> >Ralph, regarding the word"toxic", I remember a publication I worked on a while ago where I said something was not"acutely toxic" and the tech editor wanted to remove"acutely" to save space. Sometimes the modifier is just as important as the adjective!

This point is made in a discussion of the challenge of understanding the word"toxic" in different contexts on an ACS Industry Matters blog that appeared today as "Toxic Credit Cards" at
https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/industry/industry-matters/toxic-credit-cards.html

And a related discussion of the challenges of science communication can be found in the podcast and its transcript at
http://opinionsciencepodcast.com/episode/neuro-transmissions-with-alie-micah-caldwell/

I think that in many cases, safety work is about addressing a key to successful science communication from Alan Alda:
"Never underestimate people"s intelligence. Always overestimate their vocabulary."

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts on this.

- Ralph

Ralph Stuart, CIH, CCHO
Environmental Safety Manager
Keene State College
603 358-2859

ralph.stuart**At_Symbol_Here**keene.edu

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