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ENVIRONMENTAL MODELING and HEALTH RISK ANALYSIS

Instructor : Dr. Mustafa M. AralCEE, Georgia Institute of Tech., USAmaral@ce.gatech.eduhttp://mesl.ce.gatech.edu/

Text Book: Mustafa M. AralEnvironmental Modeling and Health Risk Analysis (ACTS/RISK);

Published by: Springer PublishersISBN 978-90-481-8607-5; 2010; 470 pp.

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ENVIRONMENTAL MODELING and HEALTH RISK ANALYSIS

Sponsored by: TUBITAK

Organized by: Dr. Orhan GündüzCEE, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey

Location: Dokuz Eylül University, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Turkey

December, 2011

1_Prerequisites and introduction

Purpose and Outcome:

� The purpose of this course is to introduce the student to definitions, concepts and analytical methods used in the analysis of the behavior of Hazardous Substances in the Environment (ACTS).

� The course will also cover evaluation of potential harmful effects of these hazardous substances on Human Health (RISK).

� For this purpose flow, transport and fate processes in multimedia environments will be discussed followed by exposure and health risk assessment, uncertainty analysis and management.

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Purpose and Outcome:Important modules that will be covered throughout the course include:

� Introductory material

� Conservation principles.

� Modeling principles.

� Multimedia / Multi-pathway environmental models (ACTS).

� Air Pathway

� Groundwater Pathway

� Surface Water Pathway

� Principles of Health Risk Assessment.

� Hazardous substance management and Health Risk (RISK).

� Other reference material.

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Details on Computer Knowledge:

� WINDOWS™ operating system

� Installing software on your computers

� Copying and deleting files from a hard drive

� Creating a folder for files on a hard drive

� Copying files from a CD to a hard drive

� Selecting a printer from available printers and printing to that printer from a software application

� And many other standard WINDOWS™ based operations

� Using Excel and being able to import export data to Excel

� A very important issue in software installation and use for Turkish users: “Where should be the decimal point…”.

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ACTS & RISK Software:

� Visit the site and download the ACTS & RISK software:

http://mesl.ce.gatech.edu/Share/SHARE/acts/acts.htm

And start working with it to get familiar with the menu options. Probably you will use this software the rest of your engineering career as it is being used by many engineers and health scientists in the health risk analysis field.

You need to also subscribe to the user group to receive upgrade information in the future (do not use your gt e-mail address):

https://lists.gatech.edu/sympa/info/acts

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Earlier Approaches:

� We thought Economy is the driver;

� We thought Environment is the driver;

� Environmental resources is to be exploited;

� At risk is the ENVIRONMENT or the ECONOMY;

� Human Health is considered to be important but was not emphasized.

Evolution of Environmental Management Paradigms

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Evolution of Environmental Management Paradigms

Frontier Economics

Radical Environmentalism

Resource Managementor Resource Allocation

Selective Environmentalism

Sustainable Environmental Management

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Environmental Laws in USA

Cumulative ENV Laws in USA

0

10

20

30

40

1920 1940 1960 1980 2000

Year

# o

f Law

s

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US Environmental Laws1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act FFDCA

1947 Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act FIFRA

1948 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (also known as the Clean Water Act) CWA

1955 Clean Air Act CAA

1965 Shoreline Erosion Protection Act SEPA

1965 Solid Waste Disposal Act SWDA

1970 National Environmental Policy Act NEPA

1970 Pollution Prevention Packaging Act PPPA

1970 Resource Recovery Act RRA

1970 The Occupational Safety and Health Act OSHA

1971 Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act LBPPPA

1972 Coastal Zone Management Act CZMA

1972 Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act MPRSA

1972 Ocean Dumping Act ODA

1973 Endangered Species Act ESA

1974 Safe Drinking Water Act SDWA

1974 Shoreline Erosion Control Demonstration Act SECDA

1975 Hazardous Materials Transportation Act HMTA

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US Environmental Laws1976 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act RCRA

1976 Toxic Substances Control Act TSCA

1977 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act SMCRA

1978 Uranium Mill-Tailings Radiation Control Act UMTRCA

1980 Asbestos School Hazard Detection and Control Act ASHDCA

1980 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act CERCLA

1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act NWPA

1984 Asbestos School Hazard Abatement Act ASHAA

1986 Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act AHERA

1986 Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act EPCRA

1988 Indoor Radon Abatement Act IRAA

1988 Lead Contamination Control Act LCCA

1988 Medical Waste Tracking Act MWTA

1988 Ocean Dumping Ban Act ODBA

1988 Shore Protection Act SPA

1990 National Environmental Education Act NEEA

1990 The Oil Pollution Act OPA

1990 The Pollution Prevention Act PPA

1996 Food Quality Protection Act FQPA

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Premise:

All human interventions to natural environments, our demand for built environments and natural or forced disasters sooner or later will be associated with health issues.

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Evolution of Environmental Management Paradigms

Sustainable Environmental Management

Environmental Management forSustainable Populations

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� In this approach economic incentives and environmental constraints have to be considered harmoniously, with the main emphasis placed on protection and preservation of….

Human Health and Sustainability of Populations.

Environmental Management for Sustainable Populations

Appendix : 1 & 2 READ

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Environmental Management for Sustainable Populations

� Social sciences;

� Public policy;

� Health sciences;

� Basic sciences; and,

� Env. Engineering.

Specialization fields that are involved:Specialization fields that are involved:

Definitions:

� Difficulty:This information comes from the participation of several

disciplines (medicine, engineering, toxicology, epidemiology, statistics, mathematics etc. etc.) Thus the language used in this discipline gets rather complicated. One has the become familiar with this language.

Read Appendices 1 & 2.

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� More barriers need to be broken;

� New rules need to be established; and,

� A common language is needed.

Environmental Management for Sustainable Populations

To establish this working environment:To establish this working environment:

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Problem Areas:

� Our present information database is not adequate to fully incorporate environmental health concepts into environmental practices;

� The relation between hazardous environmental exposures and their effect on various physiologies are not well understood;

� In most cases historical environmental data on hazardous materials and data on hazardous waste management practices are not well known or documented appropriately; and,

� Health effect consequences of environmental management decisions have not been fully characterized and evaluated.

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� How do we integrate?

Most important problem:

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Venues:

� Education and training;

� Collaborative research; and,

� Knowledge dissemination.

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Technical Journal is another approach

Editor-in-Chief:M. M. Aral

Co-Editor:Andrew A. Meharg

Env. Exposure Characterization:

This should be also an integrated study

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TEC: Total Exposure Characterization

TEC: Total Exposure Characterization

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Surface

Water

Atmosphere

Sediments

Volatilization

Deposition

Fluxes

Volatilization

Deposition

Fluxes

Fluxes

Fluxes

Fluxes

Advection, Dispersion, Dillution,

Transformation, Reaction,

Convection

Advection, Diffusion, Dillution,

Reaction, Transformation

Advection, Diffusion, Dillution, Reaction,

Convection, Transformation, Retardation

Advection, Diffusion, Dillution, Reaction,

Convection, Transformation, Retardation

Groundwater

Fluxes

Suspension

Sedimentation

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Environment and Exposure Routes:

Environmental Analysis

Exposure / Risk Analysis

Health Effects Analysis

Definitions:

� Environmental Health Science:Is the study of principles governing chemical, biological

and physical processes by which hazardous substances (biologic, chemical and energy) in the environment influences the human health.

Environmental health science also includes the study of science based methods by which an environment may be affected to bring about the best state of health in a population.

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Definitions:

� Environmental Health Risk Analysis:Environmental Risk Analysis is the study of possible risk

factors associated with an environmental situation in which a person may be brought into contact with a particular contaminant.

Environmental health risk analysis produces a listing of potential health consequences; possibility of their occurrence; the severity level of each occurrence; the variability expected in the reported levels; and, the degree of confidence in reported outcomes.

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Exposure Risk Assessment

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Environmental Health Management

Environmental Health Management System?

� An Environmental Health Management System is a system that addresses the needs of a broad range of organizations and populations and allows them to evaluate, manage, and improve the environmental impact of their operations to help

preserve health and safety of populations.

Definitions:

To understand the language read Appendices 1 & 2.

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to be continued…

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