These methods include using additive or synergistic models of toxicity, using toxic equivalency factors for selected chemicals, and using models for pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic interactions. The search for truth in science and in law can become a philosophical battlefield and a practical nightmare when the two disciplines collide in the courtroom. Efforts underway include a reference manual for judges on scientific methods and the peer review process to help them assess scientific evidence, establishment of guidelines for using court-appointed scientific experts and special masters, and identification of the characteristics of potential sources of toxic tort litigation to aid judges in case management. The wave of the future is known as the Internet, a computer-linked gateway to a sea of information.
Science is now on-line.
EHP will be available on-line on the Internet in 1995. Since crystalline silica was labeled a probable carcinogen, warning labels on sand and related products have been required, and time, money, and effort have been expended to quantitate risks from low exposure. They argue that limited regulatory resources should be targeted at occupational exposures that pose higher risk. They cite as examples tumor induction in animals by tobacco smoke and extracts, suggestive molecular epidemiology data for oncogene and tumor-suppressor gene mutations in smokers, and the occurrence of adducts between DNA and tobacco extract chemicals in the lungs and bladder of smokers. They also acknowledge that differences in metabolic capability among people play a role in modulating an individual's susceptibility to tobacco carcinogens.