Element of Risk. The Politics of Radon.

Cole, Leonard A.:

ISBN 10: 0871685132 / ISBN 13: 9780871685131

Published by AAAS Press, Wahington, 1993

About this Item

246 S. mit Abbildungen, 0871685132 Sprache: Englisch Gewicht in Gramm: 560 Groß 8°, Original-Leinen mit Originalschutzumschlag, sehr gutes Exemplar, (hard cover, fine copy),

Seller Inventory # 40949

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Element of Risk. The Politics of Radon.
• Publisher: AAAS Press, Wahington
• Publication Date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0871685132
• ISBN 13: 9780871685131
• Binding: Hardcover
• Weight: 560 grams
• Seller catalogs:
  • Kernphysik, Kernchemie, Nuklearmedizin

About this title

Synopsis

Cole (science, technology, and society, Rutgers U.) challenges the US Environmental Protection Agency's risk-cost assessment of radon in private houses, and the policy of extensive testing and remediation based on it. He claims that neither the epidemiological nor other scientific findings warrant the alarm, and wonders who is benefiting. For the general reader. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Reviews

This calm, thoughtful book deserves a wide audience. Since the 1980s, when elevated concentrations of radon were found in certain U.S. homes, the gas has been the focus of an "imbalanced" debate among scientists and policymakers, writes political scientist Cole ( Clouds of Secrecy ) . The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), citing radon-induced lung-cancer deaths, has urged voluntary testing of homes; skeptical scientists claim that the gas poses virtually no health risk. Drawing on some 200 interviews, Cole documents the one-sidedness of public discussion, as evinced by a Congress unwilling to listen to dissenters, an EPA that exaggerates dangers and a press that echoes establishment views. The author deplores the lack of open debate in formulating radon policies, and he reveals the politics behind the issue, which first surfaced in the Reagan era. "Radon seemed an ideal issue for a conservative administration in need of a better environmental image," according to Cole. "The radioactive gas was business friendly insofar as it is a natural phenomenon and not usually related to industrial activities."
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.