1 a review of risk perception methodologies and empirical studies focused on risks from chemicals...

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A review of risk perception methodologies and empirical studies focused on risks from

chemicals released from consumer products/articles

Martin Clauberg,

Holger Schütz, Peter M. Wiedemann

Carlos delPozo, Demosthenes Papameletiou

C

C

Risk

http://www.fz-juelich.de/

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Problem statement

• Applications of emerging technology will be (and are currently) incorporated into various consumer products / articles.– classified as chemicals; unintended release is of interest

• Risk management requires sound risk assessments and interdependant upon effective risk communication strategies.

NIRT Workshop 28.08.08 “A review of risk perception method…” Clauberg, Schütz, Wiedemann ©

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Problem statement (2)

• Risk communication failures can be costly– Recalls, loss of trust, societal fragmentation (eg GMO)

• With so much at stake, how can risk management be successful without a proven (evidence-based) risk communication approach?

• Tools and support are needed for risk managers and decision-makers to develop effective risk communication strategies.


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EC Project Overview / Tasks• European Commission’s Health & Consumer Protection

DG and Joint Research Center (JRC-IHCP) are addressing this challenge EIS-ChemRisks

1. Literature search Compile an extensive literature database on risk perception in

risk communication studies, with a strong focus on applied or applicable methodological aspects.

2. Questionnaire survey Create and conduct a questionnaire survey to obtain information

which has not been published to date from key stakeholders in academia, public authorities, non-governmental organizations, and industry.


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EC Project Overview / Tasks (2)

3. Risk perception reference database Merging the results of tasks #1 and #2 together into a

web-accessible knowledge-based database, whereby the information is categorized and indexed.

4. State of the art report To draft and finalize a “state of the art” report that

will review the information and knowledge obtained from the previous tasks.


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Task 1. Literature Search

• So far no bibliographic database is available that is specific to the topic of risk perception studies applicable to risk communication about chemicals in consumer products / articles.

• Literature search in ISI Web of Science®, Ingenta Connect®, Medline, and other bibliographic resources available on the Internet.


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Task 1. Literature Search (2)

• The literature was searched for and grouped into four thematic areas:– general methodology to survey risk perception, – specific risk perception surveys on chemical

risks, – review of current use of risk perception

knowledge in risk communication and decision making related to the safety of chemicals, and

– specification of R&D needs.


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Task 1. Literature Search for General Methodology to Survey Risk Perception


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Task 1. Literature Search for Specific Risk Perception Surveys on Chemical Risks


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Task 1. Literature Search - Results• In toto, the searches yielded 699 candidate references,

– of which 583 were identified in the search for the general methodology of risk perception studies

– and 114 candidate references were found pertaining to risk perception of chemicals, whereby some references have overlapping classifications.

• Of the candidate references, 440 were deemed not relevant to our specific topic. – This quite large number of false positive results indicates that

despite the development of advanced search strings, expert input in the selection process is and will continue to be necessary.

• The remaining literature was supplemented with additional 129 references from our databases.


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Task 1. Literature Search - Conclusions• Large number of references on risk perception studies per se,

but only few (and outdated) studies exist on chemicals in consumer products

• No specific bibliographic database on the subject exists to date, existing databases – be they academic or commercial – do not provide satisfactory coverage, dedicated risk perception subject categories, nor acceptable search results.

• Automated updates utilizing the search strings developed in this project should be able to capture new studies, but will also result in proportionally high rates of false positive results which will require the input and review of a content expert. Categorization and keyword assignment must also be performed by a subject matter expert.


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Task 2. Questionnaire Survey - Objectives

• To find “gray literature”

• To obtain information on the exemplary opinions regarding the current state-of-the-art and practice of risk perception studies in risk communication of selected representatives from: – the regulatory community,

– industry,

– non-governmental organizations,

– and consultants


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Task 2. Questionnaire Survey - Results

• Emailed to over 300 organizations across Europe, who were specifically selected for their known involvement with risk perception or risk communication issues of consumer products.

• Very low questionnaire return rate of less than 20 questionnaires – although most participants that were contacted (email and telephone interviews) were clearly enthusiastic about the topic of the study.


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Task 2. Questionnaire Survey – Results (2)

• On the basis of the small sample of returned surveys, the results suggest that:

– very few gray literature items appear to exist,

– while most organizations are aware of the potential significance of risk perception studies for risk communication, it is treated as an “implicit knowledge” issue,

– only few organizations have dedicated staff with sufficient expertise to address risk perception study results and that the majority of responding organizations do not feel that adequate internal or external motivation, e.g. regulatory requirement, is present.


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Task 2. Questionnaire Survey – Conclusions

• Future efforts to obtain input from organizations that apply risk perception studies should occur with the expressed support of national or EU authorities.

• May need to expand the schedule and funding to allow for individual face-to-face interviews at the different organizations.

• This could also serve as an initial starting point for the development of a European network of expert stakeholders on evidence-based risk perception studies in risk communication of chemicals in consumer products/ articles.


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Task 2. Questionnaire Survey – Conclusions (2)

• Such a network development should go hand-in-hand with the development and expansion of competency centers at national and European authorities.

• These competency centers could also serve as focal points for further methods evaluation & improvements, as well as training and guideline development, which were identified as needs by the respondents in our survey.

• Clearly, more evidence-based risk perception studies are sorely needed in the area of chemicals in consumer products.


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Task 3. Risk Perception Reference DatabaseClassification• Type of source document

• e.g. journal article, book

• Underlying methodology • e.g. psychometric paradigm, intuitive toxicology

• Study type • e.g. experimental, qualitative

• Target groups • e.g. consumers / lay persons, gender differences

• Chemical issue• Endpoints

• perceptions, attitudes & beliefs, behavior

• Special focus • e.g. social amplification, cross-cultural

• R&D research needsNIRT Workshop 28.08.08 “A review of risk perception method…” Clauberg, Schütz, Wiedemann ©

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Task 3. Risk Perception Reference Database


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Task 4. State-of-the-Art Report

• Introduction of the risk perception research field• Approaches

– Psychometric paradigm– Cultural theory of risk– Stigma approach– Intuitive toxicology approach– Mental model approach

• Current perspectives on risk perception– Role of affect in risk perception and– Influence of personality traits

• Risk perception of consumer products containing chemicals


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Task 4. State-of-the-Art Report (2)

• Discussion of approaches– methodological requirements – usefulness for understanding risk perception – and for informing strategies for risk communication

• Our evaluations were performed with the specific focus of chemicals released from consumer products/articles in mind. Within this constraint (could be considered subjective) we evaluated the methods with objective characteristics.


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Psychometric Paradigm• Methodology

– Survey, multiple hazards, multiple risk characteristics

• Usefulness for understanding risk perception– Yields useful information on how different hazards are

perceived (on average) in regard to a specific set of risk characteristics

• Usefulness for informing strategies for risk communication– “Risk” may mean to lay people more than probability

and severity

– Provides little information on how to design risk communication strategies


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Cultural Theory of Risk

• Methodology– Survey, little empirical support for (theoretical)

values orientation groups

• Usefulness for understanding risk perception– Not useful

• Usefulness for informing strategies for risk communication– Not useful


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Stigma Approach• Methodology

– Survey, free associations: images

• Usefulness for understanding risk perception– Not applicable to all risks, but emphasizes the role of

affect in risk perception

• Usefulness for informing strategies for risk communication– Calls attention to the limits of providing factual

information– Emphasizes the role of contextual information

(framing)


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Intuitive Toxicology• Methodology

– Surveys, scientific toxicology intuitive understanding

• Usefulness for understanding risk perception– Provides information where and how much lay perceptions

diverge from scientific toxicology

– Thus, intuitive toxicology can provide a lot of insight about why laypersons think that certain substances are hazardous, and how they belief toxicological effects ‘operate’.

• Usefulness for informing strategies for risk communication– Provides an instructive starting point for designing risk

communication strategies, as it points to the critical issues that have to be addressed in the risk information.


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Mental Model Approach• Methodology

– Focuses on the causal relationships between the various elements which constitute a risk

– Expert model – lay model

• Usefulness for understanding risk perception– Particularly helpful for understanding the reasoning of

laypersons about a risk– Does not address the evaluative aspect of risk perception

• Usefulness for informing strategies for risk communication– Helps to identify the critical points where expert and lay

models about a risk diverge

– Problematic if no unequivocal expert assessment exists


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Confounding issue of uncertainty of “expert” views

• As Rob Goble mentioned, uncertainty is an important topic to contend with in risk communication, especially if different experts disagree.

• Little has been done to address this challenge in risk communication strategies.

• New book by Wiedemann & Schuetz from IMBA project: “The Role of Evidence in Risk Characterization”, Wiley-VCH (www.wiley.com)

• http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-3527320482.html


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Few Studies on Risk Perception of Consumer Products Containing Chemicals

• Only one study found focusing specifically on chemical consumer products

• 3 studies investigating consumer products, including some chemical items

• Chemicals are included as risk items in some of the “general” risk perception studies

• Data outdated• Eurobarometer surveys

– What affects health (Eurobarometer 272a, 2007)– Likelihood of being affected by various risks

(Eurobarometer 238, 2006)


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State-of-the-Art Review – Conclusions

• With the exception of cultural theory, which possesses only little empirical support, all approaches make useful contributions to our understanding of risk perception. However, the approaches differ with regard to their specific focus:– If the interest is in comparing different (groups of)

hazards/risks with regard to particular risk characteristics, the psychometric paradigm offers an adequate methodology. In particular, it allows the inclusion of risk characteristics that are related to affective aspects of risk, which are increasingly considered to be important in recent research. In this regard, the stigma approach offers a useful orientation.


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State-of-the-Art Review – Conclusions (2)

– If the interest is in understanding the beliefs underlying intuitive risk judgments, intuitive toxicology and the mental model approach are appropriate. They can be used to explore the lay understanding of important toxicological concepts and principles and to uncover the causal reasoning that leads people to their risk judgments.


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• The available research so far indicates that risk perception of consumer products containing chemicals is not qualitatively different from risk perception of other hazards.

• However, the number of empirical risk perception studies of chemical consumer products is quite limited.

• In addition, the existing risk perception studies on that issue are older, if not outdated, thus strengthening the call for new research.


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• For designing risk communication strategies for chemical consumer products the intuitive toxicology and the mental model approaches appear most promising, as they are concerned with knowledge structures, which are to be addressed in risk communication.


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Policy recommendations & call for research

• Further empirical research is needed in order to base chemical risk communication (CRC) policies on a reliable platform.

• Theory driven research designs should be applied in order to get meaningful data that help to improve risk communications.

• Social science research should be conducted in close cooperation with toxicologists in order to avoid misconceptions in risk perception and communication studies.


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Policy recommendations & call for research (2)

• Based on our project an EU CRC-database should be implemented on the Internet; maintained and extended for quick access to reliable CRC information.

• More effort should be put into surveying the knowledge about and use of CRC among various stakeholders.


1 a review of risk perception methodologies and empirical studies focused on risks from chemicals...

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