Risk assessment approaches in European countries

Abstract

The Europe sediment risk assessment deals with the ecological risks of contaminated sediments. This chapter discusses two management goals for ecological risk assessment (ERA) that are directly related to the European Union (EU) water framework directive (WFD): (1) Assessment of the ecological risks caused by contaminated sediments referred as “ in situ sediment risk assessment.” (2) Assessment of risks of contaminants in sediment after dredging referred as “risk assessment for dredged material management” or “ ex situ sediment risk assessment.” In situ sediment risk assessment deals with the deleterious effects of historical pollution on certain parts of the ecosystem. However, senso stricto for the EU WFD, the possible negative effect of sediment contamination on the ecological quality of the water is the key issue. Sediment remediation in combination with source control could be the preferred management option to solve this problem. Before such a decision could be made, the risk manager should have a clear picture of what the problem is. Therefore studies should be initiated that focus on the “direct” ecological risks of sediment contamination or “indirect” risks. The second management goal closely related to the WFD is the management of dredged material (DM). The assessment produces data that help the authorities to choose between management options for the relocation, disposal, or treatment of dredged material. Multi-tiered risk assessment approaches are also commonly used for this purpose. As with in situ sediment risk assessment, a detailed physical and chemical characterization of the sediment is carried out.