Definitions of the acronyms and concepts used in GMEP tools (EQRS, ECOTOX, hydrogeology, regulations), consistent with the US EPA, ANSES, INERIS, ECHA and EFSA frameworks.
A process that estimates the nature, extent and likelihood of adverse health effects in people exposed to substances present in a contaminated medium (soil, groundwater, indoor air), following the US EPA methodology. In French, this is referred to as Évaluation Quantitative des Risques Sanitaires (EQRS): it combines source characterisation, transfer modelling (soil → groundwater → well, vapour intrusion, etc.), estimation of the dose received by receptors (adult, child, worker) and comparison against Toxicological Reference Values (VTR) to calculate the Hazard Quotient (QD) and the Individual Excess Risk (ERI).
The French, operational translation of the HHRA approach, governed in France by the INERIS ERS 2021 methodology and ANSES VTR values. It is the core of GMEP's EQRS tools: calculation of the QD and the ERI by exposure pathway (soil ingestion, inhalation, dermal contact, food chain pathway) and by receptor (adult, child with ADAF factor, worker).
A progressive assessment method: the process starts at a generic, conservative level (Tier 1), and only moves to the next level — more refined but requiring more data — if the previous level cannot rule out a risk.
The first, most conservative level: comparison against generic thresholds and cautious assumptions (US EPA Eco-SSL in ecotoxicology; standard exposure pathways — soil ingestion, inhalation, dermal contact — in health assessment). Objective: to quickly rule out substances and media with no demonstrated risk, without engaging additional data collection.
Second level: generic values are replaced with site-specific data — measured concentrations and ECHA REACH PNEC values in ecotoxicology; site-specific exposure parameters and sensitive sub-populations in health assessment. This level reduces the conservatism margin of Tier 1 while remaining protective.
Third level, the most detailed: incorporation of additional exposure pathways or effects. In GMEP's tools, Tier 3 corresponds to the HUMAIN Module, which adds the food chain pathway (trophic chain soil → plant/animal → human) to the standard EQRS — ingestion of vegetables, eggs, milk, meat and fish produced on a contaminated site — in accordance with the INERIS DRC-09-103096 methodology and the 2020 EFSA VTR values.
Ratio between the estimated exposure dose and a threshold VTR (threshold effect). A QD greater than 1 signals a potential risk for the effect considered.
The additional, lifetime probability of developing a non-threshold effect (carcinogenic) as a result of the exposure studied, calculated from a non-threshold VTR.
A numerical value (dose or concentration) set by a reference agency (ANSES, US EPA, EFSA, etc.) below which an adverse effect is not expected (threshold effect), or which allows an excess risk to be quantified (non-threshold effect).
An age-related adjustment factor applied for carcinogenic substances with a mutagenic mode of action, to account for the increased sensitivity of children exposed at an early age.
Assesses the effects of pollution on wildlife and vegetation rather than on humans, in three phases: problem formulation, exposure and effects analysis, and then risk characterisation. The central tool is the PEC/PNEC ratio: a ratio greater than 1 signals a potential risk to ecological receptors (soil invertebrates, vegetation, sentinel wildlife).
The predictable exposure concentration of a pollutant in an environmental compartment (soil, water, sediment), estimated from field data or modelling.
The predicted no-effect concentration: the threshold below which no adverse effect is expected on organisms in the compartment considered. Established in particular via ECHA REACH.
Ecotoxicological screening thresholds for soil published by the US EPA, used at Tier 1 to quickly identify substances with no demonstrated ecological risk for terrestrial receptors.
A component of French contaminated land doctrine that compares concentrations measured in environmental media (soil, water, air) against management values, either upstream of or in addition to a full EQRS.
A factor reflecting the decrease in a pollutant's concentration between the source and the point of exposure (dilution in groundwater, attenuation during soil-groundwater-well transfer, Domenico 1987 model).
The classification set out in Article R.214-1 of the French Environmental Code for operations subject to declaration or authorisation under the Water Act (abstractions, groundwater drawdown, discharges, in-stream structures, etc.).
The classification regime (declaration, registration, authorisation) for installations presenting risks or nuisances to the environment and health, governed by the French Environmental Code.