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Assessing Risks and Benefits

Learn about health risks, benefits, and how risk-benefit assessment can guide better choices. Explore environmental health risk assessment process, toxicity assessment, exposure evaluation, and risk characterization. Understand the impact of different chemicals, dose variations, and precautionary principles. Discover the trade-offs between risks and benefits in decisions for current and future generations.

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Assessing Risks and Benefits

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  1. Assessing Risks and Benefits

  2. Risk vs. Benefit: Tipping the Scales

  3. We make choices everyday…

  4. What are the risks to health? What are the benefits to our every day living? How can risk-benefit assessment help us make better choices?

  5. WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT? A process that evaluates the likelihood that adverse health effects may occur as a result of exposure to a chemical, physical, or biological agent.

  6. Data collection and evaluation Toxicity Assessment Exposure Assessment Risk Characterization Risk Assessment

  7. Toxicity Assessment Toxicology is the study of toxicants and their adverse effects. Adverse effects = Any change from an organism’s normal functioning.

  8. The Dose Makes a Difference

  9. Different chemicals have different concentrations at which they are harmful. • Different people (depending on age, size, genetics, and other health factors) may be more sensitive to chemicals than others.

  10. Toxicologists study the adverse effects of toxicants at many levels: organism, organ, cell, organelle, molecule • Toxicants may interfere with the normal functioning of proteins, lipids, and DNA.

  11. Exposure Assessment Areas of concern when studying exposure: • Frequency • Duration • Routes of entry • Distribution/storage in the body • Probability that exposure will cause adverse effects

  12. Toxicity Assessment Exposure Assessment Risk Characterization Risk Characterization

  13. Risk Characterization • Is an estimate of the likelihood that exposure to a toxicant may cause harm.

  14. Risk is only part of the picture

  15. Benefits • As part of our society, you must make decisions which assess risks, costs, benefits, and trade-offs. • Thalidomide: Leprosy treatment vs. birth defects • Pesticides: Mosquito abatement vs. toxicity

  16. Tradeoffs • Planning to reduce risks to take advantage of the benefits offered by use of a particular ‘product.’ • BOTOX: Neurotoxin vs. wrinkles • Sunlight: Vitamin D and skin cancer

  17. The decisions of this generation may choose tradeoffs that benefit them but pose risks for future generations. • Fossil fuels use vs. global warming • DES vs. reproductive system cancer • Hazardous waste disposal vs. increase of groundwater pollutants

  18. PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE If the consequences of an action are unknown, but judged to have some potential for negative consequences, then it is better to avoid that action.

  19. “Better safe than sorry.”

  20. “The first principle of science is that you must not fool yourself - andyou are the easiest to fool.” - Richard Feynman www.hoagiesgifted.org/brain_research.htm

  21. Dewey, Sellum, Allign, & Howe • Public Relations Firm teams: • Each group of five members Choose your team name

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