
- Regulatory initiatives are often perceived as too costly and not objectively justified.
- Arbitrary assumptions and open-ended laws lead regulatory agencies to overregulate.
- Institutional self-interest within agencies incentivizes regulatory expansion.
Conclusions:
- Mitigating the current regulatory crisis requires addressing self-serving incentives within agencies.
- Regulations must be grounded in strict scientific standards of evidence.
- Moving away from arbitrary assumptions and conjectures is crucial for fair and effective regulation.