Several of DHI's areas of expertise are used in the evaluation of the risks related to contaminated soil, sediment and other waste products and the effects on groundwater or surface water. These areas of expertise include the evaluation of contaminant phase distribution, speciation, transport and degradation and the analysis of toxicological effects on the environment and man. Furthermore, DHI has expertise in the evaluation of the risk of unacceptable evaporation of volatile pollutants entering buildings.

DHI performs actual risk assessments and develops concepts for risk assessment, both in relation to effects on humans and ecosystems. Developed concepts include models for evaluating uncertainty related to site investigations of soil, groundwater and soil air, as well as models and scenarios for the evaluation of complex product mixtures such as oil and gasoline products. Similarly, methods and models for linking the results of leaching- and extraction tests to actual risk scenarios (field conditions) have been developed and applied on a routine basis, for instance in relation to the assessment of the utilisation or landfilling of contaminated soil and waste products such as fly ash from energy production.

Actual risk assessments include large brownfield sites and sites impacted by warfare as well as assessments for planned projects for utilisation of contaminated soils and waste products in, for example, construction of harbour extensions and new city landscapes.

As part of the risk assessments DHI has developed and utilised tests that provide a better estimate of the actual amount of for instance leaching of groundwater to surface or uptake in the human body through  soil ingestion.