APES ENVIRONMENTAL RISK AND HAZARD

why is risk acceptance the most difficult to do

- Scientific assessments are considered with economic, social, and political needs and values - Comparing costs and benefits is hard a. Benefits are economic and easy to calculate b. Health risks (costs) are hard-to-measure probabilities of a few people being affected

Fewer than ___% of synthetic chemicals are government regulated

1

Silent Spring

1. Brought together studies to show DDT risks to people, wildlife, and ecosystems 2. In the 1960s, pesticides were mostly untested and were sprayed over public areas, assuming they would do no harm 3. The book generated significant social change

benefits of Precautionary principle approach

1. Far fewer recalls 2. Identifies troublesome toxicants before they are released

Evaluating Environmental Risk by regulatory agencies or companies involves three steps:

1. Risk Assessment 2. Risk Acceptance 3. Risk Management

Only _____% of synthetic chemicals have been tested for toxicity

10

Infectious diseases kill _________ people per year

15 million

2009 - ___% of Americans smoke 1965 - ___% of Americans smoke

20, 42

smoking kills ________ americans each year

443,000

100,000 chemicals are on the market today

72,000 industrial 8,700 food additives 2,000 new chemicals introduced per year

Leading Causes of Death in U.S.A.

Cardiovascular disease (25.4%) Cancer (23%) Stroke (5.6%) / Chronic Lower Resp. Disease (5.3%)

Leading Causes of Death World-Wide

Cardiovascular disease (29%) Infectious disease (26%) Cancer (13%)

federal agencies that manage risk

Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the EPA, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

DDT degrades into _____, which is also highly _______

DDE, persistent

Environmental Toxicology

Deals with toxic substances that come from or are discharged into the environment

Risk Management

Determine policy with input from citizens, industry, and interest groups.

________ is a major focus of environmental health

Disease

examples of physical hazards

Earthquakes, volcanoes, fires, floods, droughts, exposure to UV radiation

________ is shifting more towards the precautionary principle

Europe

Precautionary principle approach

General assumption that chemicals/products are inherently dangerous, must prove safe before released on the market

three terms used frequently in Environmental Risk Assessment

Hazard, Exposure, and Risk

_______ and ________ factors are both considered

Natural, human-caused

Federal Risk Management of OSHA

Occupational Safety and Health

Routes of chemical transport

Pesticide drift, Runoff, excreted or metabolized, exist naturally and in our food

Most difficult in the risk- analysis process

Risk Acceptance

examples of cultural environmental hazards

Smoking, drug use, diet and nutrition, crime, mode of transportation

Risk

The likelihood that the hazard will actually happen and cause harm. How probable is it that the hazard will actually happen?

example of biological hazards

Viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens

Risk Assessment

What are the hazards? What is the toxicity and extent of exposure? -seeks to identify a potential hazard and determine the magnitude of the potential harm.

Risk Acceptance

What is the acceptable level of risk (based on social/economic/political considerations)

Exposure

What is the probability of being exposed to the risk? Can be based on occurrence (I only fly twice a year vs. drive times a day) or number of individuals (only 100 people of a city of 1 million live within a mile of the chemical plant)

Pesticide drift

airborne transport of pesticides

Vector

an organism that transfers pathogens to a host

Diseases are evolving resistance to

antibiotics

Toxicant

any toxic agent

Environmental health

assesses environmental factors that influence human health and quality of life

We can reduce risk by

better environmental choices

We increase our vulnerability to physical hazards by

deforesting slopes (landslides), channelizing rivers (flooding), etc.

________ kills most of us

disease

Our mobility spreads

diseases

Chemicals enter organisms through

drinking or absorption

Federal Risk Management of FDA

food, food additives, cosmetics, drugs, and medical devices

Innocent until proven guilty approach

generally assumes products/chemicals are safe unless demonstrated negative event occurs

Disease has a _______ and __________ basis

genetic, environmental

Synthetic chemical contaminants are found

globally

Persistent chemicals have the greatest potential for

harm

Risk =

hazard x exposure

Developed countries have better

hygiene, access to medicine, and money

animals can serve as

indicators of health threats

Every human carries traces of ___________

industrial chemicals

Hazard

inherent potential for something to cause harm. Hazards range from minimal to deadly in terms of human injury, or from minimal to catastrophic damage to the environment, or a specific component of the environment (water, air, etc.)

Environmental Risk Assessment

involves understanding the potential for harm to people, organisms, and the greater environment posed by different hazards.

smoking is the

leading cause of preventable death in America

disadvantages of Precautionary principle approach

may impede the pace of technology and economic advance

benefits of Innocent until proven guilty approach

not slowing down technological innovation and economic advancement

Physical hazards

occur naturally in our environment

Infectious (communicable, or transmissible) disease

other species parasitize humans, fulfilling their ecological roles

Federal Risk Management of EPA

pesticides

4 types of environmental hazards

physical hazards, chemical hazards, cultural hazards, and biological hazards

Disadvantage of Innocent until proven guilty approach

putting into wide use some substances that may later on turn out to be dangerous, big recalls

Climate change will expand the ______ of diseases

range

Critics say natural toxins are more _______ _________ and _______, and synthetic chemicals _______ and _________

readily metabolized, excreted, persist, accumulate

Biological Hazards

result from ecological interactions

Cultural Environmental Hazards

result from the place we live, our socioeconomic status, our occupation, our behavioral choices

When thinking about overall risk, determining the ________ of the hazard is important.

severity

Chemical Hazards

synthetic chemicals such as pesticides, disinfectants, pharmaceuticals. Harmful natural chemicals also exist

Many synthetic chemicals are not actually

tested

Toxicity

the degree of harm a toxicant can cause

toxicity is analogous to pathogenicity or virulence

the degree of harm of biological hazards that spread disease

Toxicology

the study of the effects of poisonous substances on humans and other organisms

Bioaccumulation

toxicants build up in animal tissues

Biomagnification

toxicants concentrate in top predators

Breakdown products

toxicants degrade into simpler products

"The dose makes the poison"

toxicity depends on the combined effect of the chemical and its quantity

diseases that are increasing

tuberculosis, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), and the West Nile virus