Meanwhile, the standard of proof demanded by the industries that use and disseminate these chemicals is sometimes so high that masses of people suffer their effects in the time it takes to sufficiently prove their harmfulness. In the case of lead alone, the Environmental Defense Fund has noted that thousands of children were poisoned (at a cost of $50 billion to the nation) while we awaited “sufficient” proof to take action.9 As Cochran suggested, there is a better way. The European Union, for instance, requires human safety tests before any new industrial chemical is unleashed into the
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