RISK•1962 Rachel Carson book - The Silent Spring - drew attention to the dangers of DDT: weak-ened shells of songbirds, many shells broke before the birds were born •1964 Surgeon General report squarely blamed smoking for lung cancer & other health prob-lems •Federal Gov with their seal of approval •1965 Ralph Nader book Unsafe At Any Speed - safety hazards in the design of american cars •before seat belts •published by minor publisher •brought before congress - private detectives were after him • world americans took for granted was filled with hidden dangers, manufacturers were ignoringrisks • 1960s turning point for risk•consumers were assured that certain products were safe•chevy promoted corvair - cheaper, better gas mileage•unusual because it had a rear engine •Nader said it was death trap •gov began passing laws regulating cars •safety belts •turn signals •lights •head support •air bags •seat belt laws expanded over decades •ticketing •laws saying you HAVE to wear a seat belt •Tobacco•manufacturers tried touting supposedly safer brands •designs - filters•New laws to constrain tobacco use •surgeon general•campaigns that show graphic pictures to stop you from smoking •Japanese warning are different•agency that oversees all tobacco sales •used to have tobacco vending machines •dangers that small children would get their faces burned by cigarettes•Love canal pointed to environmental risks •pollution •Buffalo - suburban neighborhood •hazardous waste spilled into neighborhood •3 mile island •released radioactivity •nuclear power •Pop culture made movies about environmental court cases •Social movement •where poor people live •Risk Factors •smoking - lung cancer•more likely to drink •unhealthy eating •physical inactivity •Risk for heart disease•high blood pressure •high cholesterol•diabetes•Ulrich Beck •book called Risk Society•keep introducing real things •don’t know what the effects are •focused on risk •Frank Furedi book called Culture of Fear•warns that worrying too much about risk may make progress possible •talking about risk has become routine •“Culturally deprived” “culturally disadvantaged” poor, color of skin•don’t do well in school - condemned to a life of poverty •replaced by term “at risk” euphemism for poor •children at risk for different things •a risky environment •playground•safe swings - strapped in •safe play surface •fences around to keep kids safe •warding off child molesters in London •reducing the risk of bicycling •helmets•knee pads•elbow pads •big wheels •Backlash •Cell phones•cancer risk •Europeans worry that the radiation risk comes from the cell phone towers •not much evidence that any of this is actually cancerous •worry about “frankenfoods” •genetically modified food •Americans resist food irradiation•kills bacteria •Breast implants •silicon or saline solution - eventually go bad & have to get them replaced •silicon - bad because it leaked & led to connective tissue disease Epidemiological Reasoning group exposed risk factor ——> incidence of problems matched group but not exposed to risk factor ——> incidence of problems if the risk factor causes problems, the incidence of problems in the exposed group must be higher than in the matched (controlled) group Autism Epidemic•diagnoses have increased •Mental retardation diagnoses have decreased •Autism + retardation stayed the same •Autism is where you don’t relate well to others •caused by “refrigerator mothers” - bad parenting •mothers who were cold •wasn’t getting the love it needed •advocates for mental retardation campaigned to improve special education services •better programs than if they had autism •doctors weren’t trained to look for autism change in the rate in which people get the diagnosis for autism •vaccines are a suspect for autism is often diagnosed around the age children are vaccinated •measles, mumps & rubella vaccine - suspect •diseases vaccines were devised to prevent increased •newest theory - the number of
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