United States
Environmental Protection
i Agency
I
and Development
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Clean Air
EPA's air quality standards are designed to ensure that the air in every
U.S. community will be safe and healthy to breathe. The standards
are set so that even sensitive populations (including children, the
elderly, and people with respiratory ailments) will be protected from
health problems associated with breathing polluted air.
Reducing air pollution also protects the environment
from the damaging consequences of acid rain,
ground-level ozone,-and other airborne
contaminants. Two major research efforts at
NHEERL investigate the effects of particulate
matter (PM) and toxic air pollutants on
human health and ecosystems. NHEERL's
particulate matter research program is
multidisciplinary and includes epidemiologic
and human clinical studies, and laboratory
studies using tissue cultures^and'ariimal and
alternative toxicologieaLtesting models.
NHEERL's research i5_designed to discover who
is affected most by PM exposure, how people are --_:^
affected by PM, the physiologic mechanisms by which
PM causes health problems, and the toxic characteristics of ,. _'
PM. Major goals of NHEERL's toxic air pollutants research program,
include understanding how toxic chemicals may cause cancer an
role of exposure duration in producing toxic effects.
Global Climate Change
*-'. The earth's environment is constantly changing due to the complex \
;".. interplay of natural processes and human activities. The potential
p consequences of these changes are wide ranging and could adversely ;
t affect human health, ecosystems, and socioeconomic sectors, all of :
f which are vital to sustainable development. EPA is one member agency i
| of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), whose \
','. purpose is to help understand, assess, and predict global change. i
":-;- NHEERL scientists support the USGCRP by conducting research on:;
• the most efficient methods to monitor ecosystems for
".._ changing conditions,
t= • the relationship between changing environmental
I,: conditions and climate changes, and
'* • the impacts of global climate change on managed and
: natural ecosystems.
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The mission of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is
to protect human health and safeguard the natural environment.
To accomplish this, EPA establishes and enforces regulations
and conducts research that provides the scientific foundation for these
regulations. The research arm of EPA is the Office of Research and
Development (ORD), which consists of three laboratories and two
centers. One of these labs, the National Health and Environmental
Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL), is EPA's
focal point for scientific research on the effects
of contaminants and environmental
stressors on human health and ecosystem
integrity. NHEERL's research program
supports several of EPA's performance-
based goals:
• provide clean air for all American
communities,
• ensure safe drinking water and
that the nation's waters sustain
abundant aquatic life,
• keep foods free from harmful pesticide
residues and other contaminants,
• protect communities, homes, and workplaces
from toxic contamination,
• predict and moderate the effects of global climate change,
• assess the condition of, protect, and restore ecosystems,
• protect human health from environmental chemicals, and
• identify chemicals with endocrine-disrupting activity.
NHEERL's research programs are designed to help address EPA science
questions, often by improving the hazard identification and dose-
response assessment phases of the risk assessment process. NHEERL
projects include epidemiologic studies, controlled clinical exposures of
humans, laboratory toxicology studies, ecosystem monitoring research,
and computer modeling exercises.
A multidisciplinary approach
characterizes research at
NHEERL, whose scientists
include biologists, chemists,
ecologists, endocrinologists,
environmental scientists,
epidemiologists,
microbiologists, molecular
geneticists, neuroscientists,
pathologists, pharmacologists,
physiologists, physicians,
statisticians, and toxicologists.
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NHEERL has riind divisions:: f^HEERC
headquarters and five health research
divisions are located in Research ;
Triangle Park anc Chapel 'Hill;, iNorth :
Carolina. Four ecology research
divisions are locsted in ecologically
significant areas around the country.,
NHEERL Health Research
Divisions ; ,..-'.''-•.•-::'• •'].-.: . j; >
-""•-• " y \ -
" - - j ' -
• Environrnental Carcinoge|nesis
(RTR NC). Sti dies the association
between envl rorirhental
: contaminants and cancer. '
Experimental Toxicology !(RTR
NC). Examines the toxiciiy of
environment£;l cdntaminslnts to
specific orgar systems an|j bodily
functions. '.•-" •• V -"•'-.
Human Studies (Chapel Hill, NC);'.
".Conduct's ep detttidlogic land
clinical reseaith 6n:the hJLjman
response to 6 inViron.me?ntal . :
'contaminants.. I :
Neurotoxibology (RTF, NC).
:Studies the effects of chemical
and physical agents dh tliie
nervous system and behavior.
Reproductive Toxicology i(RTP,
NG). Develops methods ijised to
study the reproductive arjd
developmental effects of i
environmental contamina'nts.
NHEERL Ecoloijy Research
Divisions j ;:
The ecology research divlsiohsjassess.
the dondition of regional ecosystems,
including terrestri al arid aquatic • '
environments, and study ;the Affects
of pollution and other stressoj"s on-.«' j
these ecosystems." . j ').'•"- .:
Atlantic Ecology (Narragansett,
Rl); Atlantic steabbard '; -|; ...
ecosystems. " ; ' ;.".•••.(."-':;:
Gulf Ecology (Gulf Breeze^, FL).
Gulf of Mexico ecosystenhs,
Mid-Continent^ Eeblpgy (Duiuth,
MN and; Grosfee He, Mi). Itpland
and freshwater ecosystems.
Western Ecology (Corvalljs and
Newport, OR). Pacific coast
ecosystems. '
ewport, pR
Corvallis, OR
Duluth, M
Research Triangle Park, NC
Chapel Hill, NC j
\ Gulf Breeze, FL
^ - .-»
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Human Health Protection
The primary responsibility of EPA is to protect human health and the environment.
In. doing so, EPA uses risk assessments to identify and characterize environmentally
related human health problems. Many early risk assessments relied heavily on default
assumptions that were made in the absence of relevant scientific data. To provide
a better scientific foundation for EPA's risk assessment process, NHEERL scientists.
study the factors associated with susceptibility to environmental chemicals and the
cellular and genetic mechanisms by which pollutants cause .health, problems.
Endocrine-Disrupting
Chemicals
By definition, an endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC) interferes with the production,
action, or elimination of the natural hormones of the body. EDCs may adversely
affect individual organisms, their offspring, and/or specific groups, such as the young.
A broad range of substances, including widely used pesticides and numerous industrial
chemicals, have been identified as potential EDCs. Because of the potential
scope of the problem, the possibility of serious effects on human and
ecosystem health, and the persistence of some EDCs in the
environment, endocrine disruption is one of the highest-priority
research areas at EPA. NHEERL researchers are taking a lead
role in an international effort to develop several protocols
1 to detect chemicals with endocrine-disrupting activity. These
protocols will provide efficient, cost-effective procedures
that industry and government laboratories can use to identify
f 1 potential EDCs that should be studied further.
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Safe Food
L scientist
•amplesfor
Part of EPA's mandate to protect public health and the
environment is to ensure that the foods Americans eat are free
from unsafe pesticide residues. Because children are some of
the most vulnerable members of our society, EPA policies and
regulations are established to protect children from health threats
posed by pesticide residues. NHEERL researchers contribute to the
scientific foundation underlying these policies and regulations. Specifically,
NHEERL scientists are conducting research to address the following questions:
• How does age influence susceptibility to pesticide residues?
• To what extent do current regulatory programs protect vulnerable groups, including
~ "children?
• What is the most accurate way to measure or predict the effects of cumulative -
pesticide exposures? ;:
• What is the best way to evaluate the combined toxicity of pesticide mixtures?
Safe Communities
In its role of protecting the environment, EPA develops pollution prevention and risk
management strategies alrried at minimizing or eliminating emissiSQ£and enyirorirnental
contamination. The intent of these strategies (and associated policies and regulations)
is to provide cleaner and safer communities, workplaces, and homes for Americans and
to safeguard the health o£ecQsystems and natural communities. NHEERL supports
EPA's Goal of Safe Communities by providing the scientific basis for such strategies
and improving the capability t)f EPA to assess the risks posed by the use of pesticides,
disinfectants and other chemicals. Current research efforis^include:
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.M_j3tudying_the; safety:qf selecfgd,cla§ses of bioengineered products,
• measuring the toxicity of chemicals to the developing nervous system in children,
• researching the risks of these chemicals,to threatenetLand endangered species.
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