*Ropeik & Associates, Concord, Massachusetts 01742
†Harvard Extension School Program in Environmental Management, Cambridge, Massachusetts 01742
For correspondence via E-mail: [email protected].
Editor's Note: Risk perception is a critical interface between scientific facts and personal opinions and values. As a science that generates data to identify potential hazards to human and environmental health, toxicologists find themselves integrally and intricately engaged in translating the concepts of risk to the general public. However, the underlying, innate, and individual reaction to information about hazard or risk is an area that toxicologists may not readily appreciate or understand. In this two-part article for this month's 50th anniversary review, David Ropeik provides an overview of risk perception and challenges toxicologists to think beyond rational instincts to improve how we engage in communicating risks to the general public. The second part of the article is a response to this challenge by Dr Heather Wallace. In tandem, the articles are designed to help toxicologists understand the scope and gravity of issues surrounding the psychology of risk perception so as to stimulate ideas and strategies on how to improve this important interface. With better understanding and recognition of these issues, we can strive for more effective risk assessment and risk communication.
Received January 1, 2011
Accepted February 2, 2011
