Human health risk assessment for off-shore media at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
- Eileen Mahoney Associates, Inc., Philadelphia, PA (United States)
A human health risk assessment for off-shore media was performed at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine. The purpose was to determine whether any potential human health risks could be posed by exposures to the estuary. Included in the study were the evaluations of potential risks existing from human exposures to surface water and sediment, as well as potential risks posed by ingestion of various species of fish and shellfish which are caught commercially and recreationally in the estuary. Three species were chosen for study. They were lobsters, mussels, and flounder. The USEPA prescribed protocols for performing human health risk assessments under CERCLA and RCRA were followed to estimate risks associated with ingestion of these species caught in the lower estuary, in the vicinity of the Shipyard. USEPA required the evaluation of two potential seafood ingestion scenarios recreational fishermen and subsistence fishermen. The results indicated that the USEPA risk target of 10{sup {minus}6} for carcinogens or the hazard index of one was exceeded in at least one species for the subsistence ingestion scenario for some inorganics and organic compounds. Based on these results, it was necessary to propose Media Protection Standards in the biota, which would represent the USEPA target risk level for carcinogens and noncarcinogens, as potential cleanup targets. In performing this task, a review of regional background levels for these chemicals found in biota throughout the Great Bay Estuarine System, at locations removed from the Shipyard, was performed. Also examined were regional Maine data from the NOAA Mussel Watch Program. Biota concentrations near the Shipyard were found to be within the range of biota concentrations for most of these chemicals throughout the region, suggesting possible multiple, non-point sources for the contaminants found in seafood throughout the region.
- OSTI ID:
- 225186
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9511137-; ISBN 1-880611-03-1; TRN: IM9621%%116
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) world conference, Vancouver (Canada), 5-9 Nov 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Second SETAC world congress (16. annual meeting): Abstract book. Global environmental protection: Science, politics, and common sense; PB: 378 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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