Risk Analysis, Vol. 26, No. 5, 2006 DOI: 10.1111/j.1539-6924.2006.00809.x Incorporating Ethnographic Methods in Multidisciplinary Approaches to Risk Assessment and Communication: Cultural and Religious Uses of Mercury in Latino and Caribbean Communities Donna M. Riley, 1* C. Alison Newby, 2 and Tom´ as O. Leal-Almeraz 3 The potential risk from cultural and religious practices involving mercury in Latino and Caribbean communities raises central methodological and ethical questions for risk assessment and risk communication. Here, specific cultural practices unfamiliar to most risk professionals carry significant inherent risks in the eyes of those professionals but not necessarily in the eyes of practitioners. Practitioners’ past experience and history as targets of religious suppression and anti-immigrant sentiment create a reluctance to engage with researchers or public health officials in risk assessment or preventive risk communication efforts. The potential for the risk—in this case mercury contamination in dwellings—to extend beyond the practicing com- munity to future occupants adds to public health concern. Understanding the risks of these practices requires both an understanding of the cultural and political context, beliefs, and be- haviors of mercury users and an understanding of the fate and transport of mercury in typical use scenarios. In this study, we employed ethnographic methods (interviews and participant observation) to understand beliefs and behavior about mercury use as well as quantitative modeling and measurement to estimate and assess potential exposures. This represents a new methodology tailored to situations in which traditional activities or observances that are in- tegral components of cultural identity pose risks in and of themselves. Our findings indicate that there are different types of mercury use stemming from different cultural and religious traditions that result in different levels of exposure. Many of the mercury uses that can result in the highest exposures to mercury vapors have previously been attributed to the religious tradition of Santeria, but appear instead to have their roots outside of the religion. KEY WORDS: Culture; ethnography; exposure assessment; mercury; risk communication 1. INTRODUCTION Certain cultural activities can carry inherent risks. Many everyday risks that are part of the majority cul- ture in the United States have been well studied, but 1 Smith College, Engineering, Northampton, MA, USA. 2 New Mexico State University, Sociology and Anthropology, Las Cruces, NM, USA. 3 Santero, Las Cruces, NM, USA. ∗ Address correspondence to Dr. Donna Riley, Smith College, En- gineering, 51 College Lane, Northampton, MA 01063; tel: 413- 585-7003; driley@email.smith.edu. activities that are specific to smaller segments of the population are often overlooked. Cultural and polit- ical barriers can get in the way of research on these activities, as can the perspectives of researchers who are outsiders to the communities being studied. This article examines risk from cultural and religious uses of mercury in Latino and Caribbean communities in the United States. Because these risks are generated through activities that are a distinctive element of mi- nority cultures, a number of methodological issues arise that require particular attention. 1205 0272-4332/06/0100-1205$22.00/1 C  2006 Society for Risk Analysis