Using risk elasticity to prioritize risk reduction strategies for geographical areas and industry sectors
Journal
Journal of Hazardous Materials
Journal Volume
302
Pages
208-216
Date Issued
2016
Author(s)
Abstract
The total quantity of chemical emissions does not take into account their chemical toxicity, and fails to be an accurate indicator of the potential impact on human health. The sources of released contaminants, and therefore, the potential risk, also differ based on geography. Because of the complexity of the risk, there is no integrated method to evaluate the effectiveness of risk reduction. Therefore, this study developed a method to incorporate the spatial variability of emissions into human health risk assessment to evaluate how to effectively reduce risk using risk elasticity analysis. Risk elasticity analysis, the percentage change in risk in response to the percentage change in emissions, was adopted in this study to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of risk reduction. The results show that the main industry sectors are different in each area, and that high emission in an area does not correspond to high risk. Decreasing the high emissions of certain sectors in an area does not result in efficient risk reduction in this area. This method can provide more holistic information for risk management, prevent the development of increased risk, and prioritize the risk reduction strategies. ? 2015 Elsevier B.V..
Subjects
Health risk assessment; Industry sector emission; Risk elasticity; Risk reduction potential; Transportation of agricultural products
Other Subjects
Agricultural products; Elasticity; Health; Health risks; Indicators (chemical); Risk analysis; Risk management; Chemical emissions; Chemical toxicity; Effectiveness and efficiencies; Elasticity analysis; Human health risk assessment; Industry sectors; Risk reductions; Spatial variability; Risk assessment; carbon monoxide; carcinogen; coal; hydrocarbon; lead; metal; mineral; nitrogen oxide; petroleum; plastic; rubber; sulfur oxide; lead; air pollution; Article; beverage; cancer risk; contamination; elasticity; electricity; food industry; gas; geographic information system; geography; health hazard; human; industry; multimedia; paper; risk assessment; risk management; risk reduction; textile; waste management; adverse effects; computer simulation; industry; procedures; statistics and numerical data; theoretical model; Air Pollution; Computer Simulation; Humans; Industry; Lead; Models, Theoretical; Risk Assessment
Type
journal article