What is the difference between a danger and a risk ?
A intrinstic property is a potential danger if this property can produce undesirable effects, for example to the health or the environment. But it becomes a real or significant risk for the safety of health or of the environment only if the target of this danger is significantly exposed to the effects of this property. The level of risk related to the intrinsic property of a chemical depends thus directly on the quantity to which its target is exposed to : if the chemical is not present in significant amounts, there is no risk, whatever the intrinsic danger involved. To take a very simple example, the acid produced by our stomach, has intrinsically a dangerous corrosive property but the quantities released in normal physiologic conditions do not represent a risk and, on the contrary contribute positively to the digestion process. Only excessive amounts produced in some pathologic conditions will generate gastric lesions.
