Environmental Risk Assessment, ERA
Risk assessment provides a systematic procedure for predicting potential risks
to human health or the environment. The aim of a chemical risk assessment is to investigate if a
chemical is being used or can be used as intended without causing detrimental
effects to human health or the environment.
An environmental risk assessment (ERA) is a process of predicting whether
there may be a risk of adverse effects on the environment caused by a chemical
substance. Environmental exposure concentrations of a chemical are predicted and compared
to predicted no-effect concentrations for different
environmental compartments.
ERA can
also reveal if measures are needed to limit the potential environmental consequences of a
substance, e.g. in a certain application, and it can point out if further
testing and knowledge about a substance is needed. Basic principles of
environmental risk
assessment have been developed by the European Commission. For more information about
ERA see European
Chemicals Bureau (ECB) website,
European Center
for Ecotoxicology and Toxicology of Chemicals (ECETOC) and REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals).
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