The case of asbestos and the difficulty of deciding under uncertain conditions

Authors

  • Izabel Antunes de Mello Canto B. da Fontoura Universidade Cândido Mendes

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2319-0558.v7i1p252-274

Keywords:

asbestos, uncertainty, scientific evolution, environment, precautionary principle

Abstract

Asbestos is a substance widely used by the industries, which injurious effects for people and environment were, for a long time, questioned. In Brazilian federal scope, its regulation is in law 9.055/95, which autorizes, strictily, activities with one of the species of asbestos – the chrysotile. The state of Mato Grosso do Sul, in 2001, edited the law 2.210, forbidding all the species of asbestos. In a inconstitucionality lawsuit, the Brazilian Supreme Court stated the inconstitucionality of lots of legal provisions. In 2007, law 12.684, from the state of São Paulo, also decided to forbid any species of asbestos. In a new inconstitucionality lawsuit, the Brazilian Supreme Court decided in a opposite way: considered the law constitucional, claiming the evolution of scientific studies about asbestos and its species and the consensus that there is not a safe use of the substance. This article analyzes the evolution of the understanding of the Supreme Court about asbestos and its derivatives according to the scientific evolution, approaches the possibility of a federal law to be restricted by a state law and examines the necessity to decide under ignorance, uncertainty and certainty conditions.

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Published

2020-01-29

Issue

Section

ARTIGOS CIENTÍFICOS

How to Cite

The case of asbestos and the difficulty of deciding under uncertain conditions. (2020). Revista Digital De Direito Administrativo, 7(1), 252-274. https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2319-0558.v7i1p252-274