Legal standards of causation in chemical exposure litigation.

A discussion of the legal process that resolves disputes involving the questions of causation of exposure to chemical substances is presented. Toxicologists and pharmacologists called upon to testify in private litigation of whether or not exposure to a particular chemical caused an illness will have a clearer view of the law's notion of causation by the examples cited. The trends in the law on this subject are reviewed and ways are offered for scientists to influence future chemical exposure litigation.