ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes some information related to the risk assessment field, particularly as focused on ground water pollution concerns. It presents background information on, and elements of, risk assessment along with a discussion of environmental risk analysis and risk assessment as related to examples of hazardous waste disposal sites. W. W. Lee and K. Nair identified two basic elements associated with risk assessment: risk quantification or estimation; and risk evaluation. Risk evaluation involves determining what risks are socially acceptable. One approach for risk evaluation is to compare the quantified risk with various existing risks encountered in everyday life. Risk assessment is a popular term being used to describe both risk quantification followed by risk evaluation. Completion of risk assessments is often hampered by lack of understanding of risk paths and by lack of historical data. Environmental risk assessment encompasses the transport and fate of pollutants in the environment and their subsequent effects on human and nonhuman receptors.
