DREPTUL LA INTEGRITATE COGNITIVĂ ÎNTR-UN MEDIU TOXIC: CONEXIUNI ÎNTRE NEURODREPTURI ŞI DREPTUL MEDIULUI
THE RIGHT TO COGNITIVE INTEGRITY IN A TOXIC ENVIRONMENT: CONNECTIONS BETWEEN NEURORIGHTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

Summary/Abstract: This study explores the intersection between neurorights theory and environmental law, starting from the premise that the cognitive integrity of the human being constitutes a distinct legal value susceptible to protection through specific normative instruments. The degradation of the environment through neurotoxic substances — lead, mercury, organophosphate pesticides, fine particulate air pollution — produces scientifically documented effects on the central nervous system, irreversibly impairing cognitive capacities, particularly in children and vulnerable individuals. This reality demands, in our view, a reconfiguration of the existing legal framework so as to coherently integrate the instruments of environmental law with the emerging principles of neurorights. The article analyses, in the first place, the doctrinal foundations of neurorights, with emphasis on the right to cognitive liberty and the right to mental integrity, as developed in international scholarly literature and in regulatory initiatives of states such as Chile. Secondly, the legal mechanisms of environmental law at international, European and domestic levels are examined through the lens of their capacity to afford protection against neurotoxic pollution. Thirdly, the study proposes an integrated perspective, arguing that the right to a healthy environment, enshrined in Article 35 of the Romanian Constitution and in Government Emergency Ordinance No 195/2005, must be interpreted in the light of the right to cognitive integrity, so that the protection of the human nervous system against chemical environmental aggressions acquires an autonomous legal basis and enhanced normative effectiveness. The study's conclusions advocate for the development of an interdisciplinary legal framework that recognizes neurological vulnerability as a specific dimension of human vulnerability in the face of environmental risks.

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