title: Definition and GIS-based characterization of an integral risk index applied to a chemical/petrochemical area.
abstract: A risk map of the chemical/petrochemical industrial area of Tarragona (Catalonia, Spain) was designed following a two-stage procedure. The first step was the creation of a ranking system (Hazard Index) for a number of different inorganic and organic pollutants: heavy metals, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by applying self-organizing maps (SOM) to persistence, bioaccumulation and toxicity properties of the chemicals. PCBs seemed to be the most hazardous compounds, while the light PAHs showed the minimum values. Subsequently, an Integral Risk Index was developed taking into account the Hazard Index and the concentrations of all pollutants in soil samples collected in the assessed area of Tarragona. Finally, a risk map was elaborated by representing the spatial distribution of the Integral Risk Index with a geographic information system (GIS). The results of the present study seem to indicate that the development of an integral risk map might be useful to help in making-decision processes concerning environmental pollutants.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Rovira i Virgili University, San Lorenzo 21, 43201 Reus, Spain.
authors.forename: Martí
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nadal
authors.forename: Vikas
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schuhmacher
authors.forename: José L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Domingo
mesh_terms: D002617:Chemical Industry; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D016571:Neural Networks, Computer; D012306:Risk; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants