B5.8 Contaminated Land Exposure Assessment (CLEA) Framework
A new CLEA Framework was published in January 2009. This was used to develop contaminant-specific chemical toxicology (TOX) and Soil Guideline Value (SGV) reports.
These documents provide relevant, appropriate, authoritative and scientifically based information and advice on the assessment of risks to human health from land contamination. They should be used in conjunction with the CLEA framework and software. [This is available for download from the Environment Agency Website]
The CLEA project develops tools that provide a government supported methodology, which can be used to help estimate the risks to people from contaminants in soil on a given site over a long duration of exposure, providing levels of contamination in soil below which the risks are considered minimal.
The CLEA project and tools do not cover all types of risk to humans, such as fire, suffocation or explosion, or short-term and acute exposures. It is not a definitive test for assessing when human health risks are significant and it is not a legal requirement in assessing land contamination risks.
Full details regarding CLEA are available on the Environment Agency website. The following link is to the FAQ section: