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RISK ASSESSMENT: LESSONS LEARNED
Citation:
Fairbrother, A. RISK ASSESSMENT: LESSONS LEARNED. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY. SETAC Press, Pensacola, FL, 21(11):2261-2263, (2002).
Description:
Dr. Anne Fairbrother, Chief of the Ecosystem Characterization Branch at WED, will take office as President of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (North America) in November. The Editor of the society's journal, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, has invited her to prepare an editorial to appear in that month's issue. The editorial strongly supports the use of ecological risk assessment in environmental management decisions. Through the application of the scientific method, we continue to learn from past practices and are unlikely to repeat our major mistakes, such as the widespread use of persistent bioaccumulative toxics. An alternative advocated by many is to invoke the Precautionary Principle and delay implementation of new technologies. However, this management philosophy suffers from a lack of definition of when sufficient information is available for decision-making or a consistent framework for risk analysis. By embracing a broader array of nontraditional sciences in the risk assessment process, including ecological principles and socioeconomic analyses, quantitative risk analysis will continue to be a powerful risk management tool that will result in a low probability of occurrence of large-scale, unintended ecological consequences.