ABSTRACT
To derive conclusions about action, we need some statements about how the world works and
some statements about what we believe are good and right.
Randall (2006)
Risks are ne ver the sole basis for decision making (Chapter 36). Risks are more accepta ble
when there are countervailing benefits, and actions to reduce risks are more acceptable if there
is a clear legal mandate, legal precedent, or public support. Increasingly, formal analyses of
costs and benefits are required. Therefore, integration of the risk assessment with the eco-
nomic analysis should be planned during the problem formulation. However, it is also
important to be aware of the limitations of economic decision criteria and of the existence
of other decision criteria. Environmental law, environmental economics, and environmental
ethics are large and complex fields in their own rights, which are barely touched on here. This
chapter is intended to simply create an awareness among ecological risk assessors of these
other considerations so that they have an idea of how their risk estimates must be combined
with these considerations during the decision-making process.