Accountability: Often synonymous with responsibility. Accountability involves rendering an account to a higher instance or a superior on how and how well one’s responsibilities are being met; reporting, for example, what steps have been taken to correct a defined hazard or exposure.

Activism: Activities carried out independently without generating processes. A series of dispersed activities that fail to achieve the continuity or sustainability of programs.

Adverse health impact: Change in the function of the body or cellular structure that may lead to a disease or other health problems.

Affected public: The people who live or work near a hazardous garbage dump. The human population adversely affected by exposure to a toxic pollutant in the water.

Ambiguity aversion: Uncertainty aversion. Tendency to choose on the side of caution, when the probability of risk is not precisely known. Uncertainty with regard to the size of a risk, which makes it seem less tolerable.

Audience or target group: Group that receives the risk message, which is seldom a homogeneous group. It can include those for whom the message was specifically designed as well as others not directly involved.

Availability bias: The tendency to judge probability by how easily examples can be brought to mind.

Chronic exposure: Continuous exposure for a long period or a significant fraction of the lifetime (usually >10%) of the species being tested or of a group of individuals or a whole population.
Source: WHO. International Program on Chemical Safety. Chemical safety; basic principles of applied toxicology. The nature of chemical hazards. 2nd Ed. (revised). Lima: CEPIS; 1997.

Cognitive: Relating to, or involving, the act or process of knowing, including awareness and judgment.

Community intervention process: This refers to the linked activities undertaken to obtain rapprochement and contact with the community for the subsequent development of the work program.

Community participation: Process in which the community members assume an active role and discuss proposals and solutions to the political, economic, and social matters affecting their community.

Credibility: The ability to inspire trust. When applied to a source of information, credibility centers on three characteristics: opportunity (is the source in a position to know?); ability (does the source have the skill and competence?); and dependability (is the source responsible and trustworthy?).

Debate: Discussion or argument about an issue by considering opposing arguments.

Delayed impact on health: Disease or lesion presented as a result of an exposure that occurred in the past.

Dialogue: Exchange of ideas and opinions.

Discussion: Open debate, usually informal.

Dose (for non-radioactive compounds): The quantity of a substance that a person is exposed to for a certain period. The dose is a measure of the exposure. It is often expressed as milligrams (quantity) per kilogram (measure of corporal weight) per day (time) when the person eats or drinks water, food, or soil that has been contaminated.

Dose (for radioactive compounds): The dose of radiation is the quantity of radiation energy absorbed by the body. It is not the same unit of measurement as that of the quantity of radiation in the atmosphere.

Dread values: also known as “fright values”, a series of factors that trigger alarm, anxiety or outrage.

Empirical: Originating from, or based on, observation or experiment.

Empowerment: Mechanism whereby individuals, organizations, and communities gain strength and mastery in the management of their affairs.

Ethics: Set of moral standards and principles that govern human conduct.

Exposure: Proximity or contact with the source of an agent (chemical, physical. etc.) in which the effective transmission of the agent and the adverse effects of the agent can occur. It also refers to the quantity of the agent to which a group or individual was exposed.
Source: Last JM. A dictionary of epidemiology. 2. ed. Oxford University Press; 1988.

External agents: Persons who do not live in the community where the aid program is being carried out; in the specific case of risk communication, it refers to the personnel of the organizations who are to execute the established program.

Factual information model: This refers to a model of communication where the discrepancy between the real risk and the subjectively perceived one is assumed to be reduced by presenting factual information.

Fatalism: A belief or attitude that one is powerless to change something.

Framing effects: This refers to the fact that it is possible to frame situations in different ways which may lead to different conclusions.

Hazard: General term for anything that may have the capacity or potential to cause harm. The hazard associated with a potentially toxic substance depends on its toxicity and of the potential for exposure to the substance. The probability of exposure to the substance is a risk factor.
Source: WHO. International Program on Chemical Safety. Chemical safety; basic principles of applied toxicology. The nature of chemical hazards. 2nd Ed. (revised). Lima: CEPIS; 1997. Training module, 1.

Hazardous substance: Any material that is a threat to human health or the environment. Typical hazardous substances are toxic, corrosive, inflammable, explosive, and chemically reactive substances.

Heuristic bias: Ingrained patterns of thought which can lead to personal and/or unreasoned judgment.

High-risk community: A community located near potential sources of environmental or health hazards which might give rise to high levels of exposure to pollutants.

High-risk populations: Groups of persons who may be more sensitive or vulnerable to the exposure to hazardous substances because of factors such as age, occupation, gender, or certain types of conduct (for example, smoking). Children, pregnant women, and the elderly are considered high-risk populations.

Historic subjects: This refers to the persons who make up a community, with emphasis on individual and collective history, since the vital facts that make up the community’s history define to a large extent the local population’s perception of a phenomenon.

Horizontal relationship: A relationship established in an atmosphere of harmony between one person and another, in which both the voice of the institutional agents and the voice of the community are taken into consideration to reach a consensus.

Information overload: Provision of information in excess of the cognitive and emotional ability of an individual to process that information.

Irritant: A substance that can cause irritation of the skin, eyes, or respiratory apparatus. The effects can be acute from a single strong exposure, or chronic from repeated low-level exposure to components such as chlorine, nitrogen dioxide, and nitric acid.

Lifestyle hazard: A hazard typically associated with a specific lifestyle or certain habits, for example, smoking or overeating.

Mass communication: Communication directed to, or reaching, large masses of the population, using methods such as the written press, television, radio, Internet, advertisements, public relations, etc.

Make operative: Put into practice a recommendation that has been given.

Multidimensional communication: This refers to the political, economic, and social dimensions of risk communication.

Nature of the decision: This refers to the essential characteristics of the decision, and the kind or class of decisions that need to be made. It dictates to a large extent the course of action in any risk management situation.

Negotiation: Agreement with an individual or institution based on the discussion of the interests of the parties involved and commitments to be complied with.

Optimistic bias: A tendency to believe that one is less at risk than the average member of society.

Outrage: Anger and resentment aroused by injury or insult.

Outrage bias: A tendency to believe that one is more at risk than the average member of society.

Participation: Taking part in something.

Pluralistic society: A state of society in which members of diverse racial, ethnic, religious, or social groups maintain an autonomous participation in, and development of, their traditional culture or special interest within the confines of a common civilization.

Polarization: Showing two contrary directions and tendencies.

Pollutant: Any undesirable solid, liquid or gaseous material present in a liquid, solid or gaseous medium. The undesirable aspect often depends on the concentration, although in many cases low concentrations of most chemicals are tolerable or even essential. A primary pollutant is emitted into the atmosphere, water, sediments, or soil from an identifiable source. A secondary pollutant is formed by chemical reactions in the atmosphere, water, sediments, or soil.
Source: WHO. International Program on Chemical Safety. Chemical safety; basic principles of applied toxicology. The nature of chemical hazards. 2nd Ed. (revised) Lima: CEPIS; 1997.

Population at risk: Group of individuals who can develop an adverse effect and who are potentially exposed to a risk factor. Those persons who have already developed the disease are excluded in studies of incidence.
Source: Asociación Española de Toxicología. Glosario de términos toxicológicos. Versión española ampliada por M. Repetto y P. Sanz. Sevilla: AET; 1995. (AET)

That population which, because of specific environmental conditions or internal factors proper to their organism, have a greater likelihood of showing an adverse impact on their health than other populations.
Source: Rodríguez Milord D, Castillo P del, Aguilar Garduño C. Glosario de términos en salud ambiental. Mepetec: Centro Panamericano de Ecología Humana y Salud (ECO); 1995.

Precautionary principle: Principle in the fields of environmental protection and human health which refers to risk situations where there is significant scientific uncertainty and a potential for serious, irreversible and cumulative harm.

Public comment period: Limited lapse of time during which comments are accepted from the public about proposals that the environmental sector or health sector has presented in draft reports or documents.

Public meeting: A public assembly with members of the community in order to communicate a possible environmental hazard.

Public health context: The incidence, prevalence, and severity of diseases in communities or small towns, and the factors responsible, including infections and exposure to pollutants or hazardous activities.

Public health hazard: Situation in which there may be harmful effects on the health of many people in a community due to long-term exposure at sufficiently high levels of hazardous substances.

Radiation: Emission or transfer of energy in the form of electromagnetic waves or particles.
Source: Martínez AP, Romieu I. Introducción al monitoreo atmosférico. Metepec: ECO; 1997. (ECO. Introducción al monitoreo atmosférico).

Radon: An inert, colorless, radioactive gas present in nature formed by the decay of radium atoms in soil or rocks.

Rational debate: A special form of dialogue in which all affected parties have equal rights and duties to present claims and test their validity in a context free of social or political domination. In risk communication, this debate makes it possible to settle disputes or propose solutions.

Risk: Probability of occurrence of a specific event.
Source: Last JM. A dictionary of epidemiology. 2. Ed. Oxford University Press; 1988.

Risk amplification: A heightening of interest in some aspect of the risk created by several factors, including increased media coverage.

Risk analysis: This process consists of three important activities: risk evaluation, risk communication, and risk management.
Source: Codex Alimentarius.

Risk assessment: Identification and quantification of the risk resulting from the use or presence of a chemical substance, considering possible harmful effects on individuals or society from using said substance in the quantity and manner proposed, and taking into account all possible routes of exposure. Ideally, quantification requires the establishment of dose-effect and dose-response ratios in appropriate individuals and populations.
Source: WHO. International Program on Chemical Safety. Chemical safety; basic principles of applied toxicology. The nature of chemical hazards. 2nd Ed. (revised). Lima: CEPIS; 1997.

Risk characterization: Result of the identification of the hazard and the estimation of the risk applied to the specific use of a chemical substance or the presence of an environmental health hazard. The assessment requires quantitative data on the exposure of organisms or persons at risk in the situation concerned. The final product is a quantitative report on the proportion of organisms or persons affected in a target population.
Source: WHO. International Program on Chemical Safety. Chemical safety; basic principles of applied toxicology. The nature of chemical hazards. 2nd Ed. (revised) Lima: CEPIS; 1997.

Description of the different potential effects of the hazard on health, and quantification of the dose-effect and dose-response ratios in a general scientific sense. The final stage of risk assessment, which is a description of the nature and, often, the magnitude, of the risk to human beings, including the concomitant uncertainty.
Source: Rodríguez Milord D, Castillo P del, Aguilar Garduño C. Glosario de términos en salud ambiental. Mepetec: Centro Panamericano de Ecología Humana y Salud (ECO); 1995.

Risk comparison: The practice of comparing one risk to another in order to promote a better understanding of the nature of the hazard.

Risk communication: Process of interaction and exchange of information (data, opinions, and feelings) among individuals, groups, or institutions regarding threats to health, safety, or the environment, in order that the community will understand the risks to which it is exposed and take part in their mitigation. Ideally, this process is deliberate and permanent.
Source: National Research Council. Improving risk communication. Washington; 1989.

Risk management: Decision-making process that implies the consideration of political, social, economic, and engineering factors, with assessment of the risk relating to a potential hazard in order to develop, analyze, and compare control options and to select the optimum response that will ensure safety from that hazard. Essentially, risk management is the combination of three stages: risk assessment, control of emissions and exposures, and risk monitoring.
Source: WHO. International Program on Chemical Safety. Chemical safety; basic principles of applied toxicology. The nature of chemical hazards. 2nd Ed. (revised). Lima: CEPIS; 1997. Training module, 1.

Risk message: A written, verbal, or visual statement containing information about a risk. It may or may not include recommendations about the conduct that will reduce the risk. A formal risk message is a structured package (printed, spoken, or visual) developed with the express purpose of presenting information about the risk.

Risk mitigation: Actions to reduce the severity or impact of a risk.

Risk reduction: Actions that may reduce the probability that individuals, groups or communities will experience disease or other health disturbance.

Social participation: Defined as a process in which the efforts of the population are added to those of the local governments to improve the conditions of health and well-being of the communities. This characteristic enables resources to be added from the different instances that share objectives, tasks, and results. It differs from community participation in that the latter does not strictly include the intervention of institutions, but only the efforts of the community itself. In this manual, the concepts are used interchangeably.

Source of the message: The office or the individual sending a risk message or who interacts with other individuals, groups, or organizations in a process of risk communication. It could also be the risk manager who composes the risk messages, the risk analyst, or another expert involved.

Study of exposure by means of biological indicators: Study that uses biomedical tests or the measuring of a substance, its metabolite or another marker of exposure in bodily fluids or tissues to confirm a human being’s exposure to a hazardous substance.

Sustainability: The different definitions have in common the idea of development with emphasis on intergenerational equity. In this context, sustainability can be defined as the development that guarantees to each future generation the option of enjoying at least the same level of well-being that the preceding generation enjoyed, based on the joint and co-responsible participation of the interested parties. (Solow, 1992)

Technical viewpoint: Rational information or factual information which increases the knowledge level of the public involved in the problem.

Total dissemination: Dissemination of all the information possible.

Toxic agent: A chemical or physical agent (e.g. radiation, heat, cold, microwaves) that under certain conditions of exposure can have harmful effects on a living organism.

Transparency: Freedom from excuses or deceit.

Xenophobia: Intolerance of the unfamiliar.