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Soil Screening Guidance for Chemicals |
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Usage and Limitations:
These calculations are based on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA)
Soil Screening Guidance.
The guidance must be read before attempting to calculate values.
The guidance is available through:
-
Fact Sheet:
July 1996
EPA Document Number: EPA540/F-95/041
[PDF (213K) 12 pages]
-
Soil Screening Guidance: User's Guide
EPA Document Number: EPA540/R-96/018, July 1996
[PDF (425K) 49 pages] -
A Technical Background Document (TBD). (Links to PDF files.)
- The draft Soil Screening Guidance may also be ordered through the NTIS at (703)487-4650.
Soil Screening Guidance is a tool for screening at National Priorities List (NPL) sites.
Some NPL sites will not meet all the conditions necessary for use of this tool;
consequently, EPA does not expect this tool to be applicable for all NPL sites.
The guidance is intended to be used to screen out areas of sites,
exposure pathways, or chemicals of concern from further consideration,
assuming certain conditions are present, or to determine that
further study is warranted at a site.
Generally, areas of a site which fall below the screening levels may
be eliminated from further assessment. Areas above the screening levels
generally warrant further evaluation.
The levels should not be interpreted to represent cleanup standards for a site, and concentrations in soil above screening levels do NOT automatically designate a site as dirty.
SSLs do not supersede existing federal or state ARARs and use of the guidance is not legally binding.
An ecological assessment should also be performed as part of the RI/FS to evaluate potential risks to ecological receptors.
This Soil Screening Guidance does not address carcinogenic effects of radioactive
contaminants. It does address the chemical toxicity effects of uranium. To address the
carcinogenic effects of radioactive contaminants, please see the Soil Screening Guidance for
Radionuclides.
Although SSLs are "risk-based," they do not eliminate the need to conduct a site-specific risk assessment for those areas identified as needing further investigation.
This tool includes more chemicals than the published Soil Screening Guidance and includes an alternate equation for "Ingestion of Carcinogenic Contaminants in Soil" to account for those situations where a child is not a likely receptor. These have been added to make the tool as comprehensive as possible.
This tool includes JavaScript programming. Please make sure your browser supports this application!
I accept the Usage and Limitations and am fully informed about using the Soil Screening Guidance. Begin Calculations
This site is maintained and operated through an interagency Agreement between the EPA/OSRTI and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. For questions or comments please contact Dave Crawford in EPA/OSRTI.