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Expanding the precautionary principle

Montreal Children’s Hospital and McGill University, Montreal, Canada

Correspondence to:
Professor Pless;
barry.pless@mcgill.ca

Keywords: precautionary principle; risk factors; public health; regulations

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

"As to diseases, make a habit of two things—to help, or at least do no harm" (Hippocrates, The Epidemics)

"When an activity raises threats of harm to human health . . ., precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically" (Wingspread conference, 1998)

A fundamental teaching in clinical medicine is primum non nocere—first do no harm—that is, when physicians face choices between uncertain benefits and possible harm, they must err on the side of safety.

In environmental public health a similar edict has emerged. The "precautionary principle", popularized 10 years ago in relation to environmental safety,¹ is now increasingly accepted. It asserts that when there is suspected harm and the scientific evidence is inconclusive, the prescribed course is precautionary action. It is intended to apply when the harm is "serious, irreversible, and cumulative". The precautionary principle is the . . . [Full text of this article]

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