Ellise Suffill, Mathew P. White, Sarah Hale, Sabine Pahl
{"title":"Regulating “forever chemicals”: social data are necessary for the successful implementation of the essential use concept","authors":"Ellise Suffill, Mathew P. White, Sarah Hale, Sabine Pahl","doi":"10.1186/s12302-024-00930-9","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large class of synthetic compounds, many of which are persistent, mobile and toxic (PMT). The sheer number of PFAS makes a substance-by-substance based approach to regulating this group unfeasible. Given the known risks of many PFAS, a precautionary approach (i.e., the Essential Use Concept; EUC) has been called for, whereby any substance is assumed to be harmful and should be phased out, unless it is shown that: (a) the use of this substance is necessary for health and safety, or is critical for the functioning of society and (b) there are no available technically and economically feasible alternatives. While experts, including chemists and toxicologists, are well-placed to assess the second criteria, determining what is necessary for the “functioning of society” requires a wider consideration of societal beliefs and preferences and greater involvement of various interested and affected parties, especially those whose voices are less heard but may be most vulnerable. The aim of the current paper is to provide a preliminary framework and research agenda outlining why and at what points in the essential use decision-making process broader societal perspectives are required, and how such ‘social data’ can be collected. The ultimate goal is to improve chemicals management by supporting citizens in becoming more informed and engaged participants in relevant debates and policies, including in how to operationalise the EUC.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":546,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Sciences Europe","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://enveurope.springeropen.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12302-024-00930-9","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Environmental Sciences Europe","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12302-024-00930-9","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large class of synthetic compounds, many of which are persistent, mobile and toxic (PMT). The sheer number of PFAS makes a substance-by-substance based approach to regulating this group unfeasible. Given the known risks of many PFAS, a precautionary approach (i.e., the Essential Use Concept; EUC) has been called for, whereby any substance is assumed to be harmful and should be phased out, unless it is shown that: (a) the use of this substance is necessary for health and safety, or is critical for the functioning of society and (b) there are no available technically and economically feasible alternatives. While experts, including chemists and toxicologists, are well-placed to assess the second criteria, determining what is necessary for the “functioning of society” requires a wider consideration of societal beliefs and preferences and greater involvement of various interested and affected parties, especially those whose voices are less heard but may be most vulnerable. The aim of the current paper is to provide a preliminary framework and research agenda outlining why and at what points in the essential use decision-making process broader societal perspectives are required, and how such ‘social data’ can be collected. The ultimate goal is to improve chemicals management by supporting citizens in becoming more informed and engaged participants in relevant debates and policies, including in how to operationalise the EUC.
期刊介绍:
ESEU is an international journal, focusing primarily on Europe, with a broad scope covering all aspects of environmental sciences, including the main topic regulation.
ESEU will discuss the entanglement between environmental sciences and regulation because, in recent years, there have been misunderstandings and even disagreement between stakeholders in these two areas. ESEU will help to improve the comprehension of issues between environmental sciences and regulation.
ESEU will be an outlet from the German-speaking (DACH) countries to Europe and an inlet from Europe to the DACH countries regarding environmental sciences and regulation.
Moreover, ESEU will facilitate the exchange of ideas and interaction between Europe and the DACH countries regarding environmental regulatory issues.
Although Europe is at the center of ESEU, the journal will not exclude the rest of the world, because regulatory issues pertaining to environmental sciences can be fully seen only from a global perspective.