Office Of Solid Waste And Emergency Response Research Articles

Evaluation of the U.S. EPA/OSWER Preliminary Remediation Goal for Perchlorate in Groundwater: Focus on Exposure to Nursing Infants

BackgroundPerchlorate is a common contaminant of drinking water and food. It competes with iodide for uptake into the thyroid, thus interfering with thyroid hormone production. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) set a groundwater preliminary remediation goal (PRG) of 24.5 μg/L to prevent exposure of pregnant women that would affect the fetus. This does not account for the greater exposure that is possible in nursing infants or for the relative source contribution (RSC), a factor normally used to lower the PRG due to nonwater exposures.ObjectivesOur goal was to assess whether the OSWER PRG protects infants against exposures from breast-feeding, and to evaluate the perchlorate RSC.MethodsWe used Monte Carlo analysis to simulate nursing infant exposures associated with the OSWER PRG when combined with background perchlorate.ResultsThe PRG can lead to a 7-fold increase in breast milk concentration, causing 90% of nursing infants to exceed the reference dose (RfD) (average exceedance, 2.8-fold). Drinking-water perchlorate must be < 6.9 μg/L to keep the median, and < 1.3 μg/L to keep the 90th-percentile nursing infant exposure below the RfD. This is 3.6- to 19-fold below the PRG. Analysis of biomonitoring data suggests an RSC of 0.7 for pregnant women and of 0.2 for nursing infants. Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest that the RfD itself needs to be reevaluated because of hormonal effects in the general population.ConclusionsThe OSWER PRG for perchlorate can be improved by considering infant exposures, by incorporating an RSC, and by being responsive to any changes in the RfD resulting from the new CDC data.

Environmental technology resources handbook

FORCES DRIVING ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY Public Awareness Regulation Green Consumerism and Investment Environmental Leadership Voluntary Standards Technology Verification and User Consortiums Conclusion Endnotes HOW TO FIND TFES RESOURCES Focusing the Search Selecting the Source Identifying the Assistance Categories Evaluating the Information Endnotes MAPPING THE ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY JUNGLE The Selection Process Refining Terms for Searches The Technology Development Process INTERAGENCY PROGRAMS Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC) Federal Remediation Technology Roundtable (FRTR) Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) The National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) Endnotes FEDERAL AGENCIES Department of Defense Department of Energy Endnotes ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA) Energy Star Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) Environmental Technology Commercialization Center (ETC2) Small Business Gateway Office of the Chief Financial Officer Office of Policy, Economics and Innovation (OPEI) Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics Office of Research and Development Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) Office of Wastewater Management (OWM) Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds (OWOW) Transportation Air Quality Center(TRAQ) OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES United States Agency for International Development (USAID) United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) United States Department of the Interior (DOI) Department of Transportation (DOT) Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Internal Revenue Service (IRS) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) National Science Foundation (NSF) INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Global Environment Facility World Bank Asian Development Bank REGIONAL, STATE AND LOCAL AGENCIES Environmental Council of the States Interstate Technology & Regulatory Cooperation (ITRC) Local Government Organizations NGOs, NONPROFITS, AND PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES Engineering Societies Global Environmental Management Initiative (GEMI) Pew Center on Global Climate Change Restore America's Estuaries World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) World Conservation Union (IUCN) World Resources Institute (WRI) INDEX

Designing Monitoring Programs to Effectively Evaluate the Performance of Natural Attenuation

AbstractNatural attenuation processes affect the fate and transport of organic compounds in many hydrologic systems. Over the last several years, regulatory agencies and environmental professionals have come to recognize the importance of these natural processes in effecting contaminant attenuation. When they are shown to be protective of human health and the environment, and when a well‐designed monitoring program is in place to document the efficiency of these processes, they can be a valuable component of site remediation strategies.

Assessment of cancer risk and environmental levels of arsenic in New Hampshire

AbstractThe Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the United States (US) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) list arsenic as a major concern for Superfund sites and the environment at large. Arsenic is clearly linked to skin, bladder, and lung cancer occurrence in populations highly exposed to arsenic occupationally, medicinally, or through contaminated drinking water (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 1999; IARC, 1987). While these studies have identified important adverse health effects, they cannot provide risk information at lower levels of exposure such as those commonly found in the US. Additionally, precise measurement of exposure is critical to assessing risk in populations consuming relatively trace amounts of arsenic. In New Hampshire, domestic wells serve roughly 40% of the population, and about 10% of these contain arsenic concentrations in the controversial range of 10 to 50 μg/l. New Hampshire, along with other states in New England, has among the highest bladder cancer mortality rates in the country. Therefore, we are conducting a population-based epidemiologic study in New Hampshire (1) to assess the risk of skin and bladder cancer associated with arsenic exposure in a US population, (2) to evaluate methods of quantifying individual exposure to arsenic at low to moderate levels, and (3) to explore alternative models of determining the dose-response relationship at the lower end of exposure. Our findings to date indicate that toenail arsenic concentrations are a reliable, long-term biomarker of total arsenic exposure and reflect arsenic intake by drinking water containing 1 μg/l or more. We found that urinary arsenic cannot be detected consistently in a population for which drinking water arsenic is primarily below 50 μg/l. Lastly, our data suggest that use of a biologic marker along with alternative statistical approaches may aid detection of the levels at which arsenic may affect cancer occurrence in the US.

Trends in Innovative Treatment Technologies at Contaminated Sites

Increasing the diversity of technologies used to remediate contaminated soils and groundwater is one of the goals of EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER). While conventional methods of waste remediation, such as stabilization, containment, and incineration, are certainly valid approaches to resolving waste problems, statutory and economic considerations are now, more than ever, encouraging the entire remediation community to consider change in thinking and practice.

Technological Innovation in Hazardous Waste Remediation

The following is the first in a series of articles on various efforts to encourage and support innovation in hazardous waste treatment technologies for sites and affected groundwater. This article provides a brief discussion of the origins of the U.S. EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) Technology Innovation Office (TIO), its mission, and the major initiatives underway or under contemplation. Subsequent articles will provide progress reports on these initiatives and other activities related to technology innovation by federal and state regulators, technology developers, responsible parties, the engineering community, and other interested parties.