At the same time, there is news of scientific findings about health risks. Besides the risks reported as news, we each face personal risks daily whether awake or asleep. When we travel, cross the street, consume food, play sports, fail to exercise, work on a hobby, and do all the other things we do as part of our lives, we take risks. They just aren't clearly defined and we usually don't think about them. The risks we seem to worry about most are those based on scientific reports.
Risk assessment is the scientific process of asking how risky something is.
Risk assessment can take different approaches depending on the purpose and scope of the available information or data used in an assessment, according to Patton. Some assessments look back to try to assess effects after an event, such as dumping toxic waste, has already occurred. Other assessments, such as before a new pesticide is approved for use, look ahead and try to predict what the effects will be. In addition to risk assessment differing depending on whether the process examines past or future events, assessment can differ because of the scope of the risk itself. Assessing the risks of global warming, for example, is quite broad, while assessing the risk of radon in a single house is quite narrow.