Remediation of Contaminated Land

2007 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 173-189
Author(s):  
Masashi Kamon ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Permeable Reactive Barriers ◽  
Organic Chemical ◽  
Contaminated Land ◽  
Human Health Risks

Growing awareness of geoenvironmental hazards has made clear the need to develop better technical knowledge of environmental issues. We are thus studying how to remediate soil and groundwater contaminated by heavy metals and organic chemical substances in natural and man-made disasters. Remediation technology includes containment and risk assessment of contaminated land, with permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) and monitored natural attenuation (MNA) presented as the passive and cost-effective techniques. A case study to assess the effectiveness of a containment facility as a remedial technique in reducing human health risks was introduced. Numerical analyzed results confirm that this significantly reduces potential human health risks from land contaminated by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and dioxin. Risk assessment based on in situ monitored data indicated that no significant health risks were induced. The important projected role of the geoenvironment is developing a sustainable contamination-free society.

scholarly journals Paradigms to assess the human health risks of nano- and microplastics

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Seta Noventa ◽  
Matthew S. P. Boyles ◽  
Andreas Seifert ◽  
Simone Belluco ◽  
Aracaeli Sánchez Jiménez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Environmental Pollutants ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
Fully Integrated ◽  
Human Health Risks ◽  
Integrated Risk Assessment

AbstractHuman exposure to nano- and microplastics (NMPs) has raised major societal concerns, yet no framework to assess the risks of NMPs for human health exists. A substantial proportion of plastic produced worldwide is not properly disposed and persists in the environment for decades while degrading. Plastic degradation generates a size continuum of fragments, including nano- and microplastic particles, with numerous associated environmental pollutants and plastic additives, and microbial communities colonising their surfaces. The ubiquitous presence of NMPs, their availability for uptake by organisms and their potential to act as vectors for toxicants and pathogens render risk assessment a priority on the political agenda at the global level. We provide a new, fully integrated risk assessment framework tailored to the specificities of NMPs, enabling an assessment of current and future human health risks from NMPs. The framework consists of four novel paradigms to the traditional risk assessment methodology. These paradigms deal with techniques in NMP analysis, gaps in empirical data, theoretical and modelling approaches and stakeholder engagement. Within the proposed framework, we propose how we can use research experiences gained so far to carry out the different steps of the assessment process, and we define priorities for further research.

Assessing the Risks Associated With Exposure to Waterborne Pathogens: An Expert Panel's Report on Risk Assessment†

1997 ◽  
Vol 60 (11) ◽  
pp. 1426-1431 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID A. NEUMANN ◽  
JEFFERY A. FORAN
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Problem Formulation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Waterborne Diseases ◽  
Waterborne Pathogens ◽  
Human Health Risks ◽  
Exposed Population

The resurgence of outbreaks of waterborne diseases in the United States underscores the need for quantitative methods for assessing the human health risks associated with various types of waterborne pathogens in diverse environments (e.g., drinking water, waste water, recreational water) under different exposure scenarios (e.g., ingestion, inhalation from aerosols). An expert panel developed a three-stage general framework for conducting risk assessments of waterborne pathogens. An initial problem formulation stage involving all stakeholders identifies the purpose of the risk assessment, the critical issues to be addressed, and how the results might be used to protect public health. The analysis characterizes both the exposure and the health effects. This compilation of quantitative and qualitative data, expert opinion, and other information yields a host/pathogen profile that explicitly identifies the assumptions and uncertainties associated with the profile. The final stage, risk characterization, states the likelihood and types and magnitude of effects likely to be observed in the exposed population under the expected exposure scenario, including all the inherent assumptions and uncertainties. This characterization will be used by risk managers and policy makers to reduce human health risks and by risk communication specialists to inform the public.

Antimicrobial Resistance Risk Assessment in Food Safety

2004 ◽  
Vol 67 (9) ◽  
pp. 2063-2071 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. GREGG CLAYCAMP ◽  
BARRY H. HOOBERMAN
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Antimicrobial Resistance ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Acquired Resistance ◽  
Risk Assessments ◽  
Resistant Bacteria ◽  
Drug Resistant ◽  
Resistance Risk ◽  
Human Health Risks

Microbiological risk assessments generally focus on estimating adverse human health risks from exposures to human pathogenic microbes. The assessment of potential human health risks posed by pathogens that have acquired resistance to antimicrobial drugs is a new application of risk assessment that is closely related to microbiological risk assessment. Antimicrobial resistance risk assessment is a risk analytical process that focuses on resistance determinants as hazardous agents that might lead to drug-resistant microbial infections in humans exposed to bacteria carrying the determinants. Antimicrobial-resistant infections could occur directly from actively invading or opportunistic pathogens or indirectly from the transfer of resistance genes to other bacteria. Here, we discuss risk assessment models that might be employed to estimate risks from drug-resistant bacteria in the animal food pathway and the types of models and data that may be used for microbiological risk assessments or antimicrobial resistance risk assessments.

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