Chapter 4
Risk Assessment of Groundwater
Contamination Sites
Abstract The risk assessment of groundwater contamination sites addresses key
issues such as the necessity and the target value of remediation. Based on basic site
environmental investigation and pollution source intensity evaluation, human health
risks and eco-environmental risks should be assessed to identify the risk of
groundwater contamination sites, paving the foundation for site risk management.
The risk assessment of groundwater contamination sites encompasses health risk
assessment and groundwater pollution risk assessment, which targets human health
and groundwater quality respectively.
Keywords Municipal solid waste landfill Á Hazardous waste landfill Á
Oil-contaminated site Á Groundwater Á Pollution source Á Pollution risk assessment Á Health risk assessment
4.1 Health Risk Assessment of Typical Groundwater
Contamination Sites
The health risk assessment of groundwater contamination sites describes the feature
that adverse health effects result from human exposure to environmental hazards
(Chen et al. 2006). It studies the damage to human health through three pathways of
exposure to pollutants in groundwater: ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact. The
study includes several elements: determining the nature of potential adverse health
effects based on toxicology, epidemiology, environmental monitoring and clinical
data; estimating and extrapolating the types and severity of adverse health effects
under defined exposure conditions; giving judgments on the scale and characteristics of affected populations under different conditions of exposure intensity and
time; and providing a comprehensive analysis of public health problems that exist
(Chen 2006; Hua 2012; Zhang 2013). In 1983, the National Academy of Sciences
of the United States (NRC) set forth the concept of health risk assessment and
identified the basic steps to assess health risk: hazard identification, dose–response
assessment, exposure assessment, and risk characterization. The NRC paradigm has
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
B. Xi et al., Investigation and Assessment Technology for Typical
Groundwater-contaminated Sites and Application Cases,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2845-3_4
67
Risk Assessment of Groundwater
Contamination Sites
Abstract The risk assessment of groundwater contamination sites addresses key
issues such as the necessity and the target value of remediation. Based on basic site
environmental investigation and pollution source intensity evaluation, human health
risks and eco-environmental risks should be assessed to identify the risk of
groundwater contamination sites, paving the foundation for site risk management.
The risk assessment of groundwater contamination sites encompasses health risk
assessment and groundwater pollution risk assessment, which targets human health
and groundwater quality respectively.
Keywords Municipal solid waste landfill Á Hazardous waste landfill Á
Oil-contaminated site Á Groundwater Á Pollution source Á Pollution risk assessment Á Health risk assessment
4.1 Health Risk Assessment of Typical Groundwater
Contamination Sites
The health risk assessment of groundwater contamination sites describes the feature
that adverse health effects result from human exposure to environmental hazards
(Chen et al. 2006). It studies the damage to human health through three pathways of
exposure to pollutants in groundwater: ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact. The
study includes several elements: determining the nature of potential adverse health
effects based on toxicology, epidemiology, environmental monitoring and clinical
data; estimating and extrapolating the types and severity of adverse health effects
under defined exposure conditions; giving judgments on the scale and characteristics of affected populations under different conditions of exposure intensity and
time; and providing a comprehensive analysis of public health problems that exist
(Chen 2006; Hua 2012; Zhang 2013). In 1983, the National Academy of Sciences
of the United States (NRC) set forth the concept of health risk assessment and
identified the basic steps to assess health risk: hazard identification, dose–response
assessment, exposure assessment, and risk characterization. The NRC paradigm has
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
B. Xi et al., Investigation and Assessment Technology for Typical
Groundwater-contaminated Sites and Application Cases,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2845-3_4
67