Evaluating the Effectiveness of Risk‐Reduction Strategies for Consumer Chemical Products

Communication about risks offers a voluntary approach to reducing exposure to pollutants. Its adequacy depends on its impact on behavior. Estimating those impacts first requires characterizing current activities and their associated risk levels, and then predicting the effectiveness of risk‐reduction strategies. Characterizing the risks from chemical consumer products requires knowledge of both the physical and the behavioral processes that influence exposures. This article presents an integrated approach that combines consumer interviews, users' beliefs and behaviors, and quantitative exposure modeling. This model was demonstrated in the context of consumer exposure to a methylene chloride‐based paint stripper, showing how it could be used to evaluate current levels of risk and predict the effectiveness of proposed voluntary risk‐reduction strategies.

[1]  Keyla Friedmann,et al.  The effect of adding symbols to written warning labels on user behavior and recall , 1988 .

[2]  Thomas J. Ayres,et al.  Risk and effectiveness criteria for using on-product warnings , 1995 .

[3]  B. Fischhoff,et al.  Modeling methylene chloride exposure-reduction options for home paint-stripper users , 2000, Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology.

[4]  Judy Edworthy,et al.  Warning design : a research prospective , 1996 .

[5]  A. Hodgson,et al.  Exposure to Methylene Chloride from Controlled Use of a Paint Remover in Residences , 1987 .

[6]  E. Moyer,et al.  Organic Vapor (OV) Respirator Cartridge and Canister Testing Against Methylene Chloride , 1993 .

[7]  Frances M. Lynn.  Read the label: Reducing risk by providing information, by Susan G. Hadden. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1986, 275pp. Price: $27.50 cloth , 1988 .

[8]  W. Kip Viscusi,et al.  Learning about Risk: Consumer and Worker Responses to Hazard Information , 1987 .

[9]  W. Kip Viscusi,et al.  Hazard Communication: Warnings and Risk , 1996 .

[10]  Carol Pollack-Nelson,et al.  Analysis of methylene chloride product labelling , 1995 .

[11]  B. Fischhoff,et al.  COMMUNICATING RISK TO THE PUBLIC , 1992 .

[12]  L R Zeitlin,et al.  Failure to Follow Safety Instructions: Faulty Communication or Risky Decisions? , 1994, Human factors.

[13]  U. Epa,et al.  The Exposure Factors Handbook , 1995 .

[14]  M J Small,et al.  Modeling the effects of water usage and co-behavior on inhalation exposures to contaminants volatilized from household water. , 1996, Journal of exposure analysis and environmental epidemiology.

[15]  B. Fischhoff,et al.  Behavioral factors affecting exposure potential for household cleaning products. , 1997, Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology.

[16]  Psychology, marketing and warnings research: Bridging the gap between consumer theory and warning practice , 1998 .

[17]  Mitchell J. Small,et al.  What information belongs in a warning , 1998 .

[18]  Considerations in evaluating emissions from consumer products , 1987 .

[19]  J. Haines,et al.  International programme on chemical safety , 1996, The Lancet.

[20]  J. Paul Frantz.  Effect of Location and Procedural Explicitness on User Processing of and Compliance with Product Warnings , 1994 .

[21]  B Fischhoff,et al.  Why (cancer) risk communication can be hard. , 1999, Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs.

[22]  Kathleen Franklin,et al.  THE FINAL RULE , 1995 .

[23]  John W. Brelsford,et al.  Explicitness of consequence information in warnings , 1993 .

[24]  M. V. van Veen.  A general model for exposure and uptake from consumer products. , 1996, Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis.

[25]  B. Johnson.  Risk Communication: A Mental Models Approach , 2002 .

[26]  Michael S. Wogalter,et al.  Effects of Cost and Social Influence on Warning Compliance , 1989 .

[27]  Michael S. Wogalter,et al.  Effectiveness of Warnings , 1987 .

[28]  J. Konz,et al.  Exposure factors handbook , 1989 .

[29]  Joel Huber,et al.  4. The Effect of Risk Information on Precautionary Behavior , 1987 .

[30]  Michigan.,et al.  Toxicological profile for dichloropropenes , 2008 .