title: Accounting for susceptibility in risk assessment: The need for full disclosure.
abstract: Many Environmental Laws create the unrealistic expectation that science can be used to determine `safety'. The many uncertainties surrounding environmental risks, as well as individual, group and societal differences about what is considered `safe', make it inevitable that policy decisions must be made. It is appropriate that such decisions be shaped by politics and social issues, as well as be informed by science and economics, but care should be taken to distinguish between policy and fact. Not much is known about the nature and magnitude of environmental susceptibilities. Credible environmental decisions require that scientists, risk assessors and decision-makers acknowledge this, and that they take care to distinguish policy calls from scientific fact.
authors.affiliation: Office of the Science Advisory Board, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1400), Washington DC 20460, USA.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Fowle Iii