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San José State University Department of Economics |
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applet-magic.com Thayer Watkins Silicon Valley & Tornado Alley USA |
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Below are estimates of personal risks of deaths from various activities or causes. The risk figures are in expected number of deaths per year from a population of one million. The estimates are not necessary accurate but they give a rough idea of the relative magnitudes of the various risks.
| Activity | Expected deaths per million persons per year |
|---|---|
| Motorcycling | 20,000 |
| Smoking (20 cigarets per day) | 5,000 |
| Racing Cars | 1200 |
| Rock Climbing | 1000 |
| Canoeing | 400 |
| Pregnancy | 230 |
| Driving Cars | 170 |
| Skiing | 170 |
| Drinking Wine (one bottle per day) | 75 |
| Playing Football | 40 |
| Eating Peanut Butter* (4 tbsp per day) | 40 |
| Power Boating | 30 |
| Taking Birth Control Pills | 20 |
| Drinking Beer (one bottle per day) | 20 |
| Swimming | 19-30 |
| Bicycling | 10 |
| Drinking Milk (one pint per day) | 10 |
| Traveling by Aircraft | 9 |
| Eating Charcoal Broiled Steak (0.5 lb per week) | 0.4 |
| Influenza | 200 |
| Leukemia | 80 |
| From Falling | 70-90 |
| Being Runover by Road Vehicle (UK) | 60 |
| Being Runover by Road Vehicle (US) | 50 |
| From Home Accidents | 12 |
| Floods (US) | 2.2 |
| Tornadoes (US Midwest) | 2.2 |
| Earthquakes (California) | 1.7 |
| Storms (US) | 0.8 |
| Hurricanes | 0.4 |
| Venomous Bites | 0.2 |
| Lightning (UK) | 0.1 |
| Falling Aircraft (US) | 0.1 |
| Nuclear Power Plant | 0.1 |
| Flooding (Holland) | 0.1 |
| Petrol & Chemical Transport | 0.02-0.05 |
| Falling Meteor | 0.00006 |
Source: Bernard L. Oser, "Benefit/Risk: Whose? What? How Much?" Food Technology, 1979.
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