Human endeavour has now created environments that pose a threat to the human intellect. Lead, iodine deficiency, and nuclear pollution are recognised problems, but there are many others. Current debate is largely in the domain of medicine. The purpose of this paper is to provide the basis for a victimological perspective. Causation is the key concept, and therefore the main theme of this discussion. There are four relevant models of causation — scientific, social, environmental, and legal — within which this paper outlines the main literature, current thinking, associated difficulties, and possible developments within a victim perspective. The paper proceeds from a definition of ‘environmental victims’, and specific questions are raised concerning the status of the unborn victim, burdens of proof, and laws which diminish victims' rights. Finally, key principles, to ensure the security of our individual and collective ‘intellectual capital’ through national and international law, are proposed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AECB (1991). Tritium releases from the Pickering nuclear generating station and birth defects and infant mortality in nearby communities 1971–1988. Atomic Energy Control Board, Ottowa.
2.
APA (1989). Environmental toxins: psychological, behavioural, and sociocultural aspects, 1973–1989. American Psychological Association; Washington.
3.
BartenF. (1992). Environmental lead exposure of children in Managua, Nicaragua: an urban health problem. CIP-Gegevens Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Den Haag.
4.
BatesD.B. (1994). Environmental risks and public policy. University of Washington Press; Seattle.
5.
BergerM. (1991). Behind bars before birth. The Observer (UK), 18 August, 44.
6.
BirnieP.W.BoyleA.E. (1992). International law and the environment. Clarendon Press; Oxford.
7.
BMJ (1994). Brain damage found in victims of Bhopal disaster. British Medical Journal, 308, 359.
8.
BowcottO. (1992). Award for injury to unborn child. The Guardian (UK), May 20, 20.
9.
BrahamsD. (1988). Radiation: proving the causal link with cancer. New Law Journal, 12 August, 570–3.
10.
Bryce-SmithD. (1985). Heavy metals and brain function. In Nutritional, chemical & para-medical influences on mental retardation (Wynn-JonesA., ed.) pp. 43–55. MENCAP; Taunton.
11.
BullockA.StallybrassO.TrombleyS. (1988). Modern Thought. Fontana Press, Hammersmith.
12.
BurgdorfR.L. (ed.) (1980). The legal rights of handicapped persons, cases, materials and text. Paul Brookes: Baltimore.
13.
CapekS.M. (1993). The “environmental justice” frame: a conceptual discussion and an application. Social Prohlems, 40, 5–24.
14.
CoggonD.RoseG.BarkerD.J.P. (1993). Epidemiology for the uninitiated. BMJ Publishing Group; London.
15.
ConnorS. (1994). Crimes of violence: birth of a solution. The Independent, March 8, 19.
16.
EmmetD. (1984). The Effectiveness of Causes. Macmillan; London.
17.
FarringtonD.P. (1989). The origins of crime: the Cambridge study in delinquent development. Research Bulletin, 27, 29–32.
18.
FattahE.A. (1989). On some neglected types of victimization — Victims of abuse of power. In The plight of victims in modern society (FattahE.A., ed.) pp. 29–73. Macmillan; London.
19.
FryersT. (1984). The Epidemiology of Severe Intellectual Impairment. Academic Press; London.
20.
FryersT. (1990). Mental retardation and epidemiology. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 3, 595–602.
21.
FryersT. (1992). Epidemiological research related to mental retardation. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 5, 650–655.
22.
FryersT. (1993). Recent Research in Epidemiology. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 6, 644–649.
23.
GallagherC. (1993). American Ground Zero: the Secret Nuclear War. The MIT Press; Massachusetts.
24.
GEAG (1993). Iodine deficiency in Trans Saryu plains: health problems. UNICEF; Gorakpur.
GreavesM. (1993). Scientists believe infant leukaemia begins before birth. The Independent (UK), 27 May, 4.
27.
Guardian, The (1992a.). Woman killed unborn baby by kicking neighbour in stomach. The Guardian (UK), May 15, 2.
28.
Guardian, The (1992b.). A child disabled by pre-natal injury can sue for damages. The Guardian (UK), May 20, 4.
29.
Guardian, The (1992c.). Baby crippled. The Guardian (UK), May 12, 2.
30.
HagerG. (1993). Umwelthaftungsgetz: the new German environmental liability law. Environmental Liability, 1, 233.
31.
HartH.L.A.HonoreA.M. (1985). Causation in the Law. Oxford University Press; Oxford.
32.
HetzelB.S. (1989). The Story of Iodine Deficiency. Oxford; Oxford University Press.
33.
HodgkinsonN. (1993). Mother wins 20-year battle against vaccine drug giant‥The Sunday Times (UK), 25 April.
34.
HolowinskyI.Z. (1993). Chemobyl nuclear catastrophe and the high risk potential for mental retardation. Mental Retardation, 31, 1, 35–40.
35.
HookE.B. (1976). Untitled. Science, 191, 566–567.
36.
IslamS.DurkinM.S.ZamanS.S. (1993). Socioeconomic status and the prevalence of mental retardation in Bangladesh. Mental Retardation, 31, 6, 412–417.
37.
ICCIDD (1994). Iodine deficiency causes 30,000 still births. Indian Express, March 19.
38.
JohnsonA. (1994). Couple sue for “late birth”. The Guardian (UK), Feb. 15, 4.
39.
JohnsonE.M. (1986). Perspectives on reproductive and developmental toxicity. Toxicology & Industrial Health, 2, 453–482.
40.
KallenB. (1988). Epidemiology of Human Reproduction. Paul Brookes; Baltimore.
41.
KarkR.A.P.MenanN.K.KishiwakaM. (1977). Mental retardation and mercury. In Research to Practice (MitlerP., ed.). U.P.P.; Baltimore.
42.
KurzelR.B.CetruloC.L. (1981). The effect of environmental pollutants on human reproduction, including birth defects. Environmental Science and Technology, 15, 626.
43.
LansdownR.YuleW. (1986). Lead toxicity: history and environmental impact. Johns Hopkins University Press; Baltimore.
44.
Law Commission (1973). Injuries to unborn children — working paper no. 47. The Law Commission; London.
45.
LinkA. (1991). Chlorine, pollution and the parents of tomorrow. WEN; London.
46.
LuncstromR-M. (1993). Environmental liability in Sweden: context and main features. Environmental Liability, 1, 117–122.
47.
MacaraA.W. (1976). Lead pollution: Report of Welsh Community Medicine Conference. Newsletter of Faculty of Community Medicine; London.
48.
MackieJ.L. (1974). The Cement of the Universe. Clarendon; Oxford.
McBrideG. (1994). US takes Gulf war illnesses seriously. British Medical Journal, 308, 6927, 493–4.
51.
MOLI (1991). Lead on the job. Massachusetts Department of Labour and Industries; Massachusetts.
52.
MillerC.E. (1989). Radiological risks and civil liability. Journal of Environmental Law, 1, 1, 10–24.
53.
MillsH. (1994). Families sue over mercury poisoning. The Independent on Sunday (UK), 30 Jan., 10.
54.
NAS (1992). Environmental NeurotoxicologyNational Academy Press; Washington D.C.
55.
Nordic (1992). Nordic Criteria for reproductive toxicity. Nordic Council of Ministers; Copenhagen.
56.
NRC (National Research Council) (1990). Health effects of exposure to low levels of ionizing radiation. National Academic Press; Washington.
57.
PaulM.E. (1990). Reproductive fitness and risk. Occupational medicine: state of the art reviews, 3, 2, 323–340.
58.
PaulM.E. (1993). Overview: conference on occupational and environmental reproductive hazards. Environmental health perspectives Supplements, 101 (Suppl. 2), 171–174.
59.
PaulM.HimmelsteinJ. (1988). Reproductive hazards in the workplace: what the practitioner needs to know about chemical exposures, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 71, 6(part 1), 921M196938.
RimmerA. (1994). Secret horror of a city called 19. Sunday Mirror (UK), 12–13.
62.
RoganW.J.BethC.G. (1988). Congenital poisoning by polychlorinated biphenyls and their contaminants in Taiwan, Science, 241, 334–336.
63.
RossiP.H.WrightJ.D.Weber-BurdinE.PereiraJ. (1983). Victims of the Environment: Loss from Natural Hazards in the United States. New York; Plenum Press.
64.
SaxenaR. (1991). Excess fluoride leaves in its wake a village of cretins. Sunday Observer (India), Dec. 15–21, 3.
65.
SchneiderM-J. (1979). Persistent Poisons. New York Academy of Sciences; New York.
66.
SeligsohnD. (1994). Insidious poisoner at home. The European, 4–10 Feb., 16.
67.
SextonS. (1993). The reproductive hazards of industrial chemicals: the politics of protection. The Ecologist, 23, 6, 212–218.
68.
SkerfvingS. (1988). Mercury in women exposed to methylmercury through fish consumption, and in their new-born babies and breast milk. Bulletin Environmental Contamination Toxicology, 41, 475.
69.
SternerR. (1976). Social and economic conditions of the mentally retarded in selected countries. UN/ILSMH; Brussels.
70.
StoneC.D. (1972). Should trees have standing? towards legal rights for natural objects. Southern California Law Review, 59, 1–154.
71.
TanY.H. (1992). Children have right to sue for pre-natal injuries. The Independent (UK), 8 April, 32.
72.
TeffH.MunroC. (1976). Thalidomide: the Legal Aftermath. Saxon House; Teakfield.
73.
TisdallS. (1994). Iraq “used US biotoxins in Gulf war”. The Guardian (UK), Feb. 11, 13.
74.
TomlinsonR. (1995). More than eight million Chinese people have reduced IQ levels because of ID shortage. British Medical Journal, 310 (21), 148.
75.
UN (1991). Document E/CN.4Sub 2/1991/31, 37.
76.
VelgaM.M.MeechJ.A. (1994). Mercury pollution from deforestation. Nature, 368, 816–817.
77.
WeatherallD.J. (1991). The New Genetics and Clinical Practice. Oxford University Press; Oxford.
78.
WilliamsC. (1996). Environmental victims. Social Problems. Forthcoming, special issue.
79.
WilsonDes (1983). The lead scandal. Heinemann; London.
80.
WHO (1985). Mental retardation: Meeting the Challenge. World Health Organisation; Geneva.
