The role of risk assessment and risk management in environmental assessment

Abstract

There is an increasing awareness among environmental professionals and public that a totally risk free environment is an unattainable goal, and that the development of effective risk management strategies, involving a wide variety of scientific and societal considerations, is needed. The Department of Health Canada (HC; formally Health and Welfare Canada, HWC) has considerable experience with risk assessment and risk management with regards to human health protection. This expertise and knowledge is usefully transferrable to environmental assessment. This paper proposes using a modified version of Health Canada's model for human health risk assessment and risk management to provide a framework for risk assessment/risk management in the broader context of environmental assessment and briefly indicates the role Retrospective Exposure Assessment can play in environmental assessment. In describing the framework, details on the following will be provided: the identification of environmental hazard (spatially as well as temporally); estimation of severity of risk; development of alternative management options; public perception of risk and risk communication; strategies for risk management; and risk monitoring and evaluation. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.