Pollution Management

A variety of approaches have been developed to manage existing pollution. These include punishment of polluters through regulation, taxation, fines, toxic tort suits, and other disincentives; encouragement of nonpolluting approaches through tax and other incentives; and education of the public. The increased awareness of the potential harmful effects of pollution has had a major impact on industries and on individuals, particularly the young, who have led the way in activities such as recycling. Risk assessment has developed as a useful technique to estimate the risks of environmental pollutants and to establish priorities for environmental control and remediation efforts.

These efforts to manage existing pollution are largely a form of secondary prevention in that the pollution already exists and the focus is on lessening the extent or the effects. Primary prevention of pollution has occurred through approaches that, like any form of primary prevention, are both highly effective and difficult to quantify. The United States National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 was the first major action arising out of the new environmental movement aimed at avoiding unwanted environmental consequences. It contained the requirement that significant newly proposed federal activities have an environmental impact statement prepared in advance, the goal being the incorporation of environmental concerns into all planning processes and the avoidance of those activities that would have an adverse impact.

Advances in science have had a significant primary preventive effect, in part through providing assessment tools of use in preventing the development of new harmful products by the chemical industry. As examples, a basic understanding of the role of mutation in cancer and recognition of the structural aspects resulting in the environmental persistence of chemicals have led the chemical industry to detect and quickly drop out of its development programs those new chemicals that are mutagens or are likely to persist in the environment.

The Precautionary Principle is basic to public health practice, but is also now being advocated as a form of primary prevention of environmental pollution. Control of the more challenging insidious pollutant effects related to the health of the planetary biosphere and to nonpoint sources cannot depend solely upon standard command and control regulatory approaches. Central to avoiding significant long-term consequences to health and the environment is the development of innovative pollution prevention and control strategies, including emissions trading, taxation of consumption and international compacts; better targeting of controls through improved scientific understanding of the processes involved; and a more informed public.