Rome Italy

PLENARY SESSIONS
17:40 - 18:45 SALA SINOPOLI
PLENARY SESSION “AFTER GLYPHOSATE: EVIDENCE EVALUATION FOR PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY”
Chairs: Michal Krzyzanowski, Manolis Kogevinas
Discussants: Erik Lebret (RIVM Netherlands) and Mireille B. Toledano (Imperial College UK)
Rodolfo Saracci, IARC, Lyon, France
The hazards of hazard identification
Hazard identification , the first step in the path towards control of toxic exposures, is itself
composed by multiple steps involving problematic aspects that range from fundamental
epistemology of causation in science to operational questions on how to evaluate results
from studies affected by minor or major shortcomings . Three problematic aspects,
potentially ‘hazardous’ for the process of hazard identification, are worth discussion in
view of recent methodological developments and case-based debates, notably in the area
of carcinogens identification. First how grading of the evidence for or against toxicity in
humans may combine criteria to define causality with empirical testability of causal
Rodolfo Saracci
hypotheses. Second how prior assumptions, often implicit, about possible toxicity may
influence the interpretation of available results, in particular from epidemiological
investigations. Third how objective conditions of conflict of interest may even inadvertently affect the judgment of scientists
taking part in the identification process. Clarity about these aspects can help to prevent distortions resulting in false
negative or false positive hazard identifications.
Dr. Rodolfo Saracci qualified as an MD, followed by work and a specialty in internal medicine and by a postgraduate
degree in medical statistics. He ‘discovered’ epidemiology at the MRC Statistical Research Unit in London - directed by
the late Sir Richard Doll - that he had joined for training in clinical trials methodology. His extended career as a research
epidemiologist has been principally developed at the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon
as a staff member and Chief of the Unit of Analytical Epidemiology. He is currently Senior Visiting Scientist at IARC where
he also chaired the Ethics Review Committee. His main research has been on cancers in relation to the general, domestic
and occupational environment, interactions between carcinogens and methods of exposure assessment in the context of
epidemiological studies. He has also kept an active interest on ethical issues in epidemiology and a continuous involvement
in teaching of epidemiological methods: in 1988 he founded the European Educational Programme in Epidemiology of
which he has been the Director until 2013 and is currently a teacher. He is a Fellow of the UK Faculty of Public Health and
has been President of the ADELF, Association des Épidémiologistes de Langue Française and of the IEA, International
Epidemiological Association.
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