Environmental Risk Analysis

With the progress of science and technology, various substances such as artificial chemicals, heavy metals, radioactive substances, etc. are discharged into the environment, causing long-term and widespread environmental pollution, and environmental risks (adverse effects on human health, life, economic / social system, ecosystem).

In our laboratory, we evaluate environmental risks by analyzing the dynamics of the environmental pollution caused by various harmful chemicals locally and globally released, the exposure pathways to humans, and the human health risks using monitoring, experimental study and numerical simulations. Furthermore, we are trying to clarify what measures are effective in reducing environmental risks with both engineering and social science approach.

Academic Staff

Yoko SHIMADA

Professor (Graduate School of Engineering)

Research Topics

Our health is threatened by various types of environmental risks such as radioactive substances and hazardous materials. My goal is to understand how much our daily lives influence environment and what kind of measure is effective for mitigating such risks through modeling. In order to solve both global and local environmental problems, I provide information and help government's decision making process.

Maiko IKEGAMI

Associate Professor (Graduate School of Engineering) 

Research Topics 

• Study on the behavior of heavy metals and radioactive substances in soil.
• Study on exposure assessment of trace elements in the environment

Research Topics

Risk assessment of radioactive contamination in forests and development of a comprehensive evaluation method for forest Regeneration in Fukushima

Forests contaminated by radioactive materials released during the March 11, 2011, accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant remain undecontaminated outside a 20-meter radius from the forest edge. To ensure that residents can safely and confidently use these forests as they did before the accident, it is necessary to reduce ambient radiation levels through forest decontamination and to manage the forests appropriately over the long term. Our laboratory is conducting collaborative research with researchers in agriculture and medicine, aiming to establish a comprehensive evaluation method to identify the optimal direction for forest restoration following radioactive contamination caused by a nuclear disaster. Specifically, we have set the following themes and are conducting soil sampling, questionnaire surveys, experiments, and model simulations to achieve a comprehensive risk assessment.

•  Assessment of the dynamics of radioactive substances in forest ecosystems
•  Evaluation of forest cultural services, lifestyles, and health risks
•  Assessment of the economic impacts of radioactive contamination in forests
•  Zoning for forest restoration that takes radioactive contamination into account

 
Fig1.  Forest soil sampling

Fig2.  Simulation results of changes in ambient dose rate due to decontamination

Risk assessment of various environmental pollution

In assessing the risk of environmental pollution caused by a wide variety of trace environmental pollutants, it is important to quantitatively grasp the relationship between human activities and environmental pollution. In our laboratory, we are working on the comprehensive environmental risk assessments concerning soil and groundwater contamination by modeling the environmental transport mechanisms and exposure pathways of heavy metals from their emission sources to human exposure through river basins and soil.

Fig3. Conceptual diagram of environmental risk assessment models