Risk Assessment

IntroductionThe toxicity of a stressor (e.g., compound or environmental stressor such as radiation) is defined by its potential for causing harmful effects on an individual, a population, or ecosystem (ecotoxicity). In this report, we will focus on the organism level. Traditionally, the toxic potential of a stressor is evaluated by performing tests on animals, in particular mammals, and assuming the obtained results can be extrapolated to humans. This approach is being increasingly questioned for two main reasons. First, the ethicality of sacrificing millions of animals each year (Fernandes and Pedroso, 2017). Second, it is becoming increasingly clear that the effects…