Mjm. Pruppers et al., ACCUMULATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS TO HUMAN HEALTH - GEOGRAPHICAL DIFFERENCES IN THE NETHERLANDS, Journal of hazardous materials, 61(1-3), 1998, pp. 187-196
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.