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PubMed1989

Problems in assessing the risks of mixtures of contaminants in drinking water.

In conducting risk assessments on drinking water contaminants, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) attempts to evaluate all available toxicity data to develop Health Advisory (HA) and Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) values. The EPA often has grappled with the issues surrounding the toxicity of chemical mixtures, including radioactive contaminants, nitrate/nitrite, and trihalomethanes (THMs). In evaluating the toxicity of chemical mixtures, the EPA's immediate concern is whether the individual HA values and MCLGs are protecting public health when multiple contaminants are present in drinking water. Potential toxic interactions between drinking water contaminants are difficult to predict because experimental studies are generally performed only at high doses relative to environmental levels. Although the contamination of drinking water involves mixtures of contaminants, drinking water regulations are generally based on an assessment of the risks of individual contaminants. This paper discusses three issues of major concern to the EPA: the synergistic effects of solvent mixtures, vehicle effects in laboratory studies, and setting standards for essential trace nutrients where the absorption and/or toxicity are affected by an individual's nutritional status or other dietary components.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Community-based participatory research: lessons learned from the Centers for Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research.

Over the past several decades there has been growing evidence of the increase in incidence rates, morbidity, and mortality for a number of health problems experienced by children. The causation and aggravation of these problems are complex and multifactorial. The burden of these health problems and environmental exposures is borne disproportionately by children from low-income communities and communities of color. Researchers and funding institutions have called for increased attention to the complex issues that affect the health of children living in marginalized communities--and communities more broadly--and have suggested greater community involvement in processes that shape research and intervention approaches, for example, through community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnerships among academic, health services, public health, and community-based organizations. Centers for Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research (Children's Centers) funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were required to include a CBPR project. The purpose of this article is to provide a definition and set of CBPR principles, to describe the rationale for and major benefits of using this approach, to draw on the experiences of six of the Children's Centers in using CBPR, and to provide lessons learned and recommendations for how to successfully establish and maintain CBPR partnerships aimed at enhancing our understanding and addressing the multiple determinants of children's health.

Child↗
PubMed1999

Emergency planning and the acute toxic potency of inhaled ammonia.

Ammonia is present in agriculture and commerce in many if not most communities. This report evaluates the toxic potency of ammonia, based on three types of data: anecdotal data, in some cases predating World War 1, reconstructions of contemporary industrial accidents, and animal bioassays. Standards and guidelines for human exposure have been driven largely by the anecdotal data, suggesting that ammonia at 5,000-10,000 parts per million, volume/volume (ppm-v), might be lethal within 5-10 min. However, contemporary accident reconstructions suggest that ammonia lethality requires higher concentrations. For example, 33,737 ppm-v was a 5-min zero-mortality value in a major ammonia release in 1973 in South Africa. Comparisons of secondary reports of ammonia lethality with original sources revealed discrepancies in contemporary sources, apparently resulting from failure to examine old documents or accurately translate foreign documents. The present investigation revealed that contemporary accident reconstructions yield ammonia lethality levels comparable to those in dozens of reports of animal bioassays, after adjustment of concentrations to human equivalent concentrations via U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) procedures. Ammonia levels potentially causing irreversible injury or impairing the ability of exposed people to escape from further exposure or from coincident perils similarly have been biased downwardly in contemporary sources. The EPA has identified ammonia as one of 366 extremely hazardous substances subject to community right-to-know provisions of the Superfund Act and emergency planning provisions of the Clean Air Act. The Clean Air Act defines emergency planning zones (EPZs) around industrial facilities exceeding a threshold quantity of ammonia on-site. This study suggests that EPZ areas around ammonia facilities can be reduced, thereby also reducing emergency planning costs, which will vary roughly with the EPZ radius squared.

Air Pollution↗
PubMed2002

Measurement of p-nitrophenol in the urine of residents whose homes were contaminated with methyl parathion.

During the last several years, illegal commercial application of methyl parathion (MP) in domestic settings in several U.S. Southeastern and Midwestern States has affected largely inner-city residents. As part of a multiagency response involving the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and state and local health departments, our laboratory developed a rapid, high-throughput, selective method for quantifying p-nitrophenol (PNP), a biomarker of MP exposure, using isotope dilution high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. We measured PNP in approximately 16,000 samples collected from residents of seven different states. Using this method, we were able to receive sample batches from each state; prepare, analyze, and quantify the samples for PNP; verify the results; and report the data to the health departments and ATSDR in about 48 hr. These data indicate that many residents had urinary PNP concentrations well in excess of those of the general U.S. population. In fact, their urinary PNP concentrations were more consistent with those seen in occupational settings or in poisoning cases. Although these data, when coupled with other MP metabolite data, suggest that many residents with the highest concentrations of urinary PNP had significant exposure to MP, they do not unequivocally rule out exposure to PNP resulting from environmental degradation of MP. Even with their limitations, these data were used with the assumption that all PNP was derived from MP exposure, which enabled the U.S. EPA and ATSDR to develop a comprehensive, biologically driven response that was protective of human health, especially susceptible populations, and included clinical evaluations, outreach activities, community education, integrated pest management, and decontamination of homes.

Biomarkers↗
PubMed1991

Burning of hazardous waste in boilers and industrial furnaces--EPA. Final rule: corrections; technical amendments.

On February 21, 1991, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule to regulate air emissions from the burning of hazardous waste in boilers and industrial furnaces (56 FR 7134). Today's notice corrects typographical and editorial errors that appeared in the regulatory text, including corrections to appendices II and III, and adds two appendices, appendix IX and appendix X, to part 266. Appendices IX and X were not ready at the time of publication; therefore, a note was placed in the appropriate location in the rule to inform readers that these appendices were to be published at a later date. Copies of these appendices were, however, made available to the public through the RCRA Docket maintained at EPA and through the National Technical Information Service (NTIS).

Air Pollution↗
PubMed2003

Improvements to EPA method 531.1 for the analysis of carbamates that resulted in the development of U.S. EPA Method 531.2.

This project is undertaken to fully optimize the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Method 531.1 post-column chemistries and to incorporate recent advances in liquid chromatographic separation, post-column derivatization, and detection techniques. Sample preservation and storage stability studies establish citric acid as a suitable replacement for the caustic monochloroacetic acid in the current method and confirm its antimicrobial effectiveness. Performance of an alternate set of commercially available post-column reagents is also investigated. This research has resulted in the publication of Method 531.2, a high-performance liquid chromatographic direct injection method for the analysis of N-methylcarbamoyloximes and N-methylcarbamates using post-column derivatization and fluorescence detection.

Carbamates↗
PubMed2002

A holistic look at minimizing adverse environmental impact under Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act.

Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) requires that "the location, design, construction, and capacity of cooling water intake structures reflect the best technology available for minimizing adverse environmental impact." As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) develops new regulations to implement Section 316(b), much of the debate has centered on adverse impingement and entrainment impacts of cooling-water intake structures. Depending on the specific location and intake layout, once-through cooling systems withdrawing many millions of gallons of water per day can, to a varying degree, harm fish and other aquatic organisms in the water bodies from which the cooling water is withdrawn. Therefore, opponents of once-through cooling systems have encouraged the EPA to require wet or dry cooling tower systems as the best technology available (BTA), without considering site-specific conditions. However, within the context of the broader scope of the CWA mandate, this focus seems too narrow. Therefore, this article examines the phrase "minimizing adverse environmental impact" in a holistic light. Emphasis is placed on the analysis of the terms "environmental" and "minimizing." Congress chose "environmental" in lieu of other more narrowly focused terms like "impingement and entrainment," "water quality," or "aquatic life." In this light, BTA for cooling-water intake structures must minimize the entire suite of environmental impacts, as opposed to just those associated with impingement and entrainment. Wet and dry cooling tower systems work well to minimize entrainment and impingement, but they introduce other equally important impacts because they impose an energy penalty on the power output of the generating unit. The energy penalty results from a reduction in plant operating efficiency and an increase in internal power consumption. As a consequence of the energy penalty, power companies must generate additional electricity to achieve the same net output. This added production leads to additional environmental impacts associated with extraction and processing of the fuel, air emissions from burning the fuel, and additional evaporation of freshwater supplies during the cooling process. Wet towers also require the use of toxic biocides that are subsequently discharged or disposed. The other term under consideration, "minimizing," does not equal "eliminating." Technologies may be available to minimize but not totally eliminate adverse environmental impacts.

Air Pollution↗
PubMed2002

Introduction--the methyl parathion story: a chronicle of misuse and preventable human exposure.

In the fall of 1994, Lorain County, Ohio, became the site of the first investigation of several large-scale incidences in which the organophosphate pesticide methyl parathion was illegally applied to private residences. The extent of potential human exposure to this pesticide led the Ohio Department of Health to formally request technical assistance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This article describes the initial investigation of 64 homes in Ohio and introduces the method of using both biological markers of exposure (p-nitrophenol levels in human urine samples) and environmental markers of contamination in dust and air samples when making public health decisions about the cleanup of homes sprayed with methyl parathion. The results of the CDC rapid investigation led the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to declare the contaminated homes in Lorain County a Superfund cleanup site. Seven years after the Lorain incident, and after subsequent Superfund actions had been implemented in Illinois and Mississippi, researchers participated in an expanded session devoted to methyl parathion at the 11th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Exposure Analysis held in Charleston, South Carolina, in the fall of 2001. The articles included in this monograph are based on presentations at that meeting. They report previously unpublished data that tell the methyl parathion story from different perspectives, each providing in-depth information about separate aspects of this multistate, multiagency, and multimillion dollar chemical exposure. This monograph is the methyl parathion story.

Biomarkers↗
PubMed2001

Comparison of operational design criteria for subsurface flow constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment.

Many communities are investigating the use of constructed wetlands as a simple, viable alternative to poorly operating on-site wastewater treatment. Currently, the most popular design models in the U.S.A. for subsurface flow units are the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) methods. However, there has been limited data verifying if the operating performance is up to design standards. In order to address this problem, this paper documents the performance of such treatment systems over a broad range of conditions in North Alabama. The operational data is used to determine a best-fit value of reaction rate constant and proposes improved input parameters for both design models. According to this data, the average plug-flow reaction rate constant was calculated to be 0.70 d-1 for the EPA method, while the recommended organic loading criterion is 11.4 m2/kg BOD5 per day into the wetland for the TVA method.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2006

Lead and copper in drinking water fountains--information for physicians.

BACKGROUND: Lead and copper are potentially toxic metals. The objective of our work was to test the water from the drinking fountains of a large public access office complex in southwest Houston, Texas, for the presence of lead, copper, and microbiologic contamination. The data for the water fountains were compared with what we found in the local municipal drinking water supplies. METHODS: Samples were collected as the first draw at the beginning of the work week. These samples were acidified to prevent the precipitation of heavy metals and analyzed using United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) approved procedures and quality control. RESULTS: Traces of lead were detected in 37.5% and copper in 100% of the tested water fountains. In two buildings, concentrations in some fountains exceeded the USEPA action level for lead (by up to 12-fold) and for copper (by up to 3.9 fold). One sample was positive for total coliform and Escherichia coli bacteria. Comparison with samples from the local municipal drinking water supplies indicated that both metals and bacteria were the result of secondary contamination at the water fountain sites. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that drinking water fountains can be an unexpected and unappreciated source of intake of metal and bacterial contaminants.

Copper↗
PubMed2004

Human testing of pesticides: ethical and scientific considerations.

I reviewed ethical and scientific aspects of 6 human pesticide-dosing studies submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for consideration during the pesticide reregistration process. All had serious ethical or scientific deficiencies-or both-including unacceptable informed consent procedures, unmanaged financial conflicts of interest, inadequate statistical power, inappropriate test methods and endpoints, and distorted results. Given today's knowledge of the effects of pesticides, there is no assurance that any such study can be completely free of short-term risks, long-term risks, or both. Therefore, there is no basis for allowing pesticide studies to continue or for using them during the pesticide reregistration process. An EPA committee that is free from political and financial conflicts of interest should review this practice.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2001

Testing methods for detection of Cryptosporidium spp in water samples.

A large waterborne outbreak of cryptosporidiosis in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA in 1993 prompted a search for ways to prevent large-scale waterborne outbreaks of protozoan parasitoses. Methods for detecting Cryptosporidium parvum play an integral role in strategies that lead to appropriate treatment of surface water, but are criticized because they produce results that are highly variable. The US Environmental Protection Agency developed a set of criteria to evaluate detection methods for protozoan parasites in water. As a consequence, the Agency has had to develop approaches to reducing uncertainty of evaluations. The variability and accuracy of various methods of producing small numbers of Cryptosporidium spp oocysts were tested. The least variable and most accurate method was used to spike seven surface water, and one tap water sample to compare 4 detection methods that had been reported in the literature. The least variable and most accurate method for spiking specified numbers of oocysts into samples was found to be flow cytometry. The most effective of the methods tested for detection in surface, tap and reagent water was solid phase cytometry.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Collaborative study of EPA Method 317.0 for the determination of inorganic oxyhalide disinfection by-products in drinking water using ion chromatography with the addition of a postcolumn reagent for trace bromate analysis.

The development of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Method 317.0 is initiated to provide a sufficiently sensitive and fundamental technique for the compliance monitoring of trace levels of bromate in drinking water. After a comparative evaluation of Method 317.0 and elimination of a chlorite interference, this method is tested by a collaborative study in order to determine the precision and bias of the method and evaluate its potential role as a future compliance-monitoring method for inorganic disinfection by-products (DBPs) and trace bromate. This technique provides a practical method for future compliance monitoring for all of the inorganic oxyhalide DBPs including trace concentrations of bromate.

Bromates↗
PubMed1993

Drinking water health advisory program.

The US Environmental Protection Agency prepares Health Advisories (HA) for drinking water contaminants. The HA provide technical guidance to public health officials or other interested groups on many aspects concerning drinking water contamination. The HA contain information on the chemistry, health effects, analytical methods and treatment technologies for specific contaminants. In addition, the HA include a risk assessment section which provides concentrations of the contaminant in drinking water that are not anticipated to cause adverse, noncancer health effects for 1 or 10 days or for longer exposures. Because the HA include risk assessments for less than lifetime exposures, they are useful when accidental spills occur or when regulatory limits are temporarily exceeded. The guidance documents are updated when new information becomes available that would change the previous conclusions.

Risk Factors↗
PubMed2006

Governmental oversight of discharges from concentrated animal feeding operations.

As point sources of pollution in the United States, concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are subject to the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permitting system requirements. Changes to federal regulations in 2003 and a 2005 court decision have increased the governmental oversight of CAFOs. Manure application to fields from "large CAFOs" that results in unpermitted discharges can be regulated under the Clean Water Act. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's interpretation of agricultural stormwater discharges was approved so that unpermitted discharges may arise if an owner or operator of a CAFO fails to apply manure correctly. Owners and operators do not, however, have a duty to secure governmental permits in the absence of a discharge. Turning to the federal provisions regarding nutrient management plans, a court found that they were deficient. Moreover, the federal government needs to reconsider requirements that would reduce pathogens from entering surface waters. Although these developments should assist in reducing the impairment of U.S. waters, concern still exists. Greater oversight of nutrient management plans and enhanced enforcement efforts offer opportunities to provide greater assurance that CAFO owners and operators will not allow a discharge of pollutants to enter surface waters.

Agriculture↗
PubMed2001

Survival of fecal coliforms in dry-composting toilets.

The dry-composting toilet, which uses neither water nor sewage infrastructure, is a practical solution in areas with inadequate sewage disposal and where water is limited. These systems are becoming increasingly popular and are promoted to sanitize human excreta and to recycle them into fertilizer for nonedible plants, yet there are few data on the safety of this technology. This study analyzed fecal coliform reduction in approximately 90 prefabricated, dry-composting toilets (Sistema Integral de Reciclamiento de Desechos Orgánicos [SIRDOs]) that were installed on the U.S.-Mexico border in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. The purpose of this study was to determine fecal coliform reduction over time and the most probable method of this reduction. Biosolid waste samples were collected and analyzed at approximately 3 and 6 months and were classified based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards. Results showed that class A compost (high grade) was present in only 35.8% of SIRDOs after 6 months. The primary mechanism for fecal coliform reduction was found to be desiccation rather than biodegradation. There was a significant correlation (P = 0.008) between classification rating and percent moisture categories of the biosolid samples: drier samples had a greater proportion of class A samples. Solar exposure was critical for maximal class A biosolid end products (P = 0.001). This study only addressed fecal coliforms as an indicator organism, and further research is necessary to determine the safety of composting toilets with respect to other pathogenic microorganisms, some of which are more resistant to desiccation.

Bacteriological Techniques↗
PubMed2006

Assessment of in vivo assays for endocrine disruption.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has developed a screening and testing programme to detect endocrine-disrupting chemicals. This programme is organized into two phases: a tier 1 screening battery and, for those chemicals that are positive in this phase, a tier 2 testing battery. Similarly, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has set up a task force to identify, prioritize and validate test methods for the detection of endocrine disrupters. This chapter describes the mammalian in vivo assays recommended by these organizations. The tier 1 screening recommended by both agencies comprises the uterotrophic assay for the detection of oestrogens and anti-oestrogens, and the Hershberger assay for the detection of anti-androgens. Both of these assays are nearing the end of a comprehensive validation process and show consistency across testing laboratories. A further assay recommended by the USEPA is the female pubertal assay, designed to assess steroidogenesis, anti-thyroid activity and anti-oestrogenicity, while the OECD recommends an enhanced version of their standard regulatory test guideline number 407, the 28-day rat toxicity test. The tier 2 test recommended by both agencies is an enhanced version of the two-generation regulatory study. This is a large time- and animal-consuming study, and in order to obtain the maximum information regarding the potential for endocrine-disrupting activity of a chemical, it should be modified depending on the results of the tier 1 assays.

Androgen Antagonists↗
PubMed1997

Radon retesting and mitigation behavior among the U.S. population.

Relatively few data are available about how people comply with Environmental Protection Agency recommendations concerning retesting and mitigation after either an initial screening or long term test for radon gas. Using data from the 1990 and 1991 National Health Interview Surveys, we found that 40.7% (standard error 6.4%) of homes with radon levels above 148 Bq m(-3) in 1990 and 34.3% (standard error 4.9%) of homes with levels above 148 Bq m(-3) in 1991 were retested. Among homes that were retested and had either an initial screening or followup test above 148 Bq m(-3), 28.2% (standard error 6.4%) were mitigated in 1990 compared with 48.4% (standard error 14.4%) that did so in 1991. These results suggest that most people are not complying with current EPA recommendations for retesting and mitigation.

Air Pollutants, Radioactive↗