EDITORIAL

The precautionary principle

The precautionary principle: in action for public health

Marco Martuzzi

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr M Martuzzi
WHO European Centre for Environment and Health, Rome Office, WHO Regional Office for Europe, Via F Crispi 10, 00187 Rome, Italy; mam@ecr.euro.who.int

---

Better health, better environment, better science: better use the precautionary principle

---

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Article 174 of the Amsterdam Treaty of the European Union says "Community policy on the environment [...] shall be based on the precautionary principle". European law, at its highest level, is explicit and uncompromising. As promotion and protection of human health is one of the key motivations of environmental preservation, the provision of the Treaty is good news for public health too. In fact the importance and relevance of the precautionary principle in the health domain has been attracting growing interest.¹ Ministers of health, together with ministers of environment of the Member States in the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region (52 of them in 2004) declared: "We reaffirm the importance of the precautionary principle as a risk management tool, and we therefore recommend that it should be applied [...]".² These are only two of many acts or laws where the precautionary principle is referred to. So . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

Problems in applying the precautionary principle to public health

Bernard D Goldstein
Occup. Environ. Med. 2007 64: 571-574. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

The IARC Monographs: a resource for precaution and prevention

Vincent James Cogliano
Occup. Environ. Med. 2007 64: 572. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

The reactionary principle: inaction for public health

David Kriebel
Occup. Environ. Med. 2007 64: 573-574. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

The precautionary principle in the context of multiple risks

L Rushton
Occup. Environ. Med. 2007 64: 574. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Goldstein, B. D (2007). Problems in applying the precautionary principle to public health. Occup. Environ. Med. 64: 571-574 [Full Text]  
• Cogliano, V. J. (2007). The IARC Monographs: a resource for precaution and prevention. Occup. Environ. Med. 64: 572-572 [Full Text]  
• Kriebel, D. (2007). The reactionary principle: inaction for public health. Occup. Environ. Med. 64: 573-574 [Full Text]  
• Rushton, L (2007). The precautionary principle in the context of multiple risks. Occup. Environ. Med. 64: 574-574 [Full Text]