Assessment and Management of Environmental Risks: Cost-efficient Methods and Applications(4 NATO Science Series: IV:)

The management of environmental contamination requires decision makers to weigh existing risks against the potential effects of implementing environmental policies, considering both the benefits and disruptions that may result from different courses of action. This book represents an advance in the development and application of cost-efficient methods of risk assessment, especially under circumstances of budget constraints and in developing countries. It explores the potential of risk assessment to act as a unified and unifying technique for addressing a wide range of environmental problems. A wide range of issues are discussed, ranging from specific and local studies through global decision and management frameworks. The approaches developed range from specific methods through widely applied public policies. The book shows that the use of risk assessment can provide the scientific basis for environmentally sound, cost-effective policies, strategies and solutions to our environmental challenges.

Table of Contents:
Developments and Trends in Ecological Risk Assessment.- How Much is Too Much? Thoughts about the Use of Risk Assessment for Countries in Transition and the Developing World.- Application of Risk Assessment in Different Countries.- 1. Methods and Tools for Assessment and Management of Environmental Risks.- Streamlining the Risk Assessment Process: Integration of Generic Criteria and Site-Specific Risk Assessment.- Derivation of Aquatic Toxicity Values in Support of Groundwater Criteria Development for Trichlorofluoromethane and Dichlorodifluoromethane.- Ecotoxicity of River and Spring Sediment Along the Hanford Reach.- Determination of Primary and Secondary Responses to Environmental Stressors and Biota Health.- Risk Assessment for Biological Stressors.- Endocrine Disruptors and Risk Assessment.- Chernobyl Forests: Risk from Wood Combustion.- A Framework to Support Insurers on the Assessment of Pollution Risks.- Integrated Risk Assessment of Chemical Mixtures.- A Comparative Risk Assessment Methodology for Prioritizing Risk Management Policy Initiatives: Ranking of Industrial Waste Streams in Portugal.- Methods and Tools for Assessment and Management of Environmental Risks (Report of the Working Group on Environmental Risk Assessment Methods and Tools).- 2. Environmental Risk Assessment: Modeling and Uncertainty.- Army Risk Assessment Modeling System (ARAMS).- Application of the QUAL2E Water Quality Model for Untreated Discharge Risk Assessment in Central and Eastern Europe.- Chemical Risk Assessment Based on the Framework of Basin-Wide Ecological Modeling and the Eco-Toxicological Index.- Modeling Pollutant Diffusion with a Statistical Characterization of Wind Conditions.- Risk Assessment in Ukraine: New Approaches and Strategy of Development.- Uncertainty in Environmental Risk Assessment (Report of the Working Group on Uncertainty Analysis).- 3. Environmental Policies and Risk Assessment.- Environmental Decision Making Involving Multiple Stakeholders.- Expert Judgment Resolution In Technically-Intensive Policy Disputes.- A Framework for the Assessment and Management of Risks in Eastern European and Developing Countries.- Ecological Risk Perception: The “Local Universal”?.- The Development and Application of Guidelines for Ecological Risk Assessment in South Africa.- Development of a Risk Based Policy for Contaminated Sites of the Walloon Region, Belgium.- Risk Assessment for Agricultural Pollutants (Armenia): Modelling and Optimal Control.- Project IDRIS - Ecological Risk Assessment - Regional Approaches.- Integrating Science and Policy In Environmental Risk Management (Report of the Policy Working Group).- 4. Case Studies in Risk Assessment.- USAID Views on Environmental Risks (A Comparative View to Environmental Assessments).- Environmental Issues and Risk Assessment Approaches in Developing Countries.- Overview of the Egyptian Radiation Monitoring Network and Radioactivity Levels of the Egyptian Territories.- Environmental Risk Assessment for Industrial Region in Russia.- In Vitro Retention of Radionuclides by the Mycelium of Edible Fungi: Basis for Subsequent Risk Assessment.- Environmental Pollution Trends and Impact to the Forest State and Growth in Lithuania.- Assessment of Environmental No2, Exposure Effect On First Myocardial Infarction Risk In Kaunas, Lithuania.- Drinking Water Contamination by Nitrate and Low Birth Weight Risk in Rural Population.- The Usage of Biomarkers in Some Environmental and Occupational Chemical Exposure Cases in Turkey.- Risk Assessment of the Turkish Straits.- Risk Assessment and Evaluation ofMaterials Commonly Used in Desalination Plants.- Limitations and Perspectives of Radioecological Assessment For Soil-Plant Systems In Greece.- Nuclear Power Plant Conflicts: Response Strategies Scenarios In Romania and Bulgaria.- Predictions of Aircraft Pollutants from Expanded Flight Operations At El Toro, CA - A Public Health Issue?.- Whole Life Cycle Risk Management.- 5. Priority Allocation in Area of Ecological Risk Assessment.- Expert Judgement Elicitation In Risk Assessment.- Pilot Elicitation of Expert Judgments on Priority Allocation in Area of Ecological Risk Assessment.- List of Participants.- Author Index.