Public attitudes towards chemical hazards.

Public concern over chemical hazards is increasing in a context where overall life expectancy has rapidly improved. However, people's expectations of safety continue to exceed the presently attained levels and a mistrust of technological expertise is pervasive. Paradoxically this may arise because the ordinary person has assimilated scientific notions of causality that partially replace religious or magical explanations for accidents and catastrophes. The public's perceptions of risk frequently diverge considerably (in either direction) from the probabilistic risk assessments made by engineers and scientists. Both assessments are usually wrong: reconciliation rather than confrontations should be sought. The public is not 'irrational', it has different reasons and values. A brief view is given of the methodology and main findings of research on perceived risk, both comparative approaches and those where perceptions of a single hazard are explored in detail. Illustrative studies of community attitudes to pesticides, chemical food additives and of people's beliefs about nuclear power are outlined.