risk assesment

quantal endpoints

a specific response is either present or absent in an individual

Continuous endpoints

vary with dose (deterministic)

point of departure (POD)

identify starting does (NOAEL, LOAEL, Benchmark doses)

Cohort Studies

the contaiminant exposure is known to have occured - objective is to identify health effects in exposed population (Relative Risk (RR))

Relative Risk

ratio of the incidence rate of a given health effect in the exposed population to that in the unexposed population

Case control studies

identifing causes of diseases

NOAEL

no observed adverse effects level

LOAEL

lowest observed adverse effects level

human equivalent dose (HED)

same level of effects in human pop vs animal

additive

the effect of simultaneous exposure to multiple contaminants is the sum of the individual effects

synergistic interaction

the effect of multiple contaminants is greater than the sum of the effects taken individually (understimation of risk)

antagonistic interaction

the effect of multiple contaminants is less than the sum of the individual effects (overestimation concern)

Cancer slope factor (p)

incrementally increased risk of cancer

Deterministic effects

severity is a function of does

Stochastic

all or nothing

Threshold and non-threshold effects

Threshold: boiling water, nonthreshold: any small amount can casue effects

Adverse outcome pathway

toll that describes a chain of causally linked biologcal events

Pharmacokinetic/Biokinetic model

stimulates how a substance moves through the body

LD50

lethal dose 50 % - represents the amount of chemical that causes death in 50% of a test population (rats) over a specific time (high LD50 = low toxcity)

tolerance distribution model

predicts how individual part variations combine in an assembly

detailed pharmacokinetic models are available for the majority p=of known contaminants

False

what effects are those that occur as a result of damage to genectic material in germ cells in the reproductive system

hereditary

what is an observational epidemiological study that seeks to identify health effects in a population with a known exposure

Cohort

DDT and other similar organopesticides can induce toxic effects in the what?

nervous system

Emission of energy

radiation

Presence or quantity of radioactive material and is an inherent characteristoc of an unstable atom

Radioactivity

Can be shielded with Paper

alpha

difference between uncertainty and sensitivity analysis

Unc: how much could the result vary, S: what causes the biggest variations

what are the 3 categories of uncertainty

stochasticy, epistemic, ambiguity

Aleatory Uncertainty

variability of risk assessment parameters spatially, temporallym or across a population, outcome of dice roll, natural variations in streamflow

Epistemic Uncertainty

limitations on knowledge, uncertainty of precise effects of climate change due to gaps in models

95% Confidence interval

estimates where parameters lies

95th Percentile

specific data point at which 95% of data falls below it

Darcys Law

describes the flow of fluid through porus media such as soil sand and rock

advective heterogenities at the pore level

1. pore size

2. path legth

3. friction in pore

mechanical dispersion

variations in water velocitys and flow paths

NAPL

non aqueous phase liquids

LNAPL

ligher than water (gas)

Neural conditions

overcast, light winds

unstable

clear summer days, low winds, hot

consequentialist ethics

argues that something is ethical if it results in the greatest good for people

Kauntian Ethics

formulation of Deontological ethics, resprects the rights of individuals and specific roups

virtue ethics

good character

Environmental Justice

equitable distribution of enviornmental risks and benefits in both time and space, fair and meaningful participation in decision making, recognition of commmunity ways of life

Precautinary Principle

Avoids doing harm, takes preventative action in the face of uncertaity, increasing public participation in decision making

Normative Ethical Theory

They way it should be value system: Religion, law, ethics

Descriptive

The way the value system is: Science, history, math

Deontology

Emphasis on the nature of the act and intent

EDCs

naturally occuring estrogen like chemcials produceds by plants and fungi, pesticides (DDT, methoxychlor) dioxins, PCBs, and alkyl phenols

hereditary effects

germ cells in parent, cancer somatic cell

tertiogenic

happens in embryo

toxicology

study the adverse effects of chemical substances or physical agents

The Law of Bergonié and Tribondeau

radiosensitivity o fa cell is proportional to its reproductive activity