SUSCEPTIBILITY AND RISK - AN OVERVIEW

This symposium on susceptibility and risk was the third in a series de signed to bring together experts from diverse disciplines to discuss c ontemporary issues in risk assessment. The topic in 1996 was especiall y challenging since susceptibility is influenced by a myriad of factor s including environmental, genetic, social and political elements. The delineation of the relative contribution of various 'susceptibility' factors has major implications for risk management options that may be applied in a regulatory context (risk prevention and risk reduction) or by the individual (risk avoidance). Current approaches to account f or susceptibility in risk assessments (e.g. application of an uncertai nty factor) have frequently been challenged as to their scientific bas is and thus need periodic re-examination or update to maintain a credi ble foundation for the assessment process. The goal of this symposium was to gain a better understanding of the dimensions of the problem an d to explore the directions that the risk assessment process might fol low to better quantify the contribution of susceptibility in risk calc ulations. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.