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The problem formulation stage of an integrated risk assessment. Risk management and stakeholder activities are parallel and may interact with the problem formulation process to a greater of lesser extent depending on circumstances (modified from US EPA 1998).
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In this document, we define the term integrated risk assessment as, a science-based approach that combines the processes of risk estimation for humans, biota, and natural resources in one assessment. Such an integrated approach can be applied to a wide variety of types of assessments including 1) assessments that predict the effects of proposed act...
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Context 1
... formulation is the process by which the assessment is defined and the plan for analyzing and characterizing risk is developed (US EPA 1992, 1998. As an initial activity in problem formulation, information concerning known or suspected stressors, observed or hypothesized effects, and systems at potential risk is integrated to generate two types of products: assessment endpoints and conceptual models (Figure 2). Assessment endpoints are the specific attributes and entities to be assessed and protected (US EPA 1998). ...
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... the conceptual model should undergo rigorous review by risk managers, scientific peers, and other stakeholders to ensure that all concerns have been addressed and that the assessment will yield a scientifically sound and credible characterization of risk. The methods to be used in the assessment to evaluate the risk hypotheses reflected in the conceptual model are described in the analysis plan, the final product of problem formulation (Figure 2). Analysis plans provide the information necessary for risk assessors and risk managers to determine that the assessment will provide the kinds and quality of information necessary to make environmental management decisions. ...
Citations
... Regulatory and legislative measures have been undertaken, which enable the assessment and/or forecast of environmental changes, and whose aim is to protect the environment, or to take remedial actions to curtail the effects of pollutants' impact on biological resources, ecosys- tems and human health [15]. The US EPA was the first to publish documents covering the environmental risk assessment procedure [16]. ...
Contamination with harmful chemical substances, including organic compounds of the BTEX and PAH groups, constitutes one of the major threats to the functioning of soil habitat. Excessive contents of the above substances can exert adverse effects on soil organisms, reduce biodiversity, and thus deteriorate soil quality. The threat to soil ecosystems within areas particularly exposed to contamination with accumulating chemical compounds was assessed using the Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) with a multi-stage Triad (triage rapid initial assessment) procedure (taking into account the different lines of evidence). The article presents the results of chemical and ecotoxicological study of soils sampled at sites affected by contamination from petrochemical industry. The study results provided foundations for developing the site specific ERA framework for the area examined.
... Tako, prema nekim autorima, upravljanje rizikom podrazumeva aktivnost koja obuhvata donošenje odluka kako i na koji način sprovoditi određene akcije radi zaštite životne sredine, a što se prvenstveno zasniva na rezultatima procene rizika i sagledava se u ostvarivanju određenih ciljeva [3]. Upravljanje rizikom drugi definišu kao složenu i izuzetno specifičnu aktivnost koja zahteva multidisciplinaran pristup, i predstavlja kompleksan skup mera postupaka i aktivnosti koje imaju za cilj smanjenje verovatnoće nastanka rizika i mogućih posledica, radi stvaranja uslova pod kojima rizik može biti sveden na prihvatljiv nivo [7,9]. Pojam upravljanja rizikom u životnoj sredini definiše se i na način da je to optimalni izbor preventivnog delovanja koje daje minimalni rizik [1]. ...
Successful protection of environment is mostly based on high-quality assessment of potential and present risks. Environmental risk management is a complex process which includes: identification, assessment and control of risk, namely taking measures in order to minimize the risk to an acceptable level. Environmental risk management methodology: In addition to these phases in the management of environmental risk, appropriate measures that affect the reduction of risk occurrence should be implemented: - normative and legal regulations (laws and regulations), - appropriate organizational structures in society, and - establishing quality monitoring of environment. The emphasis is placed on the application of assessment methodologies (three-model concept), as the most important aspect of successful management of environmental risk. Risk assessment methodology - European concept: The first concept of ecological risk assessment methodology is based on the so-called European model-concept. In order to better understand this ecological risk assessment methodology, two concepts - hazard and risk - are introduced. The European concept of environmental risk assessment has the following phases in its implementation: identification of hazard (danger), identification of consequences (if there is hazard), estimate of the scale of consequences, estimate of consequence probability and risk assessment (also called risk characterization). The European concept is often used to assess risk in the environment as a model for addressing the distribution of stressors along the source - path - receptor line. Risk assessment methodology - Canadian concept: The second concept of the methodology of environmental risk assessment is based on the so-called Canadian model-concept. The assessment of ecological risk includes risk arising from natural events (floods, extreme weather conditions, etc.), technological processes and products, agents (chemical, biological, radiological, etc.) and industrial activities that may pose threats to ecosystems, flora, fauna and humans. This model-concept gives a three-phase assessment where the assessor tries to determine whether a specific place may be subject to assessment, to characterize the level of risk and to confirm or refute the findings of the first phase, collecting information and corrective measures, or to establish basic requirements for environment protection. Risk assessment methodology - American concept: The third methodological approach to environmental risk assessment is developed by the U.S. Agency for Environmental Protection, 'U.S. EPA'. This model primarily involves the implementation of environmental risk assessment under the conditions of anthropogenic impact on environment, without aiming at solving problems of natural environmental risks, although this methodology can be applied in this environment segment as well. The methodology gives a clear distinction between a scientific (phase of estimation) and a non-scientific (planning) part of assessment. The phases of estimation given by this model are: problem formulation, risk analysis and risk characterization. Conclusion: Concepts and methodologies of all three models-concepts of assessment are mostly reduced to a common goal: how to reduce existing or avoid potential risks. However, it should be noted that the implementation of appropriate management and ecological risk assessment does not guarantee that risks will be avoided or that the implementation of these processes will be successful.
Decision making in ecosystem management is a process of balancing multiple objectives, constraints, trade-offs and uncertainties against a complex backdrop of socio-economic, cultural and political considerations and limited ecological understanding. A central challenge in providing credible, effective and defensible decision support therefore, is to provide and apply frameworks and methods that will allow informed choices by providing opportunities for genuine, substantive participation in decision making supported by best available scientific knowledge that also incorporates uncertainty in an honest, rigorous and consistent manner.
Using Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) as an organizing framework, stakeholder engagement, risk-based modelling and decision-analytic techniques were developed and applied to a case study of environmental flow management in a degraded, semi-arid lowland river in the Wimmera Catchment in Victoria. The case study focussed on the management of the summer environmental flow regime to maintain adequate instream habitat and water quality for aquatic biota in the Lower Wimmera River.
Formal management and expert stakeholder workshops were used to obtain stakeholder input for the ERA stages of problem formulation, hazard identification and assessment, conceptual modelling and endpoint selection. Workshop outcomes provided the basis for risk analysis modelling of the ecological effects of environmental flow management.
Synthesizing information and data from a wide range of sources, a Bayesian network (BN) model was constructed to capture current understanding on the potential effects of environmental flow management on Freshwater Catfish, the stakeholder chosen risk assessment endpoint. The application and utility of the BN model for evaluating potential environmental flow management strategies and supporting adaptive management within an ERA framework is demonstrated and evaluated. Insights from the modelling process were used to formulate general principles for designing flow strategies over summer and critical gaps in knowledge are also highlighted.
Concern about cumulative effects and impacts is not new, and considerable research and practical effort has been directed to improving both assessment processes and understandings. Despite progress in the understanding, research, and measurement of cumulative impacts, there are increasing numbers of cracks apparent in both processes and outcomes. These include concerns about the limited spatial and temporal scale of assessments, the inadequacies that arise when environmental, social, and health impacts are reviewed separately or are translated into regulatory or legislative frameworks that become highly prescribed and legalised, and the limitations of focusing only on large mega-projects to the exclusion of the many small projects and activities that occur much more routinely, and often in the same areas. Despite considerable experimentation and evolution, current approaches to impact assessment (spanning environmental, social, and health dynamics) are all found to be wanting, especially in relation to cumulative concerns. In this Chapter we draw upon the lesson of Justice Thomas Berger’s Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry in the 1970s, to describe a relational and integrative imperative for change that demands a fundamentally new approach to impact assessment. We argue for a revolutionary change, guided by lessons from the past, towards a more integrative and regional cumulative impacts assessment framework.
A new methodology is developed to estimate an aquatic community toxicity threshold concentration based on the limited toxicity data that are available for thiosalts. To analyze the indirect effect of thiosalts on decreasing pH, an exposure model is developed that estimates the residual concentration of thiosalts and pH in the water body. The results from this model are incorporated in thiosalts risk assessment and a case study is used to illustrate the applicability of the proposed model. In this study, the exposure model predicts that, trithionate and tetrathionate degraded to SO42− SO 4 2 − ions, HSO3− HSO 3 − ions, SO32− SO 3 2 − ions and elemental sulfur. The concentration of thiosulfate, trithionate and tetrathionate, initially at 25, 40 and 6 mg/L, respectively are expected to decrease. Over the duration of 77 h, thiosulfate degrades completely, while the estimated residual trithionate and tetrathionate concentrations are 13 and 5.77 mg/L, respectively. pH of the undiluted effluent is estimated to decrease from 9.2 to 5.6 within an hour of the effluent discharge and decreases further to 4 over a period of next 3 days. A framework and methodology developed in this paper can be utilized to estimate the potential direct and indirect risk of thiosalts exposure to ecological entities.
This is the first of seven papers resulting from a Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) international workshop titled "The Influence of Global Climate Change on the Scientific Foundations and Applications of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry." The workshop involved 36 scientists from 11 countries and was designed to answer the following question: How will global climate change influence the environmental impacts of chemicals and other stressors and the way we assess and manage them in the environment? While more detail is found in the complete series of articles, some key consensus points are as follows: (1) human actions (including mitigation of and adaptation to impacts of global climate change [GCC]) may have as much influence on the fate and distribution of chemical contaminants as does GCC, and modeled predictions should be interpreted cautiously; (2) climate change can affect the toxicity of chemicals, but chemicals can also affect how organisms acclimate to climate change; (3) effects of GCC may be slow, variable, and difficult to detect, though some populations and communities of high vulnerability may exhibit responses sooner and more dramatically than others; (4) future approaches to human and ecological risk assessments will need to incorporate multiple stressors and cumulative risks considering the wide spectrum of potential impacts stemming from GCC; and (5) baseline/reference conditions for estimating resource injury and restoration/rehabilitation will continually shift due to GCC and represent significant challenges to practitioners. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. © 2012 SETAC.
The tool for the reduction and assessment of chemical and other environmental impacts (TRACI) is described along with its history, the research and methodologies it incorporates, and the insights it provides within individual impact categories.
TRACI, a stand‐alone computer program developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, facilitates the characterization of environmental stressors that have potential effects, including ozone depletion, global warming, acidification, eutrophication, tropospheric ozone (smog) formation, ecotoxicity, human health criteria‐related effects, human health cancer effects, human health noncancer effects, fossil fuel depletion, and land‐use effects. TRACI was originally designed for use with life‐cycle assessment (LCA), but it is expected to find wider application in the future.
To develop TRACI, impact categories were selected, available methodologies were reviewed, and categories were prioritized for further research. Impact categories were characterized at the midpoint level for reasons including a higher level of societal consensus concerning the certainties of modeling at this point in the cause‐effect chain. Research in the impact categories of acidification, smog formation, eutrophication, land use, human cancer, human noncancer, and human criteria pollutants was conducted to construct methodologies for representing potential effects in the United States. Probabilistic analyses allowed the determination of an appropriate level of sophistication and spatial resolution necessary for impact modeling for each category, yet the tool was designed to accommodate current variation in practice (e.g., site‐specific information is often not available). The methodologies underlying TRACI reflect state‐of‐the‐art developments and best‐available practice for life‐cycle impact assessment (LCIA) in the United States and are the focus of this article. TRACI's use and the impact of regionalization are illustrated with the example of concrete production in the northeastern United States.
With a worldwide increase in attention toward developing a reliance on renewable energy, there is a need to evaluate the effects of these facilities (solar, wind, hydropower) on ecosystems. We conduct a hazard and risk evaluation for three species of birds that are listed, or candidates for listing, as federally threatened or endangered in the US, and that might occur offshore on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (AOCS) where wind power facilities could be developed. Our objectives were to: 1) provide conceptual models for exposure for each species, and 2) examine potential exposure and hazards of roseate tern (Sterna dougallii) and piping plover (Charadrius melodus, both federally endangered in the US) and red knot (Calidris canutus rufa, candidate species) in the AOCS. We used a weight-of-evidence approach to evaluate information from a review of technical literature. We developed conceptual models to examine the relative vulnerability of each species as a function of life stage and cycle (breeding, staging, migratory, wintering). These methods are useful for conducting environmental assessments when empirical data are insufficient for a full risk assessment. We determined that 1) Roseate terns are likely to be exposed to risk during the migratory and breeding season when they occur in the AOCS, as well as while staging. 2) Piping plovers are not likely to be at risk during the breeding season, but may be at risk during spring or fall migrations. Risk to this species is likely to be low from turbines located far from land as this species migrates mainly along the coast. 3) Red knots are potentially exposed to some risk during migration, especially long-distance migrants whose migratory routes take them over the AOCS. More information is required on exact spatio-temporal migration routes, flight altitudes (especially during ascent and descent), and behavioral avoidance of turbines by birds to ascertain their risk.
The 40 years that have passed since the beginning of the 'environmental revolution' has seen a large increase in development of policies for the protection of environmental media and a recognition by the public of the importance of environmental quality. There has been a shift from policy in reaction to high profile events, then to control of releases to single environmental media, and to the present position of moving toward integrated management of all environmental media at present. This development has moved away from classical chemical risk assessment toward environmental holism, including recognition of the ecological value of these media. This work details how policy developments have taken place for air and water, with examples from the USA and EU, in order to compare this with policy development regarding soil. Soil, with quite different policy frameworks and distinct uses, understanding, and threats compared to other environmental media, is currently attracting attention regarding the need for its protection independent of use. Challenges for soil policy are identified and evaluated, and recommendations on how these challenges can be overcome are discussed with relevance to water and air protection policy.
Increasingly managers and scientists are recognizing that solving environmental problems requires the inclusion of a wide range of disciplines, governmental agencies, Native American tribes, and other stakeholders. Usually such inclusion involves communication at the problem-formulation phase, and at the end to report findings. This paper examines participatory research, the differences between the traditional stakeholder involvement method of communication (often one-way, at the beginning and the end), compared to full collaboration, where parties are actively involved in the scientific process. Using the Department of Energy's (DOE) Amchitka Island in the Aleutians as a case study, we demonstrate that the inclusion of Aleut people throughout the process resulted in science that was relevant not only to the agency's needs and to the interested and affected parties, but that led to a solution. Amchitka Island was the site of three underground nuclear tests from 1965 to 1971, and virtually no testing of radionuclide levels in biota, subsistence foods, or commercial fish was conducted after the 1970s. When DOE announced plans to close Amchitka, terminating its managerial responsibility, without any further testing of radionuclide levels in biota, there was considerable controversy, which resulted in the development of a Science Plan to assess the potential risks to the marine environment from the tests. The Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation (CRESP) was the principle entity that developed and executed the science plan. Unlike traditional science, CRESP embarked on a process to include the Alaskan Natives of the Aleutian Islands (Aleuts), relevant state and federal agencies, and other stakeholders at every phase. Aleuts were included in the problem-formulation, research design refinement, the research, analysis of data, dissemination of research findings, and public communication. This led to agreement with the results, and to developing a path forward (production of a biomonitoring plan designed to provide early warning of any future radionuclide leakage and ecosystem/human health risks). The process outlined was successful in resolving a previously contentious situation by inclusion and collaboration with the Aleuts, among others, and could be usefully applied elsewhere to complex environmental problems where severe data gaps exist.
