Contaminant-pathway-receptor approach

The Pollutant Linkage Concept. A further concept within the definition—the contaminant-pathway-receptor approach—is elaborated in the statutory guidance. This concept has, in recent years, come to represent the predominant intellectual framework for risk assessment in general20 21 and has underpinned the development of contaminated land technical thinking. Unless a particular receptor could be harmed, through a defined pathway, by an identified contaminant, then land cannot be considered to meet the definition of contaminated land. 

Many countries, including the UK, have adopted a risk-based approach to contaminated land management and use the familiar source-pathway-receptor approach to risk analysis (see chapter by Quint). Here, we highlight some of the recent contributions towards development of the risk assessment for contaminated land management. 

Hazardous waste problems are frequently generated by mixmres of complex wastes that have been disposed of on land and that have migrated through the subsurface. One approach to assessing the risks of contaminated sites has been to divide the problem into three elements sources, pathways, and receptors (Watts, 1998) as noted in Table 2. The first step in assessing the risk at a hazardous waste site is to identify the waste components at the source, including their concentrations and physical properties such as density, water solubility, and flash point. After the source has been characterized, the pathways of the hazardous chemicals are analyzed by quantifying the rates at which the... 

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