Fisheries : taking stock / Malcolm MacGarvin -- Radiation : early warnings, late effects / Barrie Lambert -- Benzene : an historical perspective on the American and European occupational setting / Peter F. Infante -- Asbestos : from 'magic' to malevolent mineral / David Gee and Morris Greenberg -- PCBs and the precautionary principle / Janna G. Koppe and Jane Keys -- Halocarbons, the ozone layer and the precautionary principle / Joe Farman -- The DES story : long-term consequences of prenatal exposure / Dolores Ibarreta and Shanna H. Swan -- Antimicrobials as growth promoters : resistance to common sense / Lars-Erik Edqvist and Knud Børge Pedersen -- Sulphur dioxide : from protection of human lungs to remote lake restoration / Arne Semb -- MTBE in petrol as a substitute for lead / Martin Krayer von Krauss and Poul Harremoës -- Early warnings of chemical contamination of the Great Lakes / Michael Gilbertson -- Tributyltin (TBT) antifoulants : a tale of ships, snails and imposex / David Santillo, Paul Johnston and William J Langston -- Hormones as growth promoters : the precautionary principle or a political risk assessment? / Jim W. Bridges and Olga Bridges -- 'Mad cow disease' - 1980s-2000 : how reassurances undermined precaution / Patrick van Zwanenberg and Erik Millstone -- Twelve late lessons -- Conclusions.