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Section 15: Intuitive Toxicology and Risk Communication

  • Page ID
    316750
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    Learning Objectives

    After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

    • Describe aspects of Intuitive Toxicology.
    • Describe aspects of Risk Communication.


    In this section...

    Topics include:

    Section 15: Key Points

    What We've Covered

    This section made the following main points:

    • Intuitive toxicology:
      • Combines the intuitive elements of expert and public risk judgments involved with exposure assessment, toxicology, and risk assessment.
      • Asks if toxicologists agree or disagree that an animal's reactions to a chemical reliably predict human reactions.
      • Asks if a chemical found in a scientific study to cause cancer in animals can be reasonably assumed to cause cancer in humans.
    • When communicating risk, one needs to:
      • Accept and involve the public as a legitimate partner.
      • Listen to the public’s specific concerns.
      • Be honest, frank, and open.
      • Coordinate and collaborate with other credible sources.
      • Meet the needs of the media.
      • Speak clearly and with compassion.
      • Plan carefully and evaluate your efforts.
      • Acknowledge and describe uncertainty, such as any data gaps or issues relating to methodology.

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