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Ethics Guidelines in Environmental Epidemiology: Their Development and Challenges We Face

  • Ethics and Policy (M Tondel, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

This review integrates historical developments and key events in bringing ethics into epidemiology in general and into environmental epidemiology in particular. The goal is to provide context for and discern among the various approaches and motivations that drive the need for ethical conduct in support of the public interest.

Recent Findings

The need for ethics guidelines in epidemiology is different from developments in other biomedical-related fields by virtue of its focus on populations rather than on individuals. The need for ethics guidelines in environmental epidemiology as a subspecialty of epidemiology stems from the larger scale of its mission than that of epidemiology per se.

Summary

Ethics guidelines in the field of environmental epidemiology have been established. They articulate not only the profession’s core values and mission, but more specifically, they address the environmental epidemiologist’s obligations to the participants in research, to colleagues, and to employers. They are the product of consensus, scholarship, and diligent stewardship over several decades. The next challenge is ensuring their value and impact. The forces that support professional and institutional success, and the power of special interests, are the major threats to achieving the goals of ethical conduct and research for the public good. In environmental epidemiology, these threats have global implications.

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Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: •Of importance ••Of major importance

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Stephanie M. Hikel for assistance in formatting and editing.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Epidemiology International, Inc., 111 Lake Front Drive, Hunt Valley, MD, 21030, USA

    Shira Kramer

  2. Sterilex Corporation, Hunt Valley, MD, USA

    Shira Kramer

  3. University of Alberta, 9-9535 217 Street NW, Edmonton, AB, T5T 4P5, Canada

    Colin L. Soskolne

  4. University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia

    Colin L. Soskolne

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  1. Shira Kramer
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Correspondence to Shira Kramer.

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Conflict of Interest

Shira Kramer is the President and an owner of Epidemiology International, Inc. (EI). She has served as an expert witness on behalf of Plaintiffs in toxic, environmental, and pharmaceutical tort litigation. EI has performed research under contract for the US CDC, pharmaceutical companies, and private corporations.

Colin L. Soskolne is retired and unfunded since 2013. He served for a few years until 2012 as an expert witness in litigation on behalf of plaintiffs, the monies from which generally went into a University-managed research account. As a professional legacy, he has been bankrolling the International Joint Policy Committee of the Societies of Epidemiology (IJPC-SE) (2011–2016) as a voluntary professional society in the hope that it will become self-sustaining in the pursuit of science in the public interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Ethics and Policy

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Kramer, S., Soskolne, C.L. Ethics Guidelines in Environmental Epidemiology: Their Development and Challenges We Face. Curr Envir Health Rpt 4, 142–155 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40572-017-0138-z

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