Risk means many different things to different people.
Consider the difference between scientific, economic and perceived risk. Scientific risk refers to the health risk posed by a compound and is based on toxicity data gathered in animal and human studies. Economic risk describes the statistical likelihood of making a positive return on a financial investment. Perceived risk is based primarily on emotional response to a perceived threat. Perceived risk is greatly affected by such things as whether a hazard is voluntary, familiar, the time lag until an effect is noticed, whether the compound is a natural or man-made source, and whether the person at risk is the one to benefit from the source of the risk.