The use of a multimedia risk analysis approach in designing waste management strategies

A pollution source may release residuals to any of several environmental me dia, depending on the process design and control strategies. These residual s then are subject to transfer, transport, and transformation within the in terconnected compartments of the environmental system. The exposure and sus ceptibility of people and other receptors to pollutants are different in th ese various media, and so the risks imposed will vary according to the fate of the pollutants in the system. Because of interactions between compartme nts in the system, a single-medium approach to environmental management tha t mitigates problems in one environmental medium at a time independently of risks through other media may not minimize the aggregate risk a receptor r eceives from all pathways. Alternatively, a multimedia approach advocates f ocusing on the full environmental system providing pathways for exposure an d selecting risk management strategies based on minimization of the aggrega te and cumulative risk from all pathways and all compounds. This study comb ines multimedia risk analysis and an optimization framework to examine a me thodology for selecting waste treatment/disposal and pollution control meas ures, applies the methodology to a sludge management decision problem, and considers the implications for continued use of single-medium analyses.