Too good to be true

“100% safe!”

People often think about the benefits of interventions and ignore possible harms. But few intervention are 100% safe.

People often don’t think about the harmful effects that interventions can have. But many interventions have side effects – unintended effects that are harmful or unintended (e.g. to livestock or crops, to the users or to the wider environment).

BEWARE when someone says that an intervention is “100%” safe or beneficial, or does not say anything about its harmful effects.

REMEMBER: Interventions can be harmful as well as helpful.