ABSTRACT
Two points should be considered carefully as regards the relationship between environmental toxicology and risk assessment. First, environmental toxicology should not be seen as dependent upon risk assessment for its justi‰cation. Risk assessment is a management tool used for making decisions, often with a great deal of uncertainty. ˆe science of environmental toxicology, as with any science, attempts to answer speci‰c questions. In the case of environmental toxicology the question is primarily how xenobiotics interact with the components of ecological systems. Second, risk assessment is not a strictly scienti‰c pursuit. ˆe assessment endpoints of risk assessment are often set by societal perceptions and values. Although the scienti‰c process may be used in the gathering of information in the assignment of risks, unless a testable hypothesis can be formulated, the scienti‰c method is not being applied. As a management tool risk assessment has certainly demonstrated its worth in the past 15 years.
