The ethics of hormesis--no fuss?

Hum Exp Toxicol. 2008 Aug;27(8):643-6. doi: 10.1177/0960327108098490.

Abstract

It has been argued that the phenomenon of hormesis should prompt us to revise current regulatory policy in order to take beneficial effects of small doses of various agents into account. I argue that three problems--the comparative smallness of hormetic effects, the fine-tuning problem, and the problem of aggregated actions--should lead us not to overemphasize the importance of hormesis for policy, and that they, if anything, points towards a non-consequentialist approach to the ethics of risk.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Health Policy / legislation & jurisprudence*
  • Health Policy / trends
  • Humans
  • Risk Assessment / ethics*
  • Toxins, Biological / toxicity*

Substances

  • Toxins, Biological