An Evaluation of the Desirability of Evidentiary Procedures for Identifying Carcinogens

9310795克雷诺这项研究将检查在确定致癌物的决策程序中的科学和伦理参数。它涉及对各种致癌物识别程序的可取性进行哲学和科学的审查。该项目的重点是作为产品进入商业或作为生产副产品进入环境的物质，这些物质没有经过广泛的毒性测试，在这种情况下，必须满足政府的举证责任，才能将其从商业中移除。识别致癌物的不完善的制度程序的可取性是其准确性、其比率、其成本以及证据错误的社会成本的复杂函数。该项目的哲学研究将评估错误的社会代价及其相对重要性，并制定评估不同程序的可取性的哲学理论基础和模型。调查将考虑改变相关参数的方法，以便将道德问题与背景联系起来。例如，错误的代价可能是暴露人群的大小、年龄或是否能够同意风险的函数。成本可能包括社会成本和生物成本，以及风险认知和社会不信任等因素。科学研究将评估识别程序的准确性、速度和成本，并将纳入总体评估和模型。它将使用已识别的致癌物作为参考类别，将标准的危险识别程序与目前正在使用、开发或考虑的替代品进行比较。研究结果将发表在期刊上，并在会议和专业会议上报告。***

9310795 Cranor This study will examine scientific and ethical parameters in decision procedures for identifying carcinogens. It involves philosophic and scientific examination of the desirability of various carcinogen identification procedures. The focus of the project is on substances that have been introduced into commerce as products or into the environment as by-products of production without having been subjected to extensive toxicity testing, where a governmental burden of proof must be satisfied before they could be removed from commerce. The desirability of imperfect institutional procedures for identifying carcinogens is a complex function of their accuracy, their rate, their costs, and the social costs of evidentiary mistakes. The philosophical research in the project will assess the social costs of mistakes and their relative importance and develop a philosophic rationale and a model to assess the desirability of different procedures. The investigation will consider ways to vary relevant parameters so as to contextualize the ethical questions. For instance, costs of mistakes may be a function of size of exposed population, its age, or whether it can consent to the risk. Costs may include social as well as biological costs, factors such as perceptions of risk and social distrust. Scientific research, augmenting the philosophical, will evaluate the accuracy, rate, and costs of the identification procedures, and will be incorporated into the overall evaluation and model. It will use identified carcinogens as a reference class, comparing standard hazard identification procedures with alternatives that are being currently used, developed, or considered. Results from the research will be published in journals and reported at conferences and professional meetings. ***