Advances in forensic toxicology for establishing causality between Great Lakes epizootics and specific persistent toxic chemicals

Populations of fish, wildlife, and humans in the Great Lakes basin have been injured during this century by exposures to organochlorine pollutants. The evidence presented by scientists working on these outbreaks of chemically induced disease has been received with scepticism among officials, who have expressed a desire for a “proven” cause and effect before further costly regulatory and remedial action is taken. Scientists have adapted epidemiological criteria to infer causal relationships between the injury and exposures to specific chemicals. These forensic statements are different from traditional toxicological statements about potential effects. There is a priority need to institutionalize this methodology within governments to complement established risk assessment techniques.