When I Worked as an Environmental Assessment Specialist

This is a story I heard from a colleague during my time working as an environmental assessment specialist.

There was once a period when chlorine compounds in tap water were widely discussed as potential carcinogens.

In response, a certain country's parliament made a decision that chlorine was the culprit and discontinued chlorine treatment of tap water.

So what happened?

While chlorine compounds may have disappeared from the tap water, bacterial diseases such as cholera and typhoid fever broke out in large numbers, and infant mortality rates skyrocketed.

In other words, out of extreme fear of chlorine compounds (carcinogens), they ended up taking on a far greater risk—infection from bacteria.

The fundamental truth is that risk cannot be reduced to zero.

Since it cannot be eliminated entirely, I believe the right approach is to compare risks against benefits and make the conscious decision to "accept necessary risks."

In the end, extreme fear of risk becomes the greatest risk itself.