Evaluating chemical risks: results of a survey of the British Toxicology Society

Our plain-English summary of Evaluating chemical risks: results of a survey of the British Toxicology Society, by P. Slovic, T. Malmfors, C.K. Mertz, et al (Human & Experimental Toxicology, 1997).

The study

• Authors: P. Slovic, T. Malmfors, C.K. Mertz, N. Neil, I.F. Purchase
• Journal: Human & Experimental Toxicology
• Published: 1997;16(6):289-304
• Cited by: 31 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

1. Members of the British Toxicology Society participated in a survey to determine their attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions regarding risks from chemicals. Similar surveys had previously been conducted with toxicologists and members of the general public in the United States and Canada. Data from 312 completed questionnaires were analyzed. 2. In general, the British toxicologists judged risks to be quite low for most hazards, with the exception of cigarette smoking and asbestos. They tended to have quite favorable attitudes toward the use of chemicals and were confident about the adequacy of chemical regulations. 3. As in previous studies of toxicologists, women expressed higher perceptions of risk than did men and had consistently stronger anti-chemical attitudes. 4. Toxicologists working in industry had more favorable attitudes towards chemicals and their use than did those working in academic settings. 5. When asked to evaluate chemical technical summaries of various animals studies there was considerable disagreement among the respondents about the toxicity of the chemicals involved. 6. In general, British toxicologists were equivocal about the reliability of animal studies in predicting human effects (particularly carcinogenicity) probably because of the belief that animal studies overestimate risk. However, they were rather confident that human health risks could be assessed reasonably accurately.

In plain English

This was a mailed questionnaire survey of toxicologists' views on chemical risks; it measured no one's exposure to asbestos or any disease. In January 1994 it went to all 857 British Toxicology Society members, and 312 returned completed questionnaires (36.4% response rate). Respondents rated the health risk of 29 hazards to the average exposed citizen. Cigarette smoking and asbestos had by far the highest ratings, with 79.8% and 50.3% high-risk responses respectively. For asbestos, the British gave more moderate or high-risk ratings than toxicologists surveyed in Europe or Canada, by a margin the authors give as 25% or more. Women rated 27 of the 29 items as moderate or high risk more often than men did. Fewer industry toxicologists (29.7%) than academics (39.3%) or government employees (35.2%) agreed that if a study produces evidence that a chemical causes cancer in animals, it will cause cancer in humans. Only eight respondents (2.6%) matched a National Toxicology Program panel's judgments on all four animal studies of one chemical. The authors concluded that British toxicologists judged most chemical risks quite low, except cigarette smoking and asbestos, which they rated extremely high.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Mailed questionnaire survey of attitudes, beliefs and risk perceptions (cross-sectional survey of experts)
• Who was studied: Members of the British Toxicology Society: all 857 members were surveyed in January 1994, and 312 completed surveys were returned (36.4% response rate). The article compares these results with earlier surveys of European (n=125) and Canadian (n=150) toxicologists.
• Exposure: No exposure was measured. Respondents rated the perceived health risk of 29 hazards, one of which was asbestos (no fiber type specified). They also judged summaries of animal studies of two chemicals (bromoethane, called 'Chemical B', and 2-mercaptobenzothiazole, called 'Compound E').
• Main results:
  • Among the British toxicologists, cigarette smoking (79.8% high-risk responses) and asbestos (50.3% high-risk responses) had by far the highest risk ratings of the 29 hazards.
  • British toxicologists generally gave lower risk ratings than European and Canadian toxicologists. Asbestos was the major exception: British respondents gave more moderate or high-risk responses for asbestos than either comparison group, by a margin the authors state as 25% or more.
  • Women toxicologists were more likely than men to rate 27 of the 29 items as moderate or high risk.
  • When an animal study was said to show that a chemical causes cancer in animals, 34.9% of respondents agreed it will cause cancer in humans.
  • Agreement with that statement (item 2b) differed by employer: 29.7% of industry toxicologists, 39.3% of academics and 35.2% of government employees endorsed it.
  • On the technical evaluation of Chemical B, only eight respondents (2.6%) matched the National Toxicology Program panel's judgment on all four animal studies.
  • 67.0% of respondents agreed that experts can make reasonably accurate quantitative estimates of health risks from chemicals in the environment.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that British toxicologists judged risks to be quite low for most chemical hazards, even lower than Canadian and European toxicologists did, with cigarette smoking and asbestos as exceptions that they rated extremely high.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors state that the causes of the differences by employer (affiliation) could not be separated from many confounding factors and need further research.
  • The authors state that further research is needed to determine the scientific and political importance of the gender and affiliation effects they found.

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