The EPA has Ecological Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund which present an 8 step method. Here is an overall flowchart:
Continued below
Here is the process with some notes:
Until here, it is very similar to the human health assessment. The next is quite different:
An ecological function may something like grass on a hillside that slows erosion and keeps silt from a stream.
We did not spend a lot of time on Sampling and Analysis Plans (SAPs) and Data Quality Objectives (DAQs) but when you are investigating a site, you need to do both before you roar out there and start filling plastic bags with soil samples. We could spend two modules on them and just scratch the surface. For Superfund investigations there are many detailed regulations and procedures one must follow.
If your study includes animal testing, you must select organisms:
6 and 7 you are familiar with.
