Risk Assessment Problem Formulation Worksheet Tool

The purpose of this worksheet is to help the risk assessor identify the components of the risk assessment.
Use this worksheet to think through all parts of the problem formulation (see the problem formulation training module). A filled-in version of this worksheet should be included in your Risk Assessment report.

Potential land uses of the site

In this section, briefly describe the past, current and planned future land use of the site. Several categories are provided because some sites may have had more than one land use. Having this background information will help identify the types of chemical hazards possibly present at the site, the potential receptors and the pathways linking the chemical hazards with the receptors.

	Potential?	Explanation
Agricultural
Residential/urban parkland
Commercial
Industrial - indoors
Industrial - outdoors
Recreational
Other

Humans receptors and pathways

Use this section to identify and describe the receptors (human and non-human) and pathways possibly present at the site.

Human receptor group

On Site? Explanation

General public or resident

Employees

School Children

Other

Human receptor ages

On Site? Explanation

Infant

Toddler

Child

Teen

Adult

Other

Human exposure pathways

On Site? Explanation

Accidental ingestion of soil

Inhalation of soil particles

Inhalation of indoor contaminant vapours

Inhalation of outdoor contaminant vapours

Ingestion of drinking water

Dermal contact with soil

Dermal contact with water

Ingestion of contaminated food

Non-human receptors and pathways

Non-human receptors

On Site? Explanation

Aquatic Animals

Terrestrial Animals

Plants

Non-human exposure pathways

On Site? Explanation

Aquatic organism exposed via water

Aquatic organism exposed via food

Aquatic organism exposed via sediments

On Site? Explanation

Terrestrial organism exposed via water

Terrestrial organism exposed via food

Terrestrial organism exposed via soil

On Site? Explanation

Plants exposed via surface water or groundwater

Plants exposed via soils

Contaminant concentrations (highest measured concentrations)

To fill-in this section:

replace the column header "Chemical A, Chemical B, Chemical C..etc.", with a chemical contaminant name.
enter the maximum concentration of that contaminant measured in the applicable row. Note that the concentration units of the concentration entered must match those shown in the first column.
The maximum contaminant concentration can then be compared to environmental quality guidelines. If the measured maximum concentration exceeds the guidelines, then the contaminant is a Contaminant of Concern.

add column


Soil (mg/kg)
Groundwater - source (mg/L)
Drinking water (mg/L)
Bathing/swimming water (mg/L)
Outdoor air - particulate (mg/m³)
Root vegetables (mg/kg wet weight)
Other vegetables (mg/kg wet weight)
Fish (mg/kg wet weight)
Wild game (mg/kg wet weight)

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