In this paper, I review the conceptual and legal obstacles faced by those who seek redress for health detriment which is though to be environmental in origin. I use two case studies concerned with radiation: one is related to energy production (paternal pre-conceptional irradiation of workers at a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant), the other involves electricity distribution (the alleged link between leukaemia and power cables). Judicial approaches to scientific uncertainty inherent in these two cases are examined. The more science points to a hitherto unimagined range of threats to human health, the fewer grounds remain for confidence in the capacity of tort to secure appropriate compensation for the putative victims.
References
1.
FewsA.P.HenshawD. L.WildingR.J., and KeitchP.A. (1999) ‘Corona ions from powerlines and increased exposure to pollutant aerosols’International Journal of Radiation BiologyVol.75 (12): 1523–31.
2.
GardnerM.J.SneeM.P.HallA.J.PowellC.A.DownesS.TerrellJ.D. (1990) ‘Results of a case-control study of leukaemia and lymphoma among young people near Sellafield nuclear plant in West Cumbria’British Medical JournalVol.300: 423–9.
3.
HaighN (1994) ‘The Introduction of the Precautionary Principle into the UK’ in O'RiordanT. and CameronJ. (Eds) (1994) Interpreting the Precautionary Principle (Earthscan, London).
4.
HillA.B. (1965) ‘The environment and disease: Association or causation’Proceedings of the Royal Society of MedicineVol.58: 1217–19.
5.
Her Majesty's Government (1990) This Common Inheritance: Britain's Environmental Strategy (HMSO, London, Cm 1200)
6.
Independent Advisory Group (1984) Investigation of the Possible Increased Incidence of Cancer in West Cumbria (HMSO, London).
7.
KinlenL.J.ClarkeK. and HudsonC. (1990) ‘Evidence from population mixing in British New Towns 1946–85 of an infective basis for childhood leukaemia’The LancetVol.336: 577–82
8.
KinlenL.J. (1993a) ‘Can paternal preconceptional radiation account for the increase in leukaemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in Seascale?’British Medical JournalVol.306: 1718–21.
9.
KinlenL.J.ClarkeK.BalkwillA. (1993b) ‘Paternal preconceptional radiation exposure in the nuclear industry and leukaemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in young people in Scotland’British Medical JournalVol.306: 153–8.
10.
KuhnT.S. (1962) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Chicago Univ. Press, Chicago)
11.
LordB.I.WoolfordL.B.WangL.StonesV.A.McDonaldD.LorimoreS.A.PapworthD.WrightE.G. and ScottD. (1998) ‘Tumour induction by methyl-nitroso-urea following preconceptional paternal contamination with plutonium-239’British Journal of CancerVol.78 (3): 301–11.
12.
McLaughlinJ.R.KingW.D.AndersonT.W.ClarkeA.E.AshmoreJ.P. (1993) ‘Paternal radiation exposure and leukaemia in offspring: The Ontario case-control study’British Medical JournalVol.307: 959–66.
13.
MillerC.E. (1997) ‘A Comment on “Radiation Protection and Moral theory”Environmental ValuesVol.6 (1): 97–103.
14.
National Radiological Protection Board (1994) ‘Electromagnetic fields and the risk of cancer: Supplementary report by the Advisory Group on Non-ionising Radiation’Doc NRPBVol.5 (2).
15.
NomuraT. (1975) ‘Transmission of tumours and malformations to the next generation of mice subsequent to urethane treatment’Cancer ResearchVol. 35: 264–66.
16.
NomuraT. (1982) ‘Parental exposure to X-rays and chemicals induces heritable tumours and anomalies in mice’NatureVol. 256: 575–7.
17.
O'RiordanT. and CameronJ (1994) ‘The History and Contemporary Significance of the Precautionary Principle’ in O'RiordanT. and CameronJ. (Eds) (1994) Interpreting the Precautionary Principle (Earthscan, London).
18.
ParkerL.CraftA.W.SmithJ.DickinsonH.WakefordR.BinksK.. (1993) ‘Geographical distribution of preconceptual radiation doses to fathers employed at Sellafield nuclear installation, West Cumbria’British Medical JournalVol.307: 966–71.
19.
SumnerD. and GilmourP. (1995) ‘Radiation Protection and Moral Theory’Environmental ValuesVol.4 (4): 241–256.
20.
UK Childhood Cancer Study Investigators (1999) ‘Exposure to power-frequency magnetic fields and the risk of childhood cancer’The LancetVol. 354: 4 December 1999.
WertheimerN. and LeeperE (1979). ‘Electrical wiring configurations and childhood cancer’American Journal of EpidemiologyVol. 109: 273–84.
23.
YoshimotoY.NeelJ.V.SchullW.J.KatoH.SodaM.EtoR.. (1990) ‘Malignant tumours during the first two decades of life in the offspring of atomic bomb survivors’American Journal of Human GeneticsVol. 46: 1041–52.
