1st Edition

Environmental Health and Hazard Risk Assessment Principles and Calculations

By Louis Theodore, R. Ryan Dupont Copyright 2012
    636 Pages 70 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    Environmental Health and Hazard Risk Assessment: Principles and Calculations explains how to evaluate and apply environmental health and hazard risk assessment calculations in a variety of real-life settings. Using a wealth of examples and case studies, the book helps readers develop both a theoretical understanding and a working knowledge of the principles of health, safety, and accident management. 

    Learn the Fundamentals of Health, Safety, and Accident Management

    The book takes a pragmatic approach to risk assessment, identifying problems and outlining solutions. Organized into four parts, the text:

    • Presents an overview of the history of environmental health and hazard problems, legal considerations, and emergency planning and response
    • Tackles the broad subject of health risk assessment, discussing toxicology, exposure, and health risk characterization
    • Examines hazard risk assessment in significant detail—from problem identification, probability, consequence, and characterization of hazards/accidents to the fundamentals of applicable statistics theory
    • Uses case studies to demonstrate the applications and calculations of risk analysis for real systems

    Incorporate Health and Safety in Process Design

    The book assumes only a basic background in physics, chemistry, and mathematics, making it suitable for students and those new to the field. It is also a valuable reference for practicing engineers, scientists, technicians, technical managers, and others tasked with ensuring that plant and equipment operations meet applicable standards and regulations. A clear and comprehensive resource, this book offers guidance for those who want to reduce or eliminate the environmental health effects and accidents that can result in loss of life, materials, and property.

    Part I Introductory Comments

    About the Book
    Why Use Risk-Based Decision Making?
    Book Contents
    Definitions
    Risk Terms
    Financial Risk

    History of Environmental Health Problems
    First Humans
    Development of Agriculture
    Colonization of the New World
    Industrial Revolution

    History of Environmental Hazard Problems
    Early Accidents
    Recent Major Accidents
    Major Accidents in the Twenty-First Century
    Advances in Safety Features

    Health Risk versus Hazard Risk
    Introduction to the Health Risk Assessment Process
    Introduction to the Hazard Risk Assessment Process
    Qualitative Risk Scenarios
    What Are the Differences?
    Uncertainty Factors
    Future Trends in Environmental Risk Assessment

    Environmental Regulatory Framework
    Regulatory System
    Laws and Regulations: The Differences
    Role of the States
    Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
    Major Toxic Chemical Laws Administered by the U.S. EPA
    Legislative Tools for Controlling Water Pollution
    Oil Pollution Act
    Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (CERCLA) of 1986
    Clean Air Act
    Occupational Safety and Health Act
    EPA’s Risk Management Program
    Pollution Prevention Act of 1990

    Emergency Planning and Response
    Need for Emergency Response Planning
    Planning Committee
    Hazards Survey
    Plan for Emergencies
    Training of Personnel
    Notification of Public and Regulatory Officials
    Plan Implementation
    Other State Regulatory Initiatives
    Illustrative Examples

    Part II Health Risk Assessment

    Introduction to Health Risk Assessment
    Health Risk Evaluation Process
    Health Problem Identification
    Toxicology and Dose–Response
    Exposure Assessment
    Health Risk Characterization

    Health Problem Identification
    Toxicology Principles
    Epidemiology Principles
    Molecular/Atomic Structural Analysis
    Material Safety Data Sheets
    Engineering Problem Solving
    Fate of Chemicals in the Environment Related to Health Problems
    Carcinogens versus Noncarcinogens

    Toxicity and Dose–Response
    Definitions
    Toxicology
    Epidemiology
    Noncarcinogens
    Carcinogens
    Uncertainties/Limitations

    Exposure Assessment
    Components of an Exposure Assessment
    Dispersion in Water Systems
    Dispersion in Soils
    Dispersion in the Atmosphere

    Health Risk Characterization
    Qualitative Health Risk Scenarios
    Quantitative Risk: Noncarcinogens
    Quantitative Risk: Carcinogens
    Risk Uncertainties/Limitations
    Risk-Based Decision Making
    Public Perception of Risk

    Part III Hazard Risk Assessment

    Introduction to Hazard Risk Assessment
    Risk Evaluation Process for Accidents
    Hazard Identification
    Probability and Causes of Accidents
    Consequences of Accidents
    Hazard Risk Characterization

    Hazard/Event Problem Identification
    Process Equipment
    Classification of Accidents
    Fires, Explosions, Toxic Emissions, and Hazardous Spills
    Hazard Event Evaluation Techniques

    Hazard/Event Probability
    Accident Causes
    Series and Parallel Systems
    Probability Distributions
    Weibull Distribution
    Fault Tree Analysis

    Hazard/Event Consequences
    Accident Minimization/Prevention
    Consequence Estimation
    Failure Modes, Effects, and Criticality Analysis (FMECA)
    Vulnerability Analysis
    Event Tree Analysis

    Hazard Risk Characterization
    Risk Characterization
    Public Perception of Risk
    Risk Communication
    Cause–Consequence Analysis
    Qualitative Hazard Risk Assessment
    Uncertainties/Limitations
    Quantitative Hazard Risk Assessment

    Part IV Case Studies

    Case for Case Studies
    Case Study Criteria: Is It Logical, Relevant, and Reasonable?
    Preparing a Case Study Solution

    Monte Carlo Simulation
    Case Study 1: Time to Pump Failure
    Case Study 2: Time to Failure of Two Electrical Components
    Case Study 3: Nuclear Plant Temperature Gauge Lifetime
    Case Study 4: Bus Section Failures in Electrostatic
    Precipitators

    Emergency Planning and Response
    Case Study 1: Terrorist Attack of a Pharmaceutical Company’s Plant in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York
    Case Study 2: Terrorist Attack of the Brooklyn Navy Yard in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York
    Case Study 3: Plans to Counter the Possibility of a Process or Plant-Related Accident at the "Wedo" Chemical Facility in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York
    Case Study 4: Dilution Ventilation Models

    Natural Disasters
    Case Study 1: Hurricanes
    Case Study 2: Floods
    Case Study 3: Earthquakes
    Case Study 4: Meteorites
    Case Study 5: Combined Hurricanes and Flooding

    Industrial Accidents
    Case Study 1: Nanochemical Plant Accident
    Case Study 2: Caustic Tank Preliminary Hazard Analysis
    Case Study 3: Transportation of Hazardous Chemicals
    Case Study 4: Offshore Rig Accident

    Afterword

    Index

    Chapters include an introduction and references.

    Biography

    Theodore, Louis; Dupont, R. Ryan

    "… should be part of any public health library. … highly recommended for use by risk/hazard assessors, regulatory officials, industry risk/hazard managers, environmental science/health students, public health practitioners, and readers of HERA. Kudos to the authors for preparing such a useful and fulfilling book."
    —Barry L. Johnson, Ph.D., Managing Editor, Journal of Human and Ecological Risk Assessment

    "This reader-friendly text is excellently written and unique in the breadth, depth and application of the subject. It is brought to life and made very understandable via the illustrative examples. This would be my first choice when recommending a text to someone interested in discovering what environmental risk is all about."
    —John D. McKenna, Ph.D., Principal, ETS, INC, Roanoke, Virginia, USA

    "Such a calculation-based book was sorely needed ... a ‘must’ for any technical library."
    —Anthony Buonicore, P.E., BCEE, QEP, Principal, Buonicore Partners, LLC, Connecticut, USA

    "This is the definitive book on environmental risk. The book addresses critically needed regulatory issues, the case studies illustrating the magnitude of risk associated with resource management industries such as coal mines, the BP oil disaster, [and] natural disasters. ... The problems and solutions will be very valuable to readers to further understand the concept of health risk and hazardous risk and its management. It has excellent illustrative examples that range from real-world applications to a hypothetical meteorite collision. This will be a very valuable textbook for students as well as a reference book for engineers, scientists and regulatory personnel."
    —Kumar Ganesan, Professor and Head, Department of Environmental Engineering, Montana Tech, USA

    "This book is easy to read and is loaded with over 200 well-thought-out illustrative examples of risk assessment that complement the theory and provide appropriate practical applications. This is a wonderful book that will serve both students and graduates well."
    —Leo Stander, PE, BCEE, Cary, North Carolina, USA