CHANGING APPROACHES TO ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL INHALATION RISK - A CASE-STUDY

The social and scientific approaches to the decisions that have gone into the regulation of the industrial environment have evolved during the twentieth century. Approaches to assessing environmental inhalation risks from the 1930s to the present are examined by investigating the relation between improved environmental measurement and action taken to control a dangerous substance. The U.S. experience in setting acceptable workplace exposure levels to control inhalation risks from asbestos in the workplace is presented as a case study to demonstrate how measurement criteria have changed since the 1930s. The close link between state-of-the-art science and policy decisions thereby becomes apparent.