A Comparative Risk Assessment Method to Evaluate Impacts of Portuguese Industrial Waste Disposal. J. A. Shatkin, Menzie-Cura & Associates, Inc. Chelmsford, MA; J. M. Palma-Oliviera, EcoSaude, Lisbon, Portugal and University of Lisbon, Portugal; C. A. Patton, Menzie-Cura & Associates, Inc. Chelmsford, MA; and C. Saraiva, EcoSaude, Lisbon, Portugal
A comparative risk methodology was developed to evaluate potential human and ecological risks from current industrial practices. Initially, industrial wastes were characterized by European Waste Code. Chemicals likely to be present in wastes were identified and assigned factors for each of the following criteria: human toxicity, ecological toxicity, bioaccumulation, and environmental persistence. A score for each waste type was generated as the 95% Upper Confidence Interval of the mean of chemical inputs for each criteria. Industries were ranked on the four criteria by waste type and category. Annual quantity for each waste type was also ranked for each industry, and a normalized ranking scheme applied to generate an overall industry risk ranking. Industries were then segregated by geographic location to compare risk potential among cities and industrial zones. Human and ecological exposure scales were developed for each geographic area. Scales representing exposure potential include site-specific risk attributes such as population size, soil porosity, dietary pathways, groundwater use, importance of ecological habitats, etc. Very little data was available to evaluate the risks, so the results are relative, not predictive of actual risk levels. However, the work highlights priorities for future work in the evaluating environmental conditions in industrial zones. A concurrent survey of public attitudes toward industrial waste indicate a high level of concern among citizens.
Go to . . .