If the Department of Energy is to meet the remediation expectations of federal and state regulatory agencies, the general public, and other stakeholders, there must be credibility in the way risks from environmental contaminants are estimated and perceived. Risk assessment is the conduit by which science enters the decision making process. Risk assessment integrates studies of contaminant characterization, environmental transport, and effects determination. Ecological risk and impact assessments can play a vital role in determining which sites require remediation, the risks associated with alternative remediation strategies, and whether remediations are successful.
In the strictest sense, a risk analysis allows one to estimate the probability of deleterious effects due to contaminant situations in the field. Within the radiological sciences (and less so for the toxicological sciences), risk analysis is well developed for human exposures, but still relatively primitive for nonhuman biota. For example, for humans, detailed radiological dose-response relationships are established and specific risk factors are used to predict the probability of an endpoint (e.g. the incidence of cancer) per unit of dose. For non-human biota, however, there are no numerical risk factors, and considerable debate exists as to the most appropriate measurable endpoint for determining whether a significant effect has occurred. As is illustrated in the adjacent figure, knowledge gaps in understanding the risks from low-level chronic exposures to various contaminants on DOE lands cause considerable uncertainties in our ability to justify remediation decisions.
Filling in the “knowledge gaps” in ecological risk assessment will allow DOE to make better informed decisions about remediation and land management.
SREL researchers associated with the Ecological Risks and Effects theme include:
- I. Lehr Brisbin
- A. Lawrence Bryan
- Dean Fletcher
- Travis Glenn
- Thomas Hinton
