Words, terms and phrases used by officials or corporate spokespersons to allay public concerns about risks or hazards. Often these terms are empty claims and false assurances by speakers with very limited knowledge or are deliberately intended to dismiss public concerns and avoid responsibility. What is your definition of safety?
1. Free from harm, injury or risk
2. Secure from threat of danger, harm or loss
3. Affording protection from danger
4. Not threatening danger
5. Clean bill of health
6. Insignificant risk
7. No inherent danger
8. Acceptable Daily Intake
9. No threat to public health and safety
10. Reference dose
11. No one was harmed
12. De minimis risk
13. Protective of public health
14. Acceptable risk
15. Less dangerous than aspirin
16. Less dangerous than table salt
17. Ample margin of safety
18. Maximum sustainable yield
19. Minimum viable population
20. No life threatening injuries
21. Not immediately life threatening
22. Not dangerous
23. Little cause for concern
24. No cause for concern
25. Below the threshold for effects
26. Below the threshold for measurable effects
27. Non toxic
28. Generally considered safe
29. Allowable exposure level
30. No possibility of harm
31. Upper safety limits
32. Immediate health risks appear minimal (Nuclear partial meltdown)
33. Can be done safely, with constant vigilance (gas extraction)
34. Unlikely that significant adverse effects will occur (herbicide application)
35. ...the levels do not pose an immediate risk to human health...
36. No immediate health risk (radioactive vegetables)
37. ...officials do not expect any health concerns (slightly elevated radiation levels in rain water)
38. Immediate health risks for people living near ____ nuclear plant appeared minimal
39. ...not a risk to humans...
40. ...too low to cause immediate illness
41. ... minor, localized impacts. (leaky pipelines)
42. ... did not expect "material environmental impact" or safety risk to the public from the spill. (West TX pipeline leak more than 1100 barrels of crude oil near a pump station. Unspecified additional volumes of oil have been absorbed into the soil the area surrounding the pump facility...)
43. Jet Fuel Leaks For 2 Weeks Into Sewer...Officials said they do not think the fuel ever entered drinking water or posed a major health risk. "Cleanup is already underway, and we expect a resolution that won't be disruptive to normal operations at the airport," Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele said. County officials said they did not know how much fuel leaked into the sewer system. They also said they did not know who will end paying for the cleanup, or how much it will cost.
44. Little risk, essentially zero risk Nuclear accidents pose little risk to health: NRC. ...from a severe nuclear power plant accident in the United States ... because reactor operators should have time to prevent core damage and reduce the release of radioactive materials, US nuclear regulators said in a study on Wednesday. Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/
45. contamination minimal so far... Scientists say contamination of ocean fish minimal so far. The massive radioactive fallout from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has sparked fear in seafood lovers and commercial fishermen both at home and abroad, and some worry the contamination could pass through and even become more concentrated in the ocean food chain. Japan Times, Japan.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/
46. (a) Safety: the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents or harm. (b) Safety can also be defined to be the control of recognized hazards to achieve an acceptable level of risk in the protection of people, possessions and environment. Quoted with permission. -- Lynda K. Farrell, Executive Director, Pipeline Safety Coalition, www.pscoalition.org
47. "It’s not immediately fatal but could show up as cancer or other illnesses years later." Life with invisible enemy: Uncertain health risks torment Japanese in radiation zone, Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
48. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's final environment impact statement for the proposal, released in March, said the pipeline would have "limited adverse environmental impacts..." Feds approve gas pipeline that will run through Jersey City, Bayonne, and offshore Hoboken, Monday, May 21, 2012 ByTerrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal, http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2012/05/feds_approve_gas_pipeline_that.html
49. Pacific Bluefin tuna caught off the coast of California have been found to have radioactive contamination from last year's Fukushima nuclear accident. ... "Scientists stress that the fish are still perfectly safe to eat." "But consumers should have no health concerns about eating California-caught tuna from last year, the team says." "The levels of radioactivity are well within permitted limits..." ..." met the legal requirements for safe consumption." -- Bluefin tuna record Fukushimaradioactivity 28 May 2012 BBC, Jonathan Amos By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News
50. "less-than-significant" The commission said in March that the project would have a "less-than-significant" environmental effect. Spectra, based in Houston, completed a section of the pipeline between Jersey City and Manhattan, U.S. Transmission President Bill Yardley said at a Jan. 16 conference. (Bid to block Spectra gas pipeline throughHudson County denied by judge, by Bloomberg News, 2/4/13)
51. Toxic vapors force Google to shut two buildings close to it's Mountain View HQ... Google employees have been exposed to the problem for 'months', but it 'takes decades of exposure to cause problems', the EPA told CBS. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2283411/Toxic-vapors-force-Google-shut-buildings-close-Mountain-View-HQ.html#ixzz2LpJTBbjJ
53. a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in a densely populated Providence neighborhood would "not significantly affect the quality of the human environment.”
54. Last Fire Extinguished at South Philly Refinery, Air Quality Testing Continues
The last small fire was extinguished Saturday, June 22, at the South Philadelphia refinery where a series of house-rattling explosions rattled the city Friday, June 21. Officials said the gas valve that had been fueling the blaze was shut off and the tank involved in the explosion was isolated. The Philadelphia Fire Department's hazmat unit and the Department of Public Health will continue to test the air for any hazards. So far, they have not found anything unsafe, officials said. Efforts to ease concerns in neighboring communities have not provided much comfort to residents who wonder what is in the thick, black smoke they watched rise into the air in the morning at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery.
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