U.S. EPA`s development of chemical-specific wildlife criteria as applied in the Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative
- Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC (United States)
- Environmental Protection Agency, Duluth, MN (United States)
- Environmental Protection Agency, Chicago, IL (United States)
In 1988, in response to a General Accounting Office report, entitled National Refuge Contamination is Difficult to Confirm and Clean Up, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initiated development of chemical-specific wildlife criteria. Since the inception of the program, the wildlife effort was evaluated by the Agency`s Science Advisory Board on two different occasions. In April of this year wildlife criteria were promulgated by the EPA`s part of the Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative (GLWQI). In the GLWQI effort, wildlife criteria were calculated separately for the taxonomic classes Aves and Mammalia and the wildlife criterion was set at the lower of the two values. Exposure parameters used in criteria derivation were from wildlife species representative of avian and mammalian species resident in the Great Lakes basin which are likely to experience, the highest exposures to bioaccumulative contaminants through the aquatic food web. A thorough analysis of available empirical sure data was carried out and expo food webs were constructed to determine the trophic level positions for each of the representative species. A review and analysis of available avian and mammalian toxicity data was also carried out to support the appropriate ranges of uncertainty factors for use in deriving wildlife criteria. Since wildlife criteria are intended to protect populations, acceptable endpoints for the purpose of criteria derivation were restricted to more frank effects.
- OSTI ID:
- 367528
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9511137--; ISBN 1-880611-03-1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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