Ecological risk assessment of depleted uranium in the environment at Aberdeen Proving Ground
- Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States). Dept. of Fishery and Wildlife Biology
A preliminary ecological risk assessment was conducted to evaluate the effects of depleted uranium (DU) in the Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) ecosystem and its potential for human health effects. An ecological risk assessment of DU should include the processes of hazard identification, dose-response assessment, exposure assessment, and risk characterization. Ecological risk assessments also should explicitly examine risks incurred by nonhuman as well as human populations, because risk assessments based only on human health do not always protect other species. To begin to assess the potential ecological risk of DU release to the environment we modeled DU transport through the principal components of the aquatic ecosystem at APG. We focused on the APG aquatic system because of the close proximity of the Chesapeake Bay and concerns about potential impacts on this ecosystem. Our objective in using a model to estimate environmental fate of DU is to ultimately reduce the uncertainty about predicted ecological risks due to DU from APG. The model functions to summarize information on the structure and functional properties of the APG aquatic system, to provide an exposure assessment by estimating the fate of DU in the environment, and to evaluate the sources of uncertainty about DU transport.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States); Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States). Dept. of Fishery and Wildlife Biology
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOD; Department of Defense, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 6503105
- Report Number(s):
- LA-SUB-93-76; ON: DE93008911
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
CONTAMINATION
DEPLETED URANIUM
RISK ASSESSMENT
FOOD CHAINS
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
BIOLOGICAL ACCUMULATION
CHESAPEAKE BAY
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
FISHES
HEALTH HAZARDS
INGESTION
METALS
PHYTOPLANKTON
PROGRESS REPORT
RADIATION DOSES
SEDIMENTS
SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS
ACTINIDES
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
ATLANTIC OCEAN
BAYS
COASTAL WATERS
DOCUMENT TYPES
DOSES
ECOSYSTEMS
ELEMENTS
HAZARDS
INTAKE
MASS TRANSFER
PLANKTON
PLANTS
SEAS
SURFACE WATERS
URANIUM
VERTEBRATES
540250* - Environment
Terrestrial- Site Resource & Use Studies- (1990-)
540350 - Environment
Aquatic- Site Resource & Use Studies- (1990-)
540230 - Environment
Terrestrial- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
540330 - Environment
Aquatic- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
560101 - Biomedical Sciences
Applied Studies- Radiation Effects- Dosimetry & Monitoring- (1992-)