Conservatisms in the GLI wildlife water quality criterion for mercury
- ENSR Consulting and Engineering, Acton, MA (United States)
On March 23, 1995, the US EPA issued the Water Quality Guidance for the Great Lakes System in its final form. The guidance established a uniform set of water quality criteria for selected chemicals and guidance for deriving criteria for additional chemicals that will be applicable for the entire Great Lakes watershed. Among these are criteria developed for the protection of piscivorous wildlife. A critical evaluation of the wildlife criteria reveals a number of conservatisms that contribute to the overestimation of potential ecological risks. The wildlife criterion for mercury provides an example of the conservative approach used in criterion development. Avian piscivores have been identified in the guidance as the most sensitive ecological receptors to mercury. A sensitivity analysis of the key factors used to derive the avian wildlife value demonstrates the importance that modeling assumptions have in criterion derivation. Of particular importance to the avian value are the estimates of ingestion rates and diet fractions, bioaccumulation, and uncertainty factors associated with interspecies dose-response extrapolation. The impact of the conservatism in these parameters on the final wildlife criterion is discussed.
- OSTI ID:
- 242389
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9511137--; ISBN 1-880611-03-1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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