The necessity of introducing a legal definition of microplastics into the Food Safety Law. "De lege ferenda" postulates
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31261/PPGOS.2023.02.08Keywords:
microplastics, plastics, polymers, pollution, health risks, legal definitions, legal regulation of microplasticsAbstract
The present work aims to draw attention to the fact that the language of legal texts (intended to describe all known reality) has not kept pace with the progress of science. Legislators use terms taken from the language of science, but do not always consistently assign uniform definitions to them. This can create difficulties in the application of laws involving scientific terminology. An example of such a definition gap is „microplastic” – it appears in acts enacted at the European Union level, but no definition has been formulated to cover the same designatums by a uniform name. This article first presents the legal texts that contain the concept of microplastics, which are recognised – along with pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors – as a new source of health risk present in food consumed by humans. Microplastic is the only one of the aforementioned triad that does not have a legal definition. Attempts at its definition from the scientific and official communities are discussed next. In Poland, the body that first drew attention to the dangers of microplastics and proposed its formal definition was the Supreme Chamber of Control. This article presents some of the conclusions of the Supreme Audit Office report on microplastics as a factor affecting human health. The review concludes with the author’s attempt to formulate a relatively concise definition that is potentially suitable for implementation in the content of national law.
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