Validation of a terrestrial food chain model

Journal Article · Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1992 · Journal of Esposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology; (United States)

OSTI ID:7128787

Travis, C C; Blaylock, B P ^[1]

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1. Center for Risk Management, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TN (United States)

An increasingly important topic in risk assessment is the estimation of human exposure to environmental pollutants through pathways other than inhalation. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently developed a computerized methodology (EPA, 1990) to estimate indirect exposure to toxic pollutants from Municipal Waste Combuster emissions. This methodology estimates health risks from exposure to toxic pollutants from the terrestrial food chain (TFC), soil ingestion, drinking water ingestion, fish ingestion, and dermal absorption via soil and water. Of these, one of the most difficult to estimate is exposure through the food chain. This paper estimates the accuracy of the EPA methodology for estimating food chain contamination. To our knowledge, no data exist on measured concentrations of pollutants in food grown around Municipal Waste Incinerators, and few field-scale studies have been performed on the uptake of pollutants in the food chain. Therefore, to evaluate the EPA methodology, we compare actual measurements of background contaminant levels in food with estimates made using EPA's computerized methodology. Background levels of contaminants in air, water, and soil were used as input to the EPA food chain model to predict background levels of contaminants in food. These predicted values were then compared with the measured background contaminant levels. Comparisons were performed for dioxin, pentachlorophenol, polychlorinated biphenyls, benzene, benzo(a)pyrene, mercury, and lead.

• OSTI ID: 7128787
• Journal Information: Journal of Esposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology; (United States), Vol. 2:2; ISSN 1053-4245
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
BENZENE
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
BENZOPYRENE
CHLORINATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
DIOXIN
FOOD CHAINS
CONTAMINATION
LEAD
MERCURY
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE PATHWAY
HEALTH HAZARDS
INGESTION
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MUNICIPAL WASTES
POLLUTION
RISK ASSESSMENT
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
US EPA
VALIDATION
AROMATICS
CONDENSED AROMATICS
ECOSYSTEMS
ELEMENTS
HALOGENATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
HAZARDS
HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS
HYDROCARBONS
INTAKE
METALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
SIMULATION
TESTING
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTES
540220* - Environment
Terrestrial- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
540320 - Environment
Aquatic- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
540120 - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
560300 - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology