Using tissue residues in aquatic animals to ground-truth ecological risk assessments
Conference
·
OSTI ID:452035
- EA Engineering, Science and Technology, Inc., Hunt Valley, MD (United States)
Ecological risks are often estimated by comparing expected environmental exposures (EEE) to a toxicity benchmark (TB). This comparison is expressed quantitatively as a Hazard Quotient (HQ) by dividing the TB into the EEE. HQs are designed to be environmentally conservative to minimize false negatives. This conservatism allows risk managers to conclude with a high degree of certainty that HQs < 1.0 represent acceptable ecological risks. HQs > 1.0, however, are more difficult to interpret. Current state-of-the-practice is to conduct a weight-of-evidence analysis where multiple lines of information are considered in addition to the HQ results. This analysis indicates to the risk manager what level of certainty he or she should place in the HQ results. One line of evidence is the presence/absence of chemicals of concern in the tissues of field-collected receptors. This presentation will demonstrate how residue data were used to ground-truth HQs generated for an ecological risk assessment conducted at a DOD facility in the southeastern US. For some receptor-chemical combinations, tissue residues rescind substantial ecological risks suggested by elevated HQs. In other instances, tissue residues corroborated the HQ results suggesting where true ecological hazards exist. Specific examples will be given for when the use of tissue residue data is inappropriate. Finally, this presentation will suggest how tissue residue data can be incorporated in a weight-of-evidence Risk Characterization that is consistent with EPA`s Framework for Ecological Risk Assessment and draft Ecological Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund.
- OSTI ID:
- 452035
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-961149--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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