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PubMed1999

The road to indigenous extinction: case study of resource exportation, disease importation, and human rights violations against the Urarina in the Peruvian Amazon.

Isolated Amazonian peoples such as the Urarina in Peru remain at risk of cultural and biological extinction from industrial exploitation and imported diseases. In the last seven years, many Urarina have died in epidemics of measles, cholera, pertussis, and malaria. The Peruvian government has encouraged oil exploration and logging in the Amazon without regard to Urarina rights, and the international treaty promoting indigenous rights that Peru ratified is not enforced. There are, however, two promising developments for indigenous survival. The first is the growing realization of biologists, ecologists, sociologists, and conservationists that conservation of biodiversity and global environmental protection are interconnected with indigenous rights. Secondly, the two declarations on the rights of indigenous peoples proposed by the Organization of American States and the United Nations are more specifically protective of indigenous rights than previous manifestos have been.

Communicable Diseases↗
PubMed1987

[Risk detection and risk assessment in environmental hygiene/ environmental medicine].

The complex, multifactorial impact of environmental factors on the human being is discussed. The concepts risk detection and risk assessment in environmental hygiene/environmental medicine are defined. For risk detection the special suitability of animal experiments (in vivo tests) as a screening method for the rapid detection of the toxic and oncogenic effects of environmental pollutants are pointed out as well as their supportive role for elucidation of clinical and epidemiological problems and the detection of causal relationships. Beyond that the advantages and disadvantages of the cell culture (in vitro test) are presented and examples of correlations between in vitro and in vivo results are described. For risk assessment, environmental factors, the interior environment as well as problems prospective and retrospective epidemiology are discussed. Finally, the possibilities of the risk assessment are presented and in this connection the determination of geomedically relevant data in order to provide active, effective environmental protection for the exposed population.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Proposal of a sequential treatment methodology for the safe reuse of oil sludge-contaminated soil.

In this study sequential steps were used to treat and immobilize oil constituents of an oil sludge-contaminated soil. Initially, the contaminated soil was oxidized by a Fenton type reaction (13 wt% for H(2)O(2); 10mM for Fe(2+)). The oxidative treatment period of 80 h was carried out under three different pH conditions: 20 h at pH 6.5, 20 h at pH 4.5, and 40 h at pH 3.0. The oxidized contaminated sample (3 kg) was stabilized and solidified for 2h with clay (1 kg) and lime (2 kg). Finally, this mixture was solidified by sand (2 kg) and Portland cement (4 kg). In order to evaluate the efficiency of different processes to treat and immobilize oil contaminants of the oil sludge-contaminated soil, leachability and solubility tests were performed and extracts were analyzed according to the current Brazilian waste regulations. Results showed that the Fenton oxidative process was partially efficient in degrading the oil contaminants in the soil, since residual concentrations were found for the PAH and BTEX compounds. Leachability tests showed that clay-lime stabilization/solidification followed by Portland cement stabilization/solidification was efficient in immobilizing the recalcitrant and hazardous constituents of the contaminated soil. These two steps stabilization/solidification processes are necessary to enhance environmental protection (minimal leachability) and to render final product economically profitable. The treated waste is safe enough to be used on environmental applications, like roadbeds blocks.

Aluminum Silicates↗
PubMed2006

Mechanism of fiber carcinogenesis: from reactive radical species to silencing of the beta igH3 gene.

Although the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has restricted the industrial use of regulated forms of asbestos in the United States since the early 1970s, environmental exposure to asbestos remains a health concern in the United States and is a significant health issue among developing countries. Exposure to asbestos is associated with chronic pulmonary diseases and cancer of the lung, pleura, and peritoneum. The mechanism of fiber carcinogenesis is far from clear and is likely to be complex, depending on fiber dimensions, surface properties, and physical durability. The induction of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species upon phagocytosis of fibers plays an important role in fiber genotoxicity. The beta igH3, a secreted protein induced by the transforming growth factor-beta and essential for cell adhesion, is downregulated in asbestos-induced tumorigenic human bronchial epithelial cells. Ectopic expression of the beta igH3 gene abrogates the tumorigenic phenotype and suggests that the gene plays a causal role in fiber carcinogenesis. A better understanding of the carcinogenic mechanism of asbestos and other mineral fibers will provide useful information on interventional and preventive measures for asbestos-mediated diseases such as human pleural and peritoneal mesotheliomas.

Asbestos↗
PubMed2005

Can lessons from public health disease surveillance be applied to environmental public health tracking?

Disease surveillance has a century-long tradition in public health, and environmental data have been collected at a national level by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for several decades. Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced an initiative to develop a national environmental public health tracking (EPHT) network with "linkage" of existing environmental and chronic disease data as a central goal. On the basis of experience with long-established disease surveillance systems, in this article we suggest how a system capable of linking routinely collected disease and exposure data should be developed, but caution that formal linkage of data is not the only approach required for an effective EPHT program. The primary operational goal of EPHT has to be the "treatment" of the environment to prevent and/or reduce exposures and minimize population risk for developing chronic diseases. Chronic, multifactorial diseases do not lend themselves to data-driven evaluations of intervention strategies, time trends, exposure patterns, or identification of at-risk populations based only on routinely collected surveillance data. Thus, EPHT should be synonymous with a dynamic process requiring regular system updates to a) incorporate new technologies to improve population-level exposure and disease assessment, b) allow public dissemination of new data that become available, c) allow the policy community to address new and emerging exposures and disease "threads," and d) evaluate the effectiveness of EPHT over some appropriate time interval. It will be necessary to weigh the benefits of surveillance against its costs, but the major challenge will be to maintain support for this important new system. Key words: environmental health, evaluation, intervention, registries, surveillance.

Chronic Disease↗
PubMed1980

Report of health and environmental effects of increased coal utilization by the Committee on Health and Environmental Effects of Increased Coal Utilization.

The National Energy Plan announced by President Carter on April 29, 1977 proposed a significant increase in the utilization of the vast domestic deposits of coal to replace the dwindling supplies of oil and natural gas, and increasingly expensive oil from foreign sources, to meet national energy needs. At the same time, in recognition of possible adverse health and ecological consequences of increased coal production and use, the President announced that a special committee would be formed to study this aspect of the National Energy Plan. The Committee held a series of public meetings during November and December 1977 to review a number of special papers on particular problems associated with increased coal utilization. These papers, which were prepared by scientists of the US Environmental Protection Agency; the Department of Energy; the HEW National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; New York University; and Vanderbilt University; provided essential background information for the deliberations of the Committee and were published in EHP Vol. 33, pp. 127-314, 1979. One paper by A. P. Altschuler et al. is published in this volume of EHP. The Committee's basic finding was that it is safe to proceed with plans to increase the utilization of coal if the following environmental and safety policies are adhered to:* Compliance with Federal and State air, water, and solid waste regulations* Universal adoption and successful operation of best available control technology on new facilities* Compliance with reclamation standards* Compliance with mine health and safety standards* Judicious siting of coal-fired facilitiesThe Committee concluded that, even with the best mitigation policies, there will be some adverse health and environmental effects from the dramatic increase in coal use. However, these will not impact all regions and individuals uniformly. The Committee identified six major areas of uncertainty and concern requiring further investigation if the nation is to minimize undesirable consequences of increased coal utilization now, and in the future. Two critical health issues of concern are air pollution health effects and coal mine worker health and safety. Two critical environmental issues are global effects of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and acid fallout. Two additional important issues of concern are trace elements in the environment and reclamation of arid land.Finally, because of the inadequate data and methodology used in the study of these matters, the Committee strongly recommended the establishment of an improved national environmental data collection, modeling and monitoring system.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed1995

[A new programme on safety evaluation of pesticides--the IPCS Joint Meeting on Pesticides (JMP)].

International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS), an international collaboration in safety evaluation of chemicals, initiated a programme called Joint Meeting on Pesticides or JMP, last autumn. The JMP is an activity contributing to harmonizing evaluation procedures and saving expertise and financial resources, having several unique features. First, the outputs of the scientific evaluations and data covering all major areas related to pesticide safety in one JMP meeting can be applied to the areas of food safety, occupational health, and environmental protection. Second, succinct presentation of the outputs of reliable evaluations in a tabular form, supported by detailed information in the Environmental Health Criteria documents help people in countries, especially those in developing ones, understand the evaluations and rely on them in establishing their guidelines on pesticide safety. This format of the JMP report is a good example for short assessment reviews on chemicals (Concise International Assessment Document) which will be prepared by an international cooperation project based on Agenda 21 decisions.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Developing markets for forest environmental services: an opportunity for promoting equity while securing efficiency?

Market-based approaches to environmental management are all the rage. Claims that market mechanisms can encourage environmental protection and promote greater economic efficiency while saving taxpayers' money are tantalizing. In the forestry sector, policy makers are widely heeding this advice and shrinking command-and-control systems in favour of incentive mechanisms that seek to align private enthusiasm with the public good. In some cases, governments are even promoting the creation of markets where none existed before. In others, markets are evolving of their own accord. In such times of change, it is difficult to stand back and take stock. Yet, it is during such times that guidance is most needed. In the rush to introduce market-based solutions to environmental problems, a particular concern is how markets are impacting on the poor. In this paper an effort is made to draw on a recent review of markets for four forest environmental services (biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, watershed protection and landscape beauty) to draw out preliminary insights into how markets are performing with respect to their impacts on the poor. The evidence suggests a need for caution. While the potential benefits are significant, the poor face an uphill battle in realizing them. Key constraints facing the poor include a lack of property rights over forest resources and their environmental services; inadequate skills and education; poor market information; lack of market contacts; inadequate communication infrastructure; inappropriate contract design; and lack of access to financial resources. To tackle these, four potential ways forward are highlighted: (1) assign property rights to forest assets and their related environmental services in ways that respect customary arrangements and poor people's tenure; (2) strengthen capacity for market participation, e.g. through training and education; (3) invest in the provision of market information, advice and, essentially, a contact point for buyers and sellers, perhaps through the establishment of a 'market support centre'; and (4) improve access to finance so that poor individuals can make necessary up-front investments in market participation.

Commerce↗
PubMed1999

Health effects of passive smoking-10: Summary of effects of parental smoking on the respiratory health of children and implications for research.

BACKGROUND: Two recent reviews have assessed the effect of parental smoking on respiratory disease in children. METHODS: The results of the systematic quantitative review published as a series in Thorax are summarised and brought up to date by considering papers appearing on Embase or Medline up to June 1998. The findings are compared with those of the review published recently by the Californian Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Areas requiring further research are identified. RESULTS: Overall there is a very consistent picture with odds ratios for respiratory illnesses and symptoms and middle ear disease of between 1.2 and 1.6 for either parent smoking, the odds usually being higher in pre-school than in school aged children. For sudden infant death syndrome the odds ratio for maternal smoking is about 2. Significant effects from paternal smoking suggest a role for postnatal exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. Recent publications do not lead us to alter the conclusions of our earlier reviews. While essentially narrative rather than systematic and quantitative, the findings of the Californian EPA review are broadly similar. In addition they have reviewed studies of the effects of environmental tobacco smoke on children with cystic fibrosis and conclude from the limited evidence that there is a strong case for a relationship between parental smoking and admissions to hospital. They also review data from adults of the effects of acute exposure to environmental tobacco smoke under laboratory conditions which suggest acute effects on spirometric parameters rather than on bronchial hyperresponsiveness. It seems likely that such effects are also present in children. CONCLUSIONS: Substantial benefits to children would arise if parents stopped smoking after birth, even if the mother smoked during pregnancy. Policies need to be developed which reduce smoking amongst parents and protect infants and young children from exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. The weight of evidence is such that new prevalence studies are no longer justified. What are needed are studies which allow comparison of the effects of critical periods of exposure to cigarette smoke, particularly in utero, early infancy, and later childhood. Where longitudinal studies are carried out they should be analysed to look at the way in which changes in exposure are related to changes in outcome. Better still would be studies demonstrating reversibility of adverse effects, especially in asthmatic subjects or children with cystic fibrosis.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Environmental management of small-scale and artisanal mining: the Portovelo-Zaruma goldmining area, southern Ecuador.

This paper considers technical measures and policy initiatives needed to improve environmental management in the Portovelo-Zaruma mining district of southern Ecuador. In this area, gold is mined by a large number of small-scale and artisanal operators, and discharges of cyanide and metal-laden tailings have had a severe impact on the shared Ecuadorian-Peruvian Puyango river system. It is shown to be technically possible to confine mining waste and tailings at a reasonable cost. However, the complex topography of the mining district forces tailings management to be communal, where all operators are connected to one central tailings impoundment. This, in turn, implies two things: (i) that a large number of operators must agree to pool resources to bring such a facility into reality; and (ii) that miners must move away from rudimentary operations that survive on a day-to-day basis, towards bigger, mechanized and longer-term sustainable operations that are based on proven ore reserves. It is deemed unlikely that existing environmental regulations and the provision of technical solutions will be sufficient to resolve the environmental problems. Important impediments relate to the limited financial resources available to each individual miner and the problems of pooling these resources, and to the fact that the main impacts of pollution are suffered downstream of the mining district and, hence, do not affect the miners themselves. Three policy measures are therefore suggested. First, the enforcement of existing regulations must be improved, and this may be achieved by the strengthening of the central authority charged with supervision and control of mining activities. Second, local government involvement and local public participation in environmental management needs to be promoted. Third, a clear policy should be defined which promotes the reorganisation of small operations into larger units that are strong enough to sustain rational exploration and environmental obligations. The case study suggests that mining policy in lesser-developed countries should develop to enable small-scale and artisanal miners to form entities that are of a sufficiently large scale to allow adequate and cost-effective environmental protection.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗
PubMed2006

Analysis of polychlorinated n-alkanes in environmental samples.

Polychlorinated n-alkanes (PCAs), also known as chlorinated paraffins (CPs), are highly complex technical mixtures that contain a huge number of structural isomers, theoretically more than 10,000 diastereomers and enantiomers. As a consequence of their persistence, tendency to bioaccumulation, and widespread and unrestricted use, PCAs have been found in aquatic and terrestrial food webs, even in rural and remote areas. Recently, these compounds have been included in regulatory programs of several international organizations, including the US Environmental Protection Agency and the European Union. Consequently, there is a growing demand for reliable methods with which to analyze PCAs in environmental samples. Here, we review current trends and recent developments in the analysis of PCAs in environmental samples such as air, water, sediment, and biota. Practical aspects of sample preparation, chromatographic separation, and detection are covered, with special emphasis placed on analysis of PCAs using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The advantages and limitations of these techniques as well as recent improvements in quantification procedures are discussed.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

River pollution from non-point sources: a new simplified method of assessment.

Assessment of the pollution of water bodies from non-point sources is a complex data- and time-consuming task. The potential non-point pollution index (PNPI), is a new tool designed to assess the global pressure exerted on rivers and other surface water bodies by different land uses. The main feature of PNPI is the wide availability of its input data. Very detailed input maps, often lacking over many areas, are not needed for PNPI calculation. As a consequence of the input data used, the modelling of physical reality and of processes is heavily simplified. The authors counterbalanced such a simplification using an 'expert system' approach. The system bypasses the accurate representation of the physical reality to assess globally the pollution potential of different land uses according to the judgement of scientists. The scientific community proposes many models for depicting the dynamics of pollutants coming from diffuse sources. Most of them can be grouped into two broad categories: statistical models and physically based models. PNPI belongs to neither of the above-mentioned groups. PNPI is a GIS-based, watershed-scale tool designed to inform decision makers and public opinion about the potential environmental impacts of different land management scenarios. PNPI applies the multicriteria technique to pollutant dynamics and water quality. The pressure exerted on water bodies by diffuse pollution coming from land units is expressed as a function of three indicators: land use, run-off and distance from the river network. They are calculated from land use data, geological maps and a digital elevation model (DEM). The weights given to different land uses and to the three indicators were set according to experts' evaluations and allow calculation of the value of the PNPI for each node of a grid representing the watershed; the higher the PNPI of the cell, the greater the potential impact on the river network. The output of the calculation is presented in the form of maps that highlight areas that are more likely to produce pollution. Last, possibilities, strategies and results of the validation of the PNPI are described. In the authors' view, the explicit link between land use and potential pollution on which PNPI is based, together with its high communication potential, make it particularly interesting for a participatory and integrated approach to land management and environmental protection.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMed2006

Body surface area in normal-weight, overweight, and obese adults. A comparison study.

Values for body surface area (BSA) are commonly used in medicine, particularly to calculate doses of chemotherapeutic agents and index cardiac output. Various BSA formulas have been developed over the years. The DuBois and DuBois (Arch Intern Med 1916;17:863-71) BSA equation is the most widely used, although derived from only 9 subjects. More recently, Mosteller (N Engl J Med 1987;317:1098) produced a simple formula, [weight (kg) x height (cm)/3600](1/2), which could be easily remembered and evaluated on a pocket calculator, but validation data in adults are rare. The purpose of the present study was to examine the BSA based on Mosteller's formula in normal-weight (body mass index [BMI], 20-24.9 kg/m(2)), overweight (BMI, 25-29.9 kg/m(2)), and obese (BMI, >/=30 kg/m(2)) adults (>18 years old) in comparison with other empirically derived formulas (DuBois and DuBois, Boyd [The growth of the surface area of the human body. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press; 1935], Gehan and George [Cancer Chemother Rep 1970;54:225-35], US Environmental Protection Agency [Development of statistical distributions or ranges of standard factors used in exposure assessments Washington, EPA/600/8-85-010. Office of Health and Environmental Assessment; 1985), Haycock et al [J Pediatr 1978;93:62-6], Mattar [Crit Care Med 1989;17:846-7], Livingston and Scott [Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 2001;281:E586-91]) and with the new 3-dimensional-derived formula of Yu et al (Appl Ergon. 2003;34:273-8). One thousand eight hundred sixty-eight patients were evaluated (397 normal weight [BMI, 23 +/- 1 kg/m(2); age, 50 +/- 14 years; M/F, 289/108], 714 overweight [BMI, 27 +/- 1 kg/m(2); age, 52 +/- 11 years; M/F, 594/120], and 757 obese [BMI, 36 +/- 6 kg/m(2); age, 53 +/- 11 years; M/F, 543/215]). The overall BSA was 2.04 +/- 0.24 m(2): 1.81 +/- 0.19 m(2) in normal-weight, 1.99 +/- 0.16 m(2) in overweight, and 2.21 +/- 0.22 m(2) in obese subjects. These values were significantly higher in overweight and obese patients compared with the values using the DuBois-DuBois formula (overall, 2.00 +/- 0.22 m(2), P < .01; normal weight, 1.81 +/- 0.19 m(2), P = .93; overweight, 1.97 +/- 0.16 m(2), P < .01; obese, 2.14 +/- 0.21 m(2), P < .001). We could show an excellent correlation between the results obtained from each formula, with all correlations of 0.97 or higher (between 0.971 and 0.999). Body surface area prediction with the commonly used DuBois formula underestimated BSA in obese patients by as much as 3% (male) to 5% (female). Based on the formula of Yu et al, however, BSA is overestimated when these traditional formulas are used. Although Mosteller's formula is recommended based on its simplicity and suitability for laboratory and clinical work in adults, accuracy studies in whites with 3-dimensional one-pass whole-body scanning are needed.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Preliminary study of lake dissolved organic matter in light of nanoscale supramolecular assembly.

Large-scale preparative high-performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) was performed to separate different molecular size fractions in milligram quantities from strongly colored dissolved organic matter (DOM) of a freshwater using a very mild conjugate acid-base pair (10 mM acetic acid-sodium acetate solution at pH 7.0 with an ionic strength of 6 x 10(-5)) as the mobile phase. The homogeneity-uniformity of different molecular size fractions in relation to their combined original mixture was verified by an analytical HPSEC system. In addition to molecular size distribution and basic spectroscopic characteristics, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was applied to specify structural features for different size fractions. The results demonstrate clearly that only a very small amount of conjugate organic acid-base pair is required to generate a powerful resolution for a DOM mixture, and very strong treatments with organic acids are not necessarily needed to reach a better SEC resolution. Most essential is the combined outcome of different HPSEC experiments and determined structural functionalities which indicate that almost all original DOM solutes are aggregated mixtures consisting of different associations possessing various molecular size ranges, which can be separated from their integrated whole as nearly homogeneous and uniform species. In summary, the present study strongly speaks for the need to direct the research of natural dissolved and colloidal organic carbon more strongly toward a nanoscale study of supramolecular assemblies. More precise knowledge about the primary, secondary, and tertiary structure of dissolved DOM constituents has its essential function, e.g., for environmental protection and utilization of surface waters.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗
PubMed1988

Poison Control Centre and environmental pollution health care and risk assessment.

In the past two decades several incidents of environmental pollution have become known in which people might have been exposed to the contaminating substances. In the Netherlands the National Poison Control Centre, a department of the National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection, plays a distinct role in dealing with the health problems arising from these incidencts. The health risk assessment of an environmental incident may be facilitated by utilizing a logical predetermined sequence of decision steps in order to avoid inappropriate responses which could induce many untoward effects within the population of the contaminated area. As an example of this general approach, the handling of a recent incident with mercuric chloride is described.

Environmental Exposure↗
PubMed2004

Ethics, genetics and dynamics: an emerging systematic approach to radiation protection of the environment.

There is now a general consensus of opinion that an explicit approach is necessary to demonstrate radiation protection of the environment, and that this approach needs to be developed in a systematic way. The framework that is emerging links ethical and moral issues (anthropocentric, biocentric, and ecocentric) to broad-based principles and objectives of environmental protection (sustainable development, maintaining biological diversity, and habitat protection) and then links these, in turn, to the needs of current environmental management practices, such as environmental exploitation, pollution control, and nature conservation. The relevance of this to radiation is that its effects (such as causing early mortality, morbidity, reduced reproductive success, as well as resulting in observable (scorable) cytogenetic damage) are those that may have a bearing on these same environmental management practices. The devise that would appear to be most useful to bridge the gap between our disparate data on radiation effects and the needs of environmental management, is that of adding to the concept of Reference Man in the shape of a small set of Reference Animals and Plants. This approach has now been adopted by the ICRP, adding new dynamics-the motive forces, both moral and physical-to the subject. The way is now clear for rapid progress to be made on a number of fronts.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Threatened and endangered species: at what cost? The corps of engineers looks at expenditures and priorities.

Current political conditions, primarily budgetary uncertainty, and the related reluctance to make funding commitments for future generations, have raised questions about the costs of conservation and environmental protection that have not previously been asked. As Federal investments are scrutinized and budgets become ever more constrained, the costs associated with environmental requirements could begin to be of greater importance and to influence decisions on Federal projects. In response to concerns about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) spending under the Endangered Species Act (P.L. 93-205) (ESA), a limited investigation was performed to determine the accuracy of reported Corps expenditures. The investigation showed that, for particular groups of species, actual conservation costs for threatened and endangered species may be twice the amounts previously reported in the annual ESA expenditure reporting to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In light of this finding, the Corps has sought a means to provide more accurate and consistent reporting of expenditures for addressing threatened and endangered species. A Species Costs Template (template) has been developed to identify the types and magnitude of costs related to the ESA and to counteract the impediments (legal, institutional, and practical) to underreporting costs. The template will be used by the Corps for reporting ESA costs beginning with Fiscal Year 2005 (FY05) (reported in January 2006). Five broad categories of expenditures (effects determination costs, ESA protection and conservation costs, equipment costs, opportunity costs, and other species costs) are identified by the template.

Biodiversity↗
PubMed2002

Applying ecological risk principles to watershed assessment and management.

Considerable progress in addressing point source (end of pipe) pollution problems has been made, but it is now recognized that further substantial environmental improvements depend on controlling nonpoint source pollution. A watershed approach is being used more frequently to address these problems because traditional regulatory approaches do not focus on nonpoint sources. The watershed approach is organized around the guiding principles of partnerships, geographic focus, and management based on sound science and data. This helps to focus efforts on the highest priority problems within hydrologically-defined geographic areas. Ecological risk assessment is a process to collect, organize, analyze, and present scientific information to improve decision making. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sponsored three watershed assessments and found that integrating the watershed approach with ecological risk assessment increases the use of environmental monitoring and assessment data in decision making. This paper describes the basics of the watershed approach, the ecological risk assessment process, and how these two frameworks can be integrated. The three major principles of watershed ecological risk assessment found to be most useful for increasing the use of science in decision making are (1) using assessment endpoints and conceptual models, (2) holding regular interactions between scientists and managers, and (3) developing a focus for multiple stressor analysis. Examples are provided illustrating how these principles were implemented in these assessments.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗