Risk assessment organisms

Zeeman M (1997) Aquatic toxicology and ecological risk assessment US-EPA/OPPT perspective and OECD interactions. In Zelikoff JT, Lynch J, Schepers J (eds) Ecotoxicology Responses, Biomarkers, and Risk Assessment. Organization for Economic Cooperation Development, Paris, pubhshed for the OECD by SOS Publications, Pair Haven, N.J., pp 89-108... 

For nuclear accident risk assessment, organs of primary interest because of their high sensitivity or their... 

International Programs in Chemical Risk Assessment Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)... 

J. K. Frederickson and H. Bolton, Jr., Terrestrial Microcosms for risk Assessment of Soil-Applied Microorganisms and Pesticides , in J. T. SelikofFs, Ed., Ecotoxicology Responses, Biomarkers and Risk Assessment, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris, 1997, pp. 459-488. 

Hazard identification involves gathering and evaluating data on the types of health injury or disease that may be produced by a chemical and on the conditions of exposure under which injury or disease is produced. It may also involve characterization of the behavior of a chemical within the body and the interactions it undergoes with organs, cells, or even parts of cells. Hazard identification is not risk assessment. It is a scientific determination of whether observed toxic effects in one setting will occur in other settings. 

TNO Institute of Environmental Sciences, Guidelines for Quantitative Risk Assessment, Amsterdam Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, 1999. 

SI 1996/1106 The Genetically Modified Organisms (Risk Assessment) (Records and Exemptions) Regulations... 

SI 1997/1900 The Genetically Modified Organisms (Deliberate Release and Risk Assessment) (Amendment)... 

Exposure is defined as llie contact of an organism (hmnans in llie case of health risk assessment) with a chemical or physical agent (3). 

T. Main, Inc., Healtli Risk Assessment for Air Emission of Metals and Organic Components for tlie Perc Municipal Waste Energy Facilities , PERC, Boston, MA, 1985. 

Concise International Chemical Assessment Documents (CICADs) are published by the International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) — a cooperative programme of the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). CICADs have been developed from the Environmental Health Criteria documents (EHCs), more than 200 of which have been published since 1976 as authoritative documents on the risk assessment of chemicals. 

Lack of exposure data for most organotins together with limited toxicity information for marine organisms preclude the calculation of risk factors for the marine environment. For dibutyltin, measured concentrations in seawater reflect the use of tributyltin as a marine anti-foulant rather than the use of dibutyltin in plastics. It is therefore not possible to conduct a reliable risk assessment for the current uses of the compormd. 

A biomarker is here defined as a biological response to an environmental chemical at the individual level or below, which demonstrates a departure from normality. Responses at higher levels of biological organization are not, according to this definition, termed biomarkers. Where such biological responses can be readily measnred, they may provide the basis for biomarker assays, which can be nsed to stndy the effects of chemicals in the laboratory or, most importantly, in the field. There is also interest in their employment as tools for the environmental risk assessment of chemicals. 

Thns far, the discussion has dealt primarily with biomarker responses in living organisms. In the next section, consideration will be given to the exploitation of this principle in the development of bioassay systems that can be nsed in environmental monitoring and environmental risk assessment. 

There is a continuing interest in the development of biomarker assays for use in environmental risk assessment. As discussed elsewhere (Section 16.6), there are both scientific and ethical reasons for seeking to introduce in vitro assays into protocols for the regulatory testing of chemicals. Animal welfare organizations would like to see the replacement of toxicity tests by more animal-friendly alternatives for all types of risk assessment—whether for environmental risks or for human health. 

The following sections will attempt to look ahead to likely fntnre problems with organic pollntion, to probable changes in the ways in which it is stndied and monitored, and in the tests and strategies used for environmental risk assessment of organic chemicals. 

At the practical level, an ideal mechanistic biomarker should be simple to use, sensitive, relatively specific, stable, and usable on material that can be obtained by nondestructive sampling (e.g., blood or skin). A tall order, no doubt, and no biomarker yet developed has all of these attributes. However, the judicious use of combinations of biomarkers can overcome the shortcomings of individual assays. The main point to emphasize is that the resources so far invested in the development of biomarker technology for environmental risk assessment has been very small (cf the investment in biomarkers for use in medicine). Knowledge of toxic mechanisms of organic pollutants is already substantial (especially of pesticides), and it grows apace. The scientific basis is already there for technological advance it all comes down to a question of investment. 

Cyanide contamination creates special public information problems, e.g. it is difficult to explain why cyanide is not included in the current drinking water standards but that aquatic organisms are affected at relatively low cyanide concentration. There is confusion on whether fresh water standards are based on free or complexed cyanides. Fortunately, the provision of a permanent drinking water supply to each affected household removed risk assessment as a major issue. 

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