The Washington Toxics Coalition embraces the Precautionary Principle as the basis of our approach to human and environmental health. In its simplest form the Precautionary Principle calls for thoughtful decision-making to prevent potential harm to humans or the environment. The mission and guiding principles of WTC, similar to the Precautionary Principle, promote the use of less-harmful alternatives, careful consideration of all the science, acknowledgement of scientific uncertainty, and community involvement in the decision-making process. This section of our website explains the philosophical foundation that supports our work and shows how it is being put into practice around the world.

Definitions of the Precautionary Principle

"In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation."

-- Principle 15: Rio Declaration, 1992.

"When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause-and-effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.

In this context the proponent of an activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof.

The process of applying the Precautionary Principle must be open, informed and democratic and must include potentially affected parties. It must also involve an examination of the full range of alternatives, including no action."

-- Wingspread Statement on the Precautionary Principle, Wingspread conference in Racine, Wisconsin, 1998.

The Precautionary Principle includes the following key components:

1. Taking anticipatory action to prevent harm in the face of scientific uncertainty.
2. Exploring alternatives, including the alternative of "no action."
3. Increasing public participation in decision-making.
4. Shifting responsibility for providing evidence to proponents of an activity.

"All scientific work is incomplete -- whether it be observational or experimental. All scientific work is liable to be upset or modified by advancing knowledge. That does not confer upon us a freedom to ignore the knowledge we already have or postpone the action that it appears to demand at a given time."

-- Sir Austin Bradford Hill (1965)