Waste and Cleanup Risk Assessment

Calculation of Stressor Response and Exposure Estimates is the quantitative (statistical) determination of what plants and animals are exposed and to what degree they are exposed and if that level of exposure is likely or not to cause harmful ecological effects.

The calculations of risk and estimated exposure involve the calculation of hazard quotients (the ratio of chemical contaminant concentration to a selected screening benchmark) for the former; and, for the latter, the use of various parameters (area use, food ingestion rates, bioaccumulation rates, bioavailability, life-stage, body weight, and dietary composition) to determine the levels of exposure to a chemical contaminant by a selected plant or animal (receptor).

Documents | EPA Links | External Links

Documents

1. ECO Update Bulletin Series
   EcoUpdates are a series of bulletins which provide information on various aspects of Ecological Risk Assessments, including toxicity testing, the role of the Biological Technical Assistance Group (BTAG), field studies, and screening level risk assessments.
   
   
2. Guidelines for Ecological Risk Assessment
   These Agency-wide guidelines are provided to improve the quality and consistency of EPA's ecological risk assessments. The Guidelines expand on and replace the 1992 report Framework for Ecological Risk Assessment.
   
   
3. Ecological Soil Screening Level (Eco-SSL) Guidance and Documents
   EPA's Superfund program has just issued ecological soil screening levels (Eco-SSLs) for thirteen contaminants that are frequently found in soil at Superfund sites.
   
   
4. Peer Review Workshop Report on Ecological Soil Screening Levels (PDF) (52 pp, 103K,  About PDF) Eco Update, (Guidance document dated August 31, 2000.)
   This document is a summary of the Peer Review Workshop on Ecological Soil Screening Levels.
   
   
5. Region 5 RCRA Corrective Action Ecological Data Quality Levels
   These are concentration levels that can be used in screening level ecological risk assessments.
   
   
6. Using Toxicity Tests in Ecological Risk Assessment (PDF) (12 pp, 455K,  About PDF) March 1994 Eco Update
   An EcoUpdate Bulletin that describes the purpose and process of toxicity testing in ecological risk assessments.
   
   
7. Non-Dioxin-Like PCBs: Effects and Consideration In Ecological Risk Assessment (PDF) (53 pp, 703K,  About PDF)
   
   
8. Memorandum: Response To Ecological Risk Assessment Forum Request For Information On the Benefits of PCB Congener-Specific Analyses (PDF) (21 pp, 331K,  About PDF)
   
   
9. Assessing Risks to Populations at Superfund and RCRA Sites Characterizing Effects on Populations (PDF) (88 pp, 771K,  About PDF)
   
   
10. Wildlife Exposure Factors Handbook December 1993, EPA/600/R-93/187
    The bulk of this document summarizes literature information on exposure factors for wildlife, including homerange sizes, food and water intake rates, types of food consumed, body weights, etc.

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EPA Links

1. ECOTOX Database System
   The ECOTOX (ECOTOXicology) database provides single chemical toxicity information for aquatic and terrestrial life. ECOTOX is a useful tool for examining impacts of chemicals on the environment.
   
   
2. Ecotox Thresholds (software, released by Jan 1996 Eco Update, EPA 540/F-95/038
   Web site containing information on EPA's Ecotox Thresholds, which are benchmark values for chemicals commonly found in surface water, sediments, and soil.
   
   
3. Ecological Risk Assessment
   Website with information on ecological risk assessment.
   
   
4. EPA Region 4 Supplements to RAGS
   Information on regional risk assessment (human health and ecological) as well as regional contacts and screening values.
   
   
5. EPA Region 5 Ecology Technical Center Ecological Risk Assessment
   Overview of ecological risk assessment process in Superfund, regional case studies, toxicity profiles, and regional contacts.

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External Links

1. Biological and Ecotoxicological Characteristics of Terrestrial Vertebrates from Barnett Rattner
   Summary information in the database includes species, collection date, site coordinates, estuary name, hydrologic unit catalog code, sample matrix, contaminant concentrations, biomarker and bioindicator responses, and reference source.
   
   
2. BSAF Database from WES
   Information on Biota-to-Sediment Accumulation Factors and lipids from the Army Corps of Engineers.
   
   
3. Canadian National Guidelines and Standards
   Web site source for Canada's benchmark screening values for surface water, sediment, soil, and tissue.
   
   
4. DOE Technical Standard, A Graded Approach for Evaluating Radiation Doses to Aquatic and Terrestrial Biota and the RAD-BCG Calculator
   Link to Department of Energy's procedure for investigating radiation exposure to aquatic and land plants and animals.
   
   
5. Guidelines for Interpretation of Residues in Biota, Water, and Sediments from USGS-BRD
   National Irrigation Water Quality Program, U.S. Department of the Interior.
   
   
6. NOAA Screening Quick Reference Tables
   NOAA has developed a set of Screening Quick Reference Tables, or Squirts, that present screening concentrations for inorganic and organic contaminants in various environmental media (water, sediment, and soil). The Squirts also include guidelines for preserving samples and analytical technique options.
   
   
7. Oak Ridge National Laboratory: Toxicology and Risk Analysis Section
   This EcoUpdate bulletin describes the components of the ecological risk assessment process and how they fit into the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study process.
   
   
8. Oak Ridge National Laboratory - Ecological Risk Analysis: Tools and Applications
   Link to guidance, screening benchmarks for various categories of plants and wildlife, and examples of completed ecological risk assessments.
   
   
9. Preliminary Remediation Goals for Ecological Endpoints (PDF) (41 pp, 140K,  About PDF)
   Preliminary Remediation Goals are upper concentration limits of specific chemicals that are expected to be protective of human health or the environment and are useful in risk assessment and decision making at Superfund sites.
   
   
10. Spatial Analysis and Decision Assistant
    A software (freeware) tool designed to aid in ecological risk assessments with a spatial component.
    
    
11. USACE Environmental Residue Effects Database
    A compilation of data, taken from the literature, where biological effects (e.g., reduced survival, growth, etc.) and tissue contaminant concentrations were simultaneously measured in the same organism.
    
    
12. USGS Acute Toxicity Database
    This database summarizes the results from aquatic acute toxicity tests conducted by the USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center located in Columbia, Missouri. The acute toxicity test provides a relative starting point for hazard assessment of contaminants and is required for federal chemical registration programs.
    
    
13. USGS - Contaminant Reviews
    Contains the 35 reports in the Contaminant Hazard Reviews (CHR) originally published between 1985 and 1999 in the U.S. Dept. of the Interior Biological Report series, which include information on selected inorganic and organic chemicals and ionizing radiation.
    
    
14. USGS Upper Miss/IL Sediment Database
    Contains sediment-contaminant data (44 data sets from a total of 3950 analyzed sediment samples collected from 1974 through 2000 from the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers and their tributaries) of known quality in a readily accessible format.
    
    
15. Wildlife Exposure and Toxicity Factors for California Wildlife (searchable)
    A compilation of exposure factors (i.e., ecological and physiological data) and toxicity data for a number of California mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles.

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