Ecological Risk Assessment

A great deal of environmental toxicology is performed with the eventual goal of making a risk assessment. Much of the research performed in the field is geared toward the determination of the risk of producing a new product or releasing a pesticide or effluent to the environment. Because of the interaction between environmental toxicology and risk assessment, a basic and clear understanding of ecological risk assessment is necessary. Appendix B contains a reprint of the U.S. EPA document “A Framework for Ecological Risk Assessment.” This document is a relatively clear review of the basics of ecological risk assessment as perceived in the early 1990s. Since the original publication of this framework, additional case studies and a guidance document have been published (USEPA 1993, 1998). This chapter reviews the structure of ecological risk assessment and introduces some current developments. The later sections also provide a suggested approach for the risk assessment of wide-area sites with multiple stressors.