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In "Exposed", Mark Schapiro, Editorial Director of the Center for Investigative Reporting, tells the tale of two continents and their approaches towards environmental regulation, and what that means for our health, American business and even relative global power.
Schapiro takes a look at each of the regulatory approaches favored by both the European Union and the United States when it comes to substances ranging from BPA to GMOs to the chemicals in children's toys and cosmetics and beyond, and concludes that, like it or not, product innovation necessitated by Europe's adoption of the precautionary principle leads to not only safer products for people in the European Union, but is also creating a significant competitive advantage for companies overseas over their American competitors, as more and more of the world simply refuses to take the same leap of faith Americans must unfortunately currently take when it comes to new chemicals and substances being rushed onto the market and introduced into our bodies without sufficient prior testing to ensure they won't harm us. For just one recent example, as we're all seeing with BPA now, it's becoming clearer by the day that the current American laissez-faire approach to environmental regulation does not, and will not, work.
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