Evaluating Risk and Promoting Public Advocacy
An Effective Practice
Description
The Toxics Release Inventory alone does not have the capability to compare the risks of different chemical releases. In order to rank chemical hazards, the Environmental Defense has developed an on-line program, the "Environmental Scorecard." Tools like the Scorecard help communities identify priority pollutants and develop risk-based pollution reduction strategies to make communities safer and cleaner. In addition, Scorecard has an environmental justice analyzer function that examines the distribution of chemical releases according to socioeconomic variables.
Goal / Mission
The goal of the "Environmental Scorecard" is to compare the risks of different chemical releases through a combination of raw data on toxic releases and environmental and human health data.
Results / Accomplishments
The "Environmental Scorecard" website uses a scoring system to identify environmental releases of toxic chemicals that are likely to pose the greatest risk to human health. The system adjusts the amount of a chemical that is released (in pounds) using a weighting factor (a chemical's "toxic equivalency potential"), so that chemical releases can be compared on a common scale that takes into account differences in toxicity and exposure potential.
About this Promising Practice
Organization(s)
Environmental Defense
Primary Contact
Cathryn Tonne
Environmental Defense
257 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10010
(212) 616-1309
ctonne@environmentaldefense.org
http://www.environmentaldefense.org
Environmental Defense
257 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10010
(212) 616-1309
ctonne@environmentaldefense.org
http://www.environmentaldefense.org
Topics
Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants
Environmental Health / Environmental Justice
Environmental Health / Environmental Justice
Organization(s)
Environmental Defense
Source
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Date of publication
2002
Location
USA
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