Viscusi examines state regulations for hazard warnings--for foods, drugs, and medical devices--and demonstrates why a federal warnings approach would be preferable.

California's Proposition 65, the first major state warnings effort, requires that manufacturers inform the public about the risks of cancer or reproducive toxity that are posed by their products. Now eight other states have bills pending before their legislatures or are considering measures like Proposition 65. This volume asks, Would such warnings benefit the public? Or would some labeling strategies actually distort customers' perceptions of relative risks and impair their ability to make informed choices?

W. Kip Viscusi is the George G. Allen Professor of Economics at Duke University.