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Generic Assessment Endpoints Are Needed for Ecological Risk Assessment
Author(s) -
Suter II Glenn W.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
risk analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.972
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1539-6924
pISSN - 0272-4332
DOI - 10.1111/0272-4332.202018
Subject(s) - risk assessment , consistency (knowledge bases) , risk analysis (engineering) , process (computing) , ecological assessment , computer science , point (geometry) , environmental resource management , ecology , business , environmental science , computer security , artificial intelligence , biology , operating system , geometry , mathematics
This article presents arguments for the development of generic assessment endpoints for ecological risk assessment. Generic assessment endpoints would be ecological entities and attributes that are assumed to be worthy of protection in most contexts. The existence of generic assessment endpoints would neither create a requirement that they be used in every assessment nor preclude the use of other assessment endpoints. They would simply be a starting point in the process of identifying the assessment endpoints for a particular assessment. They are needed to meet legal mandates, to provide a floor for environmental degradation, to provide some consistency in environmental regulation, as exemplars for site‐ or project‐specific assessment endpoints, to allow development of methods and models, to give risk managers the courage to act, for screening and site‐independent assessments, to support environmental monitoring, to facilitate communication, and to avoid paralysis by analysis. Generic assessment endpoints should include not only a list of entities and attributes, but also explanations of each endpoint, guidance on their use and interpretation, and measures and models that could be used to estimate them.