Risk is a concept that used in the chemical
industry and by practicing chemical engineers. The term risk is
multifaceted and is used in many disciplines such as: finance (rate
of return for a new plant or capitol project, process improvement,
etc), raw materials supply (single source, back integration), plant
design and process change (new design, impact on bottom line), and
site selection (foreign, political stability). Though the term risk
used in these disciplines can be discussed either qualitatively
or quantitatively, it should be obvious that these qualitative or
quantitative analyses are not fields (financial risk ¹ process
change risk). This chapter will focus on the basic concept of environmental
risk and risk assessment as applied to a chemical's manufacturing,
processing, or use, and the impact of exposure to these chemicals
on human health or the environment.
Risk assessment is a systematic, analytical method used to determine
the probability of adverse effects. A common application of risk
assessment methods is to evaluate human health and ecological impacts
of chemical releases to the environment. Information collected from
environmental monitoring or modeling is incorporated into models
of human or worker activity and exposure, and conclusions on the
likelihood of adverse effects are formulated. As such, risk assessment
is an important tool for making decisions with environmental consequences.
Almost always, when the results from environmental risk assessment
are used, they are incorporated into the decision-making process
along with economic, societal, technological, and political consequences
of a proposed action
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