Public views on drinking water standards as risk indicators

Risk Analysis

Volumn 28, Issue 6, 2008, Pages 1515-1530

  Johnson, Branden B ^a  

^a NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION   (United States)

Author keywords

Risk communication; Risk indicator; Standards

Indexed keywords

AGGLOMERATION; ARSENIC; BENCHMARKING; CONTAMINATION; HEALTH RISKS; KETONES; LEAD; MERCURY (METAL); PESTICIDE EFFECTS; POLLUTION; POTABLE WATER; WATER QUALITY; WATER SUPPLY; WATER TREATMENT; WATER WELLS;

CONTAMINANT LEVELS; DRINKING WATER STANDARDS; GOVERNMENT AGENCIES; HEALTH EFFECTS; INFORMATION PROCESSING; LESSER EXTENTS; NEW JERSEYS; POLLUTION LEVELS; RELATIVE RISKS; RESIDENTIAL WELLS; RISK COMMUNICATION; RISK INDICATOR; RISK INDICATORS; RISK RATINGS; TREATMENT SYSTEMS;

STANDARDS;

ARSENIC; DRINKING WATER; LEAD; MERCURY; WELL WATER;

ATTITUDINAL SURVEY; BENCHMARKING; COMPARATIVE STUDY; DRINKING WATER; HEALTH RISK; LAW ENFORCEMENT; PUBLIC ATTITUDE; RESIDENTIAL SATISFACTION; RISK FACTOR; RISK PERCEPTION; STANDARD (REFERENCE); STATE ROLE; WATER POLLUTION; WATER QUALITY; WATER TREATMENT; WELL;

ARTICLE; CONTROLLED STUDY; INFORMATION PROCESSING; UNITED STATES; WATER CONTAMINATION; WATER STANDARD;

AGED; FEMALE; HUMANS; LEAD; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; PUBLIC OPINION; RISK; RISK FACTORS; WATER MICROBIOLOGY; WATER POLLUTANTS, CHEMICAL; WATER POLLUTION; WATER POLLUTION, CHEMICAL; WATER PURIFICATION; WATER SUPPLY;

EID: 55349138080     PISSN: 02724332     EISSN: 15396924     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1539-6924.2008.01116.x     Document Type: Article

References (47)

1. Barnett, J., & Breakwell, G. M. (2001). Risk perception and experience: Hazard personality profiles and individual differences. Risk Analysis, 21, 171 177.
2. Bickerstaff, K. J., & Walker, G. P. (1999). Clearing the smog: Public responses to air quality information. Local Environment, 4, 279 294.
3. Carlo, G. L., Lee, N. L., Sund, K. G., & Pettygrove, S. D. (1992). The interplay of science, values, and experiences among scientists asked to evaluate the hazards of dioxin, radon, and environmental tobacco smoke. Risk Analysis, 12, 37 43.
4. Castorina, R., & Woodruff, T. J. (2003). Assessment of potential risk levels associated with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reference values. Environmental Health Perspectives, 111, 1318 1325.
5. Covello, V. T., Sandman, P. M., & Slovic, P. (1988). Risk Communication, Risk Statistics and Risk Comparisons: A Manual for Plant Managers. Washington, DC : Chemical Manufacturers Association.
6. Douglas, M. (1966). Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Conceptions of Pollution and Taboo. London : Routledge and Kegan Paul.
7. Earle, T. C., Cvetkovich, G., & Slovic, P. (1990). The effects of involvement, relevance and ability on risk communication effectiveness. In K. Borcherding, O. I. Larichev, & D. M. Messick (Eds. Contemporary Issues in Decision Making (pp. 271 289). Amsterdam : Elsevier.
8. Finkel, A. (1994). Stepping out of your own shadow: A didactic example of how facing uncertainty can improve decision-making. Risk Analysis, 14, 751 761.
9. Fraser, A., Everett, N., & Dietz, S. K. (1989). Superfund Environmental Indicators: Evaluation of Public Response (Final report to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Contract No. 68-01-7359, Task Order 16). Rockville, MD : Westat.
10. Hibbard, J. H., Peters, E., Slovic, P., Finucane, M. L., & Tusler, M. (2001). Making health care quality reports easier to use. Journal on Quality Improvement, 27, 591 604.
11. Hodgson, A. S. (2002). Common Food Additives in Candy. Food Safety and Technology, FST-9, Cooperative Extension Service. Honolulu : University of Hawai'i at Manoa.
12. Hurd, R. E. (1993). Consumer Attitude Survey on Water Quality Issues. Denver, CO : AWWA Research Foundation.
13. Jardine, C. G., Gibson, N., & Hrudey, S. E. (1999). Detection of odour and health risk perception of drinking water. Water Science and Technology, 40, 91 98.
14. Johnson, B. B. (1993). Advancing understanding of knowledge's role in lay risk perception. RISK: Issues in Health and Safety, 4, 189 212.
15. Johnson, B. B. (2000). Utility customers' views of the "consumer confidence report" of drinking water quality. Risk: Health, Safety, & Environment, 11, 309 328.
16. Johnson, B. B. (2001). Public reaction to mandated language for U.S. drinking water quality reports. Risk: Health, Safety & Environment, 12, 153 178.
17. Johnson, B. B. (2003a). Are some risk comparisons more effective under conflict? A replication and extension of Roth et al. Risk Analysis, 23, 767 780.
18. Johnson, B. B. (2003b). Communicating air quality information: Experimental tests of alternative formats. Risk Analysis, 23, 91 103.
19. Johnson, B. B. (2003c). Customer reaction to hypothetical and actual CCRs and related information. Journal of the American Water Works Association, 95, 90 99.
20. Johnson, B. B. (2003d). Do reports on drinking water quality affect customers' concerns? Experiments in report content. Risk Analysis, 23, 985 998.
21. Johnson, B. B. (2004). Risk comparisons, conflict, and risk acceptability claims. Risk Analysis, 24, 131 145.
22. Johnson, B. B. (2005). Testing and expanding a model of cognitive processing of risk information. Risk Analysis, 25, 631 650.
23. Johnson, B. B., & Chess, C. (2004). How reassuring are risk comparisons to pollution standards and emission limits? Risk Analysis, 23, 999 1007.
24. Kahlor, L., Dunwoody, S., Griffin, R. J., Neuwirth, K., & Giese, J. (2003). Studying heuristic-systematic processing of risk communication. Risk Analysis, 23, 355 368.
25. Kraus, N., Malmfors, T., & Slovic, P. (1992). Intuitive toxicology: Expert and lay judgments of chemical risks. Risk Analysis, 12, 215 232.
26. Krewski, D., Slovic, P., Bartlett, S., Flynn, J., & Mertz, C. K. (1995). Health risk perception in Canada II: Worldviews, attitudes and opinions. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment, 1, 231 248.
27. Lazo, J. K., Pratt, J. L., Herrick, C. N., Hagenstad, M. L., Raucher, R. S., Hurd, R. E., & Rambo, E. H. (2004). Understanding and Enhancing the Impact of Consumer Confidence Reports. Denver, CO : AWWA Research Foundation.
28. MacGregor, D. G., Slovic, P., & Malmfors, T. (1999). "How exposed is exposed enough?" Lay inferences about chemical exposure. Risk Analysis, 19, 649 659.
29. Morgan, M. G., Fischhoff, B., Bostrom, A., & Atman, C. J. (2002). Risk Communication: A Mental Models Approach. New York : Cambridge University Press.
30. Nemeroff, C., & Rozin, P. (1994). The contagion concept in adult thinking in the United States: Transmission of germs and of interpersonal influence. Ethos, 22, 158 186.
31. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Private Well Testing Act Program 2004). Initial Well Test Results for September 2002-March 2003. Division of Science, Research and Technology, and Water Supply Administration/Bureau of Safe Drinking Water. Trenton : NJDEP.
32. Peters, E., Västfall, D., Slovic, P., Mertz, C. K., Mazzocco, K., & Dickert, S. (2006). Numeracy and decision making. Psychological Science, 17, 407 413.
33. Reimann, C., & Banks, D. (2004). Setting action levels for drinking water: Are we protecting our health or our economy (or our backs!)? Science of the Total Environment, 332, 13 21.
34. Roth, E., Morgan, M. G., Fischhoff, B., Lave, L., & Bostrom, A. (1990). What do we know about making risk comparisons? Risk Analysis, 10, 375 387.
35. Schwartz, L. M., Woloshin, S., Black, W. C., & Welch, H. G. (1997). The role of numeracy in understanding the benefit of screening mammography. Annals of Internal Medicine, 127, 966 972.
36. Sense About Science 2006). Making Sense of Chemical Stories: A Briefing for the Lifestyle Sector on Misconceptions About Chemicals. London : Sense About Science (downloaded 27 February 2007). Available at http://www. senseaboutscience.org.uk/pdf/MakingSenseofChemicalStories.pdf.
37. Slovic, P., Fischhoff, B., & Lichenstein, S. (1980). Facts and fears: Understanding perceived risk. In R. C. Schwing & W. A. Albers, Jr. Eds. Societal Risk Assessment: How Safe Is Safe Enough? (pp. 181 214). New York : Plenum Press.
38. Slovic, P., Malmfors, T., Krewski, D. Mertz, C. K., Neil, N., & Bartlett, S. (1995). Intuitive toxicology. II. Expert and lay judgments of chemical risks in Canada. Risk Analysis, 15, 661 675.
39. Smith, V. K., Desvousges, W. H., Johnson, F. R., & Fisher, A. (1990). Can public information campaigns affect risk perceptions? Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 9, 41 59.
40. Syme, G. J., & Williams, K. D. (1993). The psychology of drinking water quality: An exploratory study. Water Resources Research, 29, 4003 4010.
41. Tal, A. (1997). Assessing the environmental movement's attitudes toward risk assessment. Environmental Science and Technology, 31, 470 476.
42. Trumbo, C. W. (1999). Heuristic-systematic information processing and risk judgment. Risk Analysis, 19, 391 400.
43. Wagner, W. E. (1995). The science charade in toxic risk regulation. Columbia Law Review, 95, 1613 1723.
44. Weinstein, N. D. (1986). Public Perceptions of Environmental Hazards: Study 1 Final Report, Statewide Poll of Environmental Perceptions (Report to Office of Science and Research, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Research Contract C29510). New Brunswick : Rutgers University, Departments of Human Ecology and Psychology.
45. Weinstein, N. D. (1989). Effects of personal experience on self-protective behavior. Psychological Bulletin, 105, 31 50.
46. Weinstein, N. D., & Sandman, P. M. (1993). Some criteria for evaluating risk messages. Risk Analysis, 13 : 103 114.
47. Weinstein, N. D., Sandman, P. M., & Roberts, N. E. (1989). Communicating Effectively About Risk Magnitudes. Report to U.S. EPA (EPA-230-08-89-064) from Environmental Communication Research Program, Cook College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.