Assessing the transfer of risk due to transportation of agricultural products
Journal
Chemosphere
Journal Volume
120
Pages
706-713
Date Issued
2015
Author(s)
Abstract
Health risk assessment (HRA) is the process used to estimate adverse health effects on humans. The importance and sensitivity of food chains to HRA have been observed, but the impact of the transportation of food has generally been ignored. This study developed an exposure assessment to demonstrate the significance of the transportation of agricultural products in HRA. The associated case study estimated the health risks derived from various sources of arsenic emissions in Taiwan. Two assessment scenarios, self-sufficiency and transportation of agricultural products, were compared to calculate risk transfer ratios that show the impact of agriculture transportation. The risk transfer ratios found by the study range from 0.22 to 42.10, indicating that the quantity of transportation of agricultural products is the critical factor. High air deposition and high agricultural production are the two main contributors to the effect of the transportation of agricultural products on HRA. Risk reduction measures could be applied to high-pollution areas as well as to areas with high agricultural productivity to reduce ingestion risks to residents. Certain areas that are sensitive to the transportation of agricultural products may incur more risks if emissions increase in agriculturally productive counties. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
Subjects
Arsenic; Health risk assessment; Risk transfer ratio; Transportation of agricultural products
Other Subjects
Agricultural products; Arsenic; Health; Health risks; Productivity; Risk perception; Adverse health effects; Agricultural productions; Agricultural productivity; Air deposition; Critical factors; Exposure assessment; Risk reduction measures; Risk transfer; Risk assessment; arsenic; air pollutant; arsenic; agricultural management; atmospheric deposition; atmospheric pollution; environmental assessment; health care; health risk; pollution control; public health; transportation development; agriculture; air pollution; Article; cancer risk; concentration (parameters); consumer; dangerous goods transport; environmental exposure; food chain; health hazard; risk assessment; risk reduction; Taiwan; agriculture; air pollutant; analysis; chemically induced; health status indicator; human; Neoplasms; procedures; statistics and numerical data; toxicity; traffic and transport; Taiwan; Agriculture; Air Pollutants; Arsenic; Health Status Indicators; Humans; Neoplasms; Risk Assessment; Taiwan; Transportation
Type
journal article