Environmental risk and risk perception management in public health

Vladimir Bencko, John M. Quinn V

First Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic.

DOI: 10.4236/health.2013.53059                

Abstract

When evaluating environmental risk and its perception, psychosocial and psychosomatic factors may be of fundamental importance for public health programming and the promotion of quality of life. This is the case in particular where knowledge of the true health consequences of environmental exposure to given risk factors are incomplete or its action is within the range of values where we do not anticipate the measurable biological effect. This applies not only in the case of the indoor environment related complaints but also to that of non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation and electroionic microclimate, among many others. A serious consequence found in the syndrome of mass hysteria is the fact that due to differently motivated information and disinformation, part of the population can suffer from psychosomatic symptoms and deterioration quality of life for those affected.

Keywords

Risk Perception; Environmental Risk Assessment; Psychosocial Aspects of Risk

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Ng, N. and Prah Ruger, J. (2011) Global health governance at a crossroads. Global Health Governance, 3, 1-35.
[2]	Labonté, R. and Gagnon, M. (2010) Review: Framing health and foreign policy: Lessons for global health diplomacy. Globalization and Health, 6, 14. doi:10.1186/1744-8603-6-14
[3]	Kent, G. (2005) Freedom from want: The human right to adequate food. Georgetown University Press, Washington DC.
[4]	Aldis, W. (2008) Health security as a public health concept: A critical analysis. Health Policy Planning, 23, 369-375. doi:10.1093/heapol/czn030
[5]	Chiu, Y.W., Weng, Y.H., Su, Y.Y., Huang, C.Y., Chang, Y.C. and Kuo, K.N. (2009) The nature of international health security. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 18, 679-683.
[6]	Macrae, J. (1998) Purity or political engagement? Issues in food and health security interventions in complex political emergencies. Journal of Humanitarian Assistance, in press.
[7]	Kasper, D.L. and Fauci, A.S. (2010) Harrison’s infectious diseases. McGraw-Hill, New York.
[8]	Bencko, V. and Honzák, R. (1997) Importance of psychosocial factors for the rational management of environmental health risks (in Czech). Prakt Lék, 77, 379-381.
[9]	Bencko, V. (2011) Psychosomatic and psychosocial aspects of risk perception. In: Bencko, V., et al., Eds., Hygiene and Epidemiology, Karolinum Press, Charles University in Prague, Prague, 265-269.
[10]	Burns, W.J. and Slovic, P. (2012) Risk perception and behaviors: Anticipating and responding to crises. Journal of Risk Analysis, 32, 579-582.
[11]	O’Riordan, T. and Camero, J.R. (1994) Interpreting the precartionary pricniple. Earthscan, London.
[12]	Kriebal, D., Tickner, J., Epstein, P., Lemons, J., Levins, R., Loechler, E.L., Quinn, M., Rudel, R., Schettler, T. and Stoto, M., (2001) The precautionary principle in environmental science. Environmental Health Perspectives, 109, 871-876. doi:10.1289/ehp.01109871
[13]	Recuerda, M.A. (2006) Risk and reason in the European Union Law. European Food and Feed Law Review, 5, 7.
[14]	Drew, C.H., Grace, D., Silbernagel, S., Hemmings, E., Smith, A., Griffith, W.C., et al. (2003) Nuclear waste transportation: Case studies of identifying stakeholder risk information needs. Environmental Health Perspectives, 111, 263-272. doi:10.1289/ehp.5203
[15]	Bencko, V. (2010) Use of epidemiological data for cancer risk assessment: Approaches, concepts and issues. The Open Epidemiology Journal, 3, 147-151.
[16]	Goldsmith, J.R. (1996) Epidemiological studies of radio frequency radiation: Current status and areas of concern. The Science of the Total Environment, 180, 3-8.
[17]	Bencko, V. (2010) Use of epidemiological data for cancer risk assessment: Approaches, concepts and issues. The Open Epidemiology Journal, 3, 147-151.
[18]	Ricci, P.F. and Sammis, I.R. (2012) Regulatory-science: Biphasic cancer models or the LNT: Not just a matter of Biology! Dose-Response, 10, 120-154.
[19]	Ricci, P.F. and Sammis, I.R. (2012) Regulatory-science: Biphasic cancer models or the LNT: Not just a matter of biology! Dose-Response, 10, 120-154.
[20]	Hernández, L.G., van Steeg, H., Luijten, M. and van Benthem, J. (2009) Mechanisms of non-genotoxic carcinogens and importance of a weight of evidence approach. Mutation Research/Reviews in Mutation Research, 682, 94-109.
[21]	Ali-Gombe, A., Guthrie, E. and McDermott, N. (1996) Mass hysteria: One syndrome or two? The British Journal of Psychiatry, 186, 633-635. doi:10.1192/bjp.168.5.633
[22]	Bartholomew, R.E. (1993) Redefining epidemic hysteria: An example from Sweden. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 88, 178-182. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1993.tb03435.x
[23]	Rothman, A.L. and Weintraub, M.I. (1995) The sick building syndrome and mass hysteria. Neurologic Clinics, 13, 405-412.
[24]	Klein, O. and Bencko, V. (1991) Ecology of man and healh (in Czech). Phare 91/24/ SER/3 Min Environ CZ Educatiuon Programme for Environmentally Sustainable Development, 189.
[25]	Klein, D.F. (1993) False suffocation alarms, spontaneous panics, and related conditions: An integrative hypothesis. Archives of General Psychiatry, 50, 306-317. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1993.01820160076009
[26]	Ruhl, R.A., Chang, C.C., Halpern, G.M., et al. (1993) The sick building syndrome. II. Journal of Asthma, 30, 297-308. doi:10.3109/02770909309054530
[27]	Chang, C.C., Ruhl, R.A., Halpern, G.M., et al. (1994) Building components contributors of the sick building syndrome. Journal of Asthma, 31, 127-137.
[28]	Holcátová, I. and Bencko, V. (1997) Health aspects of formaldehyde in the indoor environment. Czech and Slovak experience. Central European Journal of Public Health, 5, 38-42.
[29]	Wakefield, A.J. (1999) MMR vaccination and autism. The Lancet, 354, 949-950. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)75696-8
[30]	Aldous, J.C., Ellam, G.A., Murray, V., et al. (1994) An outbreak of illness among schoolchildren in London: Toxic poisoning not mass hysteria. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 48, 41-45.
[31]	Cikrt, M., Bláha, K. and Fuchs, A. (1993) Chemical risk assessment and management in Czech and Slovak Republics. Central European Journal of Public Health, 1, 4-6.