Hyping Health Risks: Environmental Hazards in Daily Life and the Science of EpidemiologyThe media constantly bombard us with news of health hazards lurking in our everyday lives, but many of these hazards turn out to have been greatly overblown. According to author and epidemiologist Geoffrey C. Kabat, this hyping of low-level environmental hazards leads to needless anxiety and confusion on the part of the public concerning which exposures have important effects on health and which are likely to have minimal or no effect. Kabat approaches health scares as "social facts" and shows that a variety of factors can contribute to the inflating of a hazard. These include skewed reporting by the media, but also, surprisingly, the actions of researchers who may emphasize certain findings while ignoring others; regulatory and health agencies eager to show their responsiveness to the health concerns of the public; and politicians and advocates with a stake in a particular outcome. By means of four case studies, Kabat demonstrates how a powerful confluence of interests can lead to overstating or distorting the scientific evidence. He considers the health risks of pollutants such as DDT as a cause of breast cancer, electromagnetic fields from power lines, radon within residences, and secondhand tobacco smoke. Tracing the trajectory of each of these hazards from its initial emergence to the present, Kabat shows how publication of more rigorous studies and critical assessments ultimately help put hazards in perspective. |
Contents
Toward a Sociology | 1 |
Its Uses Strengths | 19 |
DOES THE ENVIRONMENT CAUSE BREAST CANCER? | 47 |
The Rise and Fall | 77 |
THE SCIENCE AND POLITICS OF RESIDENTIAL | 111 |
CONCLUSION | 183 |
AppendixA List ofInterviews | 189 |
Glossary | 215 |
Bibliography | 221 |
Credits | 239 |
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Hyping Health Risks: Environmental Hazards in Daily Life and the Science of ... Geoffrey C. Kabat No preview available - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
active smoking activists Adair Agency American Journal analysis assessment association BEIR biological breast cancer carcinogen case-control study causal cause of lung cigarette smoking cohort studies concern controls effects of exposure effects of radon electric electromagnetic fields Enstrom environment Environmental Health Environmental Tobacco Smoke EPA’s epidemiologic studies Epidemiology estimate estrogen ETS exposure evidence expo exposure to ETS fact findings groups health effects heart disease homes Ibid increased risk indoor radon issue Journal of Epidemiology leukemia Long Island lung cancer lung cancer deaths lung cancer risk Magnetic Fields major measure meta-analysis miners National Cancer Institute never smokers odds ratio organochlorine compounds paper passive smoking pCi/L percent perspective pollution Poole population potential power lines public health question radiation radon levels relative risk risk factors risk of breast risk of lung role Savitz scientific scientists secondhand smoke secondhand tobacco smoke tion weak wire codes women York