Intentional exposure studies of environmental agents on human subjects: assessing benefits and risks

Environmental Health Research Involving Human Subjects: Ethical Issues

This article reviews some of the ethical issues that arise in environmental health research with human subjects, such as minimizing risks to subjects, balancing benefits and risks in research, intentional exposure studies with human subjects, protecting third parties in research, informing subjects about environmental hazards, communicating health information to subjects, and protecting privacy and confidentiality.

Are the new EPA regulations concerning intentional exposure studies involving children overprotective?

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has adopted new regulations that prevent the agency from conducting or funding intentional exposure research involving children, pregnant women, or fetuses. This commentary argues that these regulations overprotect children, and that the EPA should revise its regulations to bring them into conformity with the Common Rule’s special protections for children.