PREFACE —— PREFACE Environmental Rsk Assessment Approaches, experiences and information sources he mission of the European Eaviconment ‘Agency (EEA) is "to provide the Community and the Member’ States with objective, reliable ant comparable informs tion tthe European level Among the difler- ent goals, the EEA stall provide information for environmental policy development and Implementation and ensure broad dissenting tion and accessibliy. Important principles in this context are; pooling of existing informa tion and know how and facilitating harmonisa tion of data ‘This isthe general bacground to this product ‘on Environmental Risk Assessment produced by the Monitoring and Assessment Research Centre at King’s College, London, UK. The primary objective of the work has been to. Increato the accosribiliy to approaches, expe ences and information sources to this exten: Svearea. Although the focus ofthis book is ‘onchiemical, the iopicof risk assessment is ‘oven because fits importance for policy ‘development and implementation, demon- ‘trated inthe work with radiation chetnicals, accidents, consumer products food and gene ‘maaifed organisms (GMOs). "The managing ofthe human risks hasan especially long trad tion, but there is now an evolving interest o apply the coneept on ecological effects, In the development of envirormental management systems and tots asa bss for decision making (expressed inthe work with ISO 14 (000), environmental isk assessment canals be seen 25 supplement to financial sk ‘assessment. Agenda 21 so recogmiss risk ‘assessment asan important tol to improve the environment Environmental risk assessment within the ‘broader concept of risk management isnot an ‘undisputed concept. The case stuies ‘deseribed inthe book clearly demonstrate the ‘opinions about environmental sk assessment ‘between different actors onthe environmental scene, such as industry, NGOs, authorities and the general public, Assessing, managing and communicating the risks of endocrine di- ‘uptors, BSE and dumping the Brent Spar are ‘only afew recent examples, ‘Theinterpretatons ofthe word risk asa positive or negative probabiliy ora conse ‘quence reinforee the diferent perceptions in ‘iseussing risks. ‘The main advantages ofrsk assessment are the encouraement to use scientific data and ‘competence asa bass for decision making, ‘ant in that process, discriminating between, scientific facts (sfaras possible) and values. In this context, this ambition is very lose to ‘he mandate ofthe Agency ‘Thereare however many drawbacks that are, orshould be, addressed in development work concerning for example. (see section ID Environmental risk assessment ‘Harmonisation of risk assessment methouls, * filing the gap of data deficiencies, ‘+ harmonisation of est protocols for chemicals, + understanding of mixtures or muliple stressors, + improvement of exposure assessment, * internationally harmonised assessment factors, + speeding up risk assessments, and * taking into account sensitive groupsEnvironmental risk management Explicit methodelogiesforrisk management, * increased transparency of decision making, * peerseview of sk management assessment, a * increased particpstion in ik management, ‘Thisneed of development work and uncertain: ties in connection with risk ssessment (espe cially concerning "se" agents, ike nor assessed chemicals or GMOs), must not delay ‘he mplementaion work redocng the use of chemicals o otherexposures. The precau- ‘onary priniple sof utermost importance forrisk asessnent/managensent ‘The development and Ginalization of this publ cation has involved many contributors other than the thee aulnors involved. The report hha been reviewed bythe Scientific Cammit- tee ofthe BEA. for which EBA is thank. ‘The EA hopes that this publication and the Internet-version withthe prepared meta, database containing information sources, will five increased accessibility to information in the area of environmental sk assessment Domingo JiménezBeltrin Executive Director European Environment AgencyINSTRUCTIONS TO READERS Ticats ski te an overview ot the methods for, ani appeation of, exviron- mental tsk assessmed in the European Union Tk is not a technical "how to" guide but ‘examines the base concepts applicable to all environmental risk assessments inching Jhuman heal risk assessments ecologal risk assessments and industrial appicaions of Fk assessment. Existing knowledge and research in this lds wast and this ook sims oidentiy unifying concepts, discuss. currently used methodologies, examize their aplication and sgve examples of risk assessment in practice, and guide the user 0 information sources relevant to thee needs, ‘The book consists of an introductory text (Part and an infirmation source book (PartID, The first section of the text (Chapters 1-) introduces the eoncepts of tisk assessment, summarising its role aan environmental management tool and_ the smathedolonice currently being weed. This Section is targeted towards a wide, general audience. The information shouldbe useful fr duals in goveranent, NGOs, a8 well a semiexperts,stidents and the public interested in environmental management. The second section (Chapters 5-7) provides details of two ‘general methodologies used primary in aregu- Intry capacity (health sisk assessment and eco Togical risk assessmen.) and the application of ‘environmental risk assessment in idusry marly sitespecic application ofhealth and/or ‘ecological risk assessneat), Chapters § and 6 are targeted at semFexperts in local govern: ‘ment, industry, ineres groups or the general public requiinginformation on how sk assess ments used to protect human health and the environment are derived, the methods use, nd the constrains and linitations of each, The chapters villalsopeoweinteresting i NGOs and Students, Chapter 7 is primarily targeted towards small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to provide them with 2 background Inowledge of sk assessment processes being. carried out by major industrial organisations an to provide information on how this environmen- fal management tool ean be used to benefit industry. Certain parts ofthe text target partie Jar industrial sectors such a offshore, conta nated land and waste management, Much ofthe chapter will alo be of interest the general public and interest groups. The third section (Chapters 8 and 8) is devoted to risk manage rent and evaluation (Chapter 8) and future policy and development directions (Chapter 9) for risk assessmpent. Chapter 8 includes the ‘exatination ofthe important rade-off between Perceived risks and benefits in evaluation. ‘Chapter 9 examines current thoughts on the problems of isk assessment an the proposed Solutions. tao looks at posible future paliey ‘moves in ERA This section is relevant to those ecision-makers contemplating risk-based deck ‘lone and nccng on introduction to cvakeaion and management principles, and a wide audience interested inthe secological aspects of the rsk management process andthe problems associated with risk assessment and manage: ‘ent Part ofthe guidebook provides an introduction ora "taste" ofthe subject area, Part I provides ‘comprehensive sources of specifi further nfo. ‘mation for each area covered inthe text. tsa fulde to what is out there” on environmental Fiskassessment Part Il of the guidebook isan information sources directory comprised ofseven sections 1) Organisations; information on intern tional, EU and national organisations involved in abroad range of work on env ronmental risk assessment.12 PREFACE 2 » Databases; information on databases providing datz which can be used in the fenvironmental risk assessment process Such a8 toxiculogieal data on chemicals ‘and information ased in food safety and industrial stespeeficriskassessments. ‘Software Models; information ona wide range of isk assessment software models avalable Publications; bibliographic lists of books and journals covering all aspects of risk assessment ant management, and a Hist of bibiomaphic databases avaiable i the 5 o a Directories lists of directories ofenvrun ‘mental consiltants available the EU and sources of relevant information, Web Sites; information on web sites pro- ‘ding material relevant to environmental Fisk assessment Legislation; European legsaton relevant to environmental risk assesment.