Risk management of chemicals and contaminated land – from planning to verification - Environmental Deterioration and Contamination: Problems and their Management - page 238

2.2.1 Chemical substances, products, wastes

When evaluating chemical substances, the main focus is on comparing and balancing
the beneficial effects and negative impacts on humans and the environment. Chemical
industries provide economic and social benefits (employment, etc.), chemicals make
daily life safer and more comfortable, which are necessary features of our civiliza-
tion. Restriction or ban on a chemical substance, pesticide, biocide or pharmaceutical
product may have widespread negative socio-economic impacts (loss of jobs), which
overrule the environmental benefits (decreased pollution), an a priori hardly quantifi-
able factor. In addition to the difficulties of the evaluation of environmental and social
impacts in general, the impact of a new, substitute chemical is not exactly known,
and a comparative evaluation of the actual and future situation, when the alternative
chemical will be used, cannot be performed based on the same information. The assess-
ment should include the whole life cycle of chemical substances and products from the
production and processing steps through the transportation and various uses (indus-
trial, agricultural, household, etc.) to their waste phase. This is why the prospective
evaluation of chemicals not yet produced is rather uncertain.
The main objective of the socio-economic assessment of chemicals is to find a socio-
economic optimum allowing acceptable risks posed to the environment (emissions),
health (occupational and residential conditions) and social issues (changes in land use,
urbanization, etc.) in return for social advantages (employment, better services and
higher living standard) as well as economic and environmental benefits, for example,
through pesticides, biocides and other poisons or the health benefits of hazardous
tensides and pharmaceuticals.
The difficulty of the comparative assessment is further increased by the fact that
the costs (environmental, health and social disadvantages) and benefits (environmen-
tal, social and economic advantages) do not occur at the same site and do not affect
the same population. Mining is socially and economically beneficial for the company,
for a number of local employees and for the country, but a severe burden and cost on a
large part of the environment (watershed, region, or the globe). Pesticide use in a farm
is beneficial, but it is a significant burden (cost) for the watershed. Retraining farmers
to become miners will result in higher income and better access to concentrated and
reliable educational, social and health services in exchange for an unhealthy work-
place and contaminated environment as well as a completely different lifestyle with
high psychological risk.
Chemicals and products exert their impacts throughout their entire life cycle. The
impacts can be grouped into the following categories:

- Human and environmental health impacts;

- Economic impacts; and

- Social impacts.

Human health and environmental impacts by chemicals and products:

- Risk to workers' health due to the use of or exposure to a chemical substance;

- Risk to consumers' health due to the use of a chemical substance;

- Risk to public health and safety;