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 Problem Formulation
What is problem formulation?
The problem formulation of a risk assessment is a systematic planning stage that identifies the major
factors considered in the assessment, and establishes its goals, breadth, and focus (USEPA/
Environmental Response Team (ERT) 1997). (Note that in human health risk assessment, this stage is
called hazard identification). This step requires reviewing and summarizing information on the
management activities, likely contaminants, the environmental setting, the human uses of the area, and its
resources.
What occurs in problem formulation?
Four major activities occur during the problem formulation:
a. Developing the objectives of the risk assessment - stating clearly what the specific risk assessment
should accomplish.
b. Developing a Conceptual Model - to a large degree this is a qualitative analysis in narrative and
graphical format of how contaminants from dredged material management activities may be reaching
humans or organisms.
c. Selecting and Characterizing Receptors - selecting and describing organisms and humans which
best represent the types of organisms and human activities that may contact contaminants from the
dredged material management site.
d. Developing Endpoints - describing what environmental resources the risk assessment is trying to
protect and what measurements will be used to assess whether that resource is at risk (note that
human health risk assessment endpoints are explicitly set by convention).
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Chapter 2 Problem Formulation
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