Template to a self-administered questionnaire on public’s risk perception of man-made chemicals in the human body; perception, acceptability, knowledge, beliefs, perceived control, information use, needs and understanding

This report presents the template to a self-administered questionnaire on public’s risk perception of man-made chemicals in the human body. It is theory-based and founded on earlier work on risk perception, mainly within the Strategic Programme RIVM. From the literature, we observe that topics such as personal traits, beliefs about health impacts, trust in authorities, attitudes toward the chemicals themselves and toward dealing with uncertainty, are all relevant topics in the context of risk perceptions, information needs and need for further policy development. The template includes sections on risk perception, acceptability, knowledge, beliefs, perceived control, information use, needs and understanding.
The report outlines the background to the topic, the (lack of) literature specific to the study of perception targeted to man-made chemical in the human body, as measured through HBM. The report and questionnaire material is structured in four sections: A Demographics and perceived health; B Perception of risk of chemicals and chemical substances in body; C Explanatory factors for risk perception (general and personal); and D Information use, needs and understanding. The report provides origin, background and references to the questions and outlines possible approaches to the statistical analysis of collected materials. Proposed questions are listed in the annexes.