Experts, such as toxicologist and risk analysts, evaluate chemical risks mostly based on scientific data, while lay-people use
‘intuitive toxicology’ and heuristics for their risk judgment. Lay-people are usually not aware, nor understand the complex concepts
of toxicology, risk assessment or regulation and their risk judgment might be fuelled by misinformation and misconceptions.
This might lead to suboptimal or even dangerous decision making regarding chemical substances or chemical-containing
products. The goal of this study was to investigate consumers’ knowledge and perception of toxicology and its principles (e.g.,
dose-response relationship, evidence from animal studies) and to identify potential misconceptions and knowledge gaps.
For the purpose of this study, the Mental Models Approach was applied to understand the knowledge and perceptions of experts
and lay-people. Qualitative interviews with experts (toxicologists from research and regulation, N = 5) and a heterogeneous group
of consumers (N = 10) were conducted. This led to the development of an influence diagram, which served as the basis for the
development of a survey questionnaire. Also, first insights from the subsequently conducted surveys with experts and consumers
to check the representativeness of the qualitative findings will be presented and discussed.
The qualitative results confirm that consumers have very limited knowledge of the principles of toxicology and regulation
processes are undertaken to ensure the safety of the chemical-containing products. This study identified important and specific
misconceptions and knowledge gaps. Implications and recommendations for further research and practice are discussed to
improve consumers’ informed decision making regarding toxicology and chemical substances.