Risk management of chemicals and contaminated land – from planning to verification - Environmental Deterioration and Contamination: Problems and their Management - page 246

Environmental technology application for the reduction of emissions (inside the
pipe, at the end of pipe or in the environment) or protection of the receptors (waste-
water treatment, artificial wetlands, protective belts) in the environment is a feasible
option. Protective equipment and clothing can also be applied at workplaces. These
measures can be characterized by the efficiency of RR, and the state of human health
and the environment. At the same time, these technologies—similar to any other
technologies—may have significant emissions, energy and material requirement posing
risk to humans and the environment.
The planning of technology monitoring should consider all parameters related to
environmental and human health risk and cover all positive and negative impacts of
the environmental technology application. The same measured parameters enable the
technology verification, which has an extremely important role in the application of
new technologies or in technology demonstration.
2.5 Retrospective evaluation of the applied RMO
The risk posed to the environment before, during and after the application of RR
measures is continuously observed by exposure assessment or direct assessment of the
adverse effects. The quantitative results of the assessment can be plotted as functions
of time to identify the trends and rate of changes, compared with both the initial
values and the required quality criteria. To validate the initial estimates of the planned
target and to verify the RR measure, technological and environmental monitoring data
are used. Technology monitoring can characterize the performance of the technology
(technological parameters) in the direct impact area of the technology. Environmental
monitoring is meant to observe the direct and indirect impacts on the local, regional
and global environments.
A comparison with the baseline scenario will show the reduction in exposure
and risk, while a comparison with the target scenario will prove the improvement of
environmental quality and whether an acceptable risk level has been reached.
Risk evaluation takes into account the relevant reduction in terms of contamina-
tion or other adverse effects achieved by the applied RR measure. The impact may be
local, regional and global needing different assessment tools. The RR technology may
pose risks to the environment and humans, i.e., the environmental impacts of the tech-
nology itself (energy, water and material use, workplace and environmental emissions,
etc.). Those technologies which are directly applied to the environment or intensively
interfere with the environment may disturb the local environment. They may cause
changes in groundwater flow, in the contaminants' chemical form, mobility, redox
potential, pH, temperature inducing unpredictable changes in the transport and fate
of the contaminants (e.g., chemical and microbiological transformation, formation of
new chemical substances) at local and sometimes at watershed scale. This may lead to
secondary atmospheric, water or soil contamination; therefore, these risks should also
be identified and controlled.
The quantitative risk before and after the application of the measure should be
complemented with socio-economic evaluation. The environmental, economic, social
and cultural costs and benefits should be aggregated and their balance evaluated. The
aim is that the benefits (increase in human well-being and increased environmental