Perspectives on future risk assessment and prevention for control of POP's

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the perspectives on future risk assessment and prevention for the control of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The production, distribution, use, and disposal of substances lead almost inevitably to their presence in the environment. The development and harmonization of risk assessment methods is a necessary prerequisite to successful risk management. Recent developments in the legislation of the European Union have accelerated the need to define the principles and practical considerations of this process. In the scope of new and existing substances, the Commission Directives laying down the principles of risk assessment have been implemented in the practice of evaluating substances. Technical guidance documents (TGDs) have been developed to provide a helpful tool in performing risk assessment and to facilitate harmonization in the technical process. The essential information for risk assessment is environmental exposure and effect data. To evaluate all possible effects a set of tools, such as emission scenarios, predictive models, and extrapolation methods, are available. These tools are based on the concept that the EU harmonized minimal set of data at base set level is sufficient for risk assessment. The results of the already developed tools are joined together in the risk assessment model for the evaluation of new chemical substances based on causality between emissions and effects.