United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office Of Water
(4304)
EPA 822-R-93-023
November 1993
v>EPA
Health And Ecological
Criteria Division
1993 Annual Report
Annapolis Meeting Sets
Stage for New Metals
Guidance
An open meeting in Annapolis,
Maryland, in January 1993 to dis-
cuss metals issues brought together
a wide range of experts to contribute
to a revised guidance to implement
the Agency's metal criteria.
Some 34 invited participants
represented academia, consultants,
the regulated community, States, and
EPA laboratories, Regions, and
Headquarters. About 120 observers
also attended and offered comments.
Participants prepared and submitted
recommendations for EPA consid-
eration.
Because of the site-specific
nature of metals bioavailability and
toxicity, implementing metals crite-
ria is a complex scientific issue. In
May 1992, EPA issued an Interim
Guidance on Interpretation of
Aquatic Life Criteria for Metals (In-
terim Metals Guidance), developed
by HECD. Since then, EPA has
received numerous comments, and
HECD continues to work on imple-
menting the criteria.
On April 1, 1993, Acting As-
sistant Administrator for Water
Martha G. Prothro sent the Annapo-
lis meeting recommendations to the
Regional Water Management Divi-
sion Directors, proposing to con-
sider these recommendations in pre-
paring revised metals guidance. The
June 8,1993, publication in theFed-
eral Register elicited 40 comments
from the public.
HECD developed a guidance
memorandum to the Regions con-
taining Office of Water recommen-
dations, based on the available sci-
ence. Issues include total maximum
daily loads (TMDLs), permits, ef-
fluent monitoring, ambient moni-
toring, and compliance. After con-
siderable review and debate, the
memo was signed on October 1,
1993.
While the Interim Metals Guid-
ance provided approaches to ex-
press metals criteria, it did not favor
any approach. The re vised guidance
represents a big step forward in the
metals criteria program. It pro-
motes the expression of metals cri-
teria as dissolved metal and pro-
vides guidance on converting total
recoverable criteria to dissolved cri-
teria. It also offers guidance on
using dynamic models for TMDLs
and permits, on methods to translate
(continued on page 10)
Health and
Ecological Criteria
Division Plays Big
Role in Water Issues
The Health and Ecological Criteria
Division (HECD) of the U. S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency's Office of
Water (O W) continues to deal with many
of the most vital health and environmen-
tal issues facing the Nation today-eco-
logical protection, drinking water stan-
dards, toxic metals, sewage sludge, di-
oxin, human exposure to ambient water,
and an array of new types of water quality
criteria, among others.
In FY 1993, HECD staff moved
ahead on several major long-term divi-
sionobjectives: issuance of re vised guid-
ance on aquatic life criteria for metals;
promulgation of the Part 503 Sewage
Sludge Regulation; initiation of an eco-
logical risk management program;
completion of a highly acclaimed Report
to Congress on radon risks in drinking
water; presentation of the National Acad-
emy of Sciences review of fluoride in
drinking water; implementation of the
biological criteria program; development
of the maximum contaminant level goals
for the proposed disinfectants/disinfec-
tion by-products for the drinking water
standards; and revisions of the ambient
water quality criteria methodologies for
human health and aquatic life.
Cooperation with and coordination
of related activities with other EPA units,
as well as States, Tribes, and other Fed-
eral agencies involved in water quality
issues, remain a top HECD priority.
-------
HECD Helps Set Limits on Drinking Water
Contaminants
HECD continues to use its exper-
tise to set drinking water contaminant
levels. In the past year, HECD scien-
tists collaborated with the Office of
Ground Water and Drinking Water
(OGWDW) to develop regulations and
maximum contaminant level goals
(MCLGs) and helped the Office of
General Counsel field challenges to
recently promulgated regulations for
nickel and beryllium.
Under the Safe Drinking Water
Act (SDWA), contaminants in drink-
ing water that may cause an adverse
health effect are regulated. It is HECD's
job to determine at what level to set
nonenforceable MCLGs to avoid ad-
verse health effects, incorporating a
margin of safety. Enforceable maxi-
mum contaminant levels (MCLs) are
then set as close to the MCLGs as
feasible to complete the standard set-
ting process. HECD is currently work-
ing on proposed, final or revised MCLGs
for radionuclides, disinfectants and dis-
infection by-products, Phase VIB con-
taminants, aldicarb and its metabolites,
arsenic and sulfates.
HECD Meets Challenge of
Radionuclides Rule
With little time to spare, HECD
stepped in to expand the toxicological
knowledge of radiobiology, resolve risk
assessment issues for radionuclides,
address 962 public comments, revise
the health criteria documents, and draft
the final preamble which supports the
radionuclide MCLG.
Many difficult issues remained
after the radionuclide regulation to con-
trol levels of radon, radium 226 and
228, uranium, gross alpha particles,
and beta emitters were proposed in
1991. In summer 1992, HECD, which
had little previous involvement in this
regulation, was called on to complete
the project in seven months, working
closely with the Office of Radiation
and Indoor Air (ORIA). Fortunately a
deadline extension to FY 1994 has al-
lowed some additional "breathing
room" to resolve the key issues of can-
cer risk assessment models, verifica-
tion of risk assessments, and relative
source contribution.
New Approach Taken on
Disinfection By-Products
In taking a new approach for de-
veloping drinking water regulations,
HECD joined their colleagues in
OGWDW to pursue a negotiated
rulemaking (REG NEG) which pooled
the advice of the regulated community,
environmentalists, and public health
officials. HECD scientists briefed the
REG NEG committee on the health
risks of microorganisms, disinfectants,
and disinfection by-products and de-
veloped the maximum contaminant
level goals for the regulation, which
deals with complex issues such as bal-
ancing the health risks of microorgan-
isms and chemicals.
HECD microbiologists sponsored
a three-day workshop, bringing to-
gether 40 experts in microbiology to
describe analytical methods, approval
requirements, performance evaluation,
and training to be incorporated in an
information collection rule. This rule
requires utilities to provide monitoring
dataonanumberofmicrobials. HECD
microbiologists also prepared guidance
on a relatively new microbial threat,
Cryptosporidium, to support the pro-
posed enhanced surface water treat-
ment rule.
HECD toxicologists also engaged
in several debates with the REG NEG
committee and industry representatives
on the potential carcinogeniciry of chlo-
rinated water, risk of birth defects from
DBFs, and the risk assessment method-
ology to quantify the health risks. These
debates will likely continue beyond the
public comment period for the DBP
rule, with additional research needed to
clarify the issues.
Contaminants to be Chosen for
VIB Package
HECD has drafted preamble lan-
guage for 20 potential contaminants as
part of a Phase VIB regulatory package.
This package, in combination with the
disinfectants/disinfection by-products
rule, must contain 25 contaminants in
order to comply with the SDWA re-
quirements. The Phase VIB rule cur-
rently is scheduled to be proposed in
spring 1994.
To determine the list of contami-
nants, HECD has focused on health
effects and occurrence information. Of
the 20 organic and inorganic contami-
nants for which preamble language had
been drafted, a group of 14 chemicals
are being considered most seriously.
Agency Still Grappling with
Aldicarb
New light shed on the aldicarb
MCLG has caused EPA to stay the
effective date of the regulation. Al-
though aldicarb was regulated in 1991,
new data presented by the manufac-
turer prompted HECD scientists to
reanalyze the basis for the MCLG and
grapple with the issue of cholinesterase
inhibition (ChEI) and how this effect
should be interpreted in risk assess-
ment.
Last November, HECD and the
Risk Assessment Forum helped present
a guidance document on ChEI to a joint
meeting ofthe Science Advisory Board
and the Science Advisory Panel. After
considering the comments from the
joint committee, HECD hopes that the
guidance will be finalized in time to
support new MCLGs for the aldicarbs
to be proposed in FY 1994.
Debate on Arsenic and Sulfate
Continues
While the debate over the health
risks of arsenic continues, HECD has
not shied away from the issues. It
presented issues twice to the Science
(continued on page 11)
Page 2
1993 ANNUAL REPORT, Health and Ecological Criteria Division
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EPA Revisits
Fluoride Question
HECD has once again taken the
lead in reviewing health effects based
on existing fluoride regulations in drink-
ing water.
In 1990, EPA began its review of
the fluoride MCLG and MCL. Since
then, additional information has in-
cluded cancer studies by the National
Toxicology Program and Procter and
Gamble and the Department of Health
and Human Services' review of fluo-
ride risks and benefits.
To help evaluate this informa-
tion, HECD requested that the National
Academy of Sciences (NAS) review
fluoride toxicity and exposure data. In
a report released in August 1993, NAS
concluded that EPA's standard of 4
mg/1 is an appropriate interim standard.
However, that level will likely cause a
small percentage of the population with
naturally occurring fluoride in their
water moderate to severe dental
fluorosis (teeth stains). The report stated
that additional research on exposure,
dental fluorosis, bone strength and frac-
tures and carcinogenicity. The report
also recommended revisiting the stan-
dard for fluoride.
Although HECD asked that NAS
comment on whether dental fluorosis is
an adverse health effect, NAS said that
the question was better left to regula-
tory agencies such as EPA to answer.
With the help of HECD fluoride ex-
perts, EPA will decide before Decem-
ber whether to take steps to revise the
existing standard. If EPA maintains
the existing standard, it must publish a
notice in the Federal Register by De-
cember 1993 explaining its decision
and inviting additional public comment.
If the decision is to revise the regula-
tion, a proposed rule is due by August
1996.
Radon Risk Characterization Highly
Acclaimed
HECD scientists' lead in assem-
bling a team of scientists to prepare a
Congressional report on an uncertainty
analysis of the risks associated with
radon in drinking water. The report
earned high marks and praise from the
Science Advisory Board's Radiation
Advisory Committee.
This report was required by the
Chafee-Lautenberg amendment to an
EPA appropriations bill. The bill called
on EPA to conduct an uncertainty analy-
sis of radon risks in drinking water,
present the analysis to the Science Ad-
visory Board, and submit the results
with the board's comments to Con-
gress within nine months.
The uncertainty analysis, a multi-
media assessment, required analyzing
indoor air exposures to radon and prog-
eny from soil gas and from showering
and exposure to radon ingestion. As the
coordinating office, HECD handled the
section on inhalation exposures to ra-
don and its progeny from showering,
developed a document describing the
uncertainty analysis, and coordinated a
peer review of the analysis within EPA,
other Federal agencies, and the Science
Advisory Board.
This effort used a complicated
and innovative risk assessment meth-
odology that could be used for other
EPA risk assessment efforts. Results
will assist risk managers in
decisionmaking by characterizing the
uncertainty levels in particular assess-
ments.
The division's extraordinary ef-
fort was wholeheartedly applauded by
the Science Advisory Board (SAB).
The SAB thought so highly of the analy-
sis that it recommended to the Admin-
istrator that the procedure be used as a
model for the entire Agency.
HECD Leads Interagency Multi-media
Exposure Exchange
HECD has formed an interagency work group with participants from EPA
program offices and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to incorporate
multi-media exposure information into criteria development activities.
Scientists from both Agencies use references doses (RfDs) to develop human
health criteria for noncarcinogens. However, humans can receive multiple sources
of exposure to the same contaminant through food, air, and water. One way to set
maximum contaminant level goals under the Safe Drinking Water Act has been to
allocate the RfD for the different routes of exposure.
But because health criteria are derived without accounting for other sources
of exposure, EPA wants to develop more comprehensive approaches to allocate
RfDs. In a recent report, "Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children," the
National Academy of Sciences concluded that "regulators should consider all
sources of dietary and non-dietary pesticide exposure."
- The work group will reevaluate the policy used to set maximum contaminant
level goals. It will also seek an interagency policy or approach to be used in all EPA
and FDA programs that develop human health criteria, including ambient water
quality criteria and sewage sludge regulations.
Not only is EPA being sued on drinking water criteria for several contami-
nants which relied on the current methodology used since the early 1980s, but the
issue is also important for other drinking water contaminants that EPA is
evaluating. The work group is considering comments from the Science Advisory
Board on potential revisions to the methodology for developing ambient water
quality criteria for human health. (See related story on page 9.)
1993 ANNUAL REPORT, Health and Ecological Criteria Division
Page 3
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^——^——
Biosolids (formerly known as Sewage
Sludge) Rule Uses Multi-media
Risk Assessment
In its most comprehensive risk
assessment to date, EPA this year
published the final biosolids rule.
Based on the most current scientific
information, the rule is the first to
consider the potential ecological
effects of biosolids use and disposal.
It also considers the full range of
potential impacts on public health
and the environment. Developed by
the HECD under the Clean Water
Act, the multi-media rule seeks to
protect surface and ground water, air,
and land.
The biosolids rule (40 CFR Part
503), which promotes the beneficial
use and disposal of biosolids, is in-
tended to protect public health and the
environment from potential adverse
effects of pollutants in biosolids. It was
published in the Federal Register on
February 19, 1993.
The rule encourages beneficial use
and generation of high quality biosolids
and protects against adverse pollutant
effects. The rule allows producers to
market high quality biosolids and
biosolids products as fertilizer. This
not only benefits the environment, but
also results in improved soil fertility
since biosolids is a nitrogen-rich soil
fertilizer. It also results in less material
to dispose of in landfills or incinera-
tion.
"Under the new rule, what once
was considered waste can now be put to
good use as fertilizer on farms, lawns,
gardens, and other lands," said former
EPA Administrator William Reilly.
Using much of the country's biosolids
beneficially is a great example of recy-
cling at work."
The regulation, which applies to a
wide range of biosolids, contains a
comprehensive set of management prac-
tices to ensure that the biosolids is used
beneficially or disposed of properly.
Because this country's biosolids
is high quality, most municipalities can
comply with the new regulation by
maintaining their current management
practices. The regulation sets national
standards for 10 heavy metals and patho-
gens in land applied biosolids. In addi-
tion the rule limits 61 organic pollut-
ants by setting a total hydrocarbon stan-
dard forbiosolids incinerator emissions.
The new regulation affects some
7,500 publicly owned treatment works
(POTWS), 1,700 privately owned and
Federal treatment works, and nearly
6,000 septage haulers. POTWs that
send their biosolids to municipal land-
fills are regulated by the Resource Con-
servation and Recovery Act.
Outreach Helps Community Meet New Requirements
Despite the fact that the Federal
Register published the biosolids rule in
February 1993, HECD is hardly resting
on its laurels. In fact, the division has
been active in outreach efforts to teach
the regulated community about the new
requirements and assist the Regional co-
ordinators in applying the rule to specific
situations.
Outreach efforts in collaboration
with the Office of Water Enforcement
and Compliance include presentations at
permit writer workshops and at fi ve work-
shops cosponsored by EPA and the Asso-
ciation of Metropolitan Sewerage Agen-
cies (AMSA). HECD staff have worked
with other organizations such as local
chapters of the Water Environment Fed-
eration to present the latest information
on the biosolids rule. A video confer-
ence, produced at Purdue University,
reached some 800 participants in six states.
HECD is using videotapes of the confer-
ence to teach other audiences about the
regulation.
The Scoop on
Biosolids
Biosolids~a liquid or semi-solid
residue of material removed during the
treatment of municipal wastewater~con-
tains 80 to 99 percent water and varying
amounts of nutrients, pathogens, metals
and organic materials.
Each year 13,000 to 15,000 pub-
licly owned treatment works (POTWs)
generate 110 to 150 million wet metric
tons of biosolids. Over the next two
decades, stricter wastewater treatment
requirements, more efficient POTWS,
and population increases will cause the
volume to rise even further.
A large percentage of biosolids is
disposed of by landfilling, incineration,
surface disposal and other methods.
About 30 percent is beneficially used on
agricultural and nonagricultural land or
converted into commercial fertilizer and
other soil products. Beneficial uses in-
clude:
B Land application Products from
biosolids, incorporated or injected di-
rectly into the soil, are used on farms,
home gardens and lawns, golf courses,
and forests to increase the soil's ability to
store water and pro vide long-lasting nour-
ishment for vegetation.
H Land reclamation. Alone or
combined with other materials, biosolids
is used to reclaim land damaged by strip
mining and clear cutting and is also used
as cover for landfills.
The division is also providing tech-
nical assistance to members of the regu-
lated community, to State agencies re-
sponsible for using or disposing of
biosolids, and to other Federal agencies.
HECD has also helped prepare informa-
tion to assist permit writers and the regu-
lated community meet the new require-
ments in such areas as record keeping
and reporting.
Page 4
1993 ANNUAL REPORT, Health and Ecological Criteria Division
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Science Advisory Board Gives Biological Criteria
Favorable Review
In its April review of the Biologi-
cal Criteria Program and using draft
guidance for streams and small rivers as
an example, the Science Advisory Board
(SAB) was positive, supportive, and
expressed a continuing interest in the
program's further development.
SAB made several constructive
suggestions which HECD will address
in the final version of the streams guid-
ance. HECD will brief SAB on the other
guidance efforts and will focus on lakes
and reservoirs and estuarine and marine
systems at a June 1994 meeting.
Streams and Small Rivers
The SAB gavethe guidanceaposi-
tive assessment and included sugges-
tions for further enhancements. Sug-
gestions included concurring in the
biocriteria's value for resource assess-
ment and regulatory review, excluding
permit limits. They emphasized a mul-
tiple metric approach. SAB made sug-
gestions for regional taxonomic exper-
tise and voucher specimen collections
and advised that seasonal variation and
reference condition definition be given
greater emphasis. SAB encouraged in-
cluding demonstration case histories to
illustrate the practical applications of
biocriteria. The draft, also subject to
peer review, will soon be refined and
released for public comment.
Lakes and Reservoirs
The initial draft, circulated to work
group members and the Regions for
comment, places greater emphasis on
the watershed's role in characterizing
and assessing biocriteria use. SAB sug-
gestions will be an item at the upcoming
November 1994 work group meeting
and will be adopted where appropriate.
The working session will also in-
clude information gained from this
year's pilot demonstration projects, se-
lected to better develop and refine
metrics and survey techniques for the
guidance. This year's work aims for a
more refined guidance draft, and will
include projects that test the protocol
application, now in its final develop-
ment phase. Concluding chapters will
include project results before going to
peer review the following year.
Estuarine and Near Coastal
Marine Waters
While this year's workhas stressed
the development ofbenthic invertebrate
and fish measurements and the poten-
tial interrelationships of these param-
eters, work is not farther along because
of the absence of preexisting informa-
tion on which to build. In 1994, this
effort will continue with the parallel
testing of protocols in near coastal, es-
tuarine, riverine, and tributary waters.
Building off existing investiga-
tions, this effort will try to equate bio-
logical information to other physical
and chemical parameters to enhance
source identification in test watersheds.
Work will include nutrients, sedimen-
tation rates, dissolved oxygen, and habi-
tat variables.
Larger Rivers
This year, HECD prepared an ini-
tial annotated bibliography of source
material and will further investigate
survey methods in 1994. HECD will
use much of what it learned in the lake
and reservoir project and from the es-
tuarine watershed efforts in the larger
rivers draft, expected to be compiled by
the year's end.
Wetlands
Surface water resource system
guidance is in the preliminary stages,
but research and investigations are pro-
gressing. Initial watershed discussions
for estuaries has revealed a promising
link between wetlands habitats and fish
metrics in an estuary presently under
study.
HECD in collaboration with other
Agency offices is coordinating the de-
velopment ofbiological criteriafor wet-
lands and are supporting work in the
Regions and States. This effort will
focus on associating wetlands with other
surface water types—alluvial rivers and
associated wetlands, estuaries, and
coastal wetlands.
Implementation
While technical guidance devel-
opment has progressed, State water qual-
ity programs have not yet addressed
implementing biological criteria. Sev-
eral biological criteria meetings and
workshops have identified implemen-
tation as a priority area of concern to
States and the private sector.
An EPA work group formed last
Spring will develop guidance on bio-
logical criteria implementation in State
water quality programs and other natu-
ral resource protection and management
programs. The work group includes
representatives from various EPA Head-
quarters offices and the Regions. The
Regions are forming parallel work
groups and will work with the States
and Tribes to develop the guidance.
The work group expects to com-
plete implementation guidance for in-
ternal review and comment by the end
of 1993, followed by publication in the
Federal Register. The guidance will
includeadoptionand application ofbio-
logical criteria in State and Tribal water
quality standards and programs and
application in other natural resource
protection and management programs.
Regional work groups will work
with the States to prepare resource esti-
mates for biological criteria programs.
This involves evaluating State and
Tribal research and technical assistance
needs in detail. It also includes ways to
coordinate and collaborate with other
Federal and State natural resource pro-
tection and management agencies.
1993 ANNUAL REPORT, Health and Ecological Criteria Division
Page 5
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Science Advisory
Board Supports EqP
for Sediment
Criteria
In reaffirming that the Equilib-
rium Partitioning Approach (EqP) for
generating sediment criteria is scien-
tifically sound, the Science Advisory
Board (SAB) concluded that the meth-
odology is sufficiently valid to be used
in a regulatory context and commended
EPA for addressing SAB's previous
recommendations.
HECD working through the Of-
fice of Water had asked the SAB to
evaluate the Agency's progress in re-
ducing the uncertainties associated with
the EqP approach, in light of the EPA's
intended use of sediment quality crite-
ria. Scientists from academia, indus-
try, public interest groups, and other
government agencies attended the re-
view.
The discussion focused on in-
tended uses of the criteria, the technical
aspects of the methodology and re-
sponses to specific SAB recommenda-
tions from the first review. HECD also
presented a methodology for modify-
ing sediment criteria based on site spe-
cific conditions (e.g., species sensitiv-
ity, partitioning, or both). Industry,
public interest groups, and other Fed-
eral agencies both supported and chal-
lenged aspects of the criteria.
In its recent review, SAB in-
structed the Agency to establish criteria
based on present knowledge within the
bounds of uncertainty, improve present
knowledge so as to improve the proce-
dures for establishing criteria, and peri-
odically revisit the criteria to make
them more consistent with conditions
in the natural environment. SAB also
requested the Agency continue to col-
lect field data and that users determine
the appropriate use of the criteria within
their program. HECD agrees with both
of these points.
1.
Sediment Criteria Documents Available
The following sediment criteria documents will be available from the Office of
Water Resource Center after December 15, 1993 at (202) 260-7786. (Please request
only one copy of each document.)
Technical Basis for Establishing Sediment Quality Criteria for Non-Ionic
Chemicals using Equilibrium Partitioning (Environ. Toxicol. & Chem. 10. 1991).
Sediment Quality Criteria for the Protection of Benthic Organisms: Acenaphthene
(draft).
Sediment Quality Criteria for the Protection of Benthic Organisms: Dieldrin
(draft).
Sediment Quality Criteria for the Protection of Benthic Organisms: Endrin (draft).
Sediment Quality Criteria for the Protection of Benthic Organisms: Fluoranthene
(draft).
Sediment Quality Criteria for the Protection of Benthic Organisms: Phenanthrene
(draft).
Briefing Report to the EPA Science Advisory Board on the Equilibrium
Partitioning Approach to Generating Sediment Quality Criteria.
Analytical Method for Determination of Acid Volatile Sulfide in Sediment (final
draft).
An SAB Report: Review of Sediment Criteria Development Methodology for
Non-Ionic Organic Contaminants. September 1992.
Proposed Sediment Documents Complete
Final Agency Review
Based on continued support from
the SAB, HECD submitted the five
draft sediment criteria and supporting
documents for the final Agency review
priorto proposal for public comment in
the Federal Register. The sediment
criteria package passed this review with
only minor revisions and is now set for
public proposal early in FY 1994. In
addition to the criteria documents for
acenaphthene, dieldrin, endrin,
fluoranthene and phananthrene, the
package includes the following:
• a technical support document
describing the basis of the criteria and
identifying minimum data requirements
needed to derive sediment criteria;
• a document that identifies a
proposed methodology for conducting
site specific sediment criteria modifica-
tions when field conditions warrant;
I an outline of likely intended
uses of sediment criteria; and
I a copy of the recent SAB report
that reviewed the EqP for generating
sediment criteria.
Water Quality Standards Academies and Regional Workshops
Feature Hands-On Activity
HECD staff was well represented at a series of training academies and
workshops held throughout the country in 1993 to educate State and Regional staff
on water quality criteria and human risk assessment. Staff members lectured at the
Water Quality Standards Academies to provide the necessary background for
applying the principles of toxicology and risk assessment in protecting water
quality.
At the Workshops, HECD presenters also developed a case study that
reviewed lecture information and allowed attendees to work through risk assess-
ment steps. Attendees were able to calculate a reference dose (RfD) and cancer
slope factor for a pollutant, calculate water quality criteria, and appreciate the
uncertainties associated with risk assessment methodologies.
Page 6
1993 ANNUAL REPORT, Health and Ecological Criteria Division
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HECD Helps Develop Dioxin Criteria
New Great Lakes
Guidance Protects
Wildlife
Wildlife is protected under the
Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative
(GLWQI) guidance. Public comment
on the proposed guidance, published in
the Federal Register in April 1993, will
be very helpful in determing how well
the proposed methodology and criteria
on wildlife will be received nationally.
HECD scientists were key mem-
bers of the Great Lakes Water Quality
team which wrote the preamble and
methodology for aquatic life, human
health, bioaccumulation factors, and
wildlife; numeric water quality crite-
ria; proposed implementation proce-
dures for modifying criteria at specific
sites; and the potential toxic effects of
combining mixtures.
The HECD members developed
all water quality criteria sections under
the GLWQI, and provided the main
scientific support for the effort.
Before publishing the proposed
guidance, the team incorporated com-
ments from EPA's Science Advisory
Board and the Office of Management
and Budget. The Office of Science and
Technology (OST) named the GLWQI
Team as OST Team of the Quarter.
Since EPA considers public com-
ment on the GLWQI an important part
of the final guidance, HECD published
two notices to interested parties in the
FederalRegisterthat the guidance docu-
ments were available. These docu-
ments cover the ongoing human health
methodology revisions and the recent
data on the ecological effects from di-
oxin exposures to aquatic life and wild-
life.
A full day meeting in June to
initiate a plan to develop dioxin criteria
highl ighted a busy year spent by HECD
on dioxin activities. The plan focuses
on the technical and scientific needs to
develop defensible dioxin criteria.
Meeting participants, including
staff from the Environmental Research
Laboratory in Duluth and the Risk As-
sessment Forum, identified a number
of research areas that will need in-
creased attention in the coming years.
These areas address risks to wildlife
that depend on aquatic environments
and consideration of sediment contri-
bution to the ecosystem loading.
The group also recommended re-
lying on the reassessment for human
health criteria, completing the ongoing
aquatic life research plan, and develop-
ing documents based on residue criteria
forhuman health, aquatic life, and wild-
life. It also recommended developing a
document to trans late residue criteria to
water and sediment criteria and meth-
ods to apply the criteria.
HECD has also contributed to
EPA dioxin human health and ecologi-
cal reassessment activities and partici-
pated in the dioxin task force, which is
following the reassessment progress
and plans to develop a dioxin strategy.
HECD briefed the task force on Office
of Water dioxin-related programs and
activities such as the sewage sludge and
water quality criteria programs and the
planned dioxin criteria. The division
also participated in a group reviewing
the management of dioxin-contami-
nated dredged material proposed for
ocean dumping.
Management Program Assesses Watershed Risks
A new ecological risk management program will provide the scientific
foundation to assess and prioritize environmental risks in watersheds.
The program started by developing ecological risk case studies. Initiated in
F Y1993 by HECD, the ecological risk management program is cosponsored by the
Office of Science and Technology and the Agency's Risk Assessment Forum.
Five work groups are developing watershed scale prototype ecological risk
assessments. They are also addressing the combined risk of chemical, physical,
and biological stressors in five watersheds--Waquiot Bay Estuary in Maine, Clinch
River in Virginia, Middle Platte Wetlands in Nebraska, Big Darby Creek in Ohio,
and the Snake River in Idaho. OW will base its guidelines on these case studies.
The work groups are made up of technical professionals from EPA, other
Federal agencies, States, and local organizations. Risk assessment drafts are
scheduled for review in September 1994 and publication in September 1995.
Forums Focus on Risk Assessment
HECD took the lead in a recent colloquium discussing extrapolating time and
dose in noncancer risk assessment. Some 50 EPA and FDA representatives
attended the HECD-sponsored July 1993 forum, held in Washington, D.C.
While past emphasis has been on dose extrapolation, EPA has recognized the
need to consider the temporal dimensions of toxic effects as well. In addition,
HECD scientists have participated in a variety of forums to develop risk assessment
guidelines.
1993 ANNUAL REPORT, Health and Ecological Criteria Division
Page 7
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Aquatic Life Criteria
The new process for reviewing
Aquatic Life Water Quality Criteria within
the Agency was implemented in FY93.
Approximately seven Headquarters Offices
and all of the Regional Offices actively
reviewed the first six drafts (acrolein,
aniline, 2,4-dimethylphenol, methyl
parathion, phenol and thallium) . Two of
these drafts (aniline and 2,4-
dimethylphenol) will be published in the
Federal Register, for public comment, in
late November, 1993.
Two Final Aquatic Life Water
Quality Criteria Documents will be
published in early 1994. These are
tributyltin (TBT) and di-2-ethylhexyl
phthalate. These documents are to be
re viewed by U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(FWS) for consistency with the Endangered
Species Act (ESA) and internally within
EPA. After this review they will be
amended as necessary and published in the
Federal Register as final.
To facilitate future FWS reviews,
HECD developed pilot biological
assessments for TBT, as well as for the
selenium aquatic life criteria. If this
approach proves successful, it will clear
the way for informal consultation by FWS
to satisfy the requirements of the ESA for
the rest of the aquatic life criteria.
Health Advisory Program
The Health Advisory Program pro-
vides information on the health effects,
analytical methodology, and treatment
technology that are used by State and local
authorities in dealing with drinking water
contamination. Health Advisories describe
nonregulatory concentrations of drinking
water contaminants at wlii chad verse health
effects would not be expected to occur over
specific exposure durations.
In fiscal year 1993, 35 HAs includ-
ing aldicarb sulfoxide/sulfone, arsenic,
boron, disinfectant and disinfectant by-
products, gasoline, lactofen, molybdenum,
nickel, PCBs, strontium, xylene and zinc
were revised. One page factsheets for 15
chemicals were prepared, bringing the to-
tal number of such factsheets to 85. First
drafts were prepared for the chemicals:
hydazine, di-N-octylphthalate, ethylene
glycol monoethyl ether, and terphenyl.
Division staff also completed 10 tox pro-
files and edited and co-authored the text
"Munitions, Vol. 2".
PROJECTS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Army Health Advisories
Drinking water Health Advisories
(HAs) and toxicological profiles for
munitions chemicals have been developed
since 1985 as part of a Memorandum of
Understanding between the Department of
the Army, Deputy for the Environment,
Safety, and Occupational Health and EPA.
The U.S. Department of Defense relies on
numerous chemicals to conduct activities
necessary for the defense and security of
the country. The manufacture,use, storage,
and disposal of chemicals utilized in
munitions and explosives are potential
sources of drinking water contamination.
Health Advisories are EPA
documents that provide advice on levels of
contaminants in drinking water at which
adverse health effects would not be
anticipated. These contaminant levels
include a margin of safety intended to
protect even the most sensitive members of
a population at risk, such as infants or the
elderly. Health Advisories provide health
effects information, analytical methods for
estimation of contaminants in water, and
recommended treatment techniques to
eliminate or minimize the contamination.
Health Advisory levels are provided for
one-day, ten-day, longer-term (up to 7
years), and lifetime exposure periods.
Since 1985, the cooperative
agreement between EPA and the U. S. Army
has resulted in the publication of 16
munitions drinking water Health Advisories
and 74 Toxicological Profiles. An
additional 6 drinking water Health
Advisories and 14 Toxicological Profiles
have been initiated since January, 1993.
Additionally, all munitions drinking water
Health Advisories over 3 years old are in
the process of review and update as
additional information becomes available.
The completed munitions Health
Advisories are available from the National
Technical Information Service (NTIS) at
703-487-4650. Additional information may
be obtained by calling the EPA Safe
Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.
Biosolids (formerly Sewage Sludge)
Moves into Round Two
EPA will undertake an ecological
field monitoring study to determine how
pollutants in biosolids move in and through
the environment when applied to land. The
study, which will require three years of
valid data to yield scientifically reliable
results, will be used to revise and modify
exposure assessment models used to
develop the Round One biosolids
regulation. (See page 4 for additional
details)
The field monitoring study is
expected to include evaluating the mass
balance approach and groundwater
models used in the Part 503 risk
assessment, validating the "binding"
concept for the biosolids/soil matrix, and
applying EPA's ecological risk
assessment framework to the land
application of biosolids.
A number of Agency studies
anticipated and currently underway will
influence the Round Two proposed
regulation. HECD is considering 31
additional pollutants for regulation and
may revise the numerical pollutant limits
for some pollutants regulated in Round
One. Round Two regulations will likely
address the same use and disposal
practices.
Before more regulations are
proposed, the Agency will complete its
Final Dioxin Reassessment Report for
Human Health, expected in 1994. This
report will estimate risks to human health
from exposure to dioxkis and related
compounds and will rely on an EPA dose
response model developed for this effort.
The schedule for the entire Round Two
regulation, including a possible expedited
timetable for dioxins in biosolids, is
subject to a consent Agreement and
currently is being negotiated.
This period will also allow EPA to
obtain new information on biosolids
concentrations of pollutants through a
new national survey. This information
will provide anational picture of biosolids
quality and use and disposal methods
under the Round One regulation.
HECD also is exploring the
possibility of a cooperative effort with
the Association of Metropolitan Sewage
Agencies for both the national survey
and the ecological monitoring studies.
Beach Protection Activities
For the past several years, protection
of the Nation's bathing beaches has been a
subject of great interest to Congress, EPA,
the States and environmental groups.
HECD sponsored a "Phase I negotiated
rulemaking" which defined the stakeholder
Page 8
1993 ANNUAL REPORT, Health and Ecological Criteria Division
-------
communities that would be involved in a
"Phase II" effort to negotiate uniform beach
protection policy nationwide. The Phase I
effort involved interviews with the
stakeholders to identify the major scientific
and societal issues, as well as determine
the potential for each stakeholder's
participation in future negotiations. The
potential for success of the negotiations
were also determined through the interview
process. The stakeholders included
representatives from State and local
governments, the scientific community,
environmental groups and the tourism
industry.
The overall opinion of the
stakeholders was that new ambient water
quality criteria were probably inevitable
especially in light of recent Congressional
activities and en vironmental group interest.
It was clear that stakeholders would rather
negotiate new criteria than have Congress
legislate mandatory standards or for EPA
to apply standard criteria development
methodologies. Most parties agreed that
there were significant data deficiencies
concerning health risks from pathogenic
microorganisms, criteria needs, and
monitoring requirements in recreational
waters.
HECD also testified before a joint
Congressional committee about EPA's
position regarding HR33, the House of
Representatives proposed bill which would
require EPA to develop and issue health
standards, monitoring requirements and
beach closure guidelines to the States.
EPA testimony recommended that a
negotiated rulemaking process was
preferred to legislation and expressed
concerns that extensive research would be
needed to resolve uncertainties before
comprehensive criteria and monitoring
methods could be established. The
testimony also expressed our concern that
the time and cost for EPA and the States to
develop and implement comprehensive
new standards is considerable.
HECD is planning to enter into the
Phase II negotiated process with the
stakeholders for establishment of new beach
requirements during FY94, assuming that
funding for the effort is available.
HECD Contributes to Proposed
New Cancer Risk Assessment
Guidelines
With significant input from HECD
scientists, an EPA work group has come up
with proposed language to replace the
1986 guideline. The work group is designed
to study revisions of the cancer risk
assessment guideline.
The cancer risk assessment guideline
is based on maximum tolerated dose
(MTD), the highest dose that can be given
daily over a lifetime that will not likely
affect animal longevity from effects other
than cancer. Long-term animal studies at
or near the MTD are used to ensure the
ability to detect carcinogenic activity.
MTD in chronic bioassays is a
contentious issue. About a third of the
identified carcinogens are found only at
the maximum tolerated dose levels. Too
often, a desire to reach an MTD results in
overshooting the mark in the chronic test
and producing information difficult to
interpret and not useful for human risk
assessment. Therefore, scientists must
consider all relevant factors in chronic
testing. The new language proposes that in
selecting the high dose level for long-term
studies consideration should also be given
to the level of possible human exposure.
HECD Moves Ahead on Revisions
to Human Health and Aquatic Life
Methodologies
Under the Clean Water Act, EPA
must periodically review and publish water
quality criteria to accurately reflect the
latest scientific knowledge. EPA develops
such criteria using consistent
methodologies.
The existing human health
methodology, originally published in the
Federal Register (45 FR 79318) on
November28,1980,has neverbeenre vised.
BuiIding on a September, 1992 meeting of
100 health effects experts, a comprehensive
report of the experts' findings was prepared.
HECD submitted the report, along with its
recommendations, to the Science Advisory
Board (SAB) in January 1993 and received
comments in August 1993.
After reviewing the SAB comments
and comments received on the human health
port ion of the Great Lakes Initiative (GLI),
HECD will prepare a proposed revision of
the human health methodology for
publication in the Federal Register. This
notice of availability for public comment
is expected to be published by June, 1994.
The aquatic life criteria methodology,
last published in 1985, is also under
revision. A committee of scientists from
HECD and ORD are developing an
improved procedure in order to better refle ct
ecological responses to fluctuating
pollution stresses. Priorities of related
projects, particularly metals criteria
guidance, have caused some delays in the
schedule for completion of this work.
Publication of a draft for public comment,
along with concurrent SAB review, is
expected to occur in mid-1994.
Toxicology Group Briefs
Regulators
The Federal-State Toxicology Risk
Analysis Committee (FSTRAC) is made
up of State and Federal regulators, and is
sponsored by the Office of Water's Office
of Science and Technology. The committee
was organized by HECD in (date) to serve
as a forum for key health related issues for
the water programs.
At the Fall meeting, HECD briefed
representatives who met in Bethesda,
Maryland, on EPA's drinking and ambient
water regulations and criteria. Attendees
also heard from EPA Office of Research
and Development representatives, who
reviewed the office's pertinent activities.
The group discussed issues including
re vision of EPA's methodology for deriving
human health criteria, Phase II drinking
water regulations, and new research on
drinking water distribution systems that
might change the way that contaminants
are regulated.
At the Spring meeting in Albany,
New York, representatives discussed State
drinking and ambient water issues and
took part in an experiential exercise dealing
with a case of methyl-t-butyl ether
contamination in a fictitious town.
Important current issues discussed included
leaking underground storage tanks, a study
of polychlorinated-biphenyl (PCB)
exposure from fish in New York state,
arsenic in private wells, and the potential
for drinking water contamination from
PCBs and nonfood-grade oil submersible
well pumps.
HECD Microbiologists Help at the
Local Level
HECD was on call during the recent
outbreak of cryptosporidiosis in
Milwaukee. The division prepared a fact
sheet for use by local officials in explaining
(continued on page 10)
1993 ANNUAL REPORT, Health and Ecological Criteria Division
Page 9
-------
HECD Staff Active in National Performance
Review (NPR).
HECD staff played major roles on
three key NPR teams— Pollution Preven-
tion (PI), Ecosystem Protection and Qual-
ity Science. The NPR is a major undertak-
ing by the Clinton Administration to instill
greater efficiency in the way our country is
run by "reinventing government".
EPA's National Performance Review
for Pollution Prevention (P2), has named
pollution prevention the preferred approach
to improving the environment and promot-
ing a sustainable economy.
The P2 Team, noting the growing
worldwide concern that a consumption-
based society is not compatible with a
healthy environment and may contribute
to global social, economic, and cultural
problems, aims to provide EPA with a new
approach to environmental policymaking
based on foresight and systematic thinking
in a context of sustainable development.
To further this goal, the team developed 29
initiatives for which EPA has the primary
responsibility or shares responsibility.
In developing its environmental pro-
tection and management recommendations,
the P2 Team noted that EPA's partners--
such as academia, businesses, and the fi-
nancial community—must develop clean
technologies and promote innovation to
ensure maximum pollution prevention. The
team called upon these groups to balance
their natural resources use to sustain our
environment for future generations.
HECD staff also served on the Eco-
system Protection Team, which recom-
mended that the Executive Branch estab-
lish and implement a comprehensive na-
tional policy on ecosystem protection, that
EPA serve as a catalyst among Federal and
State agencies to implement a national
ecosystem protection vision, and that EPA
organize and operate programs to promote
ecosystem protection.
The Quality Science Team, on which
HECD staff served, recommended that
EPA be recognized worldwide as a science
agency because of its decisions consis-
tently based on high quality, leadership in
all major areas of environmental science,
and effective communication and coordi-
nation of environmental and scientific is-
sues and policies.
New Metals Criteria
(continued from page 1)
from dissolved metal to total recover-
able metal forTMDLs and permits, on
using clean techniques, and on using
historical monitoring data-all areas dis-
cussed at the Annapolis meeting.
The present guidance, however,
does not include all areas of concern.
EPA will continue its research and plans
to issue additional guidance when in-
formation is available. During the next
two years, EPA plans to develop clean
and ultraclean sampling and analysis
methods, additional data to establish
dissolved criteria, and sediment criteria
for metals to address concerns about
the fate and transport of metals.
HECD Staff Receive OST
Quarterly Awards
Each quarter, OST Employee and
Team of the Quarter awards are awarded
to OST employees who make outstand-
ing contributions to the office during
that quarter. In FY 93, HECD recepients
were:
1st Quarter - HECD Financial Tracking
System: Chris Zarba,ERAB; 2nd Quarter
- Great Lakes Initiative Program: Bob
Cantilli, HRAB, Maria Gomez-Taylor,
ERAB, Margarete Heber, ERAB, Amy
Leaberry, ERAB, Cynthia Nolt, ERAB;
3rd Quarter - Biological Criteria Team:
Susan Jackson, ERAB, George Gibson,
ERAB; 4th Quarter - Metals Guidance
Team: Bob April, ERAB, Charles Delost,
ERAB, Maria Gomez-Taylor, ERAB,
Margarete Heber, ERAB, Renee Hall,
ERAB.
HECD Support Staff Moving
Towards the Future
HECD's support staff is moving
towards the office of the future—a new
office environment. Changes in the
office environment are occuring and
those changes are affecting the role of
the support staff. HECD support staff
have been ass igned to new tasks such as
database management, tracking sys-
tems, document production, desktop
publishing, records management, ad-
ministrative and management sstem
services to enhance their responsibili-
ties.
Sonya Ross, Secretary to SRAB,
is participating in the Certified Profes-
sional Secretary Program. Sonya started
the program in September 1990 and
will complete the program in 1995.
This program is a long-term, career-
oriented training opportunity to quali-
fied Headquarter secretaries.
Alice Moss, the Division Secre-
tary, implemented the Agency Filing
System for HECD. She will continue
to coordinate all ofthe Division's records
management activities as part of the
EPA Records Management System.
Renee Hall, Linda Henderson
and Sheila Holcomb attended the 0 W
Secretaries' Retreat in Silver Spring,
Maryland, in Spring 1993. The retreat
included a cultural diversity workshop,
mapping career paths, and a variety of
otheruseful workshops and discussions.
Linda Henderson and Sheila
Holcomb attended the O W Secretaries'
Conference in Harper's Ferry, West
Virginia, in September 1993. The
agenda included: leadership skills work-
shop, career development, public speak-
ing/communication skills, and training
initatives outside OST and OW.
Projects & Accomplishments
(continued from page 9)
the disease's characteristics, health effects,
and treatability to the affected residents.
The illness is caused by
Gyptosporidiurn parvum, a waterborne
protozoa. HECD staff talked with City and
State authorities by telephone about
possible sources of the protozoan
pathogens, monitoring approaches, and
health concerns during the outbreak.
HECD staff also participated in Rio
Grande Toxicity Assessment with EPA
Region VI, the International Boundary and
Water Commission and agencies within
the State of Texas where coordination of
sampling and analytical protocols and data
analysis was provided. HECD provided
consultation for the initiation of a sampling
program and conferred with local
authorities on proper sampling techniques.
Page 10
1993 ANNUAL REPORT, Health and Ecological Criteria Division
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HECD Peer Review an
Agency Model
Members of the EPA Peer-Re-
view Policy Workgroup, impressed by
HECD's peer review mechanism to
develop drinking water criteria docu-
ments and health advisories, requested
copies from HECD's representative.
HECD staff play a key role on the
Peer-Review Policy Workgroup which
is designed to establish policy for peer
review of scientifically and technically
based work products intended to sup-
port Agency decisions. Workgroup
members ironi Headquarters, the Re-
gions, and the Council of Science Ad-
visors are responsible for developing a
consistent, workable EPA implemen-
tation plan.
In developing the plan, to be ef-
fective in stages, the workgroup will
consider statutory and court deadlines,
resources, and availability of peer re-
viewers. When the plan is complete,
Assistant and Regional Administrators
will be responsible for implementing
the policy within their organizational
units. Agency managers will develop
peer review procedures tailored to their
program needs and document the pro-
cess and outcome of each review.
Drinking Water Roundup
(continued from page 2)
Advisory Board and organized a spe-
cial meeting in New Orleans, where
scientists from around the world dis-
cussed the problem of arsenic in drink-
ing water. This information will help
develop a risk characterization and
MCLG, scheduled for September 1994.
Arsenic in drinking water is
known to cause skin cancer in humans,
but the debate has continued on its
effect on internal cancers, the use of the
Taiwan study to predict risks for the
U.S. population, exposure, and meta-
bolic threshold.
HECD continues to develop an
MCLG for sulfate and prepare a health
advisory to provide interim guidance
while the regulation is being finalized.
PUBLICATIONS
The Division has many prolific writers within its three branches. In FY1993, HECD branch and
section staffers produced the following articles for scientific journals and symposiums.
Abernathy, C.O.
A retrospective on drinking water. In:
Drinking Water Contamination and
Health, Integration of Exposure
Assessment, Tixocology and Risk
Assessment. (In press).
Inorganic Arsenic: An Ch'erview
Environmental Geochemistry and Health
(In press).
Adverse effects of munitions chemicals, zinc
(ZN), dithiane (D), hexachloroethane
(HCE), and white phosphorus (WP). Co-
authors: K.L. Khanna, W.C. Roberts
and H.T. Bausum.
A comparison ofrefernce doses (RfDs) and
recommended dietary allowances (RDAs)
or estimated safe and adequate daily
dietary intakes (ESADDIs)for essential
trace elements (ETEs). Co-author: K.A.
Poirier
Review ofortal toxicity of the munitions
chemicals, 2,4- and 2,6-dinitrotoluene.
Co-authors: JJ. Murphy, K.L. Khanna,
W.C. Roberts and H.T. Bausum.
Review of the oral toxicity of selected
methylphosphonic acids. Co-authors:
W.C. Roberts, and H.T. Bausum.
Arsenic: An overview
Human oral exposure to arsenic. Co-author:
D. Borum.
Derivation of the Arsenic Reference Dose
(RfD). Co-author: M.L. Dourson.
Zarba, Chris
Briefing Report to the EPA Science Advisory
Board on Developing Sediment Quality
Criteria for Divalent Metals (draft)
Environmental Impact Statement for the
Pensacola, Florida Dredged Material
Disposal Site Designation.
Environmental Impact Statement for the
Mobile, Alabama Dredged Material
Disposal Site Designation.
Environmental Impact Statement for the
Gulfport, Mississippi Dredged Material
Disposal Site Designation.
Environmental Impact Statement for the
Sabine - Neches Texas Dredged Material
Disposal Site Designation.
Chiu, H. N.
Use of Pharmacokinetic Models to Estimate
Intenal Doses from Exposure. Co-author:
J. Blancato.
Du, J.T.
Risk Assessment of 1,3-Dichloropropene
(Telone) in Drinking Water.
Ohanian, E.V.
Revision of National Guidelines for deriving
human health critreriafor surface water.
Co-author: R. Cantilli.
Incorporating biologically based models into
assessments of risk from chemical
contaminants. Co-authors: R.J. Bull,
R.B. Conolly, D.M De Martini, and R.C.
MacPhail.
Research agenda for inorganic compounds.
Co-authors: W.R. Knocke, J.D.
McKinney, R.J. Golden, R.C. Schnell, D.
Askenaizer, H. Neukrug, and D.B. Paris.
Orme-Zavalcta, Jennifer
Face to Face: controlling Microbes Versus
Disinfection By-Products.
Chlorine Dioxide Risk Assessment for
Drinking Water.
Toxicological Basis for Drinking Water
Unreasonable Risk to Health Values.
PCB Criteria for Water.
Drinking Water Health Advisory Program.
IN: Chemicals in Drinking Water and
Human Health Implications. Co-authors:
R. Cantilli and E.V. Ohanian.
Aluminum in Drinking Water and Alzheimers
Disease: A Resource Guide. Co-authors:
M.G. Shovlin, R.S. Yoo, D.R. Crapper
McLachlan, E. Cummings, J.M.
Donohue, W. Hallman, Z. Khachaturian,
and S. Teefy
Schaub, Stephen
Evaluation of the Medical Efficacy of the
Pre-Mac Model FWP Individual Water
Purifier for Treating Microbiological
Contaminants in Water. Co-authors:
Helen Hargett, Charles Sterling, and
Marilyn Marshall.
Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Chlorine
Dioxide Generated In-Sitefor
Disinfection of Water Ionic
Microorganisms. J Co-authors:Helen
Hargett, Kurt Kamrud.
Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Unit:
Efficacy of Cartridge Filters for Removal
of Bacteria and Protozoan Cysts when
RO Elements are Bypassed. Co- authors:
Helen Hargett, Mark Schmidt, W.
Dickinson Burrows.
Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Chlorine
Dioxide Generated In-Sitefor
Disinfection of Water Ionic
Microorganisms. Co-authors: Helen
Hargett, Kurt Kamrud.
1993 ANNUAL REPORT, Health and Ecological Criteria Division
Page 11
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Health and Ecological Criteria Division, Office of Water
U.S. Environemental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.
Division Office
Margaret Stasikowsi, Director
Alan Hais, Deputy Director
Pat Keitt
Alice Moss, Secretary
Linda Henderson, Secretary
Tamara Reid, Stay-in-School
Sludge Risk Assessment Branch
Mark Morris, Acting Chief
Sonya Ross, Secretary
Barbara Corcoran
Alan Rubin
Robert Southworth
Norma Whetzel
Human Risk Assessment Branch
Edward Ohanian, Chief
Steve Schaub, Senior Microbiologist
Sheila Holcomb, Secretary
Katie Bonds, SEEP
Lois Overstreet, SEEP
Drinking Water Health Assessment
Section
Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, Chief
Kenneth Bailey
IIwaNancy Chiu
Julie Du
Krishan Khanna
Peter Lequeric, SEEP
Brian Commons, Army IP A
Exposure Assessment and
Environmental Fate Section
Bruce Mintz, Chief
Denis Borum
Amal Mahfouz
Yogendra Patel
Frank Bell, SEEP
Surface Water Health Assessment
Section
Frank Gostomski, Chief
Charles Abernathy
Lisa Almodovar
Robert Cantilli
Lynn Feldpausch
Ecological Risk Assessment Branch
Robert April, Chief
Renee Hall, Secretary
Eleanor Jackson, Senior Environmental
Employment Program (SEEP)
Multimedia Section
Chris Zarba, Chief
George Gibson
Susan Jackson
Suzanne Marcy
Cynthia Nolt
Mary Reiley
Criteria Section
Margarete Heber, Chief
Charlie Delos
Maria Gomez-Taylor
Amy Leaberry
Ken Potts
I The Sludge Risk Assessment Branch
develops technical regulations and guide-
lines governing the use and disposal of
biosolids. This includes identifying use
and disposal practices for biosolids, deter-
mining factors that should be taken into
account for such practices, specifying con-
centrations of pollutants that would inter-
fere with biosolids use or disposal, and
establishing standards that include numeri-
cal limitations and management practices
for pollutants in biosolids that may ad-
versely affect public health or the environ-
ment. Following the publication of the
final regulation for the first round of
rulemaking which sets standards for land
application, surface disposal, incinera-
tion, and for pathogen and vector control,
the Branch is assisting the public and in-
dustry in understanding the provisions of
the rule, evaluating potential candidates
for round two rulemaking, and responding
to comments on the round one rulemaking.
B TheHuman Risk Assessment Branch's
major goal is to characterize human health
risks from water contaminants. Three
sections support this goal and focus their
efforts on the risk assessment of surface
water and drinking water contaminants
for HRAB. The Branch also provides
expertise on reducing risks from micro-
biological contaminants for the entire water
program.
B the Exposure Assessment and
Environmental Fate Section provides
improved exposure assessment
methodologies for ingestion and
noningestion routes of exposure (dermal
and inhalation);
B the Drinking Water Health
Assessment Section provides improved
risk assessment methodologies for
carcinogens, noncarcinogens, and
chemical mixtures, including
pharmacokinetic modeling and structure
activity relationship (SAR); and
B the Surface Water Health
Assessment Section provides risk
assessments associated with human
exposure to ambient water, such as the
development of ambient water quality
criteria to protect human health. This
section also provides expertise in the
development of fish advisories and fish
criteria for bioaccumulative contaminants.
B The Ecological Risk Assessment
Branch is a high-profile unit of HECD, not
only because of media, public, industry,
and public-sector interest in ERAB's area
of expertise, but also because Branch staff-
ers are the creators of new methods and
protocols on the cutting edge of today's
environmental science. Federal agencies,
State and local governments, academics,
citizens' groups, environmental organiza-
tions, business, and industry, among oth-
ers, benefit from the information and guid-
ance ERAB provides in both regulatory
and nonregulatory programs.
This encompasses ecosystem
protection through the development of
aquatic life, biological, wildlife, and
sediment quality criteria. These criteria
complement each other and provide
scientists and other involved parties with
effective ways to assess the health of and
risks to aquatic ecosystems.
AJ
C/
Recycled/Recyclable
Printed ^h Soy/Canola Ink on paper that
contains at least 50% recycled fiber
Page 12
1993 ANNUAL REPORT, Health and Ecological Criteria Division
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