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Environmental Risk Analysis. Module 8 Lesson 6 Notes. Environmental Hazard. anything in our environment that can potentially cause harm. 4 major types of hazards 1. Cultural hazards - unsafe working conditions, smoking, poor diet, drugs, 2. Chemical hazards - in air, water, soil, food.
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Environmental Risk Analysis Module 8 Lesson 6 Notes
Environmental Hazard • anything in our environment that can potentially cause harm. • 4 major types of hazards • 1. Cultural hazards - unsafe working conditions, smoking, poor diet, drugs, • 2. Chemical hazards - in air, water, soil, food. • 3. Physical hazards - noise, fire, natural disasters, floods • 4. Biological hazards - from pathogens (bacteria, viruses, parasites) pollen and other allergens. Also animals that can kill humans.
What is a Risk? • The possibility of suffering harm from a hazard that can cause injury, disease, economic loss, or environmental damage • Expressed in terms of probability • Risk = Exposure x Harm
Risk Assessment • Process of gathering data and making assumptions to estimate short and long-term harmful effects on human health or the environment from exposure to hazards associated with the use of a particular product or technology.
How Are Risks Assessed? • What is the hazard? • How likely is the event? • How much damage is it likely to cause? Example: to assess the risk of exposure to a toxic chemical, you must look at the following: • Number of people/animals exposed • How long they were exposed • Age, health, sex, interaction with other chemicals, etc.
Qualitative Risk Assessment • Making a judgment of the relative risks of various decisions • Example: Choosing to drive your car more slowly on a wet highway
Quantitative Risk Assessment • The approach of conducting a quantitative risk assessment is • Risk = probability of being exposed to hazard x probability of being harmed if exposed. • You can calculate whether it’s riskier to fly on a commercial airline for 1,000 miles per year or to eat 40 tablespoons of peanut butter per year (contains tiny amounts of a carcinogenic chemical produced naturally by a fungus that sometimes occurs in peanut butter). • Both behaviors produce a 1 in 1 million chance of dying.
Risk Analysis • Identifying hazards, evaluating the nature and severity of risks (risk assessment), using this and other information to determine options and make decisions about reducing or eliminating risks (risk management), and communicating information about risks to decision makers and the public (risk communication).
Risk Management • Using risk assessment and other information to determine options and make decisions about reducing or eliminating risks. • Determining how serious a particular risk is and how to go about (or not go about) reducing the risk or preparing for its after effects.
Hurricane Katrina • What was the probability of a Class 5 hurricane striking downtown New Orleans? How many resources should have been reserved for strengthening the flood protection? How many for emergency response? It’s such a tough call because people will complain if money is spent and the risk is never realized. People will also complain if the risk actually occurs and not enough was done to deal with the situation. By Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC (http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=7938) [Public domain]
Stockholm Convention In 2001, a group of 127 nations gathered in Stockholm, Sweden, to reach an agreement on restricting the global use of some chemicals 12 chemicals were to be banned, phased out, or reduced These include DDT, PCBs, and certain chemicals that are by-products of manufacturing processes. • 12 persistent organic pollutants called POPs Image from: http://www.unep.org/
