Perceptions of Risk Associated with Use of Farm Chemicals: Implications for Conservation Initiatives

/ Data were collected from 245 farmers within the Darby Creek hydrologic unit in central Ohio to assess perceptions of risk associated with use of farm chemicals. Farmers were asked to evaluate the level of risk associated with use of agricultural chemicals for water quality, food safety, food quality, health of applicator, health of farm animals, wildlife, beneficial plants, beneficial insects, and human health. Study findings revealed that respondents perceived use of farm chemicals posed little or no threat to any of the assessed items. A composite index was formulated from the responses to the nine items and was titled Perceived Risk. Variance in the Perceived Risk index was regressed against social learning variables. The findings revealed that approximately 32% of the variance was explained by the predictive variables included in the model. It was concluded that the theoretical perspective was somewhat useful for understanding perceptions held about agricultural chemical use at the farm level. The findings are discussed in the context of future conservation and educational-information programs within the study region.KEY WORDS: Risk perception; Risk assessment; Groundwater; Pesticide contamination; Food safety; Environmental quality     

The impact of sensory learning modalities on children’s sensitivity to sensory cues in the perception of their school environment

Learning style models recognised that individuals differ in the sense learning modality of stimuli from which they best absorb, retain and process new information. The effect of sensory learning modalities on individual children’s sensitivity to sensory cues has so far been neglected. This paper reports on a study that sought to establish whether individual differences in children’s sensitivity to sensory cues in their perception of their school environmental features is influenced by their sensory learning modalities. Participants included Key Stage 1 and 2 pupils (N = 151) from four primary schools in South Gloucestershire, UK. The study used a child-friendly Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic questionnaire to establish children’s learning style modality. All children, independent of their learning style category, were exposed to three types of sensory cues, consisting of photo-safari, speech frequency and Global Positioning System. The analysis revealed that children’s sensitivity to sensory cues in their perception of school environmental features varied significantly between the three sensory learning modalities: visual, auditory and kinaesthetic. The implications of these findings on research, policy and practice are discussed.     

Experts’ attitudes towards CCS technologies in Spain

This paper presents the results from a survey on experts’ attitudes towards the development of CCS technologies in Spain. This is the first study carried out in Spain intending to report an empirical analysis of stakeholder perceptions on the risks, challenges and barriers facing CCS deployment. Results show a positive attitude towards CCS implementation in Spain. Experts are concerned about the suitability of storage sites, safety and capture costs. They tend to support CCS as a bridging solution to climate change, and have a general low level of perceived risk from CCS. Experts’ risk perception is influenced, to some extent, by general values and beliefs as well as by sociodemographics and, to a lesser extent, by group membership.     

Importance of public information and perception for managing recreational activities in the Peel-Harvey estuary, Western Australia

Surveys of water recreational activities were conducted in the Peel-Harvey estuary. Channels used by recreationists to gain information about water quality, the perception of water quality and resulting behaviour were investigated. This study showed that personal perception, local knowledge and history, absence of warnings and residency were major factors contributing to risk perception and behaviour in this recreational community. Management strategies should take this information into account to achieve maximal outcomes.     

Farmers’ risk preference and the adoption of risk management strategies in Northern Ghana

The study used the hypothetical lottery-choice questions to measure risk aversion and a detailed survey collected data on input use, farm production and non-farm activities to specifically assess whether risk aversion, risk perceptions, and socioeconomic factors affect the risk management strategies of farm households in Northern Ghana. Risk aversion significantly increases crop diversification strategies of households but marginally reduces herbicide use by households. Market risk significantly increases the use of improved seed varieties and the application of inorganic fertiliser but reduces diversification into livestock production. Production risk largely increases diversification into livestock production. Farmers’ risk management strategies are affected by socioeconomic variables such as access to extension services, area cultivated, age and gender. Policy effort focused on building pliable on-farm crop related risk management strategies should aim at considering the risk aversion and the perception of market risk whilst those focused on livestock should focus on production risk.     

Is recycled water use risky? An Urban Australian community’s perspective

The emergence of a global water crisis has seen the necessity for a sustainable approach to water management. Policies directed towards water recycling have been implemented in many regions of the world. In Australia, prolonged drought conditions in most major cities during the past decade have led to serious national calls for less drinking water to be used (Prime Minister’s Science Engineering and Innovation Council, 2003), and a strategic policy response from many State Governments, including bold targets for water recycling. A key consideration to the realisation of these policies is greater understanding of community attitudes to recycled water use, without which, a number of recycled water projects have failed (Hurlimann and McKay, 2004). Despite the critical nature of community attitudes, little research has been conducted, especially in relation to perception of risk, which has been found to be critical in the adoption of new technologies (Cvetkovich and Lofstedt, 1999). This paper investigates an urban Australian community’s perception of risk involved with using recycled water. Key findings include: perception of risk increased as the use of recycled water became increasingly personal. Perception of risk was significantly negatively related to trust, perception of fairness and information. Trust in the Water Authority to manage risk was significantly related to perception of trust, communication and integrity of the Authority.     

Does the housing market respond to information disclosure?: Effects of toxicity indices in Japan

The policy instruments that provide information on a firm’s or facility’s environmental performance, such as the U.S. Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) and the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register system (PRTRs) used in some European countries and Japan, play an important role in encouraging firms or facilities to improve their environmental performance, if investors, consumers and residents recognize their environmental performance. This study uses a hedonic approach to explore how the Japanese rental housing market responds to carcinogenic risk arising from releases and transfers of chemical substances produced and used at close facilities. We found that residents do not perceive carcinogenic risk generated more than 1.0 km away from their residence and that they seem to recognize the increased carcinogenic risk at distances from 0.5 km to 1.0 km away; a 1% increase in carcinogenic risk reduces the average rent by 0.0007%. The distance at which residents perceive the risk arising from such facilities is less than in previous studies. This suggests that the risk perception recognized in previous studies may capture the other externalities in addition to the chemical risk because the risk is measured by the distance.     

Economic risk and mineral taxation on Indigenous lands

Mining generates risk of environmental and social harm for Indigenous peoples but can also generate substantial revenues for them, creating opportunities for community development in a context where economic and social disadvantage is the norm. Especially as mining revenues should, in part, compensate for mining’s negative social and environmental impacts, it is vital that mineral taxation on Indigenous lands reflect a careful assessment of appropriate tax mechanisms and a matching of these with community priorities. Yet little has been written that could serve as a guide for Indigenous decision makers. This article contributes to an understanding of the issues and choices facing Indigenous communities in designing mineral taxation regimes, by focusing on the question of economic risk. Risk arises as a key variable in choosing or designing a mineral taxation regime in three ways. Different approaches to mineral taxation are inherently more or less risky, in the sense that they are more or less certain to generate tax revenues. A second aspect of risk involves the degree of economic certainty or predictability associated with different types of commodities and projects. Third, the risk tolerance of Indigenous peoples and communities can vary significantly. We show how Indigenous groups can integrate and address these different dimensions of risk, by recognising the ‘risk consequences’ associated with different approaches to mineral taxation and choosing an approach that reflects, as fully as possible, the group’s risk tolerance.     

A commentary on decision-making and organisational legitimacy in the Risk Society

Key concepts of Risk Society as elaborated by Ulrich Beck and others (Beck, U., 1992 (trans. Mark Ritter). The Risk Society. Sage Publications, London. Beck, U., 1995, Ecological Politics in the Age of Risk. Polity Press, Cambridge. Beck, U., 1999, World Risk Society. Polity Press, Cambridge. Giddens, A., 1994, Beyond Left and Right. Polity Press, Oxford. Beck, U., Giddens, A. and Lash, S., 1994, Reflexive Modernisation: Politics, Tradition and Aesthetics in the Modern Social Order. Stanford University Press, Stanford. Beck, U., Bonss, W. and Lau, C., 2003, Theory, Culture & Society 2003, Sage, London, 20(2), pp. 1-33.) are illuminated though a case study of managed environmental risk, namely the hexachlorobenzene (HCB) controversy at Botany, a southeast suburb of Sydney. We observe the way multiple stakeholder decision-making plays out a number of Risk Society themes, including the emergence of 'unbounded risk' and of highly 'individualised' and 'reflexive' risk communities. Across several decades, the events of the HCB story support Risk Society predictions of legitimacy problems faced by corporations as they harness technoscientific support for innovation in their products and industrial processes without due recognition of social and environmental risk. Tensions involving identity, trust and access to expert knowledge advance our understanding of democratic 'sub-political' decision-making and ways of distributing environmental risk.     

The Lyon-Turin High-Speed Rail: The Public Debate and Perception of Environmental Risk in Susa Valley,Italy

When the construction of the Lyon-Turin segment of the new European high-speed rail network was first publicly announced at the beginning of the 1990s, it immediately found fierce opposition from the inhabitants of Susa Valley, Italy, one of the areas to be cut across by such infrastructure. At issue were the project’s potential environmental impact and its consequences on public health. This study intends to clarify environmental risk perception and public debate between the national government, local advocacy groups, and the inhabitants of Susa Valley. Two major phases of public reaction were identified: (1) an initial rebellious period of no real dialog among the project’s major stakeholders (exemplified by the popular “No TAV” [No High Speed Train] movement), followed by (2) a yielding period of intense multilateral negotiations centered on the activities of the “Lyon-Turin Environmental Observatory.” The results of a qualitative cross analysis of the residents’ perception of the proposed high-speed rail revealed that public acceptance of risk in Susa Valley was influenced by the characteristics of hazards perceived by the residents and by the communicative approach used by the project’s various stakeholders. It also emerged that early dialog among all the parties involved was critical in forming a personal viewpoint on risk, which, once consolidated, defied new information and perspectives. Likely, a greater and earlier care taken by the other stakeholders to inform and consult the local population about the railway would have greatly eased the public debate.