RE: Who is "the Public?"

[Jim Cooper <james.cooper@socma.com>]

Hi Paul,

Several years ago, I worked at a chemical hotline that covered the
entire country.  We not only handled emergencies, but also helped
out with non-emergency information requests.  I've talked with every
category of the public on your list, and Rebekah's addition.  Boiling
down the information requests to their utmost simplicity, I 
noticed some consistency over the years.  Most of our calls,
emergencies and non-emergencies alike, were requests for three
simple pieces of information:

1. What is this stuff?
2. What's it used for?
3. What's the likelihood that it can hurt someone?

I know this is over-simplification, but I think it's pretty
accurate for most information requests about chemicals.

Regards,
Jim Cooper