Chap+3+Environmental+Risk++Economics,+Assessment+&+Management

Chapter Three: Environmental Risk Economics, Assessment & Management
Below are a few questions to think about and then respond to as you read chapter one. As you respond use your chosen text color ... reading and learning from each other is certainly one of the major ways we will learn.

1. Discuss some of the complications present in assessing environmental risk. The biggest problem is how people see and value the environment. Most can agree with the value of currency and a slight majority can agree on the value of a human life. The environment however has no true representation or voice. This gives most individuals the ability to interpret the environment's usefulness by themselves, giving rise to many different opinions. When environmental risk is calculated there is always someone arguing about the value placed upon it. This creates many issues regarding what damage is tolerable.

2. What does the term Reference Dose (RfD) mean and how is it used. A Reference Dose is a numerical value that tells us how much exposure to a polutant can be tolerated before it becomes harmful. Any level of exposure below to the Reference Dose is expected to be safe, however nothing is certain and there is a huge margin for error in calculating a Refernce Dose. Reference Doses are written as milligrams of polluntant per kilogram of body weight per day. For example, the Reference Dose for a pollutant being studied in a lab may be expressed as .02 mg/kg/day. It is important to remember that these numbers will vary for everybody based on previous exposure, living environment, biological conditions, etc.

3. As you read the section on True and Perceived Risk ... pay special attention to the asbestos discussion. Asbestos is the issue that has resulted in the burial mounds in the learning commons. Do a bit more research into asbestos abatement and address the following questions:
 * Why would asbestos of been used in the first place?
 * What are the problems associated with asbestos?
 * Think about the old commons "C" area as well as the idea of turning it into a "learning commons" (you can Google learning commons" help come up with a solution to help the school move forward with their plan to create a true learning commons.

Asbestos is heat resistant (fireproofish), sturdy and a sealant. It might've been used because it is insulating and useful because it easily binds to organic and inorganic compounds. Asbestos is dangerous because the firbrous dusts that it produces casuses bronchial cancer, and inhalation of a large amount is thought to directly cause tumors.