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PubMed1995

Radon exposure: a review of the public health risk in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

Long-term exposure to indoor radon may lead to an increased lifetime risk of lung cancer. Because millions of U.S. residential homes may have elevated radon levels, indoor radon exposure may pose a substantial public health threat. In Anne Arundel County (Maryland), a county-wide residential radon survey indicated that 82% of all residential radon readings in the survey were below Environmental Protection Agency remediation guidelines. Of the elevated indoor measurements, however, 94.4% were distributed in the southern portion of the county. These results are consistent with data compiled by the EPA and the U.S. Geologic Survey. Continued residential radon testing should be encouraged, especially in areas with elevated readings.

Air Pollution, Indoor↗
PubMed1983

Government regulation of nonhuman primate facilities.

Myriad international, federal, and state laws, regulations, rules, guidelines, and standards directly affect the activities of all nonhuman primate research facilities. Federal regulations alone encompass every aspect of facility operations. They govern the procurement, possession, handling, care, and utilization of nonhuman primates, the design, construction, maintenance, and operation of the facility, and the occupational and environmental protection afforded not only facility personnel, but also the general public. Proper management of a nonhuman primate facility depends on continual monitoring of constantly changing laws and regulations applicable to the type of facility operated and research conducted. An in-house compliance assurance program is necessary to assure conformance with pertinent regulations.

Animal Husbandry↗
PubMed2002

Tritium doses from chronic atmospheric releases: a new approach proposed for regulatory compliance.

Regulatory models for atmospheric releases of tritium approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (CAP88, AIRDOS-PC, and COMPLY) calculate doses only from tritiated water (HTO) taken into the body. They do not deal with dose from emissions of tritiated hydrogen gas (HT) and conversion of HT to HTO in the environment, nor do they address the dose from ingesting tritium incorporated into organic compounds. A simple model (NEWTRIT) is proposed that accounts for all pathways to dose from atmospheric releases of HT and HTO. The model is formulated in terms of the tritium-to-hydrogen ratio in each environmental compartment. With each transfer, a small reduction in the ratio is introduced to reflect the dilution that occurs in nature. Conversion of HT to HTO in the environment is modeled using the latest experimental data. Concentrations of organically bound tritium are calculated in foodstuffs based on amounts of hydrogen in proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Concentrations in foodstuffs and doses calculated by NEWTRIT are consistent with the predictions of existing regulatory models. In addition, the HTO component of NEWTRIT is tested using public bioassay data and the HT component is tested using results from a model intercomparison study for a hypothetical HT release. Although tritium doses probably have not been underestimated by regulatory models that account only for HTO (due to the high degree of conservatism built into these models), the explicit treatment of HT and organically bound tritium proposed here will make the dose assessments more comprehensive, defensible, and scientifically acceptable. Because NEWTRIT includes all pathways to dose and predicts conservative doses, it is a suitable model to replace the tritium models currently used for compliance.

Air Pollutants, Radioactive↗
PubMed2001

Lawmakers order EPA to clean up work environment.

Washington, Oct 6--On Wednesday, members of Congress ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to do a "Superfund" cleanup of its own work environment. For 3 hours, lawmakers and the public listened as witnesses testified to patterns of intolerance, discrimination, and retaliation within the EPA--"This agency is run like a 21st century plantation and this has to stop," said witness and EPA policy analyst Marsha Coleman-Adebayo.

Environmental Health↗
PubMed2001

The new social marketing challenge to promote radon testing.

As part of a project funded by the Environmental Protection Agency, exploratory qualitative analysis was conducted to gain insight into perceptions of the threat of radon in the Karst geological region (i.e., Northern Alabama, Central Tennessee, Central Kentucky). Based on health practitioner input, it was clear that the tenets of Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) and the probing afforded by focus group research would provide greatly needed theory-based insight into the public reactions (or lack thereof) to the threat posed by radon. Qualitative research findings of this project are discussed as well as preliminary recommendations are provided to advance the protection motivation theory research agenda for promoting awareness of the threat of radon and to influence appropriate response to that threat.

Air Pollution, Indoor↗
PubMed2002

Leaching of trifluralin, metolachlor, and metribuzin in a clay loam soil of Louisiana.

Trifluralin[2,6-dinitro-N,N-dipropyl-4-(trifluormethyl)benzenamine], metolachlor[2-chloro-N-(2-ethyl-6-methylphenyl)-N-(2-methoxy-1-methylethyl)acetamide], and metribuzin[4-amino-6-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-3-(methylthio)-1,2,4-triazin-5(4H)one] were applied in field plots located on a Commerce clay loam soil near Baton Rouge, Louisiana at the rate of 1683 g/ha, 2759 g/ha and 609 g/ha, respectively. The half-lives of trifluralin, metolachlor, and metribuzin in the top 0-15 cm soil depth were found to be 54.7 days, 35.8 days and 29.8 days, respectively. The proportion of trifluralin, metolachlor, and metribuzin in the top 0-15 cm soil depth was 94.7%, 86.6%, and 75.4%, respectively of that found in the top 0-60 cm soil depth 30 days after application. Trifluralin concentrations were within a range of 0.026 ng/mL to 0.058 ng/mL in 1 m deep well water, and between 0.007 ng/mL and 0.039 ng/mL in 2 m deep well water over a 62 day period after application. Metolachlor concentrations in the 1 m and 2 m wells ranged from 3.62 ng/mL to 82.32 ng/mL and 8.44 ng/mL to 15.53 ng/mL, respectively. Whereas metribuzin concentrations in the 1 m and 2 m wells ranged from 0.70 ng/mL to 27.75 ng/mL and 1.71 ng/mL to 3.83 ng/mL, respectively. Accordingly, trifluralin was found to be strongly adsorbed on the soil and showed negligible leaching. Although metolachlor and metribuzin were also both readily adsorbed on the soil, their leaching potential was high. As a result, in the clay loam soil studied, metribuzin concentration in groundwater with shallow aquifers is likely to exceed the 10 mg/L US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) advisory level for drinking water early in the application season, whereas trifluralin and metolachlor concentrations are expected to remain substantially lower than their respective 2 ng/mL and 175 ng/mL EPA advisory levels.

Acetamides↗
PubMed2005

Vinyl chloride: a case study of data suppression and misrepresentation.

When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized its 2000 update of the toxicological effects of vinyl chloride (VC), it was concerned with two issues: the classification of VC as a carcinogen and the numerical estimate of its potency. In this commentary we describe how the U.S. EPA review of VC toxicology, which was drafted with substantial input from the chemical industry, weakened safeguards on both points. First, the assessment down-plays risks from all cancer sites other than the liver. Second, the estimate of cancer potency was reduced 10-fold from values previously used for environmental decision making, a finding that reduces the cost and extent of pollution reduction and cleanup measures. We suggest that this assessment reflects discredited scientific practices and recommend that the U.S. EPA reverse its trend toward ever-increasing collaborations with the regulated industries when generating scientific reviews and risk assessments.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Hazard identification for contaminants.

In recent years, the recognition of generation of large quantities of toxicants and their by-products due to the industrial and/or cultural activities and transport and their persistence in the environment and biological activities brings out the necessity and importance of their assessment of risk they pose to the ecosystems (e.g. aquatic environment-coastal waters, rivers, lakes and ground water). Indeed, understanding the impacts of contaminants on the environment, including the organisms which live in it, is rather complicated. Nevertheless, the need for protection of the scarce natural resources in the environment and wiser use of them brings the necessity and importance of focusing more attention to the issue. Accordingly the process of ecological risk assessment (ERA) has evolved rapidly since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a framework for ecological risk assessment in 1992. The ecological risk assessment involves three stages in a continuous process: (1) problem formulation (problem identification-hazard identification), (2) the analysis of exposure and effects and (3) risk characterisation. Risk management follows the risk characterisation. Of these stages, problem identification is the most critical one which establishes the direction and scope of the ecological risk assessment. The stage involves identifying the actual environmental value(s) to be protected (assessment endpoints) and selecting ways in which these can be measured and evaluated (measurement endpoints). The accuracy of the risk estimation is largely based on the availability of the key information about the contaminant characteristics, ecosystem at risk and ecological effects and the less uncertainty associated with them. The key information required during this phase of the risk assessment process are as follows: (a) potential/actual contaminant of concern, (b) source of contaminant; current and historic use, (c) mode of action of the contaminant, (d) contaminant characteristics (e.g. physical/chemical properties and environmental behaviour, persistence in the ecosystem, transformation products and bioaccumulation), (e) ecosystem potentially at risk and (f) areas of uncertainty. Finally based on these information a conceptual model has to be developed to define the possible exposure and assessment scenarios. Herein, the aforementioned key issues concerning the problem-hazard identification stage of ecological risk assessment for contaminants have been briefly reviewed.

Chemical Phenomena↗
PubMed2005

Comparison of commercially available Escherichia coli enumeration tests: implications for attaining water quality standards.

Many states are replacing microbiological water quality standards based on "fecal" or thermotolerant coliforms (ThCs) with new standards that employ Escherichia coli as the indicator organism. Implicit in these new standards are assumptions about the equivalence of E. coli enumeration tests and the E. coli levels that will provide protection equivalent to former ThC standards. To investigate these assumptions, E. coli levels in split samples (tests conducted on portions of the same grab sample) collected from small urban streams were determined using enzyme-specific media (Colilert, m-ColiBlue24, and nutrient agar with MUG) and compared to levels determined with conventional culture media (m-FC and m-TEC). Although levels observed with all tests were highly correlated, significantly fewer E. coli were enumerated with m-TEC than with enzyme-specific media (paired Student's t-test, alpha>99%). In addition, E. coli were found to comprise a larger fraction (84-104%, depending on the test) of the total presumptive ThC concentration than that suggested by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (63%). Both of these observations (1) the improvement in E. coli yields observed with enzyme-specific media, and (2) the greater proportion of ThC organisms that are E. coli, indicate that more water quality violations will occur when enzyme-specific media are used for testing than if conventional culture media are used.

Colony Count, Microbial↗
PubMed2004

Billions for biodefense: federal agency biodefense funding, FY2001-FY2005.

Over the past several years, the United States government has spent substantial resources on preparing the nation against a bioterrorist attack. This article analyzes the civilian biodefense funding by the federal government from fiscal years 2001 through 2005, specifically analyzing the budgets and allocations for biodefense at the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of State. In total, approximately $14.5 billion has been funded for civilian biodefense through FY2004, with an additional $7.6 billion in the President's budget request for FY2005.

Bioterrorism↗
PubMed2006

Predictive Bayesian microbial dose-response assessment based on suggested self-organization in primary illness response: Cryptosporidium parvum.

The probability of illness caused by very low doses of pathogens cannot generally be tested due to the numbers of subjects that would be needed, though such assessments of illness dose response are needed to evaluate drinking water standards. A predictive Bayesian dose-response assessment method was proposed previously to assess the unconditional probability of illness from available information and avoid the inconsistencies of confidence-based approaches. However, the method uses knowledge of the conditional dose-response form, and this form is not well established for the illness endpoint. A conditional parametric dose-response function for gastroenteric illness is proposed here based on simple numerical models of self-organized host-pathogen systems and probabilistic arguments. In the models, illnesses terminate when the host evolves by processes of natural selection to a self-organized critical value of wellness. A generalized beta-Poisson illness dose-response form emerges for the population as a whole. Use of this form is demonstrated in a predictive Bayesian dose-response assessment for cryptosporidiosis. Results suggest that a maximum allowable dose of 5.0 x 10(-7) oocysts/exposure (e.g., 2.5 x 10(-7) oocysts/L water) would correspond with the original goals of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Surface Water Treatment Rule, considering only primary illnesses resulting from Poisson-distributed pathogen counts. This estimate should be revised to account for non-Poisson distributions of Cryptosporidium parvum in drinking water and total response, considering secondary illness propagation in the population.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Fine particulate matter national ambient air quality standards: public health impact on populations in the northeastern United States.

In this article we identify the magnitude of general and susceptible populations within the northeastern United States that would benefit from compliance with alternative U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) annual and 24-hr mass-based standards for particulate matter (PM) with an aerodynamic diameter < or = 2.5 microm (PM2.5). Understanding the scale of susceptibility in relation to the stringency or protectiveness of PM standards is important to achieving the public health protection required by the Clean Air Act of 1970. Evaluative tools are therefore necessary to place into regulatory context available health and monitoring data appropriate to the current review of the PM National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Within the New England, New Jersey, and New York study area, 38% of the total population are < 18 or > or =65 years of age, 4-18% of adults have cardiopulmonary or diabetes health conditions, 12-15% of children have respiratory allergies or lifetime asthma, and 72% of all persons (across child, adult, and elderly age groups) live in densely populated urban areas with elevated PM2.5 concentrations likely creating heightened exposure scenarios. The analysis combined a number of data sets to show that compliance with a range of alternative annual and 24-hr PM2.5 standard groupings would affect a large fraction of the total population in the Northeast. This work finds that current PM2.5 standards in the eight-state study area affect only 16% of the general population, who live in counties that do not meet the existing annual/24-hr standard of 15/65 microg/m3. More protective PM2.5 standards recommended or enacted by California and Canada would protect 84-100% of the Northeast population. Standards falling within current ranges recommended by the U.S. EPA would protect 29-100% of the Northeast population. These considerations suggest that the size of general and susceptible populations affected by the stringency of alternative PM standards has broad implications for risk management and direct bearing on the U.S. EPA's current NAAQS review and implementation.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Ion abundance criteria for gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric environmental analysis.

Mass and intensity calibration of gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (GC/MS) responses is an important quality assurance issue for chemical analysis. Ion abundance calibration with decafluorotriphenylphosphine (DFTPP) was applied in 1975 to standardize quadrupole spectra to resemble the ion abundances that were obtainable from magnetic sector mass spectrometers. Modern quadrupole mass spectrometers provide significantly greater high-mass sensitivity than allowed under the 1975 study. Thus, those recommendations were reevaluated with 2 approaches. First, an interlaboratory study was conducted using 15 different gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) systems. Second, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Contract Laboratory Program (EPA-CLP) quality assurance data base was searched and over 6500 DFTPP tune results were plotted and evaluated. Based on these approaches, updated ion abundance criteria recommendations have been developed, which contemporary instruments can meet, and which meet data quality objectives regarding identification and quantitative analysis of analytes.

Chemical Phenomena↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Population-based exposure measurements in EPA region 5: a phase I field study in support of the National Human Exposure Assessment Survey.

The National Human Exposure Assessment Survey (NHEXAS) Phase I study is designed to be part of the total NHEXAS framework developed from a series of scientific discussions and workshops conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during 1992 and 1993. NHEXAS examines total human exposure and is structured to include: Phase I, scoping studies; Phase II, a full national exposure survey; and Phase III, a series of highly focused characterization modules. Our research program examines the scientific issues important to Phase II, including statistical sampling, methods evaluation, media concentration measurements, formulating quality assurance goals, and identification of important pathways leading to exposure. To determine the feasibility of NHEXAS in characterizing human exposure for a representative population, a hypothesis-driven design is used to answer important questions about human exposure to specific environmental contaminants. This paper describes: (1) hypotheses to be tested; (2) contaminants selected for study; (3) strategies for measuring exposure; (4) study area and population; (5) population sampling design; (6) media sampling and analysis procedures; and (7) data analysis. The contaminants of concern in this Phase I study include selected metals and volatile organic compounds. From these classes the first-tier contaminants to be measured are lead, arsenic, benzene, chloroform, perchloroethylene, and trichloroethylene. Contaminants selected for examination may potentially be found in many media (personal-nonoccupational, personal-occupational, indoor, and outdoor residential air; dust; potable water; food/beverages; soil; blood; hair; and urine) and exposures may occur by multiple routes (inhalation, ingestion, dermal). The central hypothesis of our field study is to discover whether individual and population exposures determined by modeled or extant data are/are not significantly different from those determined directly from multipathway and multimedia measurements. In addition, there are a series of subhypotheses ranging from pollutant-specific exposure measurement and body burden hypotheses to the optimization of exposure models. In keeping with the NHEXAS framework, a probability-based population sample for total exposure and the field study will be conducted in counties located throughout EPA Region 5 (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan). Sampling units will be households and an individual residing within each household. Environmental, exposure, and biological media sample collection will be performed by this consortium. Analyses of the external media and biological media samples will be completed by this consortium or Federal laboratories of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), or EPA. The protocols and analytical techniques selected for use represent the best available for total exposure assessment at this time.

Data Interpretation, Statistical↗
PubMed2002

Superfund research program--accomplishments and future opportunities.

This special issue of the International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health provides extensive background on the Superfund programs, findings of specific research studies and future directions. Three federal agencies are leading the effort in this program. They are the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. As a result of their collaboration, a comprehensive program has been developed that ranges from basic to applied research with the aim of improving public health services and protection. This paper highlights the research within areas of toxicological investigation, exposure assessment, risk evaluation and engaging communities. Each of the agencies has developed strategies and initiatives to enhance the effectiveness of the Superfund research program. The continuation of research will contribute significantly towards achieving the Healthy People 2010 goals that have been set for the United States.

Community-Institutional Relations↗
PubMed2005

Approaches to reducing mercury in North America.

This article provides a summary of the Environmental Protection Agency's role in reducing anthropogenic sources of mercury. These efforts are expected to substantially reduce both mercury releases and exposure. EPA is aware that mercury in the environment is complex and that it must work with programs in other federal agencies, state and local governments that address the mercury problem as well as partner with nongovernmental organizations and industry to reach these goals.

Environment↗
PubMed2005

Inactivation of enteric adenovirus and feline calicivirus by ozone.

Little information is available regarding the effectiveness of ozone on the inactivation of caliciviruses and enteric adenoviruses. Inactivation experiments were conducted with feline calicivirus (FCV), closely related to the human caliciviruses based on nucleic acid organization and capsid architecture, and adenovirus type 40 (AD40). Experiments were carried out in buffered disinfectant demand free water at pH 7 and 5 degrees C. Ct values; concentration of ozone multiplied by contact time with virus; were determined from application of the efficiency factor hom (EFH) model. Ct values for 4-log (99.99%) ozone inactivation at 5 degrees C and pH 7 ranged from 0.07 to 0.60 mg/l min for AD40 and <0.01 to 0.03 mg/l min for FCV. Ct values listed in the US environmental protection agency "Guidance Manual for Compliance with Filtration and Disinfection Requirements for Public Water Systems Using Surface Water Sources" were higher than Ct values generated by this study. Very low ozone residuals (<0.01(mg/l) substantially inactivated FCV and AD40 under the studied conditions.

Adenoviruses, Human↗