[CPEO-MEF] Science

[Steve@miltoxproj.org]

Hello all:

The new Rachel's Environment and Health News (#726) discusses a recent
Lymphoma Foundation of America summary of the relationship between lymphoma
and pesticides.  What is of interest regarding military environmental issues
is the discussion (in the same issue) about whether science can provide
definitive conclusions about human health dangers.  Issue #726 and others can
be found at http://www.rachel.org (you can also subscribe for email
distribution there). =20

Here's a short relevant clip from the issue:

"Does all this "prove" that exposure to pesticides causes cancer?
No, it doesn't.

In anything as complicated as pesticide exposures or even
cigarette smoke, science can never prove beyond every possible
doubt that X causes Y. There is always room for a researcher
employed by Philip Morris or the Crop Protection Association (the
pesticide trade group) to say, "Couldn't this disease be partly
caused by some factor that you haven't taken into consideration?
Maybe it's partly caused by some factor you haven't even thought
of." And the honest answer must always be, "Yes, there's a slim
chance that it could be." Where chemicals and humans and
ecosystems are concerned, the complexity is enormous, the tools
of science are crude, and what is not known is always much larger
than what is known.

It's time we admitted to ourselves that science will never
provide definitive answers to some of the most important
questions that we face. Still, as individuals and, as a human
society, we DO need answers."

Steve

Steve Taylor
National Organizer
Military Toxics Project
(207) 783-5091

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