Handling uncertainty in curren European Union (EU) risk assessment of new and existing substances is problematic for several reasons. The known or quantifiable sources of uncertainty are mainly considered. Uncertainty is insufficiently, explicitly communicated to risk managers and decision makers but hidden and concealed in risk quotient numbers that appear to be certain and, therefore, create a false sense of certainty and protectiveness. The new EU chemical policy legislation, REACH, is an opportunity to learn from interdisciplinary thinking in order to evolve to smart risk assessment: an assessment in which awareness and openness to uncertainty is used to produce better characterizations and evaluations of risks. In a smart risk assessment context, quantifying uncertainty is not an aim but just a productive means to refine the assessment or to find alternative solutions for the problem at stake. Guidance and examples are given on how to differentiate, assess, and use uncertainty.

The aim of the present study was to compare the perceived risks of air pollution from industry and traffic in the Moerdijk region in The Netherlands, and to identify the demographic and psychometric variables that are associated with these perceived risks. We sent out a questionnaire and risk perceptions were explored using multiple regression models. The results showed that the perceived risks of industrial air pollution were higher than for those of traffic-related air pollution. The perceived risk of industrial air pollution was associated with other variables than that of traffic. For industry, the psychometric variable affect prevailed. For traffic-related air pollution, the demographic variables age and educational level prevailed, although affect was also apparent. Which source was considered as the major source-traffic or industry-depended on a high risk perception of industrial air pollution, and not on variation in risk perception of traffic-related air pollution. These insights can be used as an impetus for the local risk management process in the Moerdijk region. We recommend that local authorities consider risk perception as one of the targets in local risk management strategies as well.

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Met deze vraag opent Christian Bröer zijn proefschrift (Bröer, 2006). Na de eerste pagina's wordt duidelijk wat de bedoeling is: 'Mij gaat het erom te achterhalen of en in welke mate beleidsprocessen de beleving van geluid [door wijkbewoners, AS] beïnvloeden en daarmee mede een oorzaak zijn van hinder en protesten.' Bröer wil de aandacht vestigen op een specifieke volgtijdelijkheid, en wel dat de perceptie gevormd wordt door beleid. Hij zet zich daarmee af tegen een klassieke visie van beleidsvorming waarin perceptie voorafgaat aan beleid.

Handling uncertainty in curren European Union (EU) risk assessment of new and existing substances is problematic for several reasons. The known or quantifiable sources of uncertainty are mainly considered. Uncertainty is insufficiently, explicitly communicated to risk managers and decision makers but hidden and concealed in risk quotient numbers that appear to be certain and, therefore, create a false sense of certainty and protectiveness. The new EU chemical policy legislation, REACH, is an opportunity to learn from interdisciplinary thinking in order to evolve to smart risk assessment: an assessment in which awareness and openness to uncertainty is used to produce better characterizations and evaluations of risks. In a smart risk assessment context, quantifying uncertainty is not an aim but just a productive means to refine the assessment or to find alternative solutions for the problem at stake. Guidance and examples are given on how to differentiate, assess, and use uncertainty.