2005 Press Releases

25 Apr 2005

Weighing the Risk - Last Lecture Series, 27 April


 
What's more dangerous - climbing a stairs, playing a game of soccer or football, driving a car - or the effects on the environment of incineration and the pharmaceutical industry?

There are inherent dangers in each of these things, says Professor James Heffron of the Department of Biochemistry at University College Cork, but perhaps the time has come to evaluate them sensibly and even to formulate a policy of what might be regarded as acceptable human risk. On Wednesday evening next, (April 27th) as part of UCC's continuing Faculty of Science Public Lecture Series, organised by Professor William Reville, Professor Heffron, an expert in the field of the toxicity of synthetic and natural chemicals, will offer some thought-provoking insights on the dangers we face in our daily lives and how, realistically, we might begin to weigh the risks.

The European Union, Professor Heffron says, does not have an acceptable risk policy, while the World Health Organisation (WHO) has recommended that, over a lifetime of 70 years, acceptable risk should be measured in the ratio of 1:10,000, 1:100,000 or 1:1,000, 000. "Personally, I believe the risk should be set at somewhere between 1:100,000 and 1:1,000000," he adds.

While the presence of risk in our lives can't be denied, statistical evidence shows that even though some risks are more threatening than others, people don't necessarily pay more attention to them. In other words, despite the fact that statistically, the ratio of deaths from lung cancer due to smoking is 1:2.5, much more attention is paid to the perceived risks from emissions caused by pharmaceutical manufacturers and the incineration industries. How much attention is paid to the side effects of the drug compounds we use on a regular basis, and how often are such risks measured against, say, the risk of driving on our roads, or for that matter, playing a game of football or climbing the stairs at home, Professor Heffron asks, and suggests that driving, overeating and  climbing stairs, are far more dangerous. And what about the risks from the wide variety of the natural pesticides present in all vegetables and plants ?  Should we be worried about the toxic chemical acrylamide which is present in toasted bread and crisps ?
 
In his lecture titled "Living with Risk", Professor Heffron will suggest that the time has come for an official acceptable risk policy but he will also warn that the formulation of the policy should not be left solely to the scientists and that the public, after informed debate, should decide what the parameters will be. The lecture promises to illuminate an often fraught debate which has a particular resonance in Cork at present, as decisions are awaited on the future of incineration in the region.
The lecture will take place on Wednesday (April 27th) at 8pm in Boole Lecture Theatre 4, University College Cork.

As always, members of the public are invited to attend and admission is free.

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