Measures of pollutant concentration
Open-knowledge reference entry
Measures of pollutant concentration are used to determine risk assessment in public health.
Industry is continually synthesizing new chemicals, the regulation of which requires evaluation of the potential danger for human health and the environment. Risk assessment is nowadays considered essential for making these decisions on a scientifically sound basis.
Measures or defined limits include:
no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL), also called no-effect concentration (NEC), no-observed-effect concentration (NOEC) or similarly
lowest-observed-adverse-effect level (LOAEL)
acceptable operator exposure level (AOEL)
ECx (in percentage).
No-effect concentration
No-effect concentration (NEC) is a risk assessment parameter that represents the concentration of a pollutant that will not harm the species involved, with respect to the effect that is studied. It is often the starting point for environmental policy.
There is not much debate on the existence of an NEC, but the assignment of a value is another matter. Current practice consists of the use of standard tests. In the standard tests groups of animals are exposed to different concentrations of chemicals and different effects such as survival, growth or reproduction are monitored. These toxicity tests typically result in a no-observed-effect concentration (NOEC, also called a no-observed-effect level, or NOEL).
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