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Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: Theory and Practice assembles the expertise of more than fifty authorities from fifteen different fields, forming a comprehensive reference and textbook on risk assessment. Containing two dozen case studies of environmental or human health risk assessments, the text not only presents the theoretical underpinnings of the discipline, but also serves as a complete handbook and "how-to" guide for individuals conducting or interpreting risk assessments. In addition, more than 4,000 published papers and books in the field are cited. Editor Dennis Paustenbach has assembled chapters that present the most current methods for conducting hazard identification, dose-response and exposure assessment, and risk characterization components for risk assessments of any chemical hazard to humans or wildlife (fish, birds, and terrestrials). Topics addressed include hazards posed by: Air emissions Radiological hazards Contaminated soil and foods Agricultural hazards Occupational hazards Consumer products and water Hazardous waste sites Contaminated air and water The bringing together of so many of the world's authorities on these topics, plus the comprehensive nature of the text, promises to make Human and Ecological Risk Assessment the text against which others will be measured in the coming years.
This book introduces various mathematical models used in ecological risk assessment, primarily discussing models used in hazard assessment. The book aims to link ecology and conservation biology with risk assessments, bringing together the knowledge of ecotoxicology and ecology for effective risk assessment. The first part describes population-level assessment in ecological risk assessment. The chapters cover current methodologies for ecological risk assessment, individual-level assessment, population dynamics models for population-level assessment, case studies, mathematical models for population extinctions, the derivation of mean time to extinction (MTE) and their case studies. The second part of the book discusses the mathematical models involved in hazard assessments. It introduces the method of risk assessment using species sensitivity distributions (SSDs), hazard assessment of metals, chemical mixtures using the Michaelis-Menten equation, basic elements of statistics and related topics. Expected readers are risk assessors in governments and public sectors, students and young researchers interested in environmental science. The book is made accessible and easy to follow by beginners in mathematical biology and theoretical ecology.
Recently, environmental scientists have been required to perform a new type of assessment-ecological risk assessment. This is the first book that explains how to perform ecological risk assessments and gives assessors access to the full range of useful data, models, and conceptual approaches they need to perform an accurate assessment. It explains how ecological risk assessment relates to more familiar types of assessments. It also shows how to organize and conduct an ecological risk assessment, including defining the source, selecting endpoints, describing the relevant features of the receiving environment, estimating exposure, estimating effects, characterizing the risks, and interacting with the risk manager. Specific technical topics include finding and selecting toxicity data; statistical and mathematical models of effects on organisms, populations, and ecosystems; estimation of chemical fate parameters; modeling of chemical transport and fate; estimation of chemical uptake by organisms; and estimation, propagation, and presentation of uncertainty. Ecological Risk Assessment also covers conventional risk assessments, risk assessments for existing contamination, large scale problems, exotic organisms, and risk assessments based on environmental monitoring. Environmental assessors at regulatory agencies, consulting firms, industry, and government labs need this book for its approaches and methods for ecological risk assessment. Professors in ecology and other environmental sciences will find the book's practical preparation useful for classroom instruction. Environmental toxicologists and chemists will appreciate the discussion of the utility for risk assessment of particular toxicity tests and chemical determinations.
Risk and Social Theory in Environmental Managementmarks a timely contribution, given that environmental management is no longer just about protecting pristine ecosystems and endangered species from anthropogenic harm; it is about calculating and managing the risks to human communities of rapid environmental and technological change. First, the book provides a solid foundation of the social theory underpinning the nature of risk, then presents a rethinking of key concepts and methods in order to take more seriously the biophysical embeddedness of human society. Second, it presents a rich set of case studies from Australia and around the world, drawing on the latest applied research conducted by leading research institutions. In so doing, the book identifies the tensions that arise from decision making over risk and uncertainty in a contested policy environment, and provides crucial insights for addressing on-the-ground problems in an integrated way. * First volume to address environmental risk from a social science perspective * Latest theoretical developments * In depth case studies of contemporary issues (e.g. climate change, water shortages)
Environmental decision-making in recent decades has become increasingly dependent on scientific expertise. Grounded in universal principles of knowledge, these expert evaluations often depart from the assessments of ordinary members of the public. Whether the issue is nuclear power, genetic testing, food safety, or biodiversity, conservation lay people are increasingly charging experts with being ignorant of local contextual considerations. Scientists, as well as many policy-makers, in turn contend that the public is hopelessly irrational in gauging environmental risks. A growing group of social theorists has begun to take a keen interest in these disputes because risk captures central themes of late modernity. Increasing individualization, emerging new social movements, and declining public trust in key institutions are notions that loom large in these debates. Highlighting both theoretical and empirical perspectives, this volume brings together a distinguished group of environmental sociologists who critique and extend current thinking on what it means to live in a 'risk society'.
Risk has become one of the main topics in fields as diverse as engineering, medicine and economics, and it is also studied by social scientists, psychologists and legal scholars. But the topic of risk also leads to more fundamental questions such as: What is risk? What can decision theory contribute to the analysis of risk? What does the human perception of risk mean for society? How should we judge whether a risk is morally acceptable or not? Over the last couple of decades questions like these have attracted interest from philosophers and other scholars into risk theory. This handbook provides for an overview into key topics in a major new field of research. It addresses a wide range of topics, ranging from decision theory, risk perception to ethics and social implications of risk, and it also addresses specific case studies. It aims to promote communication and information among all those who are interested in theoetical issues concerning risk and uncertainty. This handbook brings together internationally leading philosophers and scholars from other disciplines who work on risk theory. The contributions are accessibly written and highly relevant to issues that are studied by risk scholars. We hope that the Handbook of Risk Theory will be a helpful starting point for all risk scholars who are interested in broadening and deepening their current perspectives.
This book outlines how to conduct a complete environmental risk assessment. The first part documents the psychology and philosophy of risk perception and assessment, introducing a taxonomy of uncertainty and the importance of context. It provides a critical examination of the use and abuse of expert judgement and goes on to outline approaches to hazard identification and subjective ranking that account for uncertainty and context. The second part of the book describes technical tools that can assist risk assessments to be transparent and internally consistent. These include interval arithmetic, ecotoxicological methods, logic trees and Monte Carlo simulation. These methods have an established place in risk assessments in many disciplines and their strengths and weaknesses are explored. The last part of the book outlines some new approaches, including p-bounds and information-gap theory, and describes how quantitative and subjective assessments can be used to make transparent decisions.
The objective of Risk Analysis in Theory and Practice is to present this analytical framework and to illustrate how it can be used in the investigation of economic decisions under risk. In a sense, the economics of risk is a difficult subject: it involves understanding human decisions in the absence of perfect information. How do we make decisions when we do not know some of events affecting us? The complexities of our uncertain world and of how humans obtain and process information make this difficult. In spite of these difficulties, much progress has been made. First, probability theory is the corner stone of risk assessment. This allows us to measure risk in a fashion that can be communicated among decision makers or researchers. Second, risk preferences are now better understood. This provides useful insights into the economic rationality of decision making under uncertainty. Third, over the last decades, good insights have been developed about the value of information. This helps better understand the role of information in human decision making and this book provides a systematic treatment of these issues in the context of both private and public decisions under uncertainty. - Balanced treatment of conceptual models and applied analysis - Considers both private and public decisions under uncertainty - Website presents application exercises in Excel
In spite of the growing importance of Species Sensitivity Distribution models (SSDs) in ecological risk assessments, the conceptual basis, strengths, and weaknesses of using them have not been comprehensively reviewed. This book fills that need. Written by a panel of international experts, Species Sensitivity Distributions in Ecotoxicology reviews
A Special Publication of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Aquatic Mesocosm Studies in Ecological Risk Assessment discusses the methods currently used for conducting simulated field studies and provides a series of case histories in which mesocosm type studies have been used to assess the impact of pesticides on aquatic ecosystems. Specific chapters address the dosing and exposure components of such studies and how they influence experimental design. Advantages and disadvantages of various statistical designs are addressed in detail. Regulatory aspects of the design and interpretation of these studies are also covered. The book will be a superb reference for aquatic biologists, ecologists, toxicologists, environmental toxicologists, environmental chemists, and regulatory personnel.