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PubMedDate not supplied

Radon: implications for the health professional.

Radon is a colorless, odorless gas formed by radioactive decay of radium and uranium, which are naturally present in the earth's crust. When concentrated indoors, this invisible gas becomes a potential health hazard. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that up to 20,000 lung cancer deaths annually can be attributed to prolonged radon exposure. Radon is an important health issue that should be understood by all health care professionals. This paper discusses some of the important issues regarding radon, such as the incidences of lung cancer believed to be attributable to radon, the high-risk areas in the United States, federal safety guidelines, and public apathy. These issues and their impact on the health care required by professionals, especially nurse practitioners, are discussed.

Environmental Exposure↗

PubMed2002

Analysis of environmental and biologic methyl parathion data to improve future data collection.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry analyzed concurrently collected data on environmental methyl parathion (MP) and urinary p-nitrophenol (PNP) at the request of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA). The purpose of the analysis was to assess whether individuals' age or level of residential MP contamination might predict their urinary PNP level. Unlicensed pesticide applicators had sprayed residences in Mississippi with MP, which is approved as a pesticide only for outdoor agricultural use. Data were received from Mississippi for MP wipe sample levels for 409 homes and urinary PNP levels for 929 residents of the residences sampled. In addition to descriptive and bivariate analyses, ordinal logistic regression was performed after categorizing the data. Interpretation of results was limited by several identified data gaps and pre-existing data-quality issues. On the basis of the lessons learned from identified data gaps, specific recommendations were made to the U.S. EPA for improving future data collection methods for more meaningful exposure assessment in similar environmental contaminations. The recommended changes were successfully incorporated in subsequent data collected by other states that had experienced similar residential MP spraying.

Agriculture↗

PubMed2006

A cancer risk assessment of inner-city teenagers living in New York City and Los Angeles.

BACKGROUND: The Toxics Exposure Assessment Columbia-Harvard (TEACH) project assessed exposures and cancer risks from urban air pollutants in a population of high school teenagers in New York City (NYC) and Los Angeles (LA). Forty-six high school students participated in NYC and 41 in LA, most in two seasons in 1999 and 2000, respectively. METHODS: Personal, indoor home, and outdoor home 48-hr samples of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), aldehydes, particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter < or = 2.5 microm, and particle-bound elements were collected. Individual cancer risks for 13 VOCs and 6 particle-bound elements were calculated from personal concentrations and published cancer unit risks. RESULTS: The median cumulative risk from personal VOC exposures for this sample of NYC high school students was 666 per million and was greater than the risks from ambient exposures by a factor of about 5. In the LA sample, median cancer risks from VOC personal exposures were 486 per million, about a factor of 4 greater than ambient exposure risks. The VOCs with the highest cancer risk included 1,4-dichlorobenzene, formaldehyde, chloroform, acetaldehyde, and benzene. Of these, benzene had the greatest contributions from outdoor sources. All others had high contributions from indoor sources. The cumulative risks from personal exposures to the elements were an order of magnitude lower than cancer risks from VOC exposures. CONCLUSIONS: Most VOCs had median upper-bound lifetime cancer risks that exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) benchmark of 1 x 10-6 and were generally greater than U.S. EPA modeled estimates, more so for compounds with predominant indoor sources. Chromium, nickel, and arsenic had median personal cancer risks above the U.S. EPA benchmark with exposures largely from outdoors and other microenvironments. The U.S. EPA-modeled concentrations tended to overestimate personal cancer risks for beryllium and chromium but underestimate risks for nickel and arsenic.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

Safety guidelines for copper in water.

It is important for public health authorities to set a scientifically sound guideline value for the safe ingestion of copper in drinking water. To date, the principal health-based guideline values have been set by the US Environmental Protection Agency (1.3 mg Cu/L) and the World Health Organization (2.0 mg Cu/L). However, close examination of the data and assumptions used in the derivation of these values reveals a paucity of scientifically defensible information. Several international groups are now reviewing this issue, and others have begun epidemiologic studies that may provide useful copper exposure and toxicity data. Investigations of acute copper toxicity in human populations are most likely to affect future revisions of the guideline value for copper in drinking water.

Copper↗

PubMed2002

Incorporating the 3Rs into regulatory scientific practices.

The Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances (OPPTS) of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grapples with testing issues on a daily basis. In this discussion, the current practices within OPPTS that relate to refining, reducing, and replacing (the 3Rs of) animal use are explained, based on the authors' experience. Pertinent background about EPA and OPPTS is first described, and then some broad opportunities for implementing the 3Rs are reviewed. Finally, information about how the programs in OPPTS are making progress with regard to the 3Rs is presented.

Animal Testing Alternatives↗

PubMed1991

Future directions and research needs.

In this paper, three perspectives for indoor air issues are considered: a) air inside of our homes and offices is a major component of our overall living environment and has potentially great impact on public health; b) there are important scientific questions raised specifically to indoor air that will require skills and expertise to develop and interpret research and data collection efforts; and c) from a risk assessor's point of view, the types and quality of scientific information is critical to the process of health risk assessment to risk managers to make the best decisions regarding environmental risks from indoor air. The primary focus of this presentation is to highlight suggested future directions and needs of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that formed the core of a report to Congress on assessment and control of indoor air pollution. The five major areas that constitute the current EPA indoor air research strategy are monitoring/building studies; health effects; source characterization/mitigation; health impact/risk assessment; and program management/technology transfer. Additionally, major trends and research needs are discussed, including greater emphasis on noncancer effects and multiple pollutants at low levels and the need for more sensitive measures for detecting adverse health effects to more effectively characterize chemically sensitive individuals and population subgroups.

Air Pollution, Indoor↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[The evaluation of occupational exposure to carcinogenic substances: limit values and risk assessments].

Considering that nowadays there is no unanimity about the possibility of adopting environmental and/or biological limit values in occupational exposure to carcinogens, some aspects are discussed about the mechanism of action of carcinogens, their metabolism and problems deriving from the possible multiple exposures, interactions and speciation of the different compounds. After the analysis of the results obtained by means of two different approaches by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienist and the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States, the authors examine some aspects of the qualitative and as far as possible quantitative comparison for the 16 substances included in both lists and they discuss how the mathematical models are used in the process of carcinogenic risk evaluation. Finally, it is considered the possible application even in occupational carcinogenesis of a model such as the one of the EPA.

Carcinogens↗

PubMed1998

Current and historical American asbestos regulations.

Asbestos, and asbestos-containing materials, are subject to regulation in the USA by both the federal government and each of the 50 state governments. This paper summarizes the federal government asbestos regulations which apply to the use of asbestos, asbestos-containing products, and asbestos fiber releases, in the workplace and in the ambient environment through the USA. Regulations by the 50 states apply only within the jurisdiction of each state and, to a large extent, mimic those of the federal government. The state regulations are not discussed in this paper. The principal American government agencies that deal with asbestos regulation are the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Generally, OSHA regulations apply to regulate asbestos exposures, and potential asbestos exposures, in the occupational workplace while EPA regulations apply to asbestos exposures, and potential asbestos exposures, in the nonoccupational setting. Both agencies set regulatory levels for allowable asbestos exposure. Those levels have changed, in a decreasing progression, since their enactment in the early 1970s. This paper discusses those levels and traces their progression over time.

Asbestos↗

PubMed1991

Performance of on-line chemical property estimation methods with TSCA premanufacture notice chemicals.

CHEMEST is an interactive on-line system for estimating chemical properties important in environmental fate assessment. In 1988 we described an extensive validation study of CHEMEST. That study showed that for existing chemicals, most properties could be estimated with accuracy sufficient for screening-level assessment. Reported here are the results of a study of system performance with "new" chemicals, for which Premanufacture Notices (PMNs) must be submitted under the Toxic Substances Control Act. Measured values of key properties were retrieved for more than 300 PMN chemicals having discrete structures, which represented the majority of notices with submitted data that were received by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during the period 1979-1990. The measured values were compared to estimates from AUTOCHEM, an automated version of CHEMEST. Errors were generally greater than those for existing chemicals, as expected. Water solubility and the octanol/water partition coefficient (Kow) were estimated with acceptable accuracy, but the results for melting point and boiling point indicate that additional effort is needed to improve the estimation methods.

Chemical Industry↗

PubMed2000

Endocrine disrupters. Panel cautiously confirms low-dose effects.

Faced with conflicting results from studies of the effects of small amounts of hormonelike chemicals in the environment, the Environmental Protection Agency enlisted the help of an expert panel, which met earlier this month to conduct an extensive review of the data. The panel concluded that estrogenic chemicals can cause biological effects in lab animals at levels below those normally found to be safe--which runs counter to the conventional wisdom in toxicology. But the implications for human health are unclear.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Clearing the air: a model for investigating indoor air quality in Texas schools.

This pilot project focused on the assessment of indoor air quality at a local high school in Galveston, Texas, using methods based on guidelines for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools program. Tools for Schools, developed for evaluating and ensuring acceptable air quality for schools, takes a low-cost, minimal-involvement, primarily educational approach. The authors also compared the findings from this approach with the results of an air-sampling program. The overall goal was to determine if use of Tools for Schools was sufficient to identify conditions with the potential to cause adverse health effects. The primary objectives were to 1) establish an indoor air quality committee for the school to implement Tools for Schools assessments and management strategies, 2) collect air quality data in high-risk areas identified within the school by the indoor air quality committee, 3) collect outdoor air quality data at or in close proximity to the school, and 4) develop methods and instruments for assessing environmental risks associated with daily school attendance. Data were gathered on levels of formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ozone, particulate matter (PM10), mold, relative humidity, and temperature. Data values for each sampled pollutant were compared with federal standards, recommended values established by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists for non-industrial populations, and effects screening levels developed by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Levels of all VOCs except formaldehyde were found to be well within guidelines, as were ozone and particulate-matter levels. Mold, however, was widespread, including both common species and species associated with allergy and asthma, such as Aspergillus and Alternaria. In general, Tools for Schools provides an excellent foundation for a school indoor air quality program, although the authors did find it necessary to streamline data collection and did find that mold with the potential for adverse health effects was present, albeit not visible in some areas.

Air Pollutants↗

PubMed2004

The perils and promise of modern risk assessment: the example of trichloroethylene.

This article summarizes some of the major scientific shortcomings identified by reviewers of the draft "Trichloroethylene Health Risk Assessment: Synthesis and Characterization" (TCE HRA) in the context of current US Environmental Protection Agency risk assessment guidance and the Data Quality Act guidelines. Our purpose is not to further criticize the draft HRA but to highlight specific areas for improvement and suggest specific ameliorative actions that we believe would improve the scientific credibility (quality) of the final document. This exercise is expected to be applicable beyond the specific case of TCE, because the draft HRA surely exemplifies many of the new challenges being posed to risk assessment in general by the ever-increasing sophistication of modern science.

Animals↗

PubMed2000

The use of environmental risk assessment methodologies for an indoor air quality investigation.

The authors of this paper chose several target compounds that have been found in average US homes, applied the current United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Superfund risk assessment methodologies to indoor air quality, and produced risk numbers for hazard quotients and predicted increases in incidence of cancer which would be unacceptable at US hazardous waste sites. The calculations were made for the average child and adult with USEPA default exposure values. Calculations were also made for a worst case scenario using maximum concentrations and exposure estimates defined by the USEPA as describing the reasonable exposure (RME). Significant cancer risks and non-cancer hazard quotients were predicted.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

The role of mode of action studies in extrapolating to human risks in toxicology.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1999 issued draft guidelines on carcinogen risk assessment, which included the use mode of action information in the risk assessment process. We have used the five stages of induction of toxicity as described by Aldridge to illustrate in the case of two drugs, tamoxifen and NTBC, how mode of action information played a key role in assessing the risk of cancer and target organ toxicity, respectively.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Chemical mixtures: considering the evolution of toxicology and chemical assessment.

The assessment of chemical mixtures is a complex topic for toxicologists, regulators, and the public. In this article the linkage between the science of toxicology and the needs of governmental regulatory agencies in the United States is explored through an overview of environmental regulations enacted over the past century and a brief history of modern toxicology. One of the goals of this overview is to encourage both regulators and scientists to consider the benefits and limitations of this science-regulatory relationship as they tackle existing issues such as chemical mixtures. It is clear that a) over the past 100 years chemical regulation and toxicologic research, have in large part, shared a common emphasis on characterization and regulation of individual chemicals. But chemical mixtures have been, and continue to be, evaluated at hazardous waste sites around the United States. For this reason the current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines for chemical mixtures assessment are also reviewed. These guidelines highlight the current practice of mixtures assessment, which relies primarily on the existing single-chemical database. It is also clear that b) the science and assessment of chemical mixtures are moving forward through the combined efforts of regulatory agencies and scientists from a broad range of disciplines, including toxicology. Because toxicology is at this exciting crossroads, particular attention should be paid to the forces (e.g., public demands, regulatory needs, funding, academic interests) that both promote and limit the growth of this expanding discipline.

Environmental Exposure↗

PubMed1993

Summary of the 1992 EPA/A&WMA International Symposium: measurement of toxic and related air pollutants.

A joint conference cosponsored for the seventh year by the Atmospheric Research and Exposure Assessment Laboratory (AREAL) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Air & Waste Management Association (A&WMA) was held in Durham, North Carolina, May 4-8, 1992. The technical program consisted of 200 presentations held in 23 technical sessions and covered recent advances in ambient and source measurement techniques for air pollutants. The symposium was attended by almost a thousand professionals from the United States and other countries, covered a wide range of measurement topics, and was supported by 90 exhibitors of instrumentation and consulting services. This overview highlights the technical presentations of the symposium.

Air Pollutants↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Separation and detection of three aryltins by capillary electrophoresis-UV/VIS diode array.

The trialkyltins and triphenyltins have widespread application as fungicides, antifouling coatings for porous surfaces, herbicides, insecticides, and generic biocides. Due to the varied toxicity of each species of organotins, it is important that methods address the speciation of the organotins. Traditional methods call for the hydrolysis and subsequent derivatization of the organotins before analysis. These methods can be time consuming, derivatization can be incomplete, and high levels of background interference produce difficulties in identification and quantitation. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (U.S. EPA) current methods do not address the speciation of organotins; instead they only analyze for total tin. It is important, because of the differing levels of toxicity of the various congeners of organotins, to speciate them from each other and inorganic tin. The research reported in this paper addresses the use of CE with UV/VIS diode-array detection to separate and detect three phenyltins (i.e., tri-, di-, and mono-), without the need to either derivatize or complex them.

Electrophoresis, Capillary↗

PubMed2000

Pesticide residues and acute risk assessment--the US EPA approach.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assesses acute dietary exposure to pesticide residues using a tiered approach, proceeding from conservative to more refined assumptions as the risk management situation requires. Toxicity and food residue data used by EPA in assessing acute dietary risk are obtained from studies submitted by chemical companies in support of pesticide registration and tolerance setting. The primary source of food consumption data used by EPA in acute dietary risk assessments is the Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII) 1989-1991.

Data Interpretation, Statistical↗