Holistic Risk Assessment Research Articles

Evaluating risk from a holistic perspective to improve resilience: The United Nations evaluation at global level

Disaster risk is not only associated with the occurrence of intense hazard events but also with the vulnerability conditions that facilitate disasters when such events occur. Vulnerability is closely linked to social processes and governance weaknesses in disaster-prone areas, and is usually related to a set of fragilities, susceptibilities, and issues regarding the lack of resilience of the exposed human settlements. The holistic risk assessment aims to reflect risk from a comprehensive perspective by using, in one hand, the physical risk or potential physical damage directly linked to the occurrence of hazard events and, on the other hand by capturing how underlying risk drivers or amplifiers –social, economic, environmental issues, non-hazard dependent elements, worsen the current existing physical risk conditions in terms of lack of capacity to anticipate or resist, or to respond and recover from adverse impacts. This article presents the results of the holistic evaluation of risk as well as of the implications of risk for development obtained at global level in the framework of the UN Atlas-GAR: Unveiling Disaster Risk, using the probabilistic physical risk results, obtained from the multi-hazard Global Risk Assessment 2015, socioeconomic indicators and macroeconomic flow variables available in worldwide databases for more than 200 countries and territories. These results are useful to identify risk drivers that are associated not only to the physical vulnerability of countries’ assets but also to social, economic and financial issues that should be examined and tackled in a comprehensive way.

Efficient removal of digoxin from aqueous solution using magnetic nanocomposite (Fe3O4–GO–SO3H) as an advanced nano-absorbent

Digoxin separation from pharmaceuticals wastes, is small piece of the larger puzzle in holistic risk assessment. In this study, a novel magnetic nano composite (graphene oxide/Fe3O4/SO3H) was synthesized and used as an absorbent for the removal of digoxin from aqueous solution. We utilized UV-Vis spectrophotometry (UV/Vis) for detection and efficient removal of digoxin by magnetic graphene oxide (MGO) in different concentrations. Magnetic absorbent was characterized by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The optimized concentration of absorbent and digoxin were 500 and 1 ppm respectively, in which the optimize reaction time was lasting 10 min. Finally, under optimized condition, MGO was used for the efficient separation of digoxin from aqueous solution.

An integrated transcriptomic- and proteomic-based approach to evaluate the human skin sensitization potential of glyphosate and its commercial agrochemical formulations

We investigated the skin sensitization hazard of glyphosate, the surfactant polyethylated tallow amine (POEA) and two commercial glyphosate-containing formulations using different omics-technologies based on a human dendritic cell (DC)-like cell line. First, the GARD™skin assay, investigating changes in the expression of 200 transcripts upon cell exposure to xenobiotics, was used for skin sensitization prediction. POEA and the formulations were classified as skin sensitizers while glyphosate alone was classified as a non-sensitizer. Interestingly, the mixture of POEA together with glyphosate displayed a similar sensitizing prediction as POEA alone, indicating that glyphosate likely does not increase the sensitizing capacity when associated with POEA. Moreover, mass spectrometry analysis identified differentially regulated protein groups and predicted molecular pathways based on a proteomic approach in response to cell exposures with glyphosate, POEA and the glyphosate-containing formulations. Based on the protein expression data, predicted pathways were linked to immunologically relevant events and regulated proteins further to cholesterol biosynthesis and homeostasis as well as to autophagy, identifying novel aspects of DC responses after exposure to xenobiotics. In summary, we here present an integrative analysis involving advanced technologies to elucidate the molecular mechanisms behind DC activation in the skin sensitization process triggered by the investigated agrochemical materials. SignificanceThe use of glyphosate has increased worldwide, and much effort has been made to improve risk assessments and to further elucidate the mechanisms behind any potential human health hazard of this chemical and its agrochemical formulations. In this context, omics-based techniques can provide a multiparametric approach, including several biomarkers, to expand the mechanistic knowledge of xenobiotics-induced toxicity. Based on this, we performed the integration of GARD™skin and proteomic data to elucidate the skin sensitization hazard of POEA, glyphosate and its two commercial mixtures, and to investigate cellular responses more in detail on protein level. The proteomic data indicate the regulation of immune response-related pathways and proteins associated with cholesterol biosynthesis and homeostasis as well as to autophagy, identifying novel aspects of DC responses after exposure to xenobiotics. Therefore, our data show the applicability of a multiparametric integrated approach for the mechanism-based hazard evaluation of xenobiotics, eventually complementing decision making in the holistic risk assessment of chemicals regarding their allergenic potential in humans.

How Fraud Risk Decomposition Affects Auditors' Fraud Risk Assessments

SUMMARY In this paper, we provide a practitioner summary of our paper “The Influence of Judgment Decomposition on Auditors' Fraud Risk Assessments: Some Trade-Offs” (Simon, Smith, and Zimbelman 2018). In that study, we investigate potential unintended consequences from current auditing guidance on risk assessments. Specifically, auditing standards recommend separate assessments of the likelihood and magnitude of risks (hereafter, LM decomposition) when auditors assess risk. Our study involved several experiments, including one with experienced auditors, where we found evidence that LM decomposition leads auditors to be less concerned about high-risk fraud schemes relative to auditors who make holistic risk assessments. Our other experiments involved non-auditing settings and replicated this finding while exploring potential explanations for it. After providing a summary of our study and its results, we offer concluding remarks on the potential implications of our findings.

PRACTITIONER SUMMARY How Fraud Risk Decomposition Affects Auditors' Fraud Risk Assessments

In this paper, we provide a practitioner summary of our paper "The Influence of Judgment Decomposition on Auditors' Fraud Risk Assessments: Some Tradeoffs" (Simon, Smith, and Zimbelman 2018). In that study, we investigate potential unintended consequences from current auditing guidance on risk assessments. Specifically, auditing standards recommend separate assessments of the likelihood and magnitude of risks (hereafter, LM decomposition) when auditors assess risk. Our study involved several experiments, including one with experienced auditors, where we found evidence that LM decomposition leads auditors to be less concerned about high-risk fraud schemes relative to auditors who make holistic risk assessments. Our other experiments involved non-auditing settings and replicated this finding while exploring potential explanations for it. After providing a summary of our study and its results, we offer concluding remarks on the potential implications of our findings.

Major Accident Hazard in Bioprocess Facilities: A Challenge To Sustainable Industrial Development

Sustainable components of renewable biological resources in Malaysia provide the prospect for the growth of the bioeconomy via research, innovation and commercialisation. Malaysia is one of the few Asian countries that has most of its bio safety regulations and guidelines in place. In spite of the government is driving the sector in full force, there are still missing links and challenges. Some recent accidents involving the bioprocess raised concern on the safety of such technologies inclusive one incident happened in a bioprocess facility that has been selected as a case study. The facility selected is one of the Bioeconomy Transformation Programme (BTP) Trigger Projects in Malaysia. Holistic risk assessment is needed in order to identify and potential hazard related to bioprocess. With the usage of hazardous substances in the process, the approach towards risk assessment and accident prevention is crucial. Mechanical integrity and process safety related aspect is among the area need to be explored.

Ingestion and inhalation of metal(loid)s through preschool gardening: An exposure and risk assessment in legacy mining communities

Children residing in mining towns are potentially disproportionately exposed to metal(loid)s via ingestion and dust inhalation, thus, increasing their exposure when engaging in school or home gardening or playing outside. This citizen science study assessed preschool children’s potential arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) exposure via locally grown produce, water, incidental soil ingestion, and dust inhalation at four sites. Participants were trained to properly collect water, soil, and vegetable samples from their preschools in Nevada County, California. As, Cd, and Pb concentrations in irrigation sources did not exceed the U.S. EPA’s maximum contaminant and action levels. In general, garden and playground As and Pb soil concentrations exceeded the U.S. EPA Regional Screening Level, CalEPA Human Health Screening Level, and California Department of Toxic Substances Control Screening Level. In contrast, all Cd concentrations were below these recommended screening levels. Dust samples (<10 μm diameter) were generated from surface garden and playground soil collected at the preschools by a technique that simulated windblown dust. Soil and dust samples were then analyzed by in-vitro bioaccessibility assays using synthetic lung and gastric fluids to estimate the bioaccessible fraction of As, Cd, and Pb in the body. Metal(loid) exposure via grown produce revealed that lettuce, carrot, and cabbage grown in the preschool gardens accumulated a higher concentration of metal(loid) than those store-bought nation-wide. None of the vegetables exceeded the respective recommendation maximum levels for Cd and Pb set by the World Health Organization Codex Alimentarius Commission. The results of this study indicate that consumption of preschool-grown produce and incidental soil ingestion were major contributors to preschool-aged children’s exposure to As, Cd, and Pb. Traditionally, this level of site- and age-specific assessment and analyses does not occur at contaminated sites. The results of this holistic risk assessment can inform future risk assessment and public health interventions related to childhood metal(loid) exposures.

Reformulating ‘Holism' in hydropower decision‐making

AbstractThis paper investigates the necessary‐impossible paradox facing hydropower decision‐makers of the Mekong River Commission: that aspiring towards a holistic risk assessment is both socially useful and necessary, but also meaningless and impossible (because the future remains unknown). The thesis here is that to come to terms with this paradox, a Luhmannian inspired relational model offers superior analytical tools compared with an Aristotelian essentialist approach. This is because where the latter typically employs integrative approaches which attempt to show why through rational reasoning risk assessments are holistic, the former takes into account that holistic risk assessments are contingent on the observer, on an organisation's position within a network, and on the ‘temporal atoms' that mark the ‘time' of social systems. By employing a relational framework comprised of variation, selection and retention to capture this comparative sociology of the observer, the contribution here offers a radical reformulation of holism in hydropower decision‐making.

Investigating combined toxicity of binary mixtures in bees: Meta-analysis of laboratory tests, modelling, mechanistic basis and implications for risk assessment

Bees are exposed to a wide range of multiple chemicals “chemical mixtures” from anthropogenic (e.g. plant protection products or veterinary products) or natural origin (e.g. mycotoxins, plant toxins). Quantifying the relative impact of multiple chemicals on bee health compared with other environmental stressors (e.g. varroa, viruses, and nutrition) has been identified as a priority to support the development of holistic risk assessment methods. Here, extensive literature searches and data collection of available laboratory studies on combined toxicity data for binary mixtures of pesticides and non-chemical stressors has been performed for honey bees (Apis mellifera), wild bees (Bombus spp.) and solitary bee species (Osmia spp.). From 957 screened publications, 14 publications provided 218 binary mixture toxicity data mostly for acute mortality (lethal dose: LD50) after contact exposure (61%), with fewer studies reporting chronic oral toxicity (20%) and acute oral LC50 values (19%). From the data collection, available dose response data for 92 binary mixtures were modelled using a Toxic Unit (TU) approach and the MIXTOX modelling tool to test assumptions of combined toxicity i.e. concentration addition (CA), and interactions (i.e. synergism, antagonism). The magnitude of interactions was quantified as the Model Deviation Ratio (MDR). The CA model applied to 17% of cases while synergism and antagonism were observed for 72% (MDR > 1.25) and 11% (MDR < 0.83) respectively. Most synergistic effects (55%) were observed as interactions between sterol-biosynthesis-inhibiting (SBI) fungicides and insecticide/acaricide. The mechanisms behind such synergistic effects of binary mixtures in bees are known to involve direct cytochrome P450 (CYP) inhibition, resulting in an increase in internal dose and toxicity of the binary mixture. Moreover, bees are known to have the lowest number of CYP copies and other detoxification enzymes in the insect kingdom. In the light of these findings, occurrence of these binary mixtures in relevant crops (frequency and concentrations) would need to be investigated. Addressing this exposure dimension remains critical to characterise the likelihood and plausibility of such interactions to occur under field realistic conditions. Finally, data gaps and further work for the development of risk assessment methods to assess multiple stressors in bees including chemicals and non-chemical stressors in bees are discussed.

Ecological risk assessment of combined pollution in watersheds

Water pollution in China is severe and combined pollution with multiple stressors poses a great challenge to watershed risk management. Under the conditions of combined pollution, recognizing high-risk areas of concern, identifying key toxicants from multiple stressors and comprehensively assessing their ecological risk are the urgent and difficult tasks in watershed management. Traditional ecological risk assessment mainly focuses on single pollutant, which is difficult to obtain holistic information on the risk related to combined pollution. Based on the current research progress of combined pollution assessment, this review proposes a framework for ecological risk assessment of combined pollution in watersheds, including recognition of high-risk areas, identification of key toxicants and comprehensive assessment of ecological risk of the key toxicants. Firstly, high-risk areas are identified by weight of evidence analysis, which integrates information from both laboratory and in situ exposure and effect analyses. Most of exposure and effect data so far are based on chemical analyses and bioassays in the laboratories, yet bias may exist in extrapolating information from laboratory data to the field. Alternatively, in situ analysis serves an effective approach in reducing this extrapolation bias and, at the same time, more realistically recording biological effects under some field exposure scenarios, such as pulse exposure. Passive sampling devices have been applied for in situ exposure assessment. The integration of passive sampling with in situ organism exposure chambers successfully gains both chemical and toxicological lines of evidence for ecological risk assessment. Secondly, key toxicants in the high-risk areas are identified using toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) and effect-directed analysis (EDA) techniques. Conventional TIE is of environmental relevance by using whole organism bioassays; however, it is lack of effective methods in identifying major contributors to the toxicity because it merely focuses on analyzing the contaminants in target lists. Alternatively, EDA is a powerful tool in identifying key organic toxicants with a combination of chemical fractionation and analysis of targeted and non-targeted contaminants. Nevertheless, the common use of in vitro bioassays and exhaustive extraction make EDA lack of environmental relevance. Therefore, integrating TIE and EDA would provide an environmentally relevant method to effectively determine causality of sediment toxicity by combining the merits of the two methodologies. To improve the accuracy of toxicity identification, bioavailable extraction and dosing techniques are recommended to be incorporated into the integrated method. Thirdly, probabilistic ecological risk of the key toxicants in the high-risk areas is evaluated using tiered ecological risk assessment methods. Hazard quotient method has been widely used in providing conservative risk screening information, but uncertainties could not be quantified with this method. Therefore, a probabilistic assessment method, including distributions of exposure, response and hazard quotient levels, is proposed to achieve a holistic ecological risk assessment. At the end, recent developments and challenges in ecological risk assessment of combined pollution in watersheds are prospected. Overall, integrating the understanding of joint toxicity mechanisms in combined pollution risk assessment, improving the ability in non-targeted analysis and developing bioavailability-based sediment thresholds are important to assess ecological risk of combined pollution in watersheds.

Holistic assessment of driver assistance systems: how can systems be assessed with respect to how they impact glance behaviour and collision avoidance?

This study demonstrates the need for a holistic safety-impact assessment of an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) and its effect on eye-glance behaviour. It implements a substantial incremental development of the what-if (counterfactual) simulation methodology, applied to rear-end crashes from the SHRP2 naturalistic driving data. This assessment combines (i) the impact of the change in drivers’ off-road glance behaviour due to the presence of the ADAS, and (ii) the safety impact of the ADAS alone. The results illustrate how the safety benefit of forward collision warning and autonomous emergency braking, in combination with adaptive cruise control (ACC) and driver assist (DA) systems, may almost completely dominate the safety impact of the longer off-road glances that activated ACC and DA systems may induce. Further, this effect is shown to be robust to induced system failures. The accuracy of these results is tempered by outlined limitations, which future estimations will benefit from addressing. On the whole, this study is a further step towards a successively more accurate holistic risk assessment which includes driver behavioural responses such as off-road glances together with the safety effects provided by the ADAS.

Systemic risk of maritime-related oil spills viewed from an Arctic and insurance perspective

There is a wish for economic development in the Arctic, especially in relation to the region's untapped marine and hydrocarbon resources. However, such developments are inherently risky, entailing the possibility of trade-offs and potentially jeopardizing a fragile and pristine natural environment which provides multiple sources of well-being to the Arctic's four million inhabitants. When the risks of economic development are evaluated, they are usually assessed on a micro (enterprise risk) and/or meso level (portfolio risk, such as an industry). Systemic risk is considered to a much lesser degree. There is also limited discussion about mitigation methods, including the role of insurance in dealing with the consequences of failures, such as oil spills. The aim of this study is, therefore, to explore the systemic risk of maritime-related oil spills in general and place the findings in an Arctic and insurance perspective. The study is based on secondary data relating to major maritime-related oil spills from drilling and shipping. Two analytical frameworks were employed, one explaining the scaling of risks, and another showing the interplay between subsistence and monetized economies in tandem with their institutional, environmental, social and cultural context. The findings suggest, if the worst-case scenario materializes, that maritime-related oil spills may have social/cultural, environmental, and economic impacts, in addition to security/policy implications, as well as affecting businesses involved in the disaster and their partners. This study has academic implications since there are, so far, limited studies carried out on systemic-level risk, but it also has policy relevance, for instance for local and regional authorities and international bodies, such as the Arctic Council, in terms of holistic risk-assessment and its recommended use of appropriate decision-making and evaluative frameworks such as ecosystem-based management.

Risk Perception and Human Health Risk in Rural Communities Consuming Unregulated Well Water in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Rural communities dependent on unregulated drinking water are potentially at increased health risk from exposure to contaminants. Perception of drinking water safety influences water consumption, exposure, and health risk. A community-based participatory approach and probabilistic Bayesian methods were applied to integrate risk perception in a holistic human health risk assessment. Tap water arsenic concentrations and risk perception data were collected from two Saskatchewan communities. Drinking water health standards were exceeded in 67% (51/76) of households in Rural Municipality #184 (RM184) and 56% (25/45) in Beardy's and Okemasis First Nation (BOFN). There was no association between the presence of a health exceedance and risk perception. Households in RM184 or with an annual income >$50,000 were most likely to have in-house water treatment. The probability of consuming tap water perceived as safe (92%) or not safe (0%) suggested that households in RM184 were unlikely to drink water perceived as not safe. The probability of drinking tap water perceived as safe (77%) or as not safe (11%) suggested households in BOFN contradicted their perception and consumed water perceived as unsafe. Integration of risk perception lowered the adult incremental lifetime cancer risk by 3% to 1.3 × 10-5 (95% CI 8.4 × 10-8 to 9.0 × 10-5 ) for RM184 and by 8.9 × 10-6 (95% CI 2.2 × 10-7 to 5.9 × 10-5 ) for BOFN. Probability of exposure to arsenic concentrations >1:100,000, negligible cancer risk, was 23% for RM184 and 22% for BOFN.

Risk assessment in cross-border transport infrastructure projects: A fuzzy hybrid method considering dual interdependent effects

To promote trade facilitation and regional integration, several cross-border transport infrastructure (CBTI) projects have been implemented and are accompanied by high complexity, difficulty, and uncertainty. This presents a multi-dimensional challenge for risk assessment. However, the challenge is amplified by the presence of dual interdependent effects induced by risk factor cascading propagation and project interaction. The purpose of this study involves developing a fuzzy decision analysis method for risk assessment in CBTI projects by considering dual interdependent effects. First, a holistic risk assessment framework with five resolution phases is presented and includes preliminary preparation, information processing, interdependent effect analysis, risk aggregation, and risk rating. Subsequently, a fuzzy hybrid method is proposed based on extending and integrating the decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL), two-additive Choquet integral (TACI), and fuzzy reasoning. The method is used to clarify the risk profile of the CBTI project, and the risk sources and risk controllability are further diagnosed to support risk treatment. Finally, the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method is demonstrated via a potential application. The results indicate that the proposed method that considers dual interdependent effects is advantageous in terms of ensuring risk assessment accuracy and risk treatment effectiveness in CBTI projects.

Capacity building and training approaches for water safety plans: A comprehensive literature review.

The World Health Organization has recommended Water Safety Plans (WSPs), a holistic risk assessment and risk management approach, for drinking-water suppliers across low-, middle- and high-income countries, since publishing its 2004 Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality. While rapid WSP adoption has occurred, capacity is still catching up to implementation needs. Many countries and regions lack case examples, legal requirements, and training resources for WSPs, corresponding to widespread capacity shortfall in the water supply sector. We undertook a comprehensive review of the literature on capacity building and training for WSPs, with the goal of providing recommendations for multiple stakeholder groups at the scales of individual utilities, national governments, and intermediate units of governance. We propose a WSP training taxonomy and discuss it in relation to the stages of learning (introduction, practice, and reinforcement); describe the importance of customizing training to the target group, local language and circumstances; highlight the relevance of auditing for evaluating change over time; and call for robust methods to monitor WSP capacity development.

Whole body biomechanical burden of healthcare workers: proposal for a complementary risk assessment and management tool (HOARA).

Introduction:We have developed a new tool, named Holistic Approach Risk Assessment (HOARA), to support occupational safety and health professionals (OSH) in risk assessment and management when evaluating the biomechanical load of healthcare workers.Objectives:The primary aim of the HOARA is to support OSH in risk assessment and management of biomechanical hazards in healthcare facilities. This tool ensures a superior level of analysis by targeting independently various body compartments during all activities completed throughout the work shift. These include: head, neck, back and upper and lower limbs.Methods:For each body segment, ergonomic determinants were defined on the basis of previous literature, according to which task and job analyses were performed. Upon direct observation, ergonomic factors were given a score based on their temporal extent. Subsequently, action-body segment raw indices and weighted indices were calculated.Results:Results of the application of the method are shown. Of note, a relational database was set up to improve its usability.Conclusions:From an occupational health perspective, the HOARA, integrated with other methods, is expected to allow a more effective management of human resources, especially when assigning workers to specific jobs or tasks. Overall, the HOARA will be instrumental in assessing the impact of fitness for work judgments on work organization and its resources, in compliance with the guidelines from the Società Italiana di Medicina del Lavoro (SIML).

Employee Perspective on Information Security Related Human Error in Healthcare: Proactive Use of IS-CHEC in Questionnaire Form

The objective of the research was to establish data relating to underlying causes of human error which are the most common cause of information security incidents within a private sector healthcare organization. A survey questionnaire was designed to proactively apply the IS-CHEC information security human reliability analysis (HRA) technique. The IS-CHEC technique questionnaire identified the most likely core human error causes that could result in incidents, their likelihood, the most likely tasks that could be affected, suggested remedial and preventative measures, systems or processes that would be likely to be affected by human error and established the levels of risk exposure. The survey was operational from 15th November 2018 to 15th December 2018. It achieved a response rate of 65% which equated to 485 of 749 people targeted by the research. The research found that, in the case of this particular participating organization, the application of the IS-CHEC technique through a questionnaire added beneficial value as an enhancement to a standard approach of holistic risk assessment. The research confirmed that the IS-CHEC in questionnaire form can be successfully applied within a private sector healthcare organization and also that a distributed approach for information security human error assessment can be successfully undertaken in order to add beneficial value. The results of this paper indicate, from the questionnaire responses supplied by employees, that organizational focus on its people and their working environment can improve information security posture and reduce the likelihood of associated information security incidents through a reduction in human error.

Bayesian network for risk‐informed inspection planning in ships

AbstractWe present the development of a Bayesian Network (BN) model for risk assessment of ships to facilitate risk‐informed inspection planning. The BN consists of four sub‐modules: cause, vulnerability, consequence and inspection. These modules are set up in a generic manner by consideration of readily available information (the indicators), such as ship type, ship size, operational conditions. On this basis, we define representative models of the ship and its components, which are parameterized by the indicators and quantities that can be related to the indicators. The generic approach enables a fast and holistic risk assessment of a larger number of ships even if only limited information is available. The BN approach facilitates the straightforward inclusion of new information, e.g. from inspection and monitoring. It has the additional advantage of allowing easier communication of the model to non‐experts. Through numerical applications, we demonstrate how the calculated risks can be used to prioritize inspections and how new information can be incorporated to update risk estimates.

Eastern China coastal mudflats: Salt‐soil amendment with sewage sludge

AbstractThe mudflats developed along the east coast of China can be important alternative land sources for agricultural purpose after amending with organic fertilizers in large amounts. Abundant in quality organic matter and other plant nutrients, municipal sewage sludge has great potential to be used in mudflat amendment. However, the conflict between agricultural benefits from soil fertility elevation and environmental risks from hazard substances existing in sewage sludge is the critical issue to be resolved before large‐scale application of sewage suldge into salt‐affected degradaed mudflats. In compliance with the national standard for land application in China, raw sewage sludge and its compost can be used to amend mudflat salt‐soil by one‐time or multiple‐time application. One‐time input of sewage sludge followed by planting and tilling green manure has proved to be an optimal way for rapidly improving salt‐affected soil degradation with sustaining fertility benefits and minimal environmental risks. In salt‐soil amended with sludge, soil organic matter content was significantly elevated, and soil physicochemical properties were subsequently improved due to the increase of soil porosity, available nitrogen and phosphorus, and the decrease in bulk density, salinity, and pH in salt‐soil. Application of sewage sludge to mudflat soils increases soil total and bioavailable heavy metals derived from sludge application and thus increases risk of metal uptake by plants grown in mudflat salt‐soil. Environmental risks still represent a major issue in mudflat salt‐soil amendment by sewage sludge. Future holistic environmental risk assessment is warranted before using sewage sludge to amend mudflat salt‐affected degradated soil in China.

A Flood Risk Assessment of Quang Nam, Vietnam Using Spatial Multicriteria Decision Analysis

Vietnam is highly vulnerable to flood and storm impacts. Holistic flood risk assessment maps that adequately consider flood risk factors of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability are not available. These are vital for flood risk preparedness and disaster mitigation measures at the local scale. Unfortunately, there is a lack of knowledge about spatial multicriteria decision analysis and flood risk analysis more broadly in Vietnam. In response to this need, we identify and quantify flood risk components in Quang Nam province through spatial multicriteria decision analysis. The study presents a new approach to local flood risk assessment mapping, which combines historical flood marks with exposure and vulnerability data. The flood risk map output could assist and empower decision-makers in undertaking flood risk management activities in the province. Our study demonstrates a methodology to build flood risk assessment maps using flood mark, exposure and vulnerability data, which could be applied in other provinces in Vietnam.