Cap A P
Technology and Policy Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA.
Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 1996;68(6):455-8. doi: 10.1007/BF00377869.
Environmental groups have called for a phaseout of the use of chlorine in industrial chemistry on the grounds that such use inevitably leads to the production of persistent, bioaccumulative toxins. This policy prescription is based on an application of the Precautionary Principle which holds that industry should demonstrate that its products and processes are safe before allowing releases of product or waste into the environment. The chemical industry has rejected the call to phaseout chlorine, and claims that available data on either the environmental exposure pathways or the toxicology of chlorinated compounds are inadequate to support responsible decision-making. Industry leaders have called for environmental policy to be based on sound science, comparative risk assessment, and cost-benefit analysis. The controversy over chlorine shows that the U.S. environmental policy-making framework may no longer be capable of producing solutions to environmental problems that satisfy important constituencies within our society.
环保组织呼吁逐步淘汰工业化学中氯的使用，理由是这种使用不可避免地会导致持久性生物累积毒素的产生。这一政策规定基于预防原则的应用，该原则认为，在允许产品或废物释放到环境之前，工业应证明其产品和工艺是安全的。化学工业拒绝了逐步淘汰氯的呼吁，并声称关于氯化化合物的环境暴露途径或毒理学的现有数据不足以支持负责任的决策。行业领袖呼吁环境政策应基于可靠的科学、比较风险评估和成本效益分析。关于氯的争议表明，美国的环境政策制定框架可能不再能够产生满足我们社会内重要选民需求的环境问题解决方案。
