Risk management of chemicals and contaminated land – from planning to verification - Environmental Deterioration and Contamination: Problems and their Management - page 276

adverse effect level) for animal testing (in the case of threshold chemicals) and NOEL
(no observed effects level: the highest dose, at which no effect is observed) and LOEL
(lowest observed effects level: the lowest dose, at which an effect is observed) for
human data. Animal and human data are used for DNEL creation in an integrated
way applying the best quality data.
As an example, if the selected NOAEC for DNEL creation is 2.2 mg/kg body
weight/day and the AFs are the following: interspecies AF = 6; intraspecies AF = 2;

AF duration + dose-response + database quality = 5, the overall AF = 60, a DNEL of

2.2/60 = 0.037 mg/kg body weight/day results.

4.7 Risk communication
Risk communication is an integral part of risk management. Risk communication
includes exchanging or sharing information about hazard and risk between the decision
makers and other stakeholders, including the endangered human receptors.
OECD endorsed a more comprehensive definition (Covello et al., 1988): “Any
purposeful exchange of information about health or environmental risks between
interested parties. More specifically, risk communication is the act of conveying or
transmitting information between parties about

- levels of health or environmental risks;

- the significance or meaning of health or environmental risks; or

- decisions, actions or policies aimed at managing or controlling health or environ-

mental risks.

Interested parties include government agencies, corporations and industry groups,
unions, the media, scientists, professional organizations, public interest groups
and individual citizens.'' Communicating risk between professionals from different
areas is problematic due to different “language'' and focus, but appropriate risk
communication for nonprofessionals and citizens is also a challenging task.
The main aims and tasks of risk communication are discussed below:

- Providing information for the stakeholders about chemical substances and their

risks;

- Explaining the difference between hazard and risk, and providing information

about risk control;

- Disseminating risk-based thinking;

- Providing information for the stakeholders about the process and tasks of ERM,

namely ERA, option evaluation, decision making and the applied tools;

- Dealing with the potential consequences: short- and long-term adverse effects,

diseases;

- Communicating uncertainties;

- Applying effective two-way communication;

- Enhancing trust and credibility of all actors in the RA and management process;

- Involving all stakeholders in the communication process;

- Resolving conflicts in a proactive way.