Understanding Environmental Risks
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ScribdTranslationsUnderstanding Environmental Risks
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ScribdTranslationsCURSO: CULTURA AMBIENTAL
II UNIT: ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
SESSION 09:
ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS
Mg. Cervantes Alvarado Beatriz
Brainstorming
What are environmental risks?
How is it related,
threat, risk and vulnerability
with climate change?
INTRODUCTION TO:
Risk Concepts
Risk Assessment
Environmental Regulations and Laws
Ethics
Risk Concepts
Riesgo =f(Peligro, Exposición)
Risk: Probability of an individual suffering
an adverse effect from an event.
Danger: Potential of a substance or situation of
cause harm or adverse effects to the environment and/or
humans.
Exhibition: Magnitude and length of time
in which an organism is placed under a
determined restriction (danger).
Risk-Danger-Exposure-Vulnerability Relationship
EXHIBITION RISK VULNERABILITY
DANGER
Example
I. Hazardous substances and risk
Potassium Dichromate is a compound
highly toxic carcinogen. It is used in some
techniques for analyzing exhaled breath by
alcohol content. However, for this
Purpose is sealed in a tube, and does not pass into the air.
when the air is passed over it.
Therefore, although it is a highly
dangerous, if used as described, does not present
no risk for the subject.
Source:[Link]
Example
II. Non-hazardous substances and risk
Fluorine would not be considered a hazardous substance.
However, people exposed for a period
over time to fluorine powder transported by air and/or
contact with the skin can develop
dermatitis, conjunctivitis, rhinitis, and even asthma.
In this way, long-term exposure to a
low-risk agent can result in a
substantial risk exposure to an agent
highly dangerous can result in a risk
low.
The routes of exposure
include:
Occupational Exposure (occurs in the workplace
work)
Consumer Exposure (to products)
Environmental Exhibition
Direct (exposure to air, soil, and water)
Indirect (i.e. contamination through the chain
food
Indirect Routes of Exposure
Air
Crops
Cattle Milk
Soil
Water
Superficial
Fish PERSONAS
Water of
subsoil
Drinking water
INDIRECT ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE
Types of Risk
Risks Risks Disasters
Volunteers Involuntary Natural things
A consequence A consequence These include
of actions of actions floods
taken by uncontrollable hurricanes
necessity or carried out by earthquakes and others
election. others (e.g.,
disasters that
to drive a car, exposure to they are beyond the
riding a motorcycle contaminants of human control.
smoking cigarettes environment)
Risk Assessment
The risk assessment must estimate the impacts
adverse to health or the environment and determine if
these impacts represent a serious threat.
National Research Council (USA).
Meta: Understand, quantify and communicate topics of
risk in as understandable a way as possible.
Tools: Laws and regulations concerning
the substances
Steps of the Risk Assessment
Hazard Assessment
(Identification)
Evaluation of Evaluation of
Response to the Dose Exposition
Risk Characterization
Management of
Normally it is not
Risk included in the evaluation
of risk.
Source: Environmental Engineering and Science, Allen and Shonnard, pp.123
Hazard Assessment
Determination of potential and/or adverse effects
of a certain material
Adverse effects to the Hazard estimation:
health related to Activity Relationships
the exposure to Structural (SAR)
chemicals
Based on laboratories
Cancer specific chemicals
Endocrine tear From databases
Reproductive toxicity (references)
Risk Characterization
Estimation of the magnitude of adverse effects in
populations determined by compiling all the data
of the three previous steps.
This stage involves the quantification of
risk that follows the consideration of the
exposure and response relationships to
the dose (effect).
Risk Management
Identify, evaluate, select and implement actions
to reduce the risk to populations and the environment.
This step is a scientific attempt to identify and estimate
the real risk, considering:
Danger(s)
Dose-Response Relationship
Risk characterization
Then they are proposed, selected, and implemented.
potential solutions to minimize risk.
Environmental Regulations and Laws
Why are these laws made?
To safeguard human health as well as the
ambienteal establecer límites de concentración y
amount of different chemicals in the streams of
manufacturing waste.
Recently, laws have been established and
regulations to promote the prevention of
pollution and waste minimization in
instead of controlling regulated substances.
THREAT
External risk factor of a subject
or an exposed system, represented
due to the potential occurrence of a
event of natural or induced origin
due to human activity, which can
to manifest in a specific place
with an intensity and duration
determined.
VULNERABILITY
Internal risk factor of a
subject or a system exposed to
a threat.
RISK
Probability of exceeding a value
specific social damages,
environmental and economic, in a
given place and for a time
of determined exposure
RISK ANALYSIS
The process by which
evaluate the level of threat with
regarding the susceptibility of the
element exposed to it.
Types of Risk
Risks Risks Disasters
Volunteers Involuntary Natural things
A consequence A consequence
of actions of actions
taken by uncontrollable
necessity or carried out by
election. others (e.g.,
ACTIVITY
• THEY MEET IN THEIR TEAMS OF
WORK
THEY FORMULATE THEIR CONCLUSIONS WITH
REGARDING ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS,
CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES AND
ALTERNATIVES FOR SOLUTION TO THE
PROBLEMATIC SUSTAINABILITY
AMBIENTAL
They socialize their conclusions.