Applicability of US EPA risk assessment guidelines for chemical mixtures

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988 · Trace Subst. Environ. Health; (United States)

OSTI ID:5963036

Lutkenhoff, S D; Hertzberg, R C; Sonich-Mullin, C

The US EPA published Guidelines for the Health Risk Assessment of Chemical Mixtures in September, 1986. The Guidelines provide procedures for characterizing health risks from exposure to several chemicals, as is commonly the case with contaminated drinking water. The Guidelines present three options, depending on whether sufficient exposure and toxicologic information exist on the mixture, on a similar mixture, or merely on the mixture components. These options allow the risk assessor to use as much data as possible in predicting the potential toxicity of a multiplicity of chemicals in drinking water. To facilitate the application of Guidelines procedures, the Agency has developed a data base on known toxicological interactions. This unique resource allows incorporation of interaction data on a case-by-case basis into mixture risk assessments. Additional technical support information is being compiled, which will provide the scientific basis for the Guidelines procedures. The resulting report will include a summary of available research data on interactions and theories of interaction mechanisms, a discussion of the validity of statistical methods used in research articles on interactions, and recommendations for revisions to the existing Guidelines. In the present paper, the Guidelines will be summarized and illustrated using an example assessment of contaminated ground water.

• Research Organization: Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5963036
• Report Number(s): CONF-8805159-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Trace Subst. Environ. Health; (United States) Journal Volume: 12
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

520200 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
560300* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
CONTAMINATION
DISPERSIONS
DRINKING WATER
GROUND WATER
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
MIXTURES
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RECOMMENDATIONS
RISK ASSESSMENT
TOXICITY
US EPA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WATER
XENOBIOTICS