Table Of ContentEffective Risk
Communication
The Role and
Responsibility of Government
and Nongovernment Organizations
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN RISK ANALYSIS
Sponsored by the Society for Risk Analysis
Volume 1 RISK EVALUATION AND MANAGEMENT
Edited by Vincent T. Covello, Joshua Menkes,
and Jeryl Mumpower
Volume 2 DE MINIMIS RISK
Edited by Chris Whipple
Volume 3 CARCINOGEN RISK ASSESSMENT
Edited by Curtis C. Travis
Volume 4 EFFECTIVE RISK COMMUNICATION: The Role and Responsibility
of Government and Nongovernment Organizations
Edited by Vincent T. Covello, David B. McCallum,
and Maria T. Pavlova
Effective Risk
Communication
The Role and
Responsibility of Government
and Nongovernment Organizations
Edited by
Vincent T. Covello
Center for Risk Communication
Division of Environmental Sciences
School of Public Health
Columbia University
New York, New York
David 8. McCallum
The Institute for Health Policy Analysis
Georgetown University Medical Center
Washington, D.C.
and
Maria T. Pavlova
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
New York, New York
Sponsored by
The Task Force on Environmental Cancer
and Heart and Lung Disease
Plenum Press • New York and London
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Workshop on the Role of Government in Health Risk Communication and Public
Education (1987: Washington, D.C.)
Effective risk communication: the role and responsibility of government and non
government organizations / edited by Vincent T. Covello, David B. McCallum, and
Maria T. Pavlova; sponsored by the Task Force on Environmental Cancer and Heart
and Lung Disease.
p. cm. - (Contemporary issues in risk analysis; v. 4)
"Proceedings of the Workshop on the Role of Government in Health Risk
Communication and Public Education, held January 21-23, 1987, in Washington,
D.C."-T.p. verso.
Includes bibliographies and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-306-48497-1 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4613-1569-8
DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4613-1569-8
1. Health risk communication-Congresses. I. Covello, Vincent T. H. McCallum,
David B., 1943- . III. Pavlova, Maria T. IV. Task Force on Environmental Cancer
and Heart and Lung Disease (U .S.) V. Title. VI. Series.
RA423.2.W67 1987 89-30642
363.3'I-dcI9 CIP
This limited facsimile edition has been issued
for the purpose of keeping this title available
to the scientific community.
1098765432
Proceedings of the Workshop on the Role of Government
in Health Risk Communication and Public Education,
held January 21-23, 1987,
in Washington, D.C.
© 1989 Plenum Press, New York
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1989
A Division of Plenum Publishing Corporation
233 Spring Street, New York, N.Y. 10013
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming,
recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher
Contributors
Frederick W. Allen Office of Policy Analysis, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Washington, D.C. 20460
Elaine Bratic Arkin The Institute for Health Polt9Y Analysis, Georgetown University Medical
Center, Washington, D.C. 20007 .
Michael Baram Center for Law and Technology, Boston University Law School, Boston,
Massachusetts 02215
James D. Callaghan Consultant, New York, New York 10028
Caron Chess Environmental Communication Research Program, New Jersey Agricultural Ex-
periment Station, Cook College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903
Vincent T. Covello Center for Risk Communication, Division of Environmental Sciences,
School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032
Christopher J. Daggett New Jersey Department o.f Environmental Protection, Trenton, New
Jersey 08625
Baruch Fischhoff Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Camegie-Mellon Univer-
sity, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
Allan D. Franks State of Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Columbus, Ohio
43266-1049
Peter D. Galbraith Connecticut Department of H~~th Services, Hartford, Connecticut 06106
Billie Jo Hance Environmental Communication Re~earch Program, New Jersey Agricultural
Experiment Station, Cook College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903
Dale Hattis Center for Technology, Policy and Indu§m.al Development, Massachusetts In-
stitute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 07139
Barry L. Johnson Agency for Toxic Substances amI Dise!lse Registry, Public Health Service,
Atlanta, Georgia 30333
Roger E. Kasperson Center for Technology, Environm~ftt, and Development, Clark Univer-
sity , Worcester, Massachusetts 01610
James R. Marshall Office of External Programs, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Region II, New York, New York 10278
vi Contributors
James O. Mason Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia 30333
David 8. McCallum The Institute for Health Policy Analysis, Georgetown University Medi-
cal Center, Washington, D.C. 20007
Raymond R. Neutra California State Department of Health Services, Berkeley, California
94704
Ingar Palmlund Center for Technology, Environment, and Development, Clark University,
Worcester, Massachusetts 01610
Maria Pavlova U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region II, New York, New York
10278
Peter M. Sandman Environmental Communication Research Program, New Jersey Agri
cultural Experiment Station, Cook College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
08903
Robert J. Scheuplein Office of Toxicological Sciences, U.S. Food and Drug Administra-
tion, Washington, D.C. 20204
Paul A. Schulte National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, Ohio
45226
Paul Slavic Decision Research, Inc., Eugene, Oregon 97401
Arthur C. Upton New York University Medical Center, New York, New York 10016
Thomas Wilson Elkhart County Solid Waste Disposal, Elkhart, Indiana 46517
Alvin L. Young Office of Agricultural Biotechnology, U.S.D.A., Washington, D.C. 20250
Foreword
One of the greatest challenges facing those concerned with health and environmental risks
is how to carry on a useful public dialogue on these subjects. In a democracy, it is the
public that ultimately makes the key decisions on how these risks will be controlled. The
stakes are too high for us not to do our very best.
The importance of this subject is what led the Task Force on Environmental Cancer
and Heart and Lung Disease to establish an Interagency Group on Public Education and
Communication. This volume captures the essence of the "Workshop on the Role of
Government in Health Risk Communication and Public Education" held in January 1987.
It also includes some valuable appendixes with practical guides to risk communication. As
such, it is an important building block in the effort to improve our collective ability to
carry on this critical public dialogue.
Lee M. Thomas
Administrator, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency,
and Chairman, The Task Force on Environmental
Cancer and Heart and Lung Disease
Preface
The Task Force on Environmental Cancer and Heart and Lung Disease is an interagency
group established by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977 (P.L. 95-95). Congress
mandated the Task Force to recommend research to determine the relationship between
environmental pollutants and human disease and to recommend research aimed at reduc
ing the incidence of environment-related disease. The Task Force's Project Group on
Public Education and Communication focuses on education as a means of reducing or
preventing disease.
The Project Group, chaired by Dr. Maria Pavlova of the U. S. Environmental Protec
tion Agency, sponsored a workshop to explore existing federal risk communication ac
tivities, identify gaps in research and practice that need to be addressed, and develop
effective strategies for interprogram and interagency cooperation in risk communication
activities. The workshop, held in Alexandria, Virginia, on January 21-23, 1987, in
volved government policy-makers, program administrators, and public health profes
sionals from federal, state, and local governments, as well as experts in risk communica
tion from the academic community, citizen and environmental groups, media, business,
and industry.
This report was compiled and edited by Dr. Vincent Covello of the Center for Risk
Communication at Columbia University, Dr. David McCallum of the Institute for Health
Policy Analysis at the Georgetown University Medical Center, and Dr. Pavlova. The
views expressed are those of the individual authors and should not be construed as repre
senting any official agency position.
The support of Dr. Scott Baker (U. S. Environmental Protection Agency and Chair
person of the Working Group of the Task Force on Environmental Cancer and Heart and
Lung Disease) is recognized, and the expert assistance of Ms. Joanna Fringer, Ms. Kay
Marshall, and Ms. Dori Steele (Technical Resources, Inc.) in the preparation of the manu
script is gratefully acknowledged.
Vincent T. Covello
David B. McCallum
Maria T. Pavlova
Contents
I. OVERVIEW
1. Principles and Guidelines for Improving Risk
Communication............................................. 3
Vincent T. Covello, David B. McCallum, and Maria Pavlova
II. PERSPECTIVES ON GOVERNMENT RISK COMMUNICA TION
2. The Federal Role in Risk Communication and Public
Education................................................... 19
James O. Mason
3. Communicating with the Public on Health Risks 27
Arthur C. Upton
4. The Role of Risk Communication in Environmental Gridlock.... 31
Christopher J. Daggett
5. Risk Communication: Moving from Theory to Law to Practice 37
Michael Baram
6. Hazard versus Outrage in the Public Perception of Risk. . . . . . . . . 45
Peter M. Sandman
III. GOVERNMENT RISK COMMUNICA TlON PROGRAMS
7. The Government as Lighthouse: A Summary of Federal Risk
Communication Programs ................................... 53
Frederick W. Allen
xii Contents
8. Qualitative Risk Assessment: Experiences and Lessons 53
Barry L. Johnson
9. De Minimis Risk from Chemicals in Food. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Robert J. Scheuplein
10. Interactions between State and Federal Programs 73
Peter D. Galbraith
11. Interactions between Community/Local Government and
Federal Programs ........................................... 77
Thomas Wilson
12. A White House PeJ;spective on Risk Communication. . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Alvin L. Young
IV. CASE STUDIES OF GOVERNMENT RISK COMMUNICA TION
13. The Newark Dioxin Case ........ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
James R. Marshall
14. A Landfill Case in California 95
Raymond R. Neutra
15. Phosphorus Release in Miamisburg, Ohio..................... 101
Allan D. Franks
16. Individual Notification of Workers Exposed to
2-Naphthylamine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Paul A. Schulte
V. THE RISK COMMUNICA TION PROCESS
17. Helping the Public Make Health Risk Decisions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Baruch Fischhoff
18. Scientific Uncertainties and How They Affect Risk
Communication ............................................. 117
Dale Hattis
19. Translation of Risk Information for the Public: Message
Development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Elaine Bratic Arkin
