Global distillation, also known as the Grasshopper effect
these pollutants can move across vast distances from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere by what is called the “grasshopper effect”. This means that they evaporate with warm air and return to earth with rain and snow in the colder areas of the globe
Biomagnification
Magnifying effect of a pollutant/toxin in a foodchain. If not excreted correctly it will build up and have high concentrations in the top predator of the foodchain
is the increasing concentration of toxins (like mercury or pesticides) in organisms at successively higher levels of a food chain, causing severe effects in top predators, as these persistent, harmful chemicals aren’t easily excreted and build up in tissues as prey are consumed.
If organisms in intermediate trophic levels can excrete the chemical well, toxicity will be lower at the top of the food chain.
Boomerang paradigm
describes how pollutants or harmful substances, once thought diluted and dispersed harmlessly, actually return to harm the source, ecosystems, or humans via food chains (bioaccumulation) or long-term environmental cycles
meaning it can be used for one thing or the aim is to use it that way but it falls back in a different way and cause harm in a way you did not intend. Causing more harm.
Reappearance:
* In unexpected places (want it for a specific place but it migrates elsewhere)
* Manifest in different ways
* Can be seen in different impacts (pesticides made for getting rid of pests, but having a different problem in humans)
Risk VS Hazard
A hazard has the potential to harm you
Risk is the likelihood of a hazard causing harm
Essentially, a hazard is the source of danger, and risk is the chance of experiencing that danger. Something can be hazardous but by putting in measures to protect yourself from it lowers risk of that substance (hazard)
Hazard Identification
Exposure assessment + Effects assessment -> risk assessment -> risk classification -> options for risk reduction
You answer the questions by doing a risk characterization:
* Do I really have to worry about this chemical?
* What is the probability that adverse effects will occur?
Exposure assessment
uses modeling to predict environmental concentrations (PECs) by calculating a substance’s fate and transport in the environment,
Effects assessment
helps determine the predicted No-Effect Concentration (PNEC) by analyzing how toxic a substance is, identifying the shape of its concentration-response curve (like how effects change with dose), and finding thresholds for key endpoints (mortality, growth, reproduction) to establish a safe level for the environment
PEC/PNEC ratio
indicating risk by comparing PEC to PNEC;
a ratio PEC/PNEC > 1 signals potential unacceptable risk, triggering re-evaluation, refined assessments (using better data, different species/embeddings, or considering nanoparticles), and possibly risk management,
while < 1 suggests acceptability, confirming your substance is safe for market release.
diagnostic risk assessment and prospective risk assessment
the environmental is already polluted and the assessor wants to know whether the risk is acceptable and which substances are contributing to it
the assessor wants to know whether a projected activity will result in unacceptable risks; When the environment is not yet polluted, predictive tools can be used
