Emissions from industrial sites: how to improve exposure assessment for local residents? Feedback on a national level in France.

Abstract

To obtain an environmental operating permit for an industrial site, studies must be carried out to demonstrate that the projected environmental emissions will not cause health issues for neighboring populations. In France, for industrial sites associated with the highest expected risks, these studies include an application of the health risk assessment (HRA) approach. In this context, carrying out an HRA has two main high-stakes objectives: (i) ensuring that there is no "unacceptable" health risk for people living near the site and (ii) identifying the main determinants of total health risk (substances, locations of interest, and pathways) to be able to prioritize a monitoring program and efforts to reduce emissions. Exposure assessments play a central role in HRAs. However, despite the guidelines described in reference guides, recurring inappropriate practices-not corresponding to what is expected of a rigorously conducted HRA, whether intentionally or not-are still observed in HRAs, and these practices may have a high influence on the quantified health risks. Seven feedbacks are presented and discussed, corresponding to proposals for best practice: (i) clarifying the objective of the assessment and therefore the rationale of the choices made, (ii) specifying and taking into account how the data used were produced, (iii) quantitatively assessing uncertainties, (iv) taking atmospheric deposition into account when selecting locations of interest, (v) considering the potential contamination of plants by dry gaseous deposits, (vi) calculating non-threshold risks over a lifetime only, and (vii) considering reasonably possible uses. These good practices are based on feedback gathered at the national level in France. They are not specific to the French context, however, and are just as useful for managing emissions from industrial sites in other countries.