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The difficulty of harnessing science to meet the needs of public policy lies partially in a lack of understanding of science and the research that produces it, by both policy makers and the general public. But this difficulty is a far-reaching one, especially in the field of environmental health, where the issue lies in attempting to answer two tricky questions: (i) How can the knowledge used to assess risks and choose between risk management options be selected and summarized in a way that prevents bias and takes social issues into account?; and (ii) How can knowledge gaps be filled within a suitable timeframe for a given action? We propose an inventory of imperfect responses to current issues and set out prospects for the future.