Experimental Validation and Reliability Evaluation of Multimedia Risk Assessment Models
EPA Grant Number: R825411
Title: Experimental Validation and Reliability Evaluation of Multimedia Risk Assessment Models
Investigators:
Siegrist, Robert
,
Dawson, Helen
,
Sheldon, Andrew
Institution:
Colorado School of Mines
EPA Project Officer:
Stelz, Bill
Project Period:
December 15, 1996 through
December 14, 1998
Project Amount:
$256,174
RFA:
Environmental Fate and Treatment of Toxics and Hazardous Wastes (1996)
RFA Text |
Recipients Lists
Research Category:
Hazardous Waste/Remediation
,
Land and Waste Management
,
Safer Chemicals
Description:
This project will quantitatively evaluate the performance and reliability of multimedia contaminant transport models used for assessing human exposure and health risk from soils contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Research methods include large-scale contaminant leaching and volatilization experiments, computer modeling, health risk calculations, and statistical data analysis. Large-scale leaching and volatilization experiments will be performed for in situ soil contamination and for soil treatment residuals (i.e., post-treatment chemical remnants). For typical exposure scenarios, estimated health risk values based on experimentally observed chemical leaching and volatilization behavior will be compared with risk estimates obtained from stochastic contaminant transport model results. Contributions to risk assessment uncertainty from multimedia contaminant transport modeling, versus uncertainty contributions from human chemical intake and toxicological evaluations, will be compared. Statistical error and uncertainty analyses of model-versus experiment-based risk estimates will be used to gauge model performance. The goal is to identity typical model performance for practical risk assessment applications based on input parameters developed from standard site data collection methods, rather than based on model calibrations that cannot be accomplished for most contaminated sites. The information developed during the project will be essential for decision makers who must establish "acceptable" modeling error and uncertainty tolerances for health risk assessments in keeping with the data quality objectives process.
Publications and Presentations:
Publications have been submitted on this project:
View all 8 publications for this project
Supplemental Keywords:
Health, Scientific Discipline, Waste, Water, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Contaminated Sediments, Environmental Chemistry, Geochemistry, Health Risk Assessment, Chemistry, Fate & Transport, Risk Assessments, ecological risk assessment, fate, fate and transport, sediment treatment, contaminant transport, multimedia risk assessment models, risk characterization, sediment transport, transport contaminants, VOCs, contaminated sediment, reliability evaluation, adverse human health affects, soils, hazardous waste, experimental validation, ecological impacts, assessment methods, terrestrial and aquatic fate, toxic environmental contaminants, ecology assessment models, hazardous waste sites, assessment technology, leaching, ecological transferability, exposure assessment, human health risk, leachate
Progress and Final Reports:
Final Report
