All forms of life require food materials in certain minimum amounts to insure an active life and successful reproduction. Nutrition is concerned with what these materials are, how they function, what effects they have when absent and what happens to them when ingested. During the past two centuries such nutritional disorders as scurvy, beriberi, rickets and pellagra have been discovered, successfully treated and eradicated by physicians in developed countries. In this century, such noted researchers as Rose, Meyerhof and Krebs have contributed enormously to the field of nutrition. Currently, research is evolving new concepts and facts so rapidly that the average practitioner can hardly keep current, even in his own field of medicine. Bona fide research by universities and governmental agen cies has produced voluminous information, much of which seems contra dictory and therefore tends to confuse the general public, particularly in the area of potential carcinogens. This confusion has prompted consumer groups, politicians, and social welfarists to bring pressures and demands on medical schools and prac titioners of medicine to increase their knowledge and concern in the field of nutrition. Taking advantage of and adding to this confusion are the health food faddists and cultists, some only for monetary gain and others with a real religious zeal.

Environmental health decision making can be a complex undertaking, as there is the need to navigate and find balance among three core elements: science, policy, and the needs of the American public. Policy makers often grapple with how to make appropriate decisions when the research is uncertain. The challenge for the policy maker is to make the right decision with the best available data in a transparent process. The Environmental Health Sciences Decision Making workshop, the first in a series, was convened to inform the Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine on emerging issues in risk management, "weight of evidence," and ethics that influence environmental health decision making. The workshop, summarized in this volume, included an overview of the principles underlying decision making, the role of evidence and challenges for vulnerable populations, and ethical issues of conflict of interest, scientific integrity, and transparency. The workshop engaged science interest groups, industry, government, and the academic sector.