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Science Activities Archive
This page lists all of NCEA's archived Science Activities, organized alphabetically by title. To view a complete abstract and other detailed information, simply click on the title which will allow you to drill-down to metadata. Your search has returned 123 matching records.
A case study assessing the utility of this approach was performed for bisphenol A (BPA). BPA, a component of polycarbonate plastics, epoxy resins, and polyester resins, was selected because it is a high production volume chemical; data have been ide...
This project is to develop a multiple-pathways state space model of carcinogenesis using the new cancer modeling approach developed in Tan and Chen (1998)1. The biological motivation for this project is based on the observation (DeAngelo, 1996)2 that...
A Planning Document was produced by NCEA/RTP and reviewed by the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) (62 FR 55201, October 23, 1997). In FY99, a workshop draft of the PM AQCD was completed, a peer input workshop held, and an External Rev...
The objective of this project is to design a cumulative risk assessment method based on biological mode of action data as an approach to reduce uncertainty and lead to a more precise estimate of human health risk for toxicant exposure. This effort is...
It is well established that arsenic is genotoxic and causes cancer at various target sites in humans. It is also clear that arsenic is a reproductive toxicant in several animal species with a spectrum of adverse outcomes. The human evidence although ...
In eastern North Carolina the Neuse River and Neuse Estuary have been heavily impacted by the byproducts of row crop and livestock agriculture, forestry operations, and industry as well as effluent from municipal wastewater treatment plants. Non-poin...
The goal is to develop a recommended protocol for breast milk sampling, and analysis of environmental chemicals of public health concern. The project will start with an expert panel workshop to describe and define the components of a well-conducted ...
Risk assessments are based on questions that the assessor asks about scientific information that is relevant to human and/or environmental risk. The risk characterization also provides an evaluation of the assumptions, uncertainties, and selection of...
The stressor identification program developed guidance for identifying the causes of biological impairments in the nation's waters:
U.S. EPA. 2000. Stressor identification guidance document. EPA/822/B-00/025. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...
Disinfection By-Products (DBPs) typically occur at low levels in drinking water at which general toxic effects from exposure to the mixture have not been found in animal studies. In contrast, epidemiologic studies of chlorinated drinking water exposu...
People contact sediment during a variety of activities such as fishing, wading and boating. A number of default assumptions are used today to characterize dermal contact with sediments in terms of magnitude, frequency and duration. The accuracy of ...
Current risk assessment policies for noncarcinogens accommodate sensitive populations by assuming a ten fold variability between the most sensitive member of a population and the average member. In order to characterize the risks to children associat...
Risk assessments are based on questions that the assessor asks about scientific information that is relevant to human and/or environmental risk in this case, the risks of developmental delays and adverse outcomes following exposures to drinking water...
Some sub-populations, such as infants and children or those with weakened immune systems, are known to be particularly sensitive to the effects of certain waterborne pathogens and chemicals. The 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) r...
The 1995EPA Administrators policy for Evaluating Health Risks to Children, provisions in the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments, and the 1997 Presidential Executive Order 13045 on Protection of Children, all e...
EPA scientists are working with the National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), Ahmedabad, India, to study health effects of lead, specifically on growth and puberty in children. The project includes two sites, Ahmedabad and Calcutta. The for...
In this project, outdoor and indoor air pollution exposures will be ascertained, and prevalences of respiratory illnesses and symptoms will be ascertained, for children and adults who live in the same districts as were studied in the original coopera...
Coral reef ecosystems are sensitive to changes in climate, climate variability, land use, and UV radiation. This report was designed to take advantage of diverse research and monitoring efforts that are ongoing in American Samoa to: analyze and comp...
The CTAC conducts health-based toxicity assessments, reviews methods applicable to fate and transport of contaminants generated at combustion facilities and provides guidance on appropriate methods in support of EPA's RCRA Program in a timely manner....
A method is being developed for performing assessments of human health risk from acute (less than 24 hour) inhalation exposures. The methodology will be flexible in its ability to utilize variously robust data sets of dose-response information. A ...
Sediments serve as the dominant sink for many chemical pollutants, in particular those which are highly hydrophobic and have a greater tendency to bioaccumulate in aquatic food webs. A variety of toxicological benchmarks and laboratory bioassays hav...
Scope: The periodic (5 years) review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for particulate matter (PM) and the subsequent determination by EPA and NAS of particulate matter research needs have identified areas of uncertainty inc...
The project explored different cultural models of the environment and how they can be used in planning for integrated ecological and human-health risk assessments, risk-communication efforts, and robust risk decision making. Although they may share...
The risk assessment of weathered toxaphene is currently being investigated by NCEA-Cin in an effort to evaluate the potential health risks from exposure to complex mixture of weathered chemicals under both anaerobic and aerobic conditions. The goal o...
Under the Food Quality Protection Act, the Agency is required to consider all routes of exposure. However, the procedures to construct these kind of assessments has not been demonstrated largely due to a lack of exposure monitoring data. This proje...
EPA's existing RfD of 0.1 g/kg/day is based on a poisoning episode in Iraq. Results for two large epidemiological studies in the Faroe Islands and Seychelles Islands have become available since the 1995 IRIS entry. The Faroe Islands study identifi...
The world's largest diversity of freshwater mussels is found in North America. However, freshwater mussel populations are in decline and more than 66% of the species in North America have been classified as endangered, threatened or of special concer...
Bivalves filter suspended phytoplankton, detritus and bacteria from the water column. During feeding contaminants associated with these suspended materials or dissolved in the water are ingested and potentially bioaccumulated in both soft tissue and ...
Humans are exposed daily to complex mixtures of drinking water disinfection by-products (DBPs) via oral, dermal, and inhalation routes. Some positive epidemiological studies suggest reproductive and developmental effects and cancer are associated wit...
Ecological risk assessments are the best method for integrating scientific information useful in supporting environmental policy decisions. Quantitative uncertainty analysis is a crucial part of ecological risk assessments because it provides predict...
This project develops and applies a unified and flexible mathematical procedure that can incorporate a broad spectrum of biological information in (cancer and non-cancer) risk assessments, including information from signaling pathways, and cellular d...
Scope: Primary project goals are: (a) evaluate usefulness of a newly-developed, real-time, continuous monitor for total (nonvolatile plus semivolatile) PM2.5 mass, and particularly time- and health-relevance of this method as compared to oth...
Advances in human health risk assessment, especially for contaminants encountered by the inhalation route, have evolved so that the uncertainty factors (UF) used in the extrapolation of non-cancer effects across species (UFA) have been split into the...
The Agency's guidance for the derivation of RfD and RfC values call for the downward adjustment of exposure-response levels observed in animals and/or humans to account for the potentially greater sensitivity of humans as compared to test animals (UF...
A population focused cumulative health risk assessment of a contaminated site or situation can include the evaluation of toxic risk from multiple chemicals, by multiple pathways, over different time frames of exposure, with multiple sensitive populat...
Pesticides are used in the agricultural and residential settings to control unwanted species of plants, insects, and animals. However, pesticides may adverse effects on humans. Children especially are at greater risk from pesticide exposure than most...
A Bayesian approach allows for dose-response assessment even when human and animal dose-response data are inadequate in themselves. The project will consist of the development of a mathematical beta-Poisson dose-response model that will formally inco...
The Hazardous Waste Identification Rule (HWIR) concerns the setting of allowable concentrations of hazardous substances upon exit (exit levels) from hazardous waste sites in the U.S. Exit levels are to be determined for facility types on a national b...
This project was conducted by the National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR) under an interagency agreement with EPA NCEA. The chemical risk part of this project involved development of biostatistical methods to improve the application of Rela...
The Causal Analysis/Diagnosis Decision Information System (CADDIS) is a web-based system that provides technical support for states, tribes and other users of the Office of Water's Stressor Identification Gu...
The Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology (DART) is a bibliographic database that contains references and abstracts to literature published from 1989 to the present on agents that may cause birth defects and other reproductive and developmental d...
Ecological risk assessments are valued tools for evaluating potential risks at hazardous waste sites. Currently there are no peer-reviewed, ecologically-based screening levels for soil. The absence of these, and a process to develop them, is problema...
Hydrological tracer testing is the most reliable diagnostic technique available for establishing flow trajectories and hydrologic connections and for determining basic hydraulic and geometric parameters necessary for establishing operative solute-tra...
In October 2000, the National Center for Environmental Assessment of the Office of Research and Development published a report titled Volatilization Rates from Water to Indoor Air: Phase II. This report provides models for the estimation of emission...
The steroid hormone action pathway involves numerous steps that may be affected by exposure to an endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC). The mode of action for EDCs is expected to affect the single and multiple chemical risk assessment process and outc...
This research effort will accomplish two tasks 1) Convene an international workshop how current risk assessment methodologies may need to be modified to incorporate the unique nature of child physiology and vulnerabilities and 2) Update Environmental...
Genetically modified (GM) crops are being grown on large acreages in the United States. Before being approved for sale, sufficient scientific evidence allowed the EPA to determine that they are safe. The results of this research project will strengt...
NCEA is often called upon to share its expertise on Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS). In 1992, EPA/NCEA completed its risk assessment on the respiratory health effects of ETS exposure, which concluded that ETS causes lung cancer in nonsmokers and h...
This project will prepare an issue paper on methods for estimating the bioaccumulation of dioxin and related compounds in aquatic life and associated wildlife, which will provide a general support document for risk assessors. Risk assessors are ofte...
The Agency has not established a formal methodology to assess the risk for microbial contaminants. In 1991, a joint EPA/AWWARF conference evaluating drinking water and health proposed the application of the NAS risk paradigm for microbial contaminant...
Brownfields are abandoned or underutilized properties that are not being redeveloped because of the possibility that the property is contaminated. The problems caused by Brownfields include health problems for humans and wildlife exposed to the cont...
This project will evaluate the current state of quantitative models that simulate physiological processes, and the how these models might be used in conjunction with the current use of PBPK and BBDR models in risk assessment. The work will include a...
The purpose of this study is to measure the levels of dioxin-like compounds in the feeds of terrestrial food animals - cattle, swine, and poultry - and to understand their contribution to the dioxin-like levels found in the animals. It is an ongoing ...
The Exposure Factor Finder CD-ROM is a user friendly searchable CD-ROM used by exposure assessors, risk assessors and other concerned communities to locate exposure related data from the Exposure Factors Handbook (EFH) and the Sociodemographic Data U...
The Exposure Factors Handbook (EPA/600/P-95/002Fa-Fc) was published in August 1997. The Handbook provides summary statistical data on exposure factors necessary to assess human exposures to environmental contaminants. New data and studies have beco...
The Exposure Factors Handbook provides a summary of the available statistical data on various factors used in assessing human exposure including drinking water consumption, soil ingestion rates, inhalation rates, dermal factors including skin area an...
The National Human Exposure Assessment Survey (NHEXAS) is a multi-media, multi-chemical field study of personal and residential exposures. It consists of three separate pilot studies being conducted in Maryland, Arizona, and the Midwest. It feature...
Children's aggregate exposure to pesticides will be characterized using pesticide exposure data from Brownsville, TX. The aggregate exposure methodology developed in this phase of the project will be tested with a larger data set from Arizona using ...
EPA conducted a workshop on scientific considerations for conducting epidemiologic studies for cancer and exposure to chemical by products of drinking water disinfectants. The participants concluded that current studies are insufficient to conclude t...
Continuous recording of dye fluorescence using field fluorometers at selected sampling sites facilitate acquisition of real-time dye-tracing data. The Turner Designs Model 10-AU-005 Field Fluorometer allows for frequent fluorescence readings, data l...
Several recent reports have highlighted the importance of understanding the accumulation of risks from multiple environmental stressors. These include the National Research Council's (NRC) 1994 report Science and Judgment in Risk Assessment an...
Ecological risk assessment is a process for evaluating the likelihood that adverse ecological effects may occur or are occurring as a result of exposure to one or more stressors. A critical early step in conducting an ecological risk assessment is to...
Life on earth is highly dependent upon the products of photosynthesis. Monitoring status and trends in the spatial and temporal dynamics of vegetation at regional and global scales is necessary to our quantitative understanding of carbon sequestratio...
This report was developed as a supplement to Ground-Water Hydrology and Quality in the Valley and Ridge and Blue Ridge Physiographic Provinces of Clarke County, Virginia developed by the U.S. Geological Survey. It consists of quantitative ground-wat...
The 1993 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report "Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children" highlights important differences between children and adults with respect to risks posed by pesticides. Some of the principles in the NAS report prov...
The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) has been sponsoring National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) since 1971. There have been four completed surveys, with the last one (NHANES-III) being conducted from 1988-1994, and in...
Bayesian statistical techniques have proven useful in clinical and environmental epidemiological applications to evaluate and integrate available information, and in regulatory applications such as the National Ambient Air Quality Assessment for Nitr...
The Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HHANES) was a nationwide probability sample of approximately 16,000 persons, 6 months-74 years of age. Hispanics were included in past health and nutrition examinations, but neither in sufficient ...
The 1996 Air Quality Criteria Document for particulate matter included a chapter on dosimetry that used ventilation patterns based on mean values for different activity events (e.g., sleeping, light work, exercise) that were collapsed from hourly est...
Traditionally, potential health risk assessments from exposure to contaminated food, drinking water, or environmental media have been conducted on individual pesticides or chemicals in each medium of concern. However, humans are generally exposed to...
At the time the 1996 Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter Criteria Document was prepared there were several epidemiologic studies using multiple years of TSP and PM10 data for the exposure estimate but only one epidemiologic study using multip...
Health risk assessment methodologies for assessing multiple exposures to chemical mixtures are currently limited by the non-availability of toxicity data, models, and mechanistic data. The EPA/ ORD has identified children risk as a High Priority Rese...
As the science of toxicology evolves, many laboratories are adding new testing protocols or assays in their programs directed at ascertaining mechanistic information on uptake and toxic action of chemicals. In response to the increasing complexity a...
Acrolein (C3HO4, CASRN 107-02-8) is a colorless to yellowish flammable liquid at room temperature with a disagreeable, choking odor. It is extremely acrid and irritating to mucous membranes, and is an upper respiratory irritant. Acrolein and its de...
The noncancer health effects from exposure to benzene are qualitatively and quantitatively characterized and the derivation of the reference dose (RfD) and reference concentration (RfC) are described. The evaluation and review of the noncancer effec...
Boron was last updated on IRIS in the late 1980's . Since that time new studies have provided developmental data in three species. The goal of this updated IRIS file is to re-assess the RfD based on new research and updated methodology, specifically ...
Ethylene dibromide (EDB; C2H4BR2; CASRN 106-93-4), also known as 1,2-dibromoethane, is a colorless, heavy liquid that has a mildly sweet, chloroform-like odor. It is currently used as a solvent for resins, gums, and waxes, as a chemical intermediate...
Hexachlorocyclopentadiene (C-56, hexachloro-1,3-cyclopentadiene, graphlox, HCCP, HCCPD, Hex, hexachloropentadiene, HRS 1655, NCI-C55607, PCL, and perchlorocyclopentadiene) is predominately use as an intermediate in the production of many dyes, resins...
Quinoline may enter the environment through atmospheric emissions and waste waters of petroleum, shale oil, coal processing, and wood preservation, production, and use facilities. Underground coal gasification at experimental sites has been a source ...
A symposium was held in May 2000 in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho USA for the scientific discussion of methods of measuring lead remediation effectiveness. International experts from the United States, Canada, Australia, Russia, Peru, Romania and other count...
No systematic survey of dioxins in soil has been conducted in the US. Soils represent the largest reservoir source of dioxins. As point source emissions are reduced emissions from soils become increasingly important. Understanding the distribution...
Three methods are currently used for ecological assessment of contaminant exposure and effects in surface waters or sediments: (1) chemical criteria for the protection of aquatic life, (2) direct toxicity assessments of specific environmental media, ...
Contamination caused by release of mercury into the environment is a growing concern. This release occurs due to a variety of anthropogenic activities and natural sources. After release, mercury undergoes complicated chemical transformations. The ino...
The goals of this research are to define and illustrate mathematically and biologically appropriate methods for estimating (1) human variability in response to particulate matter (PM) exposures and (2) health risks from PM exposures incorporating par...
The model MFFRST, short for Metal Finishing Facility Risk Screening Tool, is a user-friendly computer tool which allows an individual to evaluate the potential exposures and health risks to workers and nearby residents from emissions from individual ...
Tracer testing is generally regarded as the most reliable and efficient method of gathering surface and subsurface hydraulic information. This is especially true for karstic and fractured-rock aquifers. Qualitative tracing tests have been conventio...
The MTBE Pharmacokinetic-Based Extrapolation Workshop is intended to bring together a group of scientists who had specific experience and expertise for addressing issues regarding route-to-route and species-to-species extrapolation of MTBE data. Such...
There are three distinct tasks represented under this research project. Each project pertains to a specific aspect of the document entitled "Methodology For Assessing Health Risks As...
Current Agency default procedures proscribed in the inhalation RfC Methodology (U.S. EPA, 1994)for interspecies adjustment of inhaled gases are nonempirical deterministic projections based on surface area of various regions of the respiratory tract (...
The purpose of this study is to estimate the atmospheric transport, fate and deposition flux of air releases of CDDs and CDFs from known sources within the continental United States using the Regional Lagrangian Model of Air Pollution (RELMAP). RELMA...
The First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) was conducted on a nationwide probability sample of approximately 32,000 persons 1-74 years of age. The NHANES I sample was selected so that certain population groups thought to be...
Three field studies were under conducted the National Human Exposure Assessment Survey. These studies measured exposures in three study regions - Arizona, the six EPA Region V States (Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota), and Balt...
NCEA scientists are participating in a study of advanced cancer risk assessment methods, conducted under the auspices of NATO's Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society. The product will be a book of case studies that illustrate advanced cancer ...
The purpose of the project is to assess differential effects produced by in utero plus early postnatal exposure to methyl mercury, especially, structural and morphological consequences to the central and peripheral nervous system in the monkey (Macac...
A model for predicting where certain species will invade next is being developed and tested in cooperation with researchers at the University of Kansas. Human activities have increased the wholesale movement, either accidental or deliberate, of many ...
Risk assessments are based on questions that the assessor asks about scientific information that is relevant to human and/or environmental risk. The answers to these questions provide the information necessary to complete the three components of the ...
Oxidants and by-products of oxidant injury may play critical roles in several disease processes. Oxidative damage is involved in the initiation and progression of human diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis, can...
The purpose of this conference is to discuss the state-of-the-science, identify data gaps and help to define future directions for research to advance fundamental knowledge of the causes, mechanisms, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of parkinsonis...
The National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) of the Office of Research and Development has been conducting a number of activities to improve children's exposure and risk assessments. In July 2000, NCEA conducted a workshop entitled, "Issue...
Case studies were funded in 1999 through competitive grants to integrate economic research and ERA results in three watersheds in which ERA studies were already underway. The study areas are the Clinch Valley of Virginia and Tennessee; the Middle Pl...
The Potential Risk Indexing System (P-RISK) is a screening methodology and computer-based program that ranks areas of concern ( i.e. facilities, industrial sectors, geographic areas) according to multi-media chemical releases, chemical toxicities and...
This project will develop and evaluate techniques to quantify aquatic community response along gradients of increasing stress so that the degree of relative severity of effects can be assessed and the stream reaches that may benefit most from restora...
Quantitative dose-response and exposure data for Coxsackievirus and Norovirus (formerly Calicivirus) is limited. Appropriate surrogate data may be limited too. There are few or no animal or human dose-response and disease endpoint (severity, sheddin...
This project, sponsored by EPA's Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking (EMPACT) program, evaluated an automated biological monitoring system to detect developing toxic conditions in water. Modifications to an existing bio...
As a result of a literature review use in preparation of the Exposure chapter for the 1996 Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter, NCEA staff begin a project to analyze the relationships between personal exposures (to ambient, nonambient and tot...
Recently the National Center for Environmental Assessment-Cincinnati completed a feasibility study for developing a toxicity related relative potency ranking scheme for chlorophenols. In this study it was concluded that a large data base exists perta...
This project culminated in the development of a report entitled A Review of the Reference Dose and Reference Concentration Processes. The report summarizes the revie...
The final guidelines were developed by EPA's Risk Assessment Forum, replace the Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment published in 51 FR 33992, September 24, 1986. They a...
The passage of the Safe Drinking Water and Food Quality Protection Acts requires EPA to develop a program for screening and testing of chemicals for their potential to produce adverse effects on the endocrine systems of humans or wildlife. When test...
The capacity to perform route-to-route extrapolation of toxicity data is becoming increasingly crucial to the Agency, with a number of strategies suggested and demonstrated. One strategy involves using a combination of existing data and modeling app...
The second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, NHANES II, is a nationwide probability sample of 27,801 persons from 6 months 74 years of age. From this sample, 25,286 people were interviewed and 20,322 people were examined, resulting in...
In 1999, the USEPA established cooperative agreements with two University research groups to investigate the contribution of person-to-person (secondary) transmission of infectious diseases that are typically considered to be waterborne in that expo...
EPA's proposed IRIS cancer assessment (as well as OSHA, NIOSH and the European Union assessments) classify cadmium as a probable human carcinogen by inhalation exposure, based principally on data from the Globe Manufacturing facility located in the W...
The ingestion of soil is a potential source of human exposure to environmental contaminants. Several studies have been conducted to estimate the amount of soil ingested by children. The methodology used in these studies has consisted of a mass bala...
The first Drinking Water Contaminant Candidate List (CCL), created in response to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Amendments of 1996, consists of a list of chemicals or groups of chemicals that are known drinking water contaminants. The SDWA amen...
Background: In December, 2000, the intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) global negotiation on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) agreed to language for a binding global treaty. ...
This document is a supplement to the EPA Guidelines for the Health Risk Assessment of Chemical Mixtures of 1986. The 1986 Guidelines represent the Agency's science policy and are a procedural guide for evaluating data on the health risks f...
Human breast milk is generally recommended as the preferred nutritional source for infants. Lipids, which make up 3-5% of human milk, are the major source of kilocalories and are crucial for the growth and development of the infant. Infants may be ...
Compared to adults, children are at increased risk from environmental influences because of vulnerable developing systems and enhanced exposure to many agents. Observed effects from low level toxic agents or from other influences raise similar conce...
The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), 1988-94, was conducted on a nationwide probability sample of approximately 33,994 persons 2 months and over. The survey was designed to obtain nationally representative informat...
The two tasks included in this effort focus on the same basic issue, the assessment and measurement of interactions in chemical mixtures. Both tasks essentially involve a comparison of available data on the behavior of a mixture (either in terms of e...
Use of Qstr Model to Predict Potential Mutagenicity and Developmental Toxicity for Single Components
A majority of DBPs lack adequate toxicological evaluation. Regulators entrusted with risk assessment of DBPs are, thus, faced with paucity of relevant toxicity data and the need to assess toxicity using alternative techniques. QSTR modeling is one su...
This project is a workshop to identify areas of importance relative chemical risk assessment of children, specifically, physiologic/pharmacokinetic differences, and types and methods of neurobehavioral test protocols used in experimental animals and ...
