Use of ecological risk assessment in NRDA
- ENTRIX, Sacramento, CA (United States)
Injuries to biota arising from chemical or oil spills can be very difficult to show by standard ecological methods such as measures of abundance and diversity. This is because abundance and diversity are highly variable both in space and time. This may be further hampered by the uncertainty inherent in discounting other non-chemical stressors in both impacts and reference areas. Finally, this top-down approach diffuses available resources by investigating a large and diverse group of species and guilds. This leads to costly and unfocused study plans which are far removed from the potential cause of injury. Ecological risk assessment is a bottom-up method of organizing and focusing resources on the objectives needed to show injury in the field. ERA forces focus by first proving that a pathway-exposure continuum exists. ERA then forces selection of relevant species and dose-responses and protection of appropriate endpoints. If the measured or modeled dose falls below the estimated NOEC, the probability of showing injury by field studies is nil and resources can be allocated for remediation. Finally, ERAs can be used to triage large sites so that resources are used on areas where risk is high relative to other areas. This presentation will also address the differences and similarities between ERAs and injury determinations. Case studies will be used.
- OSTI ID:
- 452059
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-961149--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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