Advice to Teachers

[GEORGE CICOTTE <GEORGE_CICOTTE@health.ohio.gov>]

     I'm just throwing this idea out, so no flames on RADSAFE, please (feel 
     free to lambaste me on private email - I gladly accept constructive 
     criticism, grudgingly accept non-constructive criticism, and ignore 
     flat-out flames, except for the delete key).
     
     What would be the public perception if we could convince people, on a 
     secondary school basis, of the reasons for having exempt quantities in 
     the first place, i.e., that there is a minimum amount about which one 
     need not worry, and that it's just as okay to pour small amounts down 
     the sink as it is to let the drain cleaner go down, or other 
     household/minor use chemicals and agents?  If high school teachers and 
     students came to understand the relative risk bases, perhaps we could 
     breed a little familiarity.  In my opinion, the adage "familiarity 
     breeds contempt" has a less negative correlation, in that one does not 
     fear that with which one is familiar and comfortable.
     
     George Cicotte
     george_cicotte@health.ohio.gov
     Definitely not an official position of the Ohio Department of Health.
     
     
     
     ------------------------------
     
     Date: Tue, 04 Mar 1997 10:34:32 -0500
     From: Jack Couch <jgcouc@planetx.bloomu.edu>
     Subject: Advice to teachers? (Was minigenerators)
     
     . . . . I have had more than one high school teacher ask me what they 
     should do with their waste, and I haven't really been able to offer a 
     good answer--one that I'm happy with, anyway. Technically, if I 
     understand correctly, exempt quantities of any of the above materials 
     can be incinerated, disposed of down a sink or thrown in the trash to 
     be buried in a municipal sanitary landfill. . . .