The national risk assessment

Since 2007, the National Risk Assessment (nra),initially the responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations hut now falling under the Ministry of Security and Justice, has concentrated on risk comparison. The NRA concerns itself with safety issues that could lead to social disruption (catastrophe potential). The NRA is used to make suggestions for the role of government and the means it should use in the interests of prevention, preparation and emergency assistance (referred to as capacity planning ).  

The NRA is an asymmetrical representation of safety issues it looks only at threats. This unilateral approach is understandable, given that the exercise is concerned with social disruption (catastrophe potential). But the safety issues that are included in the NRA also offer opportunities. The risk involved in processing hazardous substances is balanced by the economic interests of the petro-chemical industry the uncertain health risks involved in intensive livestock farming are balanced by the economic interests of this sector and the risk of flooding is balanced by fertile soil and the enjoyment people get from living along a river or lake. If we look at the opportunities (in the NRA or complementary documents), we immediately face another question what share of the responsibility is borne by those who enjoy the benefits  

In 2009, the OECD published a report on innovation in country risk management in which the Dutch National Risk Assessment (NR a) was cited as a best practice, along with the British National Risk Assessment. According to the OECD report, the Netherlands stands out in particular in helping policymakers understand the potential impacts and likelihood of catastrophic events. Its coordinators also motivate participants by continuing to recruit new and different participants for the network (OECD, 2009 41). 

Despite all the snags, an attempt is being made to compare a huge variety of different risks (with the help of various research institutes). The method makes allowance for the social and psychological properties of risks. Multidimensional risk comparison has thus been institutionalised. It is nevertheless striking how unknown the National Risk Assessment is in the Netherlands, even though it is cited as an exemplary in international circles (see textbox 3.3). The NRA is po- 

It is naturally possible to apply another normative appraisal system that gives rise to a different list of political priorities. The nra acknowledges this, but these alternatives are too often hidden awayinbackgroimd documents. That is why political circles can treat the NRA (and dismiss it) as a technocratic exercise instead of a tool for political appraisal. It is a missed opportrmity to view specific risks within a broader context. 

---

Chu, T. L. et al., 1990, Quantification of the Probabilistic Risk Assessment of the High Flux Beam Reactoi (HFBR) at Brookhaven National Laboratory, ANS Topical Meeting, The Safety, Siauis and Future of Non-Commercial Reactors and Irradiation Facilities, Boise, ID, Sepiember Ol - October 4, 1990. 

Over the past decades national and international organizations and programs have been faced with the problem of misunderstandings concerning terms used in the hazard/risk assessment of... 

Despite the wider availability of experimental data in these nations, risk assessments for new substances often demand estimation of environmentally important parameters. For example, degradation and partitioning processes must be considered in environmental exposure assessments, but neither Henry s Law constant nor abiotic degradation processes such as hydrolysis and photolysis are included in the MPD. Only if a substance is not readily biodegradable may requirements for abiotic degradation testing be imposed. 

We are working with the Food Quality Control Department of the Ministry of Health to study the contamination of OCPs and PCBs in local fish and chickens. This project is in line with our current effort to assess the health risk arising from consumption of food contaminated with POP chemicals. The health risk assessment of POPs through dietary intakes project involved analyses of OCPs and PCBs in various foodstuff, initially raw materials which will be extended to cooked food. Unfortunately, we do not currently have the capability to analyze PCDD/PCDF in our laboratory but there are two high resolution mass spectrometers in the country that are capable of analyzing PCDD/PCDF. National and international collaborations will definitely improve the country capacity to monitor POPs not only those listed in the Stockholm Convention but other toxic chemicals found in the environment. 

These evaluative frames primarily relate to the scientific risk assessment process and the technical ability to manage a risk. By contrast, this book seeks to examine the impact that the different regulatory approaches have on decision-making at national and EU levels. In other words, how a regulatory action varies in the short -and long-term in terms of its (adapted from [258]) ... 

Germany does not have an official chemicals policy, nor is a chemicals policy available from any of the Ministries. The only publicly available document specifically relating to national chemicals policy is a report on the Precautionary Risk Assessment and Risk Management of Chemicals produced by the Federal Environment Agency (UBA). The UBA report does not appear to receive strong support from the ministries as it fails to appear on the Ministry for the Environment s website, although an interviewee stated that the UBA has to receive permission prior to any official publication. It is not unusual for the Ministry for Environment and the UBA to form separate environmental policy [370]. Neither is it uncommon for the UBA staff to publicly criticise the concepts put forward by the ministry [370]. 

To ensure that chemical contamination is rednced to safe concentrations at stockpile and NSCM sites before they are used for residential, occupational, or wildlife purposes, the U.S. Army requested that health-based exposure limits for GA, GB, GD, VX, sulfur mustard, and lewisite be developed to protect the pnblic and the environment. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) was asked to conduct the health risk assessments and propose chronic oral reference doses (RfDs) and, where... 

Kendall, R.J. 1991. Ecological risk assessment for terrestrial wildlife exposed to agrochemicals a state-of-the-art review and recommendations for the future. Presented at the Ecological Risk Assessment Workshop sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Risk Assessment Methodology, February 26-March 1,1991. 

Dennis J. Paustenbach s A Survey of Health Risk Assessment , Chapter 1 of The Risk Assessment of Environment Hazards (op. cit.) is a good place to start because it provides a reasonably current, bird s-eye view of the whole risk assessment scene. The 1983 report of the National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences, Risk Assessment in the Federal Government Managing the Process (National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.) is essential reading for anyone attempting to grasp the fundamental science and policy issues in risk assessment. 

Calder, I. C. (1993). After remediation how much matters In The Health Risk Assessment and Management of Contaminated Sites, ed. Langley, A., and van Alpen, M., Proc. 2nd National Workshop on the Health Risk Assessment and Management of Contaminated Sites, Canberra, ACT, Australia, Apr. 5-7, 1993, South Australian Health Commission, Adelaide, SA, Australia, 65-68. 

Langley, A. and El Saadi, O. (1991). Protocol for the health risk assessment and management of contaminated Sites. Summary of a National Workshop on the Health Risk Assessment and management of Contaminated Sites, South Austi alian Health Commission, Aug. 5-7 1991, Adelaide, SA, Australia. 

NRC (2007b). Scientific Review of the Proposed Risk Assessment Bulletin from the Office of Management and Budget, The National Academies Press, http //books.nap.edu/openbook.php record id=11811 page=Rl, Washington, D.C. 

Thus, while advances have been made in BBDR modeUng to characteize the shape of the dose-response curve in the low-dose region, some scientists and regulators believe that further model characterization is necessary before integrating these models into the current risk assessment framework. Interestingly, while EPA s National Center for Enviromnental Assessment (NCEA) has not used the formaldehyde BBDR model for toxicity criteria derivation for IRIS, the Toxic Air Programs of EPA have used the model in toxicity assessments under the National Scale Air Toxics Assessment (US EPA 2005e). 

M. F. W. Waltz, J. I. Freijer, P. Keule and F. A. Swartjes, The VOLASOIL Risk Assessment Model Based on CSOIL for Soils Contaminated with Volatile Compounds, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, 1996. 

In 2007, a survey on production and uses of SCCPs was undertaken in the framework of the United Nations Economic Comission for Europe (UNECE) POPs Protocol [9]. Based on the available data from the EU, Switzerland, Canada and the USA, production of SCCPs in the UNECE region was estimated to range from 7,500 tons per year to 11,300 tons per year (Table 4). According to the EU Risk Assessment Report, in 1994 SCCPs were manufactured within the EU by two producers, at a total quantity of <15,000 tons per year [8]. According to the updated draft Risk Assessment Report from August 2005 [10], SCCPs were produced by... 

The results of the project of National Institute of Public Health, Prague, The Health Risk Assessment of Dietary Exposures to the Selected Chemical Substances (Total Diet Study), Czech Republic, 1994 are presented in Table 14 (National Institute of Public Health in Prague, 1995b). In this study 552 composite food samples were analyzed representing 1920 individual commodities from 12 sites of the Czech Republic. No statistically significant difference was found between individual sites with a different environmental pollution level. The estimated exposure dose for the Czech Republic ranges between 28 and 41% of the PTWI. 

National Institute of Publie Health in Prague, 1995b. The Health Risk Assessment of Dietary Exposures to the Selected Chemical Substances in the Czech Republic. Prague. 

Different national and international institutions have established methods to assess the environmental risk of plant protection products. The EPPO (European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization) and the Council of Europe have worked to harmonize test methods for the environmental side-effects evaluation especially on bees. This work has led to the publication of a decision-making scheme for the environmental risk assessment of plant protection products [17] (Figure 3.1). This scheme is common to all the member countries in Europe, but the methods used are in fact determined by each country. 

---