Print2.2 Treatment of Non-human Subjects and Systems
From 1850 to 1920, roughly 85% of the old-growth forests in the United States were cut down. Much of this lumber fed the early iron and steel mills and resulted in the industrial expansion of the United States, and many of these areas have since been reforested. Nevertheless, this expansion impacted or even eradicated the landscapes and ecosystems of many different species. Further, this exact pattern of rapid deforestation has been occurring in the Amazon rainforest since 1972, beginning with the building of interior highways. (By 2013, approximately 800,000 km2 of rainforest will have been cleared since 1970, roughly the size of France and Italy combined.) The loss of respiration from the trees (keeping humidity in the region constant) has resulted in multiple problems in the Amazon river basin, from extreme flooding to droughts. How do we being to judge the loss of such services that the rainforest itself provides? How do we clearly compare the costs of the loss of such ecological services, such as clean water and protection from floods, to the financial benefits and economic developments such activities bring with them?
Systems as "subjects"
Environmental and ecological systems can be significantly impacted by human intervention. Animals, plants, schools of fish, even entire ecosystems are impacted by human consumption patterns, particularly in the history of energy production. Animals, particularly mice, are continually used to test new drugs, the toxicity of chemical compounds, the potential for cancer from exposure, etc. Further, animals are designed to produce necessary human medicines, such as insulin from pigs, or now even organs in sheep grown with human tissue (20% by genetics) to decrease the chances of organ transplant rejections, and bacteria are being designed to produce ponds of biofuels.
Animals as "subjects"
As discussed previously, we can do our best to ensure human subjects and patients are able to consent to take part in research or a medical procedure, or someone who may represent their best interests can typically speak for that person's wishes (such as towards the end of life, when a person may be impaired). However, thinking about consent for something like a lab mouse or a landscape does not make sense. How would a lab mouse want to be treated? (Probably not how most of them are treated.) Is it right to introduce engineered genetics into the environment that could breed into native species of plants, changing the inherited genetic structure of the plant forever, such as genetically modifying corn engineered for biofuels?
For human subjects research, the Office for Research Protections (ORP) requires research to be approved through the Institutional Review Board (IRB). For animal subjects research, the ORP requires review by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). For environmental based research, such as for biofuels, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is typically conducted on the part of the researcher. (Check to see here if there is a review board for this.) Regardless, procedures for assessing environmental factors need to be significantly improved, particularly under the principles and goals of sustainability.
Significant Principles
The Three R's for consideration in animal research:
- "Replacement refers to methods that avoid using animals. The term includes absolute replacements (i.e., replacing animals with inanimate systems such as computer programs) as well as relative replacements (i.e., replacing animals such as vertebrates with animals that are lower on the phylogenetic scale).
- Refinement refers to modifications of husbandry or experimental procedures to enhance animal well-being and minimize or eliminate pain and distress.
- Reduction involves strategies for obtaining comparable levels of information from the use of fewer animals or for maximizing the information obtained from a given number of animals (without increasing pain or distress) so that in the long run fewer animals are needed to acquire the same scientific information."
Source: Committee for the Update of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (2010). Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, Eighth Edition.
The six steps to conducting an Environmental Impact Assessment:
- Identify potential environmental impacts.
- Examine the significance of environmental implications.
- Assess whether impacts can be mitigated.
- Recommend preventive and corrective mitigating measures.
- Inform decision makers and concerned parties about the environmental implications.
- Advise whether development should go ahead.
Source: Based on the United Nations Environment Programme: Abaza, H., Bisset, R., & Sadler, B. (2004). Environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment: towards an integrated approach. Geneva, UNEP.