Jump to main content.

Review of Ecological Assessment Case Studies from a Risk Assessment Perspective

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

Risk Assessment Forum

To gain insight into the process of ecological risk assessment, EPA scientists have analyzed a cross-section of case studies representing the to "state-of-the-practice" in ecological assessment. Each case was evaluated by scientific experts in a series of EPA-sponsored workshops between May 29 and June 20, 1991 (56 Federal Register 22869, 17 May 1991). These peer-review workshops included reviewers from universities, private organizations, and other federal agencies. The 12 case studies are wide-ranging in scope, representing a variety of ecosystems, ecological endpoints, chemical and non-chemical stressors, and programmatic requirements within the Agency. As a result, workshop participants were presented with a broad diversity of risk assessment and scientific issues, and many useful principles emerged from the resulting discussions. The case studies report provides a useful first look at some common approaches to ecological assessment in relationship to a general ecological risk process. The cases selected were evaluated at the workshops as to whether they (1) effectively addressed generally accepted components of an ecological risk assessment, or (2) addressed some but not all of these components or, instead, (3) provided an alternative approach to assessing ecological effects. The analysis and discussion in this report provide useful information about ecological risk processes.

Note: These case studies were used in developing EPA's 1992 Framework for Ecological Risk Assessment and 1998 Ecological Risk Assessment Guidelines. A Volume II of case studies is also available.

Contact: Risk Assessment Forum Staff, 202-564-6483, or risk.forum@epa.gov

Downloads/Related Links

Related Link(s)

Additional Information

Note: a complete electronic version of this document that preserves its original appearance (such as in a pdf file format) is not currently available. However, a scanned version is available in image or text format from EPA's National Environmental Publications Information System. Paper copies may be ordered from the National Technical Information Service.

Citation

U.S. EPA. Review of Ecological Assessment Case Studies from a Risk Assessment Perspective. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Risk Assessment Forum, Washington, DC, EPA/630/R-92/005, 1993.

Local Navigation

Jump to main content.