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Pesticides are known to be among the most feared risks. In a two-factor space display of hazards describing risk perceptions of more than 40 000 individuals (familiarity as vertical dimension and possibility of control as horizontal dimension), pesticides lie in the upper right quadrant of the space reflecting that the respondents of the study characterised pesticides as poorly known or understood, delayed in effect, relatively new, uncontrollable, evoking dread, catastrophic, fatal, inequitable and posing high risk to future generations. In fact, the position of pesticides in this display was not far from the use of nuclear power. .
It has also been noticed, that females are more likely to judge pesticide risks as "high" or "moderate" than men. This can be seen not only among laymen, but also among female toxicologists. .
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People working with pesticides do have somewhat different attitudes compared to laymen. It has been seen as a major problem in educating the farmers and other workers to make them understand the meaning of the instructions given. The labellings concerning protective equipment are designed each case to meet the demands of the particular substance. It is difficult to explain, why one piece of PPE suitable with one chemical and another is not. It has been noticed that the bad odour of the product is the best motivator of protecting oneself and on the other words would be an efficient help in communicating pesticide risks. It is kind of a pity, that modern pesticide products do not usually have bad smell anymore.
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An opposite example is the mechanical timber harvesters, who had not been using pesticides in years and the younger generation ever. According to new directions given from the forest companies they are working for, a relatively non-toxic and inert biological fungicide has to be spread on stumps while harvesting. This, however, caused a huge amount of rumours and fears.
