© 2002 Association of Schools of Public Health The cornerstones of the precautionary principle—transparency and inclusiveness of decision-making, action in the face of uncertainty, and accountability— are fundamental, not only to the practice and science of public health, but also to the success and maintenance of democracy. Both public health and democracy flourish when information is broadly ...

The precautionary principle has been central to many of the debates concerning the appropriate approach to the threat posed by endocrine active substances (EASs). This newly emerging principle has been applied to issues as diverse as persistent organic pollutants and the European trade barrier on beef from hormone-treated cattle.

Conceptual research to define the Precautionary Principle and its role in science, science policy, and public health is making substantial progress. In September 2001, participants at the International Summit on Science and the Precautionary Principle developed a vision for science to address the complexity of contemporary health risks in a way that could lead to more precautionary, preventive ...

The central challenge from the Precautionary Principle to statistical methodology is to help delineate (preferably quantitatively) the possibility that some exposure is hazardous, even in cases where this is not established beyond reasonable doubt. The classical approach to hypothesis testing is unhelpful, because lack of significance can be due either to uninformative data or to genuine lack o...