Ecotoxicology, Ecological Risk Assessment and Multiple Stressors

Description

The science of ecotoxicology and the practice of ecological risk assessment are evolving rapidly. Ecotoxicology as a subject area came into prominence in the 1960s after the publication of Rachel Carson's book on the impact of pesticides on the environment. The rise of public and scientific concern for the effects of chemical pollutants on the environment in the 1960s and 1970s led to the development of the discipline of ecotoxicology, a science that takes into account the effects of chemicals in the context of ecology. Until the early 1980s, in spite of public concern and interest among scientists, the assessment of ecological risks associated with natural or synthetic pollutants was not considered a priority issue by most government. However, as the years passed, a better understanding of the importance of ecotoxicology emerged and with it, in some countries, the progressive formalization of an ecological risk assessment process. Ecological risk assessment is a conceptual tool for organizing and analyzing data and information to evaluate the likelihood that one or more stressors are causing or will cause adverse ecological effects. Ecological risk assessment allows risk managers to consider available scientific information when selecting a course of action, in addition to other factors that may affect their decision (e. g. , social, legal, political, or economic). Ecological risk assessment includes three phases (problem formulation, analysis, and risk characterization). CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS IN ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ECOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT....Pages 1-24 FROM MOLECULE TO ECOSYSTEMS: ECOTOXICOLOGICAL APPROACHES AND PERSPECTIVES....Pages 25-39 PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT AGAINST IONISING RADIATION: THE PATH PROPOSED BY “ICRP”, ITS ORIGINS AND ANALYSIS....Pages 41-55 ECOEPIDEMIOLOGY: A MEANS TO SAFEGUARD ECOSYSTEM SERVICES THAT SUSTAIN HUMAN WELFARE....Pages 57-72 PERCHLORATE: ECOLOGICAL AND HUMAN HEALTH EFFECTS....Pages 73-93 GENETIC ECOTOXICOLOGY AND RISK ASSESSMENT: AN OVERVIEW....Pages 95-105 SCIENTIFIC BASIS FOR ECOTOXICOLOGY, ECOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT AND MULTIPLE STRESSORS: CANADIAN EXPERIENCE IN DEFINING ACCEPTABLE RISK LEVELS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE....Pages 107-123 RISK ASSESSMENT IN ROMANIA: FROM LEGISLATION TO NEEDS AND POSSIBILITIES....Pages 125-135 ECOTOXICOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT FOR PLANT PROTECTION PRODUCTS IN EUROPE....Pages 137-154 ASSESSMENT OF ECOLOGICAL RISK CAUSED BY THE LONG-LIVING RADIONUCLIDES IN THE ENVIRONMENT....Pages 155-164 EFFECTS OF CONTAMINANT EXPOSURE ON PLANTS: RADIOLOGICAL PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT IMPLICATIONS FOR ECOTOXICOLOGY AND....Pages 165-179 RISK ASSESSMENT: RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATED FOOD PRODUCTS AND EXPOSURE DOSE OF THE POPULATION....Pages 181-189 A HABITAT SUITABILITY EVALUATION TECHNIQUE AND ITS APPLICATION TO ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT....Pages 191-201 THE QND MODEL/GAME SYSTEM: INTEGRATING QUESTIONS AND DECISIONS FOR MULTIPLE STRESSORS....Pages 203-225 THE MEDAKA FISH: AN EXPERIMENTAL MODEL IN ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY ITS USE FOR THE SURVEY OF MICROALGAL TOXINS: PHYCOTOXINS AND CYANOTOXINS....Pages 227-241 CYTOGENETIC EFFECT OF RADIOACTIVE OR CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION ON SPRING BARLEY INTERCALARY MERISTEM CELLS....Pages 243-254 WATER POLLUTION INDICATORS OF SUSTAINABILITY IN EUROPE, AND THEIR APPLICATION TO COASTAL WATER QUALITY EVALUATION IN ITALY....Pages 255-267 APPLICATION OF GIS TECHNOLOGIES IN ECOTOXICOLOGY: A RADIOECOLOGICAL CASE STUDY....Pages 269-278 AMBIENT OZONE PHYTODETECTION WITH SENSITIVE CLOVER (TRIFOLIUM SUBTERRANEUM L. CV. GERALDTON) IN UKRAINE....Pages 279-289 ALTERATIONS OF AGROECOSYSTEMS IN GREECE THROUGH PESTICIDE USE. THE “PHALARIS CASE”....Pages 291-298 CONTRIBUTION TO ECOLOGICAL SAFETY THROUGH SEGMENTED INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT IN GREECE....Pages 299-305 A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF TOXICITY BY BIOASSAY OF THE WASTES OF PULP AND PAPER PRODUCTION UNITS....Pages 307-316 AIR POLLUTION ASSESSMENT IN VOLOS COASTAL TOWN, GREECE....Pages 317-324 TROPOSPHERIC OZONE MEASUREMENTS IN THE TATRA MOUNTAINS AND ITS EFFECTS ON PLANTS....Pages 325-336 LONG-TERM MONITORING OF TROPOSPHERIC OZONE IN KYIV, UKRAINE: FORMATION, TEMPORAL PATTERNS AND POTENTIAL ADVERSE EFFECTS....Pages 337-3444 A FRAMEWORK FOR MULTI-CRITERIA DECISIONMAKING WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE: POLICY AND RISK MANAGEMENT WORKING GROUP SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS....Pages 355-369 HINTS ON ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ETHICS....Pages 345-353 METHODS AND TOOLS IN ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ECOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT WORKING GROUP SUMMARY....Pages 371-377