Human Health Risk Assessment

Initially established in the 1980s as a means for assessing the potential risk associated with EPA Superfund sites, human health risk assessment is much more widely utilized today. The concept has been adopted by many states in their contingency plans, and remediation regulations. Environmental data are reviewed and compared to toxicological data, directly or through modeling, to create a realistic idea of the current and potential future risk at a contaminated site. We have been successful in performing both human health and ecological risk assessments because Fuss & O’Neill takes a straight forward approach to risk assessment. In order to undertake a risk assessment, the reason the risk assessment is being conducted must be understood so that project Data Quality Objectives (DQO’s) can be established. Knowledge of the current use of a site and an understanding the planned or plausible future uses of the site are essential to determine reasonable exposure assumptions that are site-specific. Accurate exposure assumptions are essential in protecting human health and the environment while minimizing the need for environmental remediation.