ECETOC Annual Technical Meeting: Counting the costs and benefits of chemical control

Environmental protection almost always impacts on the economy: generally for the benefits that accrue there will be some costs to society. There are those who argue that these costs are always worth paying since nature and/or human health should be held above all else. Others take the view that some kind of balance should be struck; that at least costs and benefits should be made clear and taken into account in formulating policy and legislation. Thus in the European Treaty we find, “Community policy on the environment shall aim at a high level of protection taking into account the diversity of situations in the various regions of the Community…..and… shall take account of

• the potential benefits and costs of action or lack of action, 
• the economic and social development of the Community as a whole ….”.

And similar “balancing” requirements have been written into US environmental policy and legislation.
Specifically in the development of the chemicals and ecological legislation for the EU there are provisions for cost-benefit analyses (CBAs) under the broader concept of socio-economic assessments (SEAs). These are of some importance for the ECETOC membership (e.g. in the REACH legislation). But many of the issues for SEAs and CBAs have roots in the social and economic sciences; so is there a role for natural science and for ECETOC? The aim of this workshop is to explore this question.

Contact: Christa.Hennes@ecetoc.org