Low Risks, High Public Concern? The Cases of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), Heavy Metals, and Nanotech Particles

Abstract

Risk is an ancient, historic concept. It is a primitive in the sense that almost everybody has some subjective understanding of what is meant by risk. There are, however, different definitions and notions of risk. For instance, the notion of pure risk only considers negative events or losses. The term speculative risk, on the other hand, incorporates the evaluation of both benefit and harm. Furthermore, it is important to distinguish between science-based risk assessments and subjective, individual and public risk perception. Scientific risk assessment consists of well-defined procedures and methods for assessing the likelihood of future negative events. Individual and public risk perceptions are affected by what is officially stated about the effects of certain pollutants, technologies or instances. Risk assessment and risk perception are to some extent interrelated. We introduce some fundamentals of risk assessment and risk perception and report what is known about these in the significant cases of heavy metals, POPs and nanotechnology. To date, the three cases do not represent stigmatized risks, as is the case with nuclear material or genetically modified organisms. But all three cases embody significant environmental risks. We will report on possible risks and on the research examining public risk perception.