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H Keith Florig

Publications and source records attributed to H Keith Florig.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

An analysis of public-interest group positions on radiation protection.

The history of radiation risk management is replete with contentious public debate between public interest groups and the technical community of radiation protection professionals. To promote a deeper understanding of this phenomenon, this paper describes the rationales and values underlying public-interest group positions in one radiation risk domain (low-level waste) and contrasts them with those of the technical community. Public interest group objections to recycling of radioactivity-contaminated materials and to discarding of other low-level wastes are made on fairness, risk assessment, and energy-policy grounds. Concerns about procedural fairness stem from the continuing use of top-down expert-driven, rather than deliberative, systems for low-level waste policy-making. Concerns about distributional fairness arise because the benefits and risks of alterative low-level waste policies accrue to different stakeholders. Risk assessment is faulted for failure to acknowledge hidden subjective assumptions (e.g., on screening vigilance in materials recycling, on integrity of disposal facilities in the far future). Skepticism of technological risk management arises from a history peppered with unexpected untoward events that lay outside the design bases of protection systems. Finally, public interest groups view low-level waste issues as part of a larger debate on wise and legitimate energy policy, and are reluctant to support measures that provide relief to a nuclear industry that, in their view, established itself outside the democratic process.

Consumer Advocacy↗
PubMed2004

Ecological risk ranking: development and evaluation of a method for improving public participation in environmental decision making.

This article reports an extension of the Carnegie Mellon risk-ranking method to incorporate ecological risks and their attributes. On the basis of earlier risk-perception studies, we identified a set of 20 relevant attributes for describing health, safety, and environmental hazards in standardized risk summary sheets. In a series of three ranking sessions, 23 laypeople ranked 10 such hazards in a fictional Midwestern U.S. county using both holistic and multiattribute ranking procedures. Results were consistent with those from previous studies involving only health and safety hazards, providing additional evidence for the validity of the method and the replicability of the resulting rankings. Holistic and multiattribute risk rankings were reasonably consistent both for individuals and for groups. Participants reported that they were satisfied with the procedures and results, and indicated their support for using the method to advise real-world risk-management decisions. Agreement among participants increased over the course of the exercise, perhaps because the materials and deliberations helped participants to correct their misconceptions and clarify their values. Overall, health and safety attributes were judged more important than environmental attributes. However, the overlap between the importance rankings of these two sets of attributes suggests that some information about environmental impacts is important to participants' judgments in comparative risk-assessment tasks.

Community Participation↗
PubMed2002

Policy uses of particulate exposure estimates.

This paper reviews the uses of particulate exposure estimates for science and policy. We propose a set of normative factors to guide the selection and application of various approaches for exposure assessment. For exposure estimates intended for use in support of the development or air pollution regulations or selection of control strategies, the proposed criteria include--compatibility with policy scope and scale, cost-effectiveness, characterization of uncertainty, political and institutional feasibility, and sensitivity to framing. For exposure assessment in support of epidemiological research, key criteria are-compatability with the specific hypothesis being tested, and compatibility with the temporal and spatial scale of analysis. The various major approaches for estimation of exposure--direct and indirect measurement, empirical and physical modeling--are catalogued and compared with these proposed criteria.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed2002

Evolution of particulate regulation in China--prospects and challenges of exposure-based control.

China's urban and rural populations face very serious health risks from combustion particles. Major sources of exposure to inhalable particulates include the burning solid fuels (biomass and coal) for household cooking and heating, coal-fired industrial and residential boilers, tobacco smoking, and diesel motor vehicles. China began to address particulate pollution problems over 25 years ago and has implemented a series of progressively more aggressive policies. This paper reviews the successes and limitations of past and existing policies for particulate controls, as well as the effects of China's economic reforms and energy policies on particulate exposure and pollution management. We examine the challenge of emissions reporting, required as part of both China's pollution levy system and emerging system for "total emissions control." Finally, we discuss practical steps toward exposure-based regulation of particulates, which would take advantage of the high cost-effectiveness for lifesaving of controlling particulate exposure from household and neighborhood sources relative to that of controlling exposure from industrial sources.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed2002

Potential exposures and risks from beryllium-containing products.

Beryllium is the strongest of the lightweight metals. Used primarily in military applications prior to the end of the Cold War, beryllium is finding new applications in many commercial products, including computers, telecommunication equipment, and consumer and automotive electronics. The use of beryllium in nondefense consumer applications is of concern because beryllium is toxic. Inhalation of beryllium dust or vapor causes a chronic lung disease in some individuals at concentrations as low as 0.01 microg/m3 in air. As beryllium enters wider commerce, it is prudent to ask what risks this might present to the general public and to workers downstream of the beryllium materials industry. We address this question by evaluating the potential for beryllium exposure from the manufacturing, use, recycle, and disposal of beryllium-containing products. Combining a market study with a qualitative exposure analysis, we determine which beryllium applications and life cycle phases have the largest exposure potential. Our analysis suggests that use and maintenance of the most common types of beryllium-containing products do not result in any obvious exposures of concern, and that maintenance activities result in greater exposures than product use. Product disposal has potential to present significant individual risks, but uncertainties concerning current and future routes of product disposal make it difficult to be definitive. Overall, additional exposure and dose-response data are needed to evaluate both the health significance of many exposure scenarios, and the adequacy of existing regulations to protect workers and the public. Although public exposures to beryllium and public awareness and concern regarding beryllium risks are currently low, beryllium risks have psychometric qualities that may lead to rapidly heightened public concern.

Air Pollutants↗