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Toxic Chemicals
Aquatic Stressors
Procedures for deriving aquatic life water quality criteria have existed for many years and have been useful for managing toxic chemical inputs to aquatic systems. However, these procedures are based on simplifying assumptions and a relatively narrow framework that limit their use in fully assessing the risk of a wide range of toxic chemicals to both aquatic life and aquatic-dependent wildlife. Recent advances in the science regarding the toxicity and bioaccumulation of toxic chemicals need to be incorporated as improvements or used to develop new water quality criteria.
The general goal of EPA's research in this area is to develop scientifically defensible methods for better describing the risks toxic chemicals pose to aquatic life and aquatic-dependent wildlife. Specific projects in EPA's plan for toxic chemicals research include the following:
- Risk-Characterization Methods for Nonbioaccumulative Toxicants
- Extrapolation Methods for Limited Data Sets
- Risks of Heavy Metals Exposure through Multiple Routes
- Risk-based Criteria for Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxicants
- Multiple Stressor Risks to Fish-Eating Bird Populations
- Toxic Effects of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
View information about the Implementation Plan for Toxic Chemicals Research within the Aquatic Stressors PDF file. (PDF, 197 pp, 3.21 MB, About PDF).
