Exposure and Risk Assessment of Chemical Pollution — Contemporary Methodology

2009 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Chemical Pollution

scholarly journals Chemical monitoring of Swedish coastal waters indicates common exceedances of environmental thresholds, both for individual substances as well as their mixtures

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikael B Gustavsson ◽  
Jörgen Magnér ◽  
Bethanie Carney Almroth ◽  
Martin K Eriksson ◽  
Joachim Sturve ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Concentration Addition ◽  
Chemical Pollution ◽  
Chemical Contamination ◽  
Total Risk ◽  
Environmental Chemical ◽  
Swedish West Coast ◽  
Chemical Monitoring ◽  
Chemical Risk Assessment ◽  
The Individual

Chemical pollution was monitored and assessed along the Swedish west coast. 62 of 172 analyzed organic chemicals were detected in the water phase of at least one of five monitored sites. A Concentration Addition based screening-level risk assessment indicates that all sites are put at risk from chemical contamination, with total risk quotients between 2 and 9. Only at one site did none of the individual chemicals exceeded its individual environmental threshold (PNEC, EQS). The monitoring data thus demonstrate a widespread blanket of diffuse pollution, with no clear trends amongst sites. Further issues critical for the environmental chemical risk assessment include the challenges to achieve sufficiently low levels of detection especially for hormones and cybermethrin (a pyrethroid insecticide), the appropriate consideration of non-detects and the limited availability of reliable PNECs and EQS values.

scholarly journals Improved component-based methods for mixture risk assessment are key to characterize complex chemical pollution in surface waters

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leo Posthuma ◽  
Rolf Altenburger ◽  
Thomas Backhaus ◽  
Andreas Kortenkamp ◽  
Christin Müller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Mixture Toxicity ◽  
Chemical Pollution ◽  
Management Planning ◽  
Collaborative Project ◽  
Water Quality Protection ◽  
Current Guidance ◽  
Mixture Risk Assessment ◽  
Selection Of

Abstract The present monitoring and assessment of water quality problems fails to characterize the likelihood that complex mixtures of chemicals affect water quality. The European collaborative project SOLUTIONS suggests that this likelihood can be estimated, amongst other methods, with improved component-based methods (CBMs). The use of CBMs is a well-established practice in the WFD, as one of the lines of evidence to evaluate chemical pollution on a per-chemical basis. However, this is currently limited to a pre-selection of 45 and approximately 300 monitored substances (priority substances and river basin-specific pollutants, respectively), of which only a few actually co-occur in relevant concentrations in real-world mixtures. Advanced CBM practices are therefore needed that consider a broader, realistic spectrum of chemicals and thereby improve the assessment of mixture impacts, diagnose the causes of observed impacts and provide more useful water management information. Various CBMs are described and illustrated, often representing improvements of well-established methods. Given the goals of the WFD and expanding on current guidance for risk assessment, these improved CBMs can be applied to predicted or monitored concentrations of chemical pollutants to provide information for management planning. As shown in various examples, the outcomes of the improved CBMs allow for the evaluation of the current likelihood of impacts, of alternative abatement scenarios as well as the expected consequences of future pollution scenarios. The outputs of the improved CBMs are useful to underpin programmes of measures to protect and improve water quality. The combination of CBMs with effect-based methods (EBMs) might be especially powerful to identify as yet underinvestigated emerging pollutants and their importance in a mixture toxicity context. The present paper has been designed as one in a series of policy briefs to support decisions on water quality protection, monitoring, assessment and management under the European Water Framework Directive (WFD).

scholarly journals Management of Healthcare Waste in Healthcare Emergencies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julius Manjengwa
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Water Sources ◽  
Emergency Planning ◽  
Chemical Pollution ◽  
Healthcare Waste ◽  
Healthcare Waste Management ◽  
Common Understanding ◽  
Careful Thought

Proper management of waste in healthcare emergencies is key to preventing spread of infections within an emergency. The risks of poor waste management are varied with the risks of spreading infectious diseases being the most important to consider. Chemical pollution should also be considered as water sources can easily be polluted. Careful thought and planning including a risk assessment should be carried out and the results should be publicized to create a common understanding of the problem at hand. This will also inform the methods to be used for the management of waste. Training of healthcare workers is key to creating common understanding of the problem at hand. The different types of waste to be generated should be well understood and methods to manage it should be well thought out before implementation. The decision on the different methods used to manage waste should be informed by the risk assessment and the available resources. However effectiveness to deal with the waste produced should be considered above all factors. Proper healthcare waste management is imperative to preventing further infections that might not be part of the original healthcare emergency. Planning to manage waste is a process that requires information before implementation.

On methodological approaches to evaluation of multifactor risk for population exposed to environmental hazards

2019 ◽  
pp. 41-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria S. Blagodareva ◽  
Aleksey S. Kornilkov ◽  
Sergei V. Yarushin ◽  
Olga L. Malyh
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Risk Management ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Risk Evaluation ◽  
Human Health Risk ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Chemical Pollution ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
Health Risk Management

Health risk evaluation, as subjected to many environmental factors (chemical, physical, lifestyle, etc.), is a topical scientific and practical task, because human is never exposed to a single factor, and human health risk management requires consideration of maximal possible amount of environmental and factorial influences. The article deals with methodological approaches to multifactor risk evaluation and contains the results of pilot project on mortality risk assessment, exemplified by population of the Kirovograd city district of Sverdlovsk region, considering smoking and multifactor exposure to noise and chemical pollution of air. The authors presented assessment of economic losses due to the exposure and suggestions of methodological approaches development and elaboration of techniques for multifactor risk assessment to improve municipal system of health risk management and provide sanitary and epidemiological safety.

Integrated environmental risk assessment of chemical pollution in a Mediterranean floodplain by combining chemical and biological methods

2017 ◽  
Vol 583 ◽  
pp. 248-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Rivetti ◽  
Jhon J. López-Perea ◽  
Celia Laguna ◽  
Benjamín Piña ◽  
Rafael Mateo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Environmental Risk ◽  
Environmental Risk Assessment ◽  
Chemical Pollution ◽  
Biological Methods

scholarly journals Exploring the ‘solution space’ is key: SOLUTIONS recommends an early-stage assessment of options to protect and restore water quality against chemical pollution

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leo Posthuma ◽  
Thomas Backhaus ◽  
Juliane Hollender ◽  
Dirk Bunke ◽  
Werner Brack ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Solution Space ◽  
River Basin Management ◽  
Chemical Pollution ◽  
Technical Solution ◽  
Local Pollution ◽  
Problem Description ◽  
Solution Focused

Abstract Present evaluations of chemical pollution in European surface and groundwater bodies focus on problem description and chemical classification of water quality. Surprisingly, relatively low attention has been paid to solutions of chemical pollution problems when those are encountered. Based on evaluations of current practices and available approaches, we suggest that water quality protection, monitoring, assessment and management of chemical pollution can be improved by implementing an early-stage exploration of the ‘solution space’. This follows from the innovative paradigm of solution-focused risk assessment, which was developed to improve the utility of risk assessments. The ‘solution space’ is defined as the set of potential activities that can be considered to protect or restore the water quality against hazards posed by chemical pollution. When using the paradigm, upfront exploration of solution options and selecting options that would be feasible given the local pollution context would result in comparative risk assessment outcomes. The comparative outcomes are useful for selecting optimal measures against chemical pollution for management prioritization and planning. It is recommended to apply the solution-focused risk assessment paradigm to improve the chemical pollution information for river basin management planning. To operationalize this, the present paper describes a still-growing database and strategy to find and select technical abatement and/or non-technical solution options for chemical pollution of surface waters. The solutions database and strategy can be applied to help prevent and reduce water quality problems. Various case studies show that implementing these can be effective, and how solution scenarios can be evaluated for their efficacy by comparative exposure and effect assessment.

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