231 Chaoter 6

HAZARD EVALUATION Hazard e v a l u a t i o n i s strictly a scientific process which e s t i m a t e s t h e p r o b a b i l i t i e s o f hazard u s i n g t h e b e s t a v a i l a b l e s c i e n t i f i c i n f o r m a t i o n about t h e d i s p e r s i o n o f a chemical i n t h e environment and t h e a s s o c i a t e d e f f e c t on the ecosystem and human h e a l t h . Once t h e hazards o f process a chemical and t h e and exposure r o u t e s a r e determined, t h e p r e v e n t i o n and c o n t r o l o f t h e exposure and t h e adverse effects i s a judgemental i n v o l v i n g socio-economic p o l i t i c a l considerations. Each s o c i e t y w i l l have a p a r t i c u l a r l e g a l , economic

and a d m i n i s t r a t i v e framework f o r making r e g u l a t o r y d e c i s i o n s on t h e c o n t r o l measures e i t h e r mandatory o r a d v i s o r y . 6.1

HAZARD IDENTIFICATION

Hazard i s d e f i n e d as a s e t of circumstances w i t h a p o t e n t i a l f o r c a u s i n g adverse h e a l t h e f f e c t s health effects o r harm on humans.

I n t h e case o f chemicals, adverse

(toxicity)

can be produced a t some dose o r under s p e c i f i c

exposure c o n d i t i o n s . F o r a chemical t o be hazardous, i t has t o be t o x i c a t t h e l e v e l o f environmental c o n c e n t r a t i o n and f o r t h e d u r a t i o n o f t h e exposure. I n brief, t i l e dose makes t h e chemical a hazard. I n contrast, t h e r e are chemicals etc. of whose exposure a t a l l l e v e l s o f c o n c e n t r a t i o n s w i l l produce a p a r t i c u l a r t y p e o f t o x i c i t y c a l l e d g e n o t o x i c i t y , such as c a r c i n o g e n i c i t y , t e r a t o g e n i c i t y , These a r e a l s o hazards. quantitative chemical, information on genetic toxicity and non-genetic toxicity Hazard i d e n t i f i c a t i o n r e q u i r e s b o t h q u a l i t a t i v e and

chemicals a c t i n g e i t h e r s i n g l y o r i n groups. T h i s i n f o r m a t i o n i s d e r i v e d f r o m physical, toxicological, clinical, and e p i d e m i o l o g i c a l data. Hazard assessment r e q u i r e s t h e knowledge o f exposure c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f t h e chemical t o c o r r e l a t e a g a i n s t t h e t o x i c e f f e c t s . The adverse e f f e c t s r a t e t h e chemical as intrinsically hazardous but its presence in the environment

makes

it

hazardous. A v e r y t o x i c chemical w i t h no exposure p o t e n t i a l i s n o t hazardous i n t h e environment. Conversely, a chemical w i t h low t o x i c i t y b u t h i g h exposure l e v e l w i t h , n u l t i p l e pathways o f exposure c o u l d be much more hazardous. I n t h e l a s t decade, (refs. 1-4). a t t e n t i o n was focussed on t h e c a p a b i l i t y o f p h y s i c o s c r e e n i n g p a r t o f hazard i d e n t i f i c a t i o n chemical processes o f a chemical i n p r e d i c t i n g i t s f a t e i n t h e environment T h i s i s an e s s e n t i a l which has been d e a l t w i t h i n d e t a i l i n t h e p r e v i o u s c h a p t e r .