Worst Case
Worst Case : Disaster Management. A semiquantitative term referring to the maximum possible exposure, dose, or risk, that can conceivably occur, whether or not this exposure, dose, or risk actually occurs or is observed in a specific population. Historically, this term has been loosely defined in an ad hoc way in the literature, so assessors are cautioned to look for contextual definitions when encountering this term. It should refer to a hypothetical situation in which everything that can plausibly happen to maximize exposure, dose, or risk does in fact happen. This worst case may occur (or even be observed) in a given population, but since it is usually a very unlikely set of circumstances, in most cases, a worst-case estimate will be somewhat higher than occurs in a specific population. As in other fields, the worst-case scenario is a useful device when low probability events may result in a catastrophe that must be avoided even at great cost, but in most health risk assessments, a worst-case scenario is essentially a type of bounding estimate. [USEPA, 1992: GL for Exposure Assessment] [REAP, 1995: Residential Exposure Assessment Project]
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