Risk Quiz: Test

Interested in learning more about risk? This page provides some interesting facts on causes of death, pollution exposure and personal health risks.

Causes of Death

Can you guess how likely it is that an average member of the U.S. population would die from each of the following causes in a given year? Place your cursor over the cause to see the answer.

Note: Estimates are derived by dividing the population for a given year by the number of deaths from each cause in that year. They do not take into account the number of participants in each activity or other factors that affect your personal risk. Source: Ropeik, David and George Gray, Risk: A Practical Guide for Deciding What's Really Safe and What's Really Dangerous in the World Around You. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2002, Appendix 1.

Pollution Exposure

Estimating the risk of illness or death from environmental problems is difficult due to the complex ways in which we are exposed to pollution and uncertainties related to how this pollution effects our health. However, several websites provide information related to your proximity to pollution sources. Links to some of these sites are provided below; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's website provides links to numerous other information sources.

Type of Exposure

• Air quality
• Drinking water
• Hazardous waste
• Radon
• Superfund National Priorities List

Your Personal Health Risks

A number of websites allow you to estimate your own risk of incurring different health effects, based on your personal characteristics. Examples include the following.

Type of Health Risk

• Cancer
• Diabetes
• Cardiovascular disease
• High blood pressure