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Research Programs: Reducing Global Environmental Risks
International Programs
NHEERL Research Programs
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is recognized internationally as the leading regulatory organization in the protection of the environment and human health. Strategically EPA is committed to (1) strengthening bilateral programs, (2) cooperation with international organizations, (3) technical assistance, technology transfer, (4) integration of economic and environmental decision-making, and (5) applying domestic environmental principles abroad. In recent years, the Agency has begun to extend its sphere of influence and to offer its expertise to other countries and international organizations in addressing global environmental problems.
Approach: NHEERL's International Research Program was established in 1992. In that year the convening of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) and the drafting of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), together with the EPA Border Plan, all served to increase international recognition of the importance of environmental health protection. The objective of NHEERL's International Research Program is to advance the Agency's strategic international goal of environmental protection, increase scientific research on international environmental problems, gain scientific information beneficial to the Office of Research and Development (ORD) mission, and further the NHEERL international leadership role in environmental effects research. The program seeks to balance requirements for health and ecological longer-term effects research needed to understand emerging environmental problems and the more immediate short-term research needs of ORD and EPA's Program and Regional Offices. NHEERL participates in scientific and technology cooperation agreements with several countries and with the European Union. It collaborates with the World Health Organization (WHO) and its components including the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the International Programme for Chemical Safety (IPCS). NHEERL supports international health and ecological research, participates in international conferences, and disseminates health and ecological date via the World Wide Web. Web sites for NHEERL databases and some other activities currently being supported are provided below:
- The ECOTOX database is a comprehensive computer-based system that provides chemical-specific toxicity information for aquatic life, terrestrial plants, and terrestrial wildlife. http://www.epa.gov/ecotox/
- Conferences of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology. http://www.iseepi.org/conferences/index.html
- The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) -- a partnership of agencies, organizations, and specialists cooperating on the development of an on-line scientifically credible list of biological names focusing on the biota of North America. http://www.itis.gov/
- International Cooperative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Acidification of Rivers and Lakes (ICP-Waters) -- designed to assess the degree and geographical extent of acidification of surface waters, evaluate dose/response relationships and long-term trends in aquatic chemistry and biota, it is a voluntary organization which receives monitoring data from surface water monitoring programs in 24 countries, including the U.S. http://www.unece.org/env/wge/waters.htm
Recent Highlights:
- We are working with the International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on initiatives to improve understanding by the international scientific and regulatory communities of the benefits of integrating ecological and human health risk assessment methods.
