Risk management of chemicals and contaminated land – from planning to verification - Environmental Deterioration and Contamination: Problems and their Management - page 242

2.3 Selection and planning of the RMO
RMOs and RR alternatives should be evaluated prior to the planning and implemen-
tation of the optimal measure after having assessed the situation in detail.
The key task in this phase is to create the conceptual model of the problem
and the management alternatives. The conceptual model maps all impacted segments
including the environmental and human health risks, the economic and social issues
influenced by the unacceptable risks and the segments likely to be influenced by the
implementation of the RMO. While the real (risky) situation is evaluated based on
measured or statistical data and assessable information, the estimation of the conse-
quences of the RMOs is accompanied with relatively high uncertainties. Uncertainties
originate from the fact that, normally, the evaluated alternative neither has been used
before, nor applied in the planned scenario at such a scale, nor used for the planned
purpose at the planned site or region.
The comparative evaluation of the RMOs (Figure 9.4) should include a so-called
baseline scenario or “zero option,'' which means an option without any measure to be
applied (leave it as it is). It is an extrapolation from the actual assessment results to
the future. During the comparative evaluation phase all other options are compared
with the zero option to substantiate decision making on option selection.
It is again worth differentiating between the evaluation of chemicals, products
and contaminated sites. The main RMOs for reducing the risk of chemicals are the
following:

- Using substitute chemicals;

- Alternative production and use of (industrial) technologies;

Figure 9.4 Evaluation of risk management options.