This book is an essential guide and support to understanding of the science and policy, procedure and practice that underpins the REACH risk assessments required for the use and placing on the market of chemicals in the European Union. A clear understanding of information provision and how this affects the assessment of chemical safety is fundamentally important to the success of policy on chemicals and ultimately to the sustainability of the chemicals industry. Within the book, the scientific processes that underpin the policy are explained in a practical way. Importantly, it includes coverage of techniques to help solve the problems of using potentially risky and hazardous chemicals through the use of less hazardous alternatives and ‘green chemistry’, and also the analysis of the risks of the use of the most hazardous substances against the social and economic benefits of use. Chemical Risk Assessment: A Manual for REACH covers the following main themes: i) Assessment of chemical risk; ii) Risk management; iii) Hazard reduction, substitution and green chemistry; iv) Risk versus benefit – socio-economic analysis. The book acts as a practical guide and overview to chemicals risk assessment and risk management (in the EU context), as well as a support text for planning for the challenges of the future, which will see ever-increasing pressure to withdraw hazardous substances from the EU (and global) market, balanced against opportunities for innovation in the development of less hazardous chemicals.

At last – a second edition of this hugely important text that reflects the progress and experience gained in the last decade and aims at providing background and training material for a new generation of risk assessors. The authors offer an introduction to risk assessment of chemicals as well as basic background information on sources, emissions, distribution and fate processes for the estimation of exposure of plant and animal species in the environment and humans exposed via the environment, consumer products, and at the workplace. The coverage describes the basic principles and methods of risk assessment within their legislative frameworks (EU, USA, Japan and Canada).

This book outlines the methodologies, approaches and tools for modelling chemicals in a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) perspective, and also covers the main advantages and drawbacks of applying LCA to chemical processes. In the first part of this book, authors pay close attention to the limitations of modelling the environmental and social impacts of chemical processes, providing valuable insights to the problems of the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) analysis for chemical processes. In the second part of this book, readers will learn about the LCA application to chemical processes in the laboratory and industrial scale. In each chapter of this book, readers will also find specific case studies on the modelling and application of LCA in the chemical industry.

The EPA¿s Integrated Risk Info. System (IRIS) contains EPA¿s position on the potential human health effects of exposure to more than 540 chemicals. Toxicity assessments in the IRIS database constitute the first 2 critical steps of the risk assessment process, which in turn provides the foundation for risk mgmt. decisions. Thus, IRIS is a critical component of EPA¿s capacity to support scientifically sound environmental decisions, policies, and regulations. This testimony discusses: (1) highlights of a 3/08 report, ¿Chemical Assessments: Low Productivity and New Interagency Review Process Limit the Usefulness and Credibility of EPA¿s Integrated Risk Info. System;¿ and (2) key aspects of EPA¿s revised IRIS assessment process, released on 4/10/08.

Risk assessment has been extensively developed in several scientific fields, such as environmental science, economics, and civil engineering, among others. In the aftermath of the SPS and GATT agreements on the use of risk analysis framework in food trade, signed in the 1990s, international organisations and governments adopted risk assessment as a science-based process to ensure food safety along the food chain. The food industry can also benefit from the use of this approach for food process optimisation and quality assurance. Risk Assessment Methods for Biological and Chemical Hazards in Food introduces the reader to quantitative risk assessment methods encompassing general concepts to specific applications to biological and chemical hazards in foods. In the first section, the book presents food risk assessment as methodology and addresses, more specifically, new trends and approaches such as the development of risk rating methods, risk metrics, risk-benefit assessment studies and quality assessment methods. Section II is dedicated to biological hazards. This section identifies the most relevant biological hazards along the food chain and provides an overview on the types of predictive microbiology models used to describe the microbial response along the food chain. Chapter 12 specifically deals with cross contamination and the quantitative methods that can be applied to describe this relevant microbial process. The development and application of dose-response models (i.e. mathematical function describing the relationship between pathogen dose and health response) are also covered in this section. In Section III, the book translates risk assessment concepts into the area of chemical hazards, defining the process steps to determine chemical risk and describing the uncertainty and variability sources associated with chemicals. Key Features: Presents new trends and approaches in the field of risk assessment in foods Risk assessment concepts are illustrated by practical examples in the food sector Discusses how quantitative information and models are integrated in a quantitative risk asssment framework Provides examples of applications of quantitative chemical risk assessment in risk management The book, written by renowned experts in their field, is a comprehensive collection of quantitative methods and approaches applied to risk assessment in foods. It can be used as an extensive guide for food safety practitioners and researchers to perform quantitative risk assessment in foods

Introduction to Chemical Exposure and Risk Assessment focuses on the principles involved in assessing the risks from chemical exposure. These principles include the perception of risk, an understanding of how numbers are handled, and how chemicals affect health. The book briefly describes the major sinks, such as water and air, where chemicals are introduced. This is followed by a discussion on how concentrations are estimated and risk assessments are made. A discussion of risk benefit analysis and a presentation of several case studies using the principles for assessing risks are also included.