ACCUMULATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS TO HUMAN HEALTH - GEOGRAPHICAL DIFFERENCES IN THE NETHERLANDS

The project 'Accumulation of environmental risks' was aimed at develop ing methods to illustrate the geographical differences in risks to hum an health due to several types of environmental pollution. The followi ng risks were considered: possible major accidents, radioactive substa nces and radiation, several carcinogenic substances in air and environ mental noise, with the methods used based on the risk concept implemen ted in the Netherlands environmental policy. Starting with information on sources and emissions of several contaminants, their dispersion in air and human exposure to them were calculated, and the effects on hu man health estimated. The results were presented in a number of nation al maps. In spite of the complexity of discussions on risk-related sub jects, applying the methods developed during the project has been show n to lead to insight into the geographical distribution and the compar ison of different kinds of risk. The maps on possible major accidents and noise showed high risks on a local scale, whereas the risks due to radiation and substances were found to be more evenly distributed ove r large parts of the Netherlands. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All r ights reserved.