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Hormesis and toxic torts

While I find Professor Marchant’s consideration of hormesis in the toxic tort context to be insightful, I disagree with a number of his assumptions – many of which are generally consistent with the Belle generated literature. I am not a scientist, which puts me at a distinct disadvantage in this forum. Nevertheless, the application of hormesis in legal proceedings raises a number of concerns, many of which are addressed herein. Hormesis is generally understood to stand for the proposition that low-level exposures to known toxic chemicals could be ‘beneficial’ to human health. In his paper, Professor Marchant asserts the obvious – application of horemesis in litigation could be a powerful tool in denying liability for alleged injuries deriving from low levels of exposure. I am skeptical as to Professor Marchant’s proposed application of this hypothesis. As an initial matter, there appears to be significant concern in the scientific community about hormesis. For example, some scientists who have reviewed this issue have found, inter alia, that, ‘even if certain lowdose effects were sometimes determined to be beneficial, this finding should not be used to influence regulatory decisions to increase environmental exposures to toxic agents, given factors such as variability in individual susceptibility, variability in individual exposures and the public’s regular exposure to complex mixtures.’1–3 As suggested below, many of these same concerns are relevant in toxic tort litigation. Moreover, it appears that many low-level exposures causing an hormetic effect can actually be detrimental to human health. According to Dr. John Peterson Myers: