Development of a Framework for Incorporation of Multiple Stressors in Ecological Risk Assessment. S. A. Ferenc and J. A. Foran, ILSI Risk Science Institute, 1126 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036
The ILSI Risk Science Institute convened a Pellston workshop in September 1997 to develop an approach to estimate the ecological risk from and impacts of multiple stressors. The objectives were to: assess the state of knowledge on incorporating multiple stressors in ecological risk and impact assessment; develop and refine the questions that must be posed to assess multiple stressors in the context of an ecological risk and impact assessment; and develop a framework as well as specific methods and models for the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of multiple stressors. During the workshop, a series of breakout groups were convened to: determine how multiple stressors may be identified and assessed via an assessment of the structure and function of ecological systems; determine how to identify and measure multiple stressors for risk assessment; identify/develop quantitative and qualitative methods or models to define the relationships between stressors and biological effects and consequences; identify/develop methods to characterize the risks associated with multiple stressors; and determine how to express the output of analysis for use by managers, examine whether the output compares with public perceptions, and to better characterize public perception. A common finding of the breakout groups was the potential efficacy of the use of matrices to organize, iterate, and present information on the risks from multiple stressors. This includes: stressor-stressor interactions, risk ranking of individual stressors in multiple stressor situations, ranking of combinations of stressors, risk management alternatives, and others.
Go to . . .