Societal benefits

The last three decades have seen the development of a new science to help us better understand the risk of events about which there is often very little information. The reason there is interest in such a science is that there are a great many societal benefits from activities that involve risk risk that if properly managed through better understanding can greatly benefit the quality of all life on the planet earth, both plant and animal. That science is quantitative risk assessment, also known by such names as probabilistic risk assessment and probabilistic salety assessment, the latter being the preferred name for this text. Probabilistic safety assessment divides the risk question into three questions "What can go wrong " "How likely is it " and "What are the consequences "... 

Dividing the enterprise of the chemical sciences strictly into fundamentals and areas of societal benefit cannot, of course, be done with any degree of purity, so every chapter has significant elements of both. This is particularly true in the sections on theory and computation (Chapter 6) and on the interface with biology and medicine (Chapter 7). We close in Chapter 12 with our vision of grand challenges for the chemical sciences. 

The Patent Statute. A patent represents a "contract" between an inventor and the public. The inventor offers full disclosure of his or her invention in sufficient detail to instruct the public about the invention and its use. In exchange for public disclosure and the societal benefits derived therefrom, a patent holder is granted exclusive rights to make, use, and sell the invention and the right to exclude all others from the same for a period of 20 years. Thus inventions that would otherwise remain preciously held secrets are made known for greater advancement of the public good. 

The general societal benefits of all of these basic advances are substantial. Indeed, it can be argued that the overall value to our society will extend well beyond national security issues and will far exceed the initial investments, because many of these advances will result in improved quality of life and health for all of society. 

Overall Assessment of R D for Environmental Protection. It is recognized by the researchers that a total analysis of the societal cost versus societal benefits of R D for environmental protection research is well beyond the scope of this study. 

Finally there is the question of how low is low enough . With improvements in analytical techniques and technology carrying on apace there is httle doubt that more pharmaceuticals will be found in more samples at ever lower levels. At some point the balance between societal benefit and environmental risk must be made. 

Despite their societal benefits, PBDEs seem to be migrating from the products in which they are used and entering the environment and people. PBDEs are now ubiquitous they can be found in air, water, fish, birds, marine mammals, and people, and in many cases, the concentrations of these compounds... 

Passive fire protection (flame retardants in plastics) is an important societal benefit. 

Compelling significance societal benefit and technical challenge. 

Another potentially curative application of expanded porphyrins is to use them as sensitizers in X-ray tumor therapy (XRT). While so far only proposed in the context of the gadolinium(III) texaphyrin system 10.2, such a use is one that carries within it the possible seeds of enormous societal benefit. This is because it would allow one of the most important of all cancer control strategies, namely radiation therapy, to be made more efficacious. 

Basic Eco-Efficiency Metrics. The above eco-efficiency categories can be captured by a small number of metrics. For illustration, let us consider the set of basic metrics adopted by BRIDGES to Sustainability (Schwarz et al., 2000, 2002), shown in Table 6.2. Informed by the work of NRTEE (1999) and WBCSD (Verfaillie and Bidwell, 2000), the metrics were chosen as ratios. Impacts are placed in the numerators and a measure of output is in the denominator. The denominator can be mass or other unit of product, functional unit, sales revenue, monetary value-added, or a certain measure of societal benefits. Expressing the metrics as ratios allow them to be compared and used in weighing decision alternatives and comparing operational units. Defined in this manner, the lower metrics are better as they reflect lower impacts per unit of value generation. 

There could be modest societal benefits if hydrogen is made from fossil fuels in the near term, even without C02 sequestration. If hydrogen is derived from fossil sources without carbon sequestration and used in an... 

Collaborative drug therapy management, characterized by an interdisciplinary approach to patient care, is emerging as a solution that can maximize the patient s health-related quality of life, reduce the frequency of avoidable drug-related problems, and improve societal benefits from pharmaceuticals. In this approach to care, drug therapy decision making and management are coordinated collaboratively by pharmacists, physicians, other health care professionals, and the patient. 

The same study analysed the costs and benefits of employment services for different target groups. It was estimated that the total benefits of these services for unemployed, disabled and welfare recipients including employed on sick leave are estimated to 1.8 billion a year. The benefits per trajectory were multiplied by the total amount of trajectories on a yearly basis. According to the study, the societal benefit amounted to EUR 1.1 billion or 164% of the costs (see Table 17). The calculation is very much influenced by the definition of cost and benefit elements. 

Breakout questions What major discoveries or advances related to energy or transportation have been made in the chemical sciences during the past several decades What is the length of time for them to show impact What are the societal benefits of research in the chemical sciences What are the intangible benefits, for example, in health and quality of life What problems exist in the chemical sciences Has there been a real or sustained decline in research investment in either the public or private sector Has there been a shift in off-shore investment ... 

In conclusion the development of homogeneous catalysis will have significant industrial impact and provide societal benefit in future. Besides this, it will be also much fun to participate actively in this scientifically interesting area. 

A renaissance is occurring in the field of electrochemical science and technology. Advances are taking place owing to new-found abilities to create precisely characterized systems for fundamental study, to monitor their behavior at previously unattainable levels of sensitivity, and to predict behavior with new theories and improved computational skill. These capabilities are creating extraordinary opportunities, both in electrochemical science and in the transfer of that science into new products and processes. These events are being driven by economic and societal benefits that can be satisfied by no other technologies except those based on electrochemical phenomena. 

What remains to be seen is the extent to which the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) will recognise exposure factors and economic and societal benefits, and not simply ban a substance based on toxicity. It is the responsibility of the companies participating in REACH to provide ECHA with adequate information and data to convince ECHA to allow certain uses and conditions for continuing manufacture of SVHC substances. 

Most studies on parental perception have been carried out within 72 hours of research participation decisions (Zupancic et al., 1997 Hoehn et al., 2005) others are retrospective or prospective questionnaire studies (van Stuijvenberg et ah, 1998). Factors that influence parental decisions are societal benefit, personal benefit, risk perception and perceived lack of harm. The logistic factors that influence parental perception of risks are the amount of information given, the trust in the institution and the time required for the decision-making. Parents who perceived benefit, either personal or societal, were more likely to participate than if they perceived risk (Tait et al., 2004 Hoehn et al., 2005). Societal benefit is the most frequently cited reason for participation in clinical research. Parents with a critically ill child have an altruistic view to help future children in similar conditions (Langley et ah, 1998 van Stuijvenberg et ah, 1998 Schmidt et ah, 1999 Mason and Allmark, 2000 Hoehn et ah, 2005). 

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