Decision-Making Support Tools for Managing Electronic Waste - Environmental Contamination: Health Risks and Ecological Restoration - page 221

to. support. decision. making. about. the. different. impacts. of. various. types.
of.e-waste.in.landills.
RiskAssessment
Risk.assessment.is.an.analytical.tool.used.to.organize,.structure,.and.com-
pile. scientiic. information. to. aid. hazard. identiication,. predict. potential.
problems,.determine.priorities,.and.offer.remedial.action..It.can.also.be.used.
to.inform.decision.making.(SETAC.1997).
Framework of Environmental Risk Assessment
Environmental.risk.assessment.(ERA).evaluates.the.potential.harmful.effects.
that.occur.as.a.result.of.pollutant.release.into.the.environment.and.the.biota.
affecting. both. human. health. and. the. environment.. There. are. four. phases,.
namely,.problem.formulation,.analysis,.risk.characterization,.and.risk.man-
agement,.as.shown.in.Figure.11.3.
Problem Formulation
Problem.formulation.is.the.irst.phase;.its.aim.is.to.deine.the.problem.and.
the.plan.for.dealing.with.it..It.investigates.e-waste.issues.in.landill.that.affect.
the.ecosystem.and.the.human.health.(Figure.11.4).
Analysis
This.phase.consists.of.the.characterization.of.exposure.and.the.characteriza-
tion.of.ecological.effects..The.analysis.uses.LandSim,.a.specialized.computer.
model,. to. evaluate. landill. risk. (Butt. et. al.. 2008).. Leachate. is. monitored. to.
assess. the. impact. of. e-waste. from. the. landill.. The. elements. of. concern. in.
this.investigation.are.lead,.bromine,.zinc,.antimony,.arsenic,.chromium,.cad-
mium,. and. mercury.. The. risk. evaluation. also. includes. geological. barriers.
and.landill.liners.
Risk Characterization
Risk. characterization. is. the. third. stage. of. the. risk. assessment. process. and.
is. used. to. estimate. and. describe. risks.. This. phase. is. divided. in. two. parts:.
risk. estimation. and. risk. description.. Risk. estimation. models. the. exposure.
response.analyses.and.the.associated.uncertainty..Risk.description.is.used.to.
assist.the.risk.managers.in.understanding.what.they.are.dealing.with.