the study group `environmental standards established in 1987 as an expert panel of the german academy of sciences and technology in berlin compiled this book on setting environmental standards that has been literally written and authorized by all group members. the group consisted of eleven individuals representing the following disciplines: physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, law, psychology, and sociology/economics. firstly, environmental standards summarizes the state of the art in each discipline with respect to the topic of environmental standards, limited to one major case study: the effects of ionizing radiation. within the subject of ionizing radiation and its impacts, the book intends to provide a complete and accurate picture of the various health impacts and environmental problems. second, this volume provides guidelines for a desirable procedure that would guarantee the inclusion of all scientific data and reasoning but would also assure the incorporation of social costs, cultural values and individual preferences in the decision making process. the study includes a section that describes an analytic framework for collective decision making under uncertainty and a section on institutional innovations necessary to implement a procedure for integrating scientific input and rational decision making. the procedural suggestions are focused around a new environmental institution that is empowered to initiate and promulgate new standards on the basis of a present process of linking scientific data with social values and preferences. the volume represents a rare example of integrating the natural and social sciences and developing consistent and complete procedural guidelines for standard setting in a democratic society.