Overview
Screening level risk assessments are widely used by engineers and others when initially trying to scope the magnitude of a newly confronted chemical contamination problem. Such assessments are done by comparing the concentrations of chemicals in soil, sediment, water or air to existing standards or regulatory criteria to determine if the level of contamination is going to require further assessment or actions. This seemingly simple comparison process belies the underlying complexity and potential for error. This course applies practical experience gained from over 25 years of consulting experience as a toxicologist and risk assessment specialist to present in accessible terms the most commonly observed errors in conducting screening level risk assessments. These errors can lead projects to needlessly spend tens of thousands of dollars on more detailed risk assessments that provide little additional value, or they can lead to costly but unwarranted remediation or permitting costs.
This course is intended for engineers and other technical professionals who do not claim expertise in risk assessment and must sometimes make decisions about how to proceed on a project when confronted with initial information about contamination issues.
To earn PDH credits for this course, the student must pass a multiple choice quiz of ten (10) questions.
Specific Knowledge or Skill Obtained
This course teaches the following specific knowledge and skills:
- Select applicable health-based standards and regulatory criteria
- Exposure assumptions and limitations of standards
- Recognize quality limitations of some standards
- Adapt standards to fit existing or likely future exposure at your site
- Compare to natural background concentrations
- Determine appropriate exposure concentrations
- Deal with inadequate or poor quality data
- Representing the magnitude and distribution of contaminant concentrations
- Correctly interpreting risk screening results
- Effectively communicate risk assessment results to inform decision-making
Course
Click on the following link to the PDF document to review the course material before taking the quiz for credit.
Avoiding Common Mistakes in Screening Level Risk Assessments
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