Hazardous substances and human health : exposure impact and external cost assessment at the European scale / Till M. Bachmann.

By:

Bachmann, Till M

Contributor(s):

ScienceDirect eBooks

Language: English Summary language: German Series: Trace metals in the environment ; 8.2006Description: 1 online resource (xlii, 570 pages) : illustrations, maps (some color)Content type:

text

Media type:

computer

Carrier type:

online resource

ISBN:

9780444522184
0444522182
0080462529
9780080462523

Subject(s):

Genre/Form:

Electronic books.

Additional physical formats: Print version:: Hazardous substances and human health.LOC classification:

RA566.5.E85 B33 2006eb

NLM classification:

2006 K-818
WA 670

Online resources:

Click here to access online

Contents:

1. Introduction. 2. Assessment of human health impacts and the approach followed. 3. Multimedia environmental fate and/or exposure assessment of prioritised contaminants. 4. Multimedia environmental fate assessment framework: outline, atmospheric modelling and spatial differentiation. 5. Modelling the environmental fate in the terrestrial environment. 6. Modelling the environmental fate in the aquatic environment. 7. Expose and impact assessment. 8. Valuation. 9. Evaluation of results. 10. Case studies on emissions from signle facilities. 11. Whole economy case study. 12. Concluding remarks. Appendix A.A model formulation. Appendix B. Substance-independent data. Appendix C. Substance-dependent data. Appendix D. Symbols, indices and compartment acronyms used for parameter and process description.

Summary: There is widespread public concern about hazardous chemicals that are contained in air, soil, water and food. Policy has therefore adopted a series of laws and regulations concerning emissions into and concentration levels in different media including food. As policy makers do not only have to consider the protection of the environment but also need to ensure a well-functioning economy at the same time, these limit or target values need to be set in a balanced way. The main problem, however, is to compare the costs for achieving these targets with the benefits to society by having a smaller exposure to hazardous substances (cost-benefit analysis). This book sets out to improve the reliability of cost-benefit analyses particularly of hazardous substances present in air, water, soil and food. It suggests that the human health risk assessment of chemicals is performed in a bottom-up analysis, i.e., following a spatially resolved multimedia modelling approach. In order to support cost-benefit analyses, the approach is accompanied by monetary valuation of human health impacts, yielding so-called external costs. Results for selected priority metals show that these external costs are small compared to those by the classical air pollutants and involve rather long time horizons touching on the aspect of intergenerational equity within sustainable development. When including further hazardous substances, the total external costs attributable to contaminants are expected to be more substantial.

Item type:

eBooks

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There is widespread public concern about hazardous chemicals that are contained in air, soil, water and food. Policy has therefore adopted a series of laws and regulations concerning emissions into and concentration levels in different media including food. As policy makers do not only have to consider the protection of the environment but also need to ensure a well-functioning economy at the same time, these limit or target values need to be set in a balanced way. The main problem, however, is to compare the costs for achieving these targets with the benefits to society by having a smaller exposure to hazardous substances (cost-benefit analysis). This book sets out to improve the reliability of cost-benefit analyses particularly of hazardous substances present in air, water, soil and food. It suggests that the human health risk assessment of chemicals is performed in a bottom-up analysis, i.e., following a spatially resolved multimedia modelling approach. In order to support cost-benefit analyses, the approach is accompanied by monetary valuation of human health impacts, yielding so-called external costs. Results for selected priority metals show that these external costs are small compared to those by the classical air pollutants and involve rather long time horizons touching on the aspect of intergenerational equity within sustainable development. When including further hazardous substances, the total external costs attributable to contaminants are expected to be more substantial.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Print version record.

Abstract in German.

Elsevier ScienceDirect All Books