Risk Assessment

Question 1

Risk assessment is a bridge between ____ and _____

Answer 1

science and policy

Question 2

Provide evidence base for decisions on policies to protect the public from identified health hazards

Answer 2

risk assessment

Question 3

The field of environmental risk assessment focuses on

Answer 3

actual or potential release of contaminants into the environment

Question 4

four steps of risk assessment

Answer 4

release
transport
exposure
effects

Question 5

two parts of release analysis

Answer 5

identification of contaminants

quantification of emission rate

Question 6

two parts of transport analysis

Answer 6

identification of pathways

determination of contaminant concentrations

Question 7

three pathways for transport

Answer 7

atmospheric
aquatic
food chain

Question 8

two parts of exposure analysis

Answer 8

identification of exposure scenarios

determination of dose

Question 9

three parts of effects analysis

Answer 9

human health effects
ecological effects
aesthetics

Question 10

assess the health impact from multiple agents in a similar pathway or a similar biologicl manner

Answer 10

cumulative risk

Question 11

assess the effect of one agent from multiple exposure pathways

Answer 11

aggregated risk

Question 12

Love canal incident caused the passage of

Answer 12

CERCLA

Question 13

conducted to determine risk from hazardous waste site if no action were taken to clean up the site

Answer 13

baseline risk assessment

Question 14

used to generate an estimate of the human health risk posed by specific chemicals from a specific hazardous waste site

Answer 14

RAGS

Question 15

four steps in RAGS process

Answer 15

1. hazard identification
2. exposure assessment
3. toxicity assessment
4. risk characterization

Question 16

non-cancer outcomes such as reproductive or neurological dysfunction are

Answer 16

deterministic effects

Question 17

cancer risks are assessed as

Answer 17

stochastic effects

Question 18

an effect whose severity depends on the dose

Answer 18

deterministic effect

Question 19

two types of deterministic effects

Answer 19

systematic toxicity

teratogenesis

Question 20

three types of systematic toxicity

Answer 20

organ dysfunction
irrational and sensitization
behavioral impairment

Question 21

teratogenesis =

Answer 21

fetal developent

Question 22

a ratio comparison of average daily dose to a reference dose, a value expected to pose no appreciable effects

Answer 22

hazard quotient

Question 23

hazard quotient less than one

Answer 23

safe

Question 24

hazard quotient more than one

Answer 24

dangerous

Question 25

an effect whose probability depends on dose

Answer 25

stochastic effects

Question 26

the probability of a cancer either occurring or causing a fatality during a lifetime

Answer 26

rho- the cancer slope factor

Question 27

two sources of limitation for default risk assumptions

Answer 27

true variability among humans

uncertainty associated with behavior of contaminants and biological modes within the body

Question 28

the result of scientific research, experimental studies, epidemiological surveys, and probabilistic risk analyses

Answer 28

real risk

Question 29

non-expert perceptions of that risk, modified/distorted by subjective considerations

Answer 29

perceived risk

Question 30

risk based decision making involves three things

Answer 30

risk assessment
social, political, economic, technical…
value judgements