Development and Evaluation of an aquatic ecological risk assessment system (KORECORisk) for the management of industrial complexes

ABSTRACT KORea ECOlogical Risk assessment (KORECORisk) was developed to support decision making for the ecological risk-based management of chemicals in industrial complexes in South Korea. The system is based on a geographical information system and consists of a release rate estimation module, an exposure estimation module, and an ecological risk assessment module. For release rate and exposure estimation, the chemical use data from the national chemical inventory database and a dynamic multimedia fate model, respectively, were used. The ecological risk was assessed by calculating the risk quotient. A case study was presented to demonstrate an application of KORECORisk to setting a risk-based priority among the 6 major industrial complexes or among the chemicals used in the individual industrial complexes. Furthermore, a more detailed assessment was performed to demonstrate and evaluate a potential use of KORECORisk for the management of individual complexes. With 3 phthalates (1,2-benzenedicarboxylic a...