Legal challenges in minimizing the impact of past (accumulated) environmental damage on human health and the human genome

The article is devoted to the study of theoretical problems of legal provision of biological safety as a component of environmental safety in the elimination of past (accumulated) environmental damage and minimizing its impact on human health and its genome. It is noted that at present the potential and real risks and threats of objects of accumulated environmental harm, which can cause harm to human life and health, are not identified, also the threats and risks affecting the favorable (natural) state of the environment and to ensure environmental and biological safety are not systematized. Thus, given the potential danger of objects of accumulated environmental damage, the tasks associated with the protection of natural complexes and sites, natural ecosystems, biodiversity conservation, as well as the protection of human health, currently acquire particular relevance. The necessity of solving these tasks has been repeatedly noted as the highest priority of the state environmental policy in the state strategic planning documents. Based on the results of the study of the main areas of (potential and real) impact of past (accumulated) environmental harms on human health and its genome, a conclusion was made that, taking into account global climate change, given the expansion of economic and other activities, including the use of genomic technologies, it is actually impossible to assess the level of negative impact of objects of accumulated environmental harms on the human genome. To address this problem, the authors formulated conceptual proposals to define the main objectives of state policy in the field of minimizing the impact of past (accumulated) environmental damage on the environment and human health, including through the legislative consolidation of measures to ensure biological and genetic safety, which should be recognized as an integral and integral part of environmental security in the modern expanding paradigm of environmental law.

Keywords

Authors

References