Performing Ecological Risk Assessments

Book excerpt: Performing Ecological Risk Assessments is an extensive compilation of work discussing the components of an ecological risk assessment and how it compares with a human risk assessment. Topics considered include an introduction to environmental fate models and pharmacokinetic factors, documentation and critiques for the quantitative basis of uncertainty factors (UFs) in ecological risk assessment, a schematic scheme for deriving chemical-specific and species-specific maximum acceptable tissue concentration (MATCs), a discussion about sediment quality criteria (SQC), and discussions of methods for deriving multi-contaminant ecosystem MATCs. The book is an excellent reference for environmental toxicologists and chemists, ecological risk assessors, environmental consultants, and regulatory personnel.