Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: Theory and Pactice

Rating:
Summary: A Must Have Practitioner's Guide to Risk Assessment
Review: Dr. Dennis Paustenbach's second handbook on human health and ecological risk assessment further confirms his stature as one of the world's preeminent risk assessment experts and a leading authority on environmental risks and chemical hazards. His new book, which describes both the theory and practice of risk assessment across a broad spectrum regulatory and environmental disciplines, is an excellent companion to his first book in 1989, which was the first published textbook at that time dedicated to environmental risk assessment. This second book provides the scientific community and environmental policy-makers with an up-to-date single source of information about how to conduct human and ecological risk assessments. It is far and away the most comprehensive treatment of the broad multi-discipline field of environmental toxicology and risk assessment available anywhere in print. The book includes over 10,000 full literature citations, which very likely represents the most comprehensive referencing of the published literature on this subject that has ever been compiled for the field of risk assessment. The book is a valuable technical resource in any health sciences and engineering library, and a desktop how-to companion for students, environmental toxicologists and chemists, environmental risk managers and policy decision-makers.

This book brings together approximately 60 experts from academia, consulting, industry, and government who have contributed significantly to health and ecological assessments in the United States over the past two decades. Their contributions weave a rich mosaic of experience and insights on both the theory of risk assessment and its practical applications to real world issues. The foreword and preface by former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrators William K. Reilly and William D. Ruckelhaus are a must read for environmental historians. The first six chapters provide a thorough review of basic risk assessment concepts. Most of the remaining 26 chapters present case studies addressing the common (and at times, unique) environmental and occupational health challenges that scientists have faced throughout the world over the past decade. Nearly half of the book is devoted to new and current public health issues such as understanding the hazards associated with radionuclides, consumer product safety, food safety, bioterrorism, endocrine disrupting chemicals, and children's health. The book concludes with seven chapters devoted to examination of the politics of risk communication and risk management, and a forecast of future environmental challenges.

Dr. Paustenbach has enjoyed a distinguished career as a scholar, health scientist and successful businessperson. He has tackled some of the most complex environmental contamination problems in the U.S. and in other countries over the past 25 years. He is widely recognized as a pioneer in the field of environmental chemical risk assessment, and throughout the 1990's led the largest scientific consulting staff in private practice devoted entirely to human health and ecological risk assessment.
- Richard J. Wenning, ENVIRON International Corporation, San Francisco, CA