Sensitivity of probabilistic risk assessment results to alternative model structures. A case study of municipal waste incineration
- Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA (United States)
In this analysis, human health risk due to exposure to municipal waste incinerator emissions is assessed as an example of the application of probabilistic techniques (e.g., Monte Carlo or Latin Hypercube simulations). Incinerator risk assessments are characterized by the dominance of indirect exposure, thus this analysis focuses on exposure via the ingestion of locally grown foods. In addition, since exposure to 2,3,7,8-TCDD drives most incinerator risk assessments, this compound is the subject of the illustrative calculations. An important part of probabilistic risk assessment is determining the relative influence of the input parameters on the magnitude of the variance in the output distribution. This constitutes an important step toward prioritizing data needs for additional research. In this analysis, a sequential structural decomposition of the relationships between the input variables is used to partition the variance in the output (i.e., risk) to identify the most influential contributors to overall variance among them. For comparison, the partitioning of variance is repeated, using techniques of multivariate regression. In summary, this study considers the degree to which results of a probabilistic assessment are contingent on critical model assumptions about the representation of deposition velocity. 50 refs., 7 figs., 5 tabs.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 81685
- Journal Information:
- Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association, Vol. 45, Issue 7; Other Information: PBD: Jul 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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