Engineering Tools for Environmental Risk Management: 3. Site Assessment and Monitoring Tools

Environmental assessment and monitoring is the starting point of environmental management and it integrates physicochemical, biological/ecological and toxicological assessment tools for contaminants and contaminated land. Evaluation and interpretation of the results are also key issues of the management process. Conventional and innovative methods such as dynamic testing, in situ and remote assessment, risk-based monitoring and early warning are discussed. They help understand the response of the natural environment to pollution events and remedial actions.
The planning of the assessment or monitoring process is crucial for successful risk management. Standard methods are of moderate benefit only, if their results do not meet the site’s needs or fail to provide a proper solution for the actual problem. Instead of standardizing the method itself, the risk-based concept should be standardized to underpin the selection of a problem-orientated methodological tool-kit. Selecting and applying the proper tools is essential for obtaining suitable results when making a decision.
The volume describes the theory and methods of environmental risk assessment, the use of environmental effect, fate and hazard information in risk management of chemicals and contaminated land, explains why an integrated assessment is needed both for the risk of chemicals and polluted sites. Efficient tools such as early warning and environmental monitoring with special sensors, or in situ measurements and decision making, modeling and mapping are discussed in details. A nanotechnology method, using the special molecule of cyclodextrin, is introduced as a versatile tool in environmental assessment and monitoring.