Use of Probabilistic Risk Assessment Methods for Regulatory Purposes

Use of Probabilistic Risk Assessment Methods for Regulatory Purposes 

Over the last 10 years a lot of efforts have been made to implement probabilistic methods for environmental risk assessments (ERA) into regulatory decisionmaking schemes. ECOFRAME in the US (www.epa.gov/oppefedl/ecorisk) was the first and largest project in this area, the EU-project EUFRAM (vww.eufram. com) is a comparable initiative. Whereas on the effect side, several examples exist where species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) were used for regulatory decisionmaking, comparable cases on the exposure side are rare. 

Microcosm/Mesocosm Testing with Aquatic Organisms 

---