环境风险评价构架的探讨

本文归纳并概括了国际上和我国环境风险评价的一般构架,从环境风险评价、安全评价、健康评价、生态评价、最大可信灾害事故及最大可接受水平等几个方面对我国环境风险评价一般构架进行了探讨,分析了我国环境风险评价构架中存在的问题,提出了进一步完善我国环境风险评价一般构架的方法,并辅以了案例分析。     

环境风险评价简介

本文介绍了环境风险评价的内容，方法，现状及发展趋势，并着重介绍了该类评价中污染物对人体健康危害的评价方法。     

对替代方案编写中应考虑环境风险因素的几点建议

提出替代方案对于环境影响评价工作是非常重要的工作内容,但目前环评中的替代方案往往未考虑环境风险因素,对此本文论述了在替代方案编写过程中应考虑环境风险因素的必要性,并对如何将环境风险因素纳入替代方案的编写过程提出了相关建议.     

浅议环境风险评价与管理

论述了环境风险评价的有关基本概念,阐明了环境风险评价主要步骤。探讨了环境风险管理的内容与方法。并提出了一些建议。     

Prioritizing ecological and human welfare risks from environmental stresses

The ecological systems of Earth are subjected to a wide array of environmental stresses resulting from human activities. The development of appropriate environmental protection and management policies and the appropriate allocation of resources across environmental stresses require a systematic evaluation of relative risks. The data and methodologies for comprehensive ecological risk assessment do not exist, yet we do have considerable understanding of econological stress-response relationships. A methodology is presented to utilize present knowledge for assignment of relative risks to ecological systems and human welfare from anthropogenic stresses. The resultant priorities, developed for the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) relative risk reduction project, highlight global climate change, habitat alteration, stratospheric ozone depletion, and species depletion as the highest environmental risks, significantly diverging from the present emphasis by EPA and the public on toxic chemical issues. Enhanced attention to ecological issues by EPA and development of ecological risk assessment methodologies that value ecological and economic issues equitably are key recommendations.     

美国环保署农药地下水风险评估模型

在介绍美国农药环境风险评估的概念、分级、地下水农药监测情况及水资源的立法保护等基础上,重点阐述了美国环保署在农药登记管理过程中使用的2个地下水风险评估模型,即SCI-GROW和PRZM-GW模型。SCI-GROW是以好氧条件土壤半衰期和土壤有机碳分配系数为自变量的经验线性回归模型,而PRZM-GW则是描述农药在土壤中运动的一维、有限差分模型。本文通过对美国环保署这2个特点鲜明的模型的介绍,希望能为我国的农药地下水风险评估及模型的开发提供一个新视角。     

Using Wildlife as Receptor Species: A Landscape Approach to Ecological Risk Assessment

To assist risk assessors at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS), a Geographic Information System (GIS) application was developed to provide relevant information about specific receptor species of resident wildlife that can be used for ecological risk assessment. Information was obtained from an extensive literature review of publications and reports on vertebrate- and contaminant-related research since 1954 and linked to a GIS. Although this GIS is a useful tool for risk assessors because the data quality is high, it does not describe the species’ site-wide spatial distribution or life history, which may be crucial when developing a risk assessment. Specific receptor species on the SRS were modeled to provide an estimate of an overall distribution (probability of being in an area). Each model is a stand-alone tool consisting of algorithms independent of the GIS data layers to which it is applied and therefore is dynamic and will respond to changes such as habitat disturbances and natural succession. This paper describes this modeling process and demonstrates how these resource selection models can then be used to produce spatially explicit exposure estimates. This approach is a template for other large federal facilities to establish a framework for site-specific risk assessments that use wildlife species as endpoints.Current address: Biology Department, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD 57069     

环境风险评价的实践与发展

环境风险评价（Environmental Risk Assessment ERA）是环境影响评价的一个重要分支,主要分析评价环境中的潜在危险。本文围绕开展ERA的必要怀、国内外ERA发展现状等方面进行了评述,在此基础上针对目前ERA工作中的不足提出了三点建议。     

Indirect Effects in Aquatic Ecotoxicology: Implications for Ecological Risk Assessment

Understanding toxicant effects at higher levels of biological organization continues to be a challenge in ecotoxicology and ecological risk assessment. This is due in part to a tradition in ecotoxicology of considering the direct effects of toxicants on a limited number of model test species. However, the indirect effects of toxicity may be a significant factor influencing the manner in which ecosystem structure and function respond to anthropogenic stressors. Subsequently, failure to incorporate indirect effects into risk assessment paradigms may be a significant source of uncertainty in risk estimates. The current paper addresses the importance of indirect effects in an ecotoxicological context. Laboratory, mesocosm, and whole ecosystem research into indirect effects is reviewed. The implications of indirect effects for ecological risk assessment and potential areas of profitable future research are also discussed.     

Integrated Risk Framework for Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems

Onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) are becoming increasingly important for the treatment and dispersal of effluent in new urbanised developments that are not serviced by centralised wastewater collection and treatment systems. However, the current standards and guidelines adopted by many local authorities for assessing suitable site and soil conditions for OWTS are increasingly coming under scrutiny due to the public health and environmental impacts caused by poorly performing systems, in particular septic tank-soil adsorption systems. In order to achieve sustainable onsite wastewater treatment with minimal impacts on the environment and public health, more appropriate means of assessment are required. This paper highlights an integrated risk based approach for assessing the inherent hazards associated with OWTS in order to manage and mitigate the environmental and public health risks inherent with onsite wastewater treatment. In developing a sound and cohesive integrated risk framework for OWTS, several key issues must be recognised. These include the inclusion of relevant stakeholders throughout framework development, the integration of scientific knowledge, data and analysis with risk assessment and management ideals, and identification of the appropriate performance goals for successful management and mitigation of associated risks. These issues were addressed in the development of the risk framework to provide a generic approach to assessing risk from OWTS. The utilisation of the developed risk framework for achieving more appropriate assessment and management techniques for OWTS is presented in a case study for the Gold Coast region, Queensland State, Australia.     

重庆市城区饮用水源健康风险评价

通过对重庆市8个饮用水源地枯水期水体中NH3-N、CN、As、Hg、Cr^＋6、Pb、Cd、Cu、F和挥发酚的浓度进行了调查研究,应用美国环保局推荐的健康风险评价模型对重庆市饮用水源水中污染物引起的健康风险作了评价。结果表明,污染物平均浓度范围分别为NH3-N：0．119—0.740mg／L,CN：0．002—0．004mg／L,As：0．001—0．007mg／L,Hg：0．000001—0．00005mg／L,Cr^＋6：0．004—0.023mg／L．Pb：0．004—0．053mg／L．Cd：0．00035—0．005mg／L．Cu：0．0005—0．0254mg/L,F：0．140—0．335mg／L,挥发酚：0．001—0．0027mg／L。重庆市通过饮水途径引起的非致癌健康风险中Pb的风险最大,F次之,两者风险水平在10^-8～10^-9／a;Cr^＋6引起的致癌风险最大达到10^-4／a;以长江为饮用水源的人群总健康风险大于嘉陵江,其健康风险达到EPA要求,但高于国际辐射防护委员会（ICRP）的最大可接受风险水平。     

A Procedure for Performing Population-Level Ecological Risk Assessments

/ In 1997, Oregon enacted amendments to its state hazardous waste site cleanup law which emphasize risk-based remedial action decisions. In a departure from US EPA practice, the amended statute and associated rules require that protection of ecological receptors occur at the population level for all plants and animals not listed as threatened or endangered. By rule, the acceptable risklevel for populations of ecological receptors is a 10% or less chance that 20% or more of the total local population would receive an exposure greater than the toxicity reference value for a hazardous substance. This paper describes a practical procedure for performing population-level ecological risk assessments using a combination of relatively simple techniques. The procedure involves: (1) establishing a distribution of exposures and a contaminant-specific toxicity reference value, either as a point value or a distribution, for an individual receptor, (2) estimating the abundance of these receptors within their local populations, (3) estimating the probability of an individual receptor experiencing an exposure in excess of the toxicity reference value, (4) estimating the number of individual receptors in the local population likely to experience an exposure above the toxicity reference value greater than 10% of the time, and (5) determining whether this number is greater than 20% of the total local population.     

黄河中上游能源化工区重点产业发展战略生态风险评价

结合黄河中上游能源化工区重点产业发展战略生态风险宏观性、综合性、复杂性的特点,论文以生态风险景观评价方法及3S技术等为研究手段,综合考虑重点产业发展战略人为风险源及自然风险源,以生态风险受体和终点选择、风险源分析、暴露危害分析、生态风险综合评价及生态风险分区为评价步骤,揭示了重点产业发展战略潜在生态风险空间分异特征。研究结果表明：黄河中上游重点产业战略实施区可划分为三类生态风险监控区,生态风险重点监控区自然风险源分布集中,重点产业人为风险源和自然风险源交织在一起,极易发生生态风险放大效应,生态风险次重点监控区自然生态风险源分布较单一,局部重点产业人为风险源强度增强,将增加区域生态风险水平,生态风险监控区自然生态风险源分布范围较小,潜在生态风险水平相对较低。论文探索了战略环评生态风险评价方法和评价思路,为国内重点产业发展战略生态风险评价提供了借鉴。     

饮用水水源地健康风险研究和实例分析

本论文以安庆市9个饮用水源地作为健康风险评价对象,选取2005～2008年的部分水质资料,运用健康风险评价模式,结合安庆地区人群状况修正部分参数,对该地区9个水源地经饮水途径造成的健康风险进行计算和评价。结果表明:化学致癌物所致的健康风险远远高出非致癌物,水源地健康风险主要来源于化学致癌物,在所评价的水源地中以铬(六价)的风险值最大,且有8个水源地铬(六价)的风险值均超过国际辐射防护委员会推荐的最大可接受风险水平,最高值出现在花凉亭水库。     

Perspectives of the Scientific Community on the Status of Ecological Risk Assessment

/ Views from a wide variety of practicing environmental professionals on the current status of ecological risk assessment (ERA) indicate consensus and divergence of opinion on the utility and practice of risk assessment. Central to the debate were the issues of whether ERA appropriately incorporates ecological and scientific principle into its conceptual paradigm. Advocates argue that ERA effectively does both, noting that much of the fault detractors find with the process has more to do with its practice than its purpose. Critics argue that failure to validate ERA predictions and the tendency to over-simplify ecological principles compromise the integrity of ERA and may lead to misleading advice on the appropriate responses to environmental problems. All authors felt that many improvements could be made, including validation, better definition of the ecological questions and boundaries of ERA, improved harmonization of selected methods, and improvements in the knowledge base. Despite identified deficiencies, most authors felt that ERA was a useful process undergoing evolutionary changes that will inevitably determine the range of environmental problems to which it can be appropriately applied. The views expressed give ERA a cautious vote of approval and highlight many of the critical strengths and weaknesses in one of our most important environmental assessment tools.KEY WORDS: Ecological risk assessment; Ecology; Probability     

Applying Ecological Risk Principles to Watershed Assessment and Management

Considerable progress in addressing point source (end of pipe) pollution problems has been made, but it is now recognized that further substantial environmental improvements depend on controlling nonpoint source pollution. A watershed approach is being used more frequently to address these problems because traditional regulatory approaches do not focus on nonpoint sources. The watershed approach is organized around the guiding principles of partnerships, geographic focus, and management based on sound science and data. This helps to focus efforts on the highest priority problems within hydrologically-defined geographic areas. Ecological risk assessment is a process to collect, organize, analyze, and present scientific information to improve decision making. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sponsored three watershed assessments and found that integrating the watershed approach with ecological risk assessment increases the use of environmental monitoring and assessment data in decision making. This paper describes the basics of the watershed approach, the ecological risk assessment process, and how these two frameworks can be integrated. The three major principles of watershed ecological risk assessment found to be most useful for increasing the use of science in decision making are (1) using assessment endpoints and conceptual models, (2) holding regular interactions between scientists and managers, and (3) developing a focus for multiple stressor analysis. Examples are provided illustrating how these principles were implemented in these assessments.     

环境毒理学和生态毒理学在环境风险评价中的应用

对环境毒理学与生态毒理学的概念以及相互之间的关系进行了论述,并分析了它们与环境风险评价的相互关联,以及在环境风险评价中的应用.在此基础上指出,目前环境毒理学与生态毒理学在环境风险评价应用中存在的主要问题,并对今后的研究方向提出展望和建议.     

ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITING: An Approach for Characterizing Tropospheric Ozone Risk to Forests

/ The risk tropospheric ozone poses to forests in the United States is dependent on the variation in ozone exposure across the distribution of the forests in question and the various environmental and climate factors predominant in the region. All these factors have a spatial nature, and consequently an approach to characterization of ozone risk is presented that places ozone exposure-response functions for species as seedlings and model-simulated tree and stand responses in a spatial context using a geographical information systems (GIS). The GIS is used to aggregate factors considered important in a risk characterization, including: (1) estimated ozone exposures over forested regions, (2) measures of ozone effects on species' and stand growth, and (3) spatially distributed environmental, genetic, and exposure influences on species' response to ozone. The GIS-based risk characterization provides an estimation of the extent and magnitude of the potential ozone impact on forests. A preliminary risk characterization demonstrating this approach considered only the eastern United States and only the limited empirical data quantifying the effect of ozone exposures on forest tree species as seedlings. The area-weighted response of the annual seedling biomass loss formed the basis for a sensitivity ranking: sensitive-aspen and black cherry (14%-33% biomass loss over 50% of their distribution); moderately sensitive-tulip popular, loblolly pine, eastern white pine, and sugar maple (5%-13% biomass loss); insensitive-Virginia pine and red maple (0%-1% loss). In the future, the GIS-based risk characterization will include process-based model simulations of the three- to 5-year growth response of individual species as large trees with relevant environmental interactions and model simulated response of mixed stands. The interactive nature of GIS provides a tool to explore consequences of the range of climate conditions across a species' distribution, forest management practices, changing ozone precursors, regulatory control strategies, and other factors influencing the spatial distribution of ozone over time as more information becomes available.KEY WORDS: Ecological risk assessment; GIS; Ozone; Risk characterization; Forests; Trees     

Incompatible Land Uses and the Topology of Cumulative Risk

The extensive literature on environmental justice has, by now, well defined the essential ingredients of cumulative risk, namely, incompatible land uses and vulnerability. Most problematic is the case when risk is produced by a large aggregation of small sources of air toxics. In this article, we test these notions in an area of Southern California, Southeast Los Angeles (SELA), which has come to be known as Asthmatown. Developing a rapid risk mapping protocol, we scan the neighborhood for small potential sources of air toxics and find, literally, hundreds of small point sources within a 2-mile radius, interspersed with residences. We also map the estimated cancer risks and noncancer hazard indices across the landscape. We find that, indeed, such large aggregations of even small, nondominant sources of air toxics can produce markedly elevated levels of risk. In this study, the risk profiles show additional cancer risks of up to 800 in a million and noncancer hazard indices of up to 200 in SELA due to the agglomeration of small point sources. This is significant (for example, estimates of the average regional point-source-related cancer risk range from 125 to 200 in a million). Most importantly, if we were to talk about the risk contour as if they were geological structures, we would observe not only a handful of distinct peaks, but a general “mountain range” running all throughout the study area, which underscores the ubiquity of risk in SELA. Just as cumulative risk has deeply embedded itself into the fabric of the place, so, too, must intervention seek to embed strategies into the institutions and practices of SELA. This has implications for advocacy, as seen in a recently initiated participatory action research project aimed at building health research capacities into the community in keeping with an ethic of care.