*** For current ecological risk assessment guidance, tools and other information on assessing contaminated sites, see Department of Toxic Substances Control’s Human and Ecological Risk Office (HERO) Ecological Risk Assessment ***
OEHHA’s Ecotoxicology Program was established in 1993 with the goal of applying tools from the developing field of human health risk assessment to address the risks caused by chemicals on California’s ecosystems. In 1998, the US EPA adopted a set of guidelines for “evaluating the likelihood that adverse ecological effects may occur or are occurring as a result of exposure to one or more physical, chemical, or biological stressors.” Ecological risk assessment (ERA) is based on a simple three-step process which includes a) identifying the problem or stressor(s) of concern, b) analyzing the stressors by characterizing their exposure and ecological effects, and c) characterizing risk using a variety of methods. The work of the OEHHA Ecotoxicology Program, which is now inactive, focused on applying this approach to understanding risks to the State’s ecological resources.
The Ecotoxicology resources developed by OEHHA and their links, provided below, are included for informational purposes only and are not updated or maintained. For more information, please e-mail OEHHA Answers.