Protection Agency's Risk Research Articles

Associations between estimates of perinatal industrial pollution exposures and intellectual disability in Utah children.

While heavy metals exposure is associated with intellectual disability (ID), little is known about associations between industrial pollution and ID. The objective of this analysis is to assess associations between estimated perinatal industrial pollution exposures from the US Environmental Protection Agency's Risk Screening Environmental Indicators Microdata and children's ID risk. We conducted a case-control study of children born in Utah from 2000 to 2008 (n = 1679). Cases were identified through the Center for Disease Control's Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network's Utah site and matched with controls based on birth year, sex, and birth county. We used multivariable generalized estimating equations to examine associations between estimated perinatal industrial pollution exposures and ID risk. The fourth quartile of industrial pollution exposure was associated with increased odds of ID relative to the first (Odds Ratio [OR]: 1.73, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.23-2.44) and second (OR: 1.67, CI: 1.19-2.35) quartiles. Similarly, the third quartile was associated with increased odds of ID relative to the first (OR: 1.47, CI: 1.06-2.03) and second (OR: 1.41, CI: 1.02-1.96) quartiles. Findings were robust to varied model specifications. Maternal residential exposures to industrial pollution were associated with increased ID prevalence in Utah. Since environmental correlates of ID are understudied, additional research is needed.

A PETAR method for risk assessment of human health and environment on the regional scale.

Risk assessments are necessary to effectively reveal the state of the degradation of living environments on a regional scale. However, risk assessments are often limited by time, cost, and technology, which make conducting effective evaluations difficult. Thus, in this study, the procedure for ecological tiered assessment of risk (PETAR) method was used to analyze the human health and environmental risks in Daye, China. This method first used the United States Environmental Protection Agency's risk assessment approach to qualitatively determine the risk sources, pressures, receptors, and effect endpoints and constructed a conceptual model of threats to the human living environment. Each risk-prone subregion was then evaluated using the fuzzy logic method. Next, a quantitative assessment was conducted for the subregions with the most serious environmental degradation. Finally, quantitative analyses were performed to verify the original hypotheses. The results showed that the high-risk areas were distributed in the industrial regions of Daye, wherein mining and processing clusters and mining settlements are widespread and confirmed the locations of the particular subregions with the most serious human health and environmental risks. This study also validated the practicality of the PETAR method for human health risk assessments in mining areas with large-scale, multifactor, and multihazard paths. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2023;19:239-253. © 2022 SETAC.

Risk assessment of occupational exposure to anesthesia Isoflurane in the hospital and veterinary settings

Despite the modern ventilation and waste anesthetic gas (WAG) scavenging systems, occupational exposure to common volatile anesthesia, isoflurane, can occur in the hospital and veterinary settings, but limited information exists on potential exposure and health risk of isoflurane. We assessed exposure dose rates and risks among clinicians and veterinary professionals from occupational exposure to isoflurane. Through a critical review of open literature (1965 to 2020), we summarized potential adverse effects and exposure scenarios of isoflurane among the professional groups, including anesthetists, nurses, operating room personnel, researchers, and/or veterinarians. Deterministic United States National Research Council/Environmental Protection Agency's risk assessment framework (hazard identification, dose-response relationship, exposure assessment and risk characterization) was used to compute inhalation Reference Doses (RfDs), Average Daily Doses (ADDs), and Hazard Quotient (HQ) values—an established measure of non-carcinogenic (systemic) risks—from exposure to isoflurane to workers in hospital and veterinary settings. We identified the central nervous system as the main target for isoflurane, and that isoflurane has dose-dependent effects on cardiac hemodynamics, can impair pulmonary functions and potentially cross the utero-placental barrier leading to congenital malformation in fetus. Based on the modelled RfDs (range 0.8003–7.55 mg/kg-day) and ADDs (range 0.071–1.9617 mg/kg-day), we estimated 56 different HQ values, of which 5 HQs were higher than 1 (range 1.099–2.4512) under high exposure scenarios. Our results suggest a significant non-carcinogenic risk from isoflurane exposures among workers in the occupational settings. The findings underscore the need to significantly minimize isoflurane release to protect workers' health in the hospital and veterinary environments.

Proximity to sources of airborne lead is associated with reductions in Children's executive function in the first four years of life.

Although policies to remove lead from gasoline have resulted in a substantial reduction in airborne lead, multiple industries are known to generate lead that is released in the air. The present study examines the extent to which residential proximity to a documented source of airborne lead is associated with intellectual and executive function in children. Data were available for n=849 children from the Family Life Project. Geolocation for children's residences between birth and 36 months were referenced against the Environmental Protection Agency's Risk Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) database, which estimates exposure for each ½ mile grid in the contiguous United States. Instrumental variable models were employed to estimate causal associations between exposure and cognitive outcomes measured at 36, 48, and 60 months, using census-documented density of manufacturing employment as the instrument. Models of continuous lead dosage indicated small negative effects for both child IQ and executive function (EF). These results indicate that RSEI estimates of airborne lead exposure are meaningfully associated with decrements in cognitive development.

Risk assessment of inhaled diacetyl from electronic cigarette use among teens and adults

Diacetyl (C4H6O2) is a toxicant commonly found in electronic cigarettes (e-Cigs) as a flavoring component and an enhancer of e-juices. Lung injury in current and former workers in popcorn manufacturing suggests a possible association with diacetyl inhalation exposure. Although the number of e-Cig users continues to rise steadily among the teens and adults, the potential risk of pulmonary disease has not been characterized. A systematic review of the open literature identified bronchiolitis obliterans—a pathological inflammation resulting in fibrosis of the bronchioles leading to an irreversible limitation to airflow in lungs—as the primary outcome of diacetyl exposures. Following the deterministic United States National Research Council/Environmental Protection Agency's risk assessment framework, that consists of four key steps: hazard identification, dose-response assessment, exposure assessment and risk characterization, we estimated noncarcinogenic (systemic) risks using a Hazard Quotient (HQ) approach upon exposure to diacetyl among teens and adults who use e-Cigs. Based on the NIOSH Benchmark Dose (BMD; 0.0175 mg/kg-day) and modelled Average Daily Doses (ADDs; range 0.11–5.2 mg/kg-day), we estimated 12 different HQ values—a measure of non-carcinogenic risk for diacetyl inhalation exposures—all of which were greater than 1 (range 6.2875–297.1429), suggesting a significantly higher non-carcinogenic risk from diacetyl exposures among the teens and adults who use e-Cigs. These results underscore the need to regulate e-Cigs to protect teens and adults from diacetyl exposures and risk of developing lung injuries, including bronchiolitis obliterans.

Ecosystem services as assessment endpoints for ecological risk assessment.

Ecosystem services are defined as the outputs of ecological processes that contribute to human welfare or have the potential to do so in the future. Those outputs include food and drinking water, clean air and water, and pollinated crops. The need to protect the services provided by natural systems has been recognized previously, but ecosystem services have not been formally incorporated into ecological risk assessment practice in a general way in the United States. Endpoints used conventionally in ecological risk assessment, derived directly from the state of the ecosystem (e.g., biophysical structure and processes), and endpoints based on ecosystem services serve different purposes. Conventional endpoints are ecologically important and susceptible entities and attributes that are protected under US laws and regulations. Ecosystem service endpoints are a conceptual and analytical step beyond conventional endpoints and are intended to complement conventional endpoints by linking and extending endpoints to goods and services with more obvious benefit to humans. Conventional endpoints can be related to ecosystem services even when the latter are not considered explicitly during problem formulation. To advance the use of ecosystem service endpoints in ecological risk assessment, the US Environmental Protection Agency's Risk Assessment Forum has added generic endpoints based on ecosystem services (ES-GEAE) to the original 2003 set of generic ecological assessment endpoints (GEAEs). Like conventional GEAEs, ES-GEAEs are defined by an entity and an attribute. Also like conventional GEAEs, ES-GEAEs are broadly described and will need to be made specific when applied to individual assessments. Adoption of ecosystem services as a type of assessment endpoint is intended to improve the value of risk assessment to environmental decision making, linking ecological risk to human well-being, and providing an improved means of communicating those risks. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2016;12:522-528. Published 2015 SETAC. This article is a US Government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the USA.

The meaning and importance of process safety competency

Process safety competency is subject to regulation in some jurisdictions, such as in the United Kingdom by the Health and Safety Executive (UK HSE) under the Control of Major Accident Hazard regulations. Process safety competency is one of 20 elements in the risk-based process safety (RBPS) management system developed by the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS). However, competency as used in this RBPS element is not the same as the competency regulated by the UK HSE. The RBPS competency element addresses managing a knowledge base of process information and not competency as defined by other CCPS publications which use the term with a similar meaning to the UK HSE. This makes for a confusing situation for companies interested in improving their management of process safety competency. The scope of the RBPS element should be revised to address true competency. Currently, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Process Safety Management Standard and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Risk Management Program rule do not address competency. However, both regulators are considering revisions to these regulations, including the incorporation of additional elements from the CCPS RBPS management system that are not currently in the regulations. One of these elements is process safety competency, as defined in the CCPS RBPS management system. This action would result in an inadequate treatment of competency. If a competency element is incorporated into the regulations, it should address true competency. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog 35: 171–175, 2016

The juxtaposition and spatial disconnect of environmental justice declarations and actual risk: A new method and its application to New York State

Some states are defining environmental justice areas geographically on the basis of demographic criteria alone. This is problematic as it does not consider distributive concentrations of environmental toxins. Although environmental justice is much more than avoiding concentrations of increased environmental risk, the identification of such areas could provide states with a roadmap for addressing concentrations and for the facilitation of appropriate community-targeted programs in response. This research proposes an applied quantitative approach for the geographic designation of areas determined to be at greater relative risk of exposure to environmental toxins as part of states' broader environmental justice goals and policies. Using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Risk Screening Environmental Impact Tool (RSEI) and spatial analyses, the proposed method defines geographic areas reflecting calculated risk values pertaining to exposed populations and toxic releases. The method is applied to four counties of New York, and the results are juxtaposed with current state-declared environmental justice areas, which are defined on demography alone. This approach permits geospatial mapping and exploratory spatial data analysis. The method potentially can be used by states to effectively address concentrations of toxic releases as part of their environmental justice programs and policies.

The mechanical integrity journey—Equipment identification

AbstractThe development of a functioning mechanical integrity (MI) program is very much like taking a long journey. The first step in that journey is to develop a practical methodology for determining what equipment is to be inspected and tested. When it comes to equipment that contains or handles hazardous materials, this step is crucial from a catastrophic prevention perspective process safety management (PSM), as well as environmental protection and production/cost perspectives.A practical methodology to identify MI equipment for inspection and testing, as well as a table that is used to document MI equipment and tests required were developed and are shared in this article.This article describes an approach that builds on center for chemical process safety guidelines and fulfills both the occupational safety and health administration, process safety management, and environmental protection agency's risk management program regulations, by considering the four following criteria to identify MI equipment: Equipment that provides containment of hazardous materials. Equipment that prevents releases of hazardous materials. Equipment that mitigates releases of hazardous materials. Equipment that supports containment, prevention, or mitigation of releases of hazardous materials. © 2008 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog, 2008

Public Health Implications of Altered Puberty Timing

Changes in puberty timing have implications for the treatment of individual children, for the risk of later adult disease, and for chemical testing and risk assessment for the population. Children with early puberty are at a risk for accelerated skeletal maturation and short adult height, early sexual debut, potential sexual abuse, and psychosocial difficulties. Altered puberty timing is also of concern for the development of reproductive tract cancers later in life. For example, an early age of menarche is a risk factor for breast cancer. A low age at male puberty is associated with an increased risk for testicular cancer according to several, but not all, epidemiologic studies. Girls and, possibly, boys who exhibit premature adrenarche are at a higher risk for developing features of metabolic syndrome, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease later in adulthood. Altered timing of puberty also has implications for behavioral disorders. For example, an early maturation is associated with a greater incidence of conduct and behavior disorders during adolescence. Finally, altered puberty timing is considered an adverse effect in reproductive toxicity risk assessment for chemicals. Recent US legislation has mandated improved chemical testing approaches for protecting children's health and screening for endocrine-disrupting agents, which has led to changes in the US Environmental Protection Agency's risk assessment and toxicity testing guidelines to include puberty-related assessments and to the validation of pubertal male and female rat assays for endocrine screening.

Cancer and Non-Cancer Health Risk from Eating Cassava Grown in Some Mining Communities in Ghana

Food crops such as cassava, cocoyam and other tuber crops grown in mining communities uptake toxic or hazardous chemicals such as arsenic, and cadmium, from the soil. Cassava is a stable food for Ghanaians. This study evaluated human health risk from eating cassava grown in some mining communities in Ghana such as Bogoso, Prestea, Tarkwa and Tamso, which are important mining towns in the Western Region of Ghana. The study evaluated cancer and non-cancer health effects from eating cassava grown in the study areas in accordance with US Environmental Protection Agency's Risk Assessment guidelines. The results of the study revealed the following: cancer health risk for Tamso, 0.098 (RME--Reasonable Maximum Exposure) and 0.082 (CTE--Central Tendency Exposure). This means that approximately 10 and 8 out of 100 resident adults are likely to suffer from cancer related cases by RME and CTE parameters respectively. For Prestea, we have 0.010 and 0.12, which also means that approximately 1 out of 100 and 10 resident adults out of 100 are also likely to suffer from cancer related diseases by RME and CTE parameters. The results of the study obtained were found to be above the acceptable cancer risk range of 1x 10(-6) to 1x 10(-4), i.e., 1 case of cancer out of 1 million or 100,000 people respectively.

Practical methods for meeting remediation goals at hazardous waste sites.

Risk-based cleanup goals or preliminary remediation goals (PRGs) are established at hazardous waste sites when contaminant concentrations in air, soil, surface water, or groundwater exceed specified acceptable risk levels. When derived in accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency's risk assessment guidance, the PRG is intended to represent the average contaminant concentration within an exposure unit area that is left on the site following remediation. The PRG, however, frequently has been used inconsistently at Superfund sites with a number of remediation decisions using the PRG as a not-to-exceed concentration (NTEC). Such misapplications could result in overly conservative and unnecessarily costly remedial actions. The PRG should be applied in remedial actions in the same manner in which it was generated. Statistical methods, such as Bower's Confidence Response Goal, and mathematical methods such as "iterative removal of hot spots," are available to assist in the development of NTECs that ensure the average postremediation contaminant concentration is at or below the PRG. These NTECs can provide the risk manager with a more practical cleanup goal. In addition, an acute PRG can be developed to ensure that contaminant concentrations left on-site following remediation are not so high as to pose an acute or short-term health risk if excessive exposure to small areas of the site should occur. A case study demonstrates cost savings of five to ten times associated with the more scientifically sound use of the PRG as a postremediation site average, and development of a separate NTEC and acute PRG based on the methods referenced in this article.

Software Review of Risk*Assistant (Version 1.1) and RiskEZ (Version 1), both for Windows

RiskEZ and Risk*Assistant both make site risk assessment more accessible to many users and provide a relatively efficient means for performing screening level risk assessments. The programs perform basic site risk assessment calcu lations for users and provide point estimates of incremental individual cancer risks and non cancer hazard quotients following standard Environmental Pro tection Agency risk assessment guidance documents. Risk*Assistant allows the user to input raw data from which it can perform some dispersion modeling and calculate exposure point concentrations, while RiskEZ takes the exposure point concentrations as inputs. RiskEZ includes features that allow multiple network users to work on the same site and to deal with radioactive contami nants as well as chemical ones, while Risk*Assistant limits access to a site to one user at a time and it includes non radioactive substances. Neither program currently has the capability to perform probabilistic risk analyses, although Risk*Assistant allows the user to peform some sensitivity analysis. This review highlights differences between the programs and demonstrates how selection of a particular program might influence the results.

Evaluation of the Neshap Radiological Risk Assessment

The Environmental Protection Agency performed a risk assessment as a basis for the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants. This paper compares the Environmental Protection Agency's risk assessment with the models used by the National Research Council's fifth Committee on the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiations, the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, and the International Commission on Radiological Protection. Comparison of the parameters used by each organization suggests that the Environmental Protection Agency could improve its own risk assessment by adopting one of the assessments done by the BEIR V Committee, the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, and the International Commission on Radiological Protection.

Asbestos Operation and Maintenance Studies on Carpet Cleaning, High Efficiency Particulate Air Vacuum Use, and Tile Buffing

Abstract The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory has conducted several research studies on the effectiveness of control measures for operation and maintenance activities in asbestos-contaminated buildings. Studies have been conducted on carpet cleaning, bag changing activities of portable high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter vacuums, and vinyl asbestos floor tile maintenance practices. In the carpet cleaning studies, hot water cleaning, HEPA vacuuming, and conventional vacuuming were compared. All three processes resulted in the release of asbestos into the surrounding environment as measured by transmission electron microscopy (TEM); however, none of the worker levels exceeded the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard as measured by phase contrast microscopy (PCM). In the HEPA vacuum bag changing evaluation, all units tested exposed the worker to elevated asbestos concentrations, emphasizing the prudence of using protective clothin...

HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT Refinements urged to EPA approach

Eschewing a complete revamp of the Environmental Protection Agency's risk assessment methodology, the National Research Council (NRC) has called instead for some refinements to the agency's conservative approach to estimating health risks posed by environmental pollutants. NRCs massive 600-plus page report, nearly three years in the making, places a stamp of approval on EPA's fundamentally sound approach to assessing risk. The report, for the most part, discounts concerns of critics who would make EPA's approach less conservative and, thus, the regulations less stringent. We took a hard look at these criticisms and found them to be invalid, says NRC panel member Adam Finkel, fellow at Resources for the Future's Center for Risk Management. The NRC study was mandated by the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments and was funded by EPA. It focuses on how EPA estimates risk associated with the 189 hazardous air pollutants listed in the law. But the ...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Risk Assessment Guidelines: Current Status and Future Directions

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Risk Assessment Guidelines: Current Status and Future Directions

Overview and Update of the Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (site) Demonstration Program

The Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Program is now in its sixth year of demonstrating technologies applicable to Superfund sites. The SITE Program, conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory, is intended to accelerate the use of new and innovative treatment processes as well as evaluate innovative measurement and monitoring techniques. Within the SITE Program, the Demonstration Program and the Emerging Technologies Program are responsible for innovative/alternative waste treatment technology development. Separate and parallel activities are progressing for development and evaluation of measuring and monitoring technologies as well as technology transfer operations.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Risk Assessment Guidelines

This paper has been reviewed by the Office of Health and Environmental Assessment, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and approved for publication. Approval does not signify that the contents necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Agency, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. In 1983, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (U.S. NAS) proposed a framework for the processes of risk assessment and risk management in government agencies (U.S. NAS, 1983). Using the U.S. NAS scheme as an organizing principle, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) published guidelines pertaining to risk assessment in five areas: estimating exposures, chemical mixtures, mutagenicity, suspect developmental toxicity and carcinogenicity. These guidelines were developed to promote high technical quality and consistent practice of risk assessment Agencywide. This paper will discuss the historical development of the guidelines and their role in the work performed by the Agency. Each of the five (5) guidelines is outlined and anticipated revisions discussed. Related assessment activities and new subject areas are also presented.

The Environmental Protection Agency's risk assessment guidelines.

In recent years, the EPA has moved toward a risk assessment/risk reduction framework for making regulatory decisions. The Agency has taken a number of steps to assure the quality and consistency of the risk assessment component of those decisions. The first, and perhaps most important of these steps, is the development of Agency-wide risk assessment guidelines. Five guidelines have been published. They are: carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, developmental toxicity, chemical mixtures, and exposure. The provisions of the five guidelines are discussed in the context of the four components of risk assessment. Other activities designed to assure quality and consistency in risk assessments, reduce uncertainty in risk assessment, ensure a more efficient information exchange about risk and risk assessment, and develop the appropriate oversight mechanisms are also discussed. These include additional guidelines, the Risk Assessment Forum, risk assessment research, the Integrated Risk Information System, the Hazard Assessment Notification System, and the Risk Assessment Council.