Hormesis and risk communication: a comment to Ortwin Renn

Professor Ortwin Renn should be congratulated for authoring the definitive piece on risk communication with regard to hormesis. Most of his conclusions I agree with, specifically the importance of labelling hormesis as a possible natural effect, thereby reducing the stigmatization associated with a technical/chemical label. Rather than discussing all the points that Renn raises, in this comment I will focus on the issue of trust, a topic that Renn does examine but which I feel does not get adequate attention and which I do not completely agree with. In so doing, in my conclusions I am more optimistic than Renn is in preparing risk communication strategies regarding hormesis and other new paradigms to target audiences (defined in most instances as the general public and stakeholders).