Thousands of lives could have been saved and extensive damage to
ecosystems avoided if the "precautionary principle" had been
applied on the basis of early warnings, say the authors of the
2013 Late Lessons from Early warnings report published on
Wednesday. They accuse industry of working to corrupt or
undermine regulation by spinning and manipulating research and
applying pressure on governments for financial benefit. "[It
has] deliberately recruited reputable scientists, media experts
and politicians to call on if their products were linked to
possible hazards. Manufacturing doubt, disregarding scientific
evidence of risks and claiming over-regulation appear to be a
deliberate strategy for some industry groups and think tanks to
undermine precautionary decision-making." The peer-reviewed
study, which is aimed to improve understanding of scientific
information, looks at 18 areas including radiation from mobile
phones, birth control pills in the aquatic environment, and
invasive species. It found that governm