THE
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY
in the
RESEARCH TRIANGLE
NORTH CAROLINA
Air dark with pollutants from cars and
industry, raw sewage and chemicals dogging
rivers and streams — not uncommon
occurrences in 1970 when Congress created
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
As the nation awakened to its growing
environmental problems, Congress passed a
dozen major laws to clean up the air and
water, and control toxic substances, hazardous
and solid waste, and other pollutants.
EPA's actions over the past two decades
have resulted in better air quality nationwide
and cleaner rivers and streams. For example,
between 1970 and 1988 air pollutant emissions
decreased 96 percent for lead and 27 percent
for sulfur oxides. In addition, significant prog-
ress has been made in managing hazardous
wastes, toxic chemicals, and pesticides.
Although much of the visible pollution that
aroused the nation's concern has been con-
trolled, major environmental problems still
exist.
EPA
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What steps must EPA, industry, and the
Nation as a whole take to overcome these less
visible and therefore more insidious forms of
environmental degradation and continue the
progress begun 20 years ago? Many answers
to this question come from EPA's laboratories
and offices in the Research Triangle.
The Research Triangle's labs, collectively
known as the Environmental Research Center,
focus much of their attention on air pollution:
o Understanding its causes and the effects
on human health and the ecosystem.
o Defining how pollutants are transported
through air.
o Developing technologies needed to
minimize, treat, and control pollution.
The EPA offices establish criteria for
evaluating pollutants and standards for control-
ling them. One of the offices provides a na-
tionwide computerized data system that can be
accessed by state and local governments.
Scientists at EPA's labs and offices conduct
research Congress needs to update the Clean
Air Act and explore some of the most pressing
environmental issues, such as acid rain and
global warming. They also are studying the
health effects of water pollutants and toxic
chemicals.
The Environmental Protection Agency at
the Research Triangle, with its 1,200 govern-
ment and 1,800 contractor employees, is the
agency's largest research facility and the third
largest employer in the Research Triangle.
HEALTH EFFECTS RESEARCH
LABORATORY
...examines the relationship between environ-
mental pollution and human health. The lab's
research enables EPA to better determine toxi-
cological hazard, define dose-response rela-
tionships, and estimate human exposure char-
acteristics when assessing health risks and de-
veloping guidelines. Research projects in neu-
roscience, genetics, pulmonary toxicology,
chemical absorption and deposition in the
body, immunology, reproduction, develop-
ment, epidemiology, and cardiology focus on
six major areas: air quality, water quality,
pesticides, toxic substances, hazardous sub-
stances, and research to improve health risk
assessment. Ozone research provides one
example of work done by the lab.
To protect human health, the Clean Air Act
requires EPA to set standards for air pollutants,
one of which is ozone. So-called "ground
level" ozone (versus ozone in the upper
atmosphere) can seriously affect the human
respiratory system, and is one of the most
prevalent and widespread of all air pollutants.
EPA reviews the ozone standard periodically to
ensure it adequately protects human beings.
To prqvide information for the review, lab
scientists study the effects of ozone exposure
on human volunteers at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Volunteers are
exposed to ozone levels similar to those occur-
ring in urban areas. Many ozone experiments
include exercise on a treadmill. Tests take
place in stainless steel exposure chambers
controlled for such factors as temperature,
light, humidity, and pollutant concentrations.
Before, during, and after exposure, the volun-
teers are measured for physiological perform-
ance and their subjective experience of pain,
discomfort, and other symptoms. The results
of these experiments have proved that expo-
sure to acute ozone conditions (e.g., equiva-
lent to conditions people living in Los Angeles
routinely experience on a smoggy day) can
cause chest pains, coughing, and shortness of
breath, as well as limit a person's ability to
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perform physically. The data from this re-
search have been used directly to establish the
national air quality standard for ozone.
Similarly, the lab provides scientific support
for regulatory activities under the Clean Water
Act; the Safe Drinking Water Act; the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; the
Toxic Substances Control Act; the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act; and the Com-
prehensive Environmental Response, Compen-
sation, and Liability Act.
ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH
AND EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT
LABORATORY
...studies how air pollutants in the atmosphere
reach concentrations injurious to human health
or the ecology and shows how to control
pollutants to eliminate harmful effects.
Pollutants often travel hundreds of miles,
contaminating the air far from emission
sources. Lab scientists study the flow and dis-
persion of air pollution using two wind tunnels
and one tow tank. The lab also is developing a
model which shows how pollutants rise into
the atmosphere, are transported over long
distances, undergo chemical transformations in
the air, and eventually are brought to earth as
acid deposition. The model is so complex and
involves so much data, it must be run on a
supercomputer. To test the model, the lab is
conducting a major field study in cooperation
with the U.S. utility industry, Canada, and
Germany, using ground stations and aircraft.
The lab identifies potential pollution
ha2ards created by new cars and trucks, fuels,
fuel additives, and emission control devices
and conducts research on the impact of
alternative fuels (for example, methanol and
ethanol) on motor vehicle emissions to deter-
mine if these fuels reduce urban ozone and
carbon monoxide.
Using portable personal exposure moni-
tors, personal activity questionnaires, and
outdoor and indoor air monitoring, the lab
studies human exposure to pollutants. It
examines the impact of man's activities on the
nation's ecosystems and predicts future effects.
Another exciting area of study involves antici-
pating how predicted global climate changes
may affect air pollution levels in various parts
of the country.
Turning to another area, the lab is develop-
ing and implementing a program to ensure that
states and local agencies submit precise, accu-
rate, valid, and comparable data.
AIR AND ENERGY
ENGINEERING RESEARCH
LABORATORY
...develops and demonstrates methods and
technologies for reducing air pollution from
"stationary sources" such as electrical power-
plants, refineries, manufacturing and processing
industries, and incinerators.
Coal-fired utility boilers account for about
65 percent of the sulfur dioxide (SO2) and 29
percent of the nitrogen oxides (NOj) emissions
in the U.S. These pollutants are believed to
cause acid rain and, therefore, are called "acid
rain precursors." The lab, in cooperation with
industry, has demonstrated economical
technologies that reduce SO2 emissions by 60
percent and NOx by about 50 percent. Other
technologies that produce greater reductions in
SO2 are being pilot tested.
In addition to finding ways to control "acid
rain precursors," the lab has developed com-
puter models that help industry estimate the
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cost of various technologies and the amount of
acid rain precursors that will be produced. The
lab also develops inventories of the amount of
acid rain precursors emitted into the air in
selected years.
There is "good" ozone and "bad" ozone.
Ozone in the upper atmosphere protects
people from ultraviolet radiation. Ozone at
"ground level" adversely affects our respiratory
systems. Ozone research focuses on: (^identi-
fying compounds harmful to the ozone layer
(upper atmosphere); (2)evaluating substitutes
for various manmade chemicals, such as chlo-
rofluorocarbons, which deplete the ozone
layer; and (3)developing strategies and indus-
trial processes to prevent emissions of pollut-
ants that foster "ground-level" ozone and
improving technologies for controlling these
pollutants once they are released.
Other promising research includes the
evaluation of the relative importance of various
processes producing gases, such as carbon
dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, which
contribute to global climate change. This re-
search may lead to innovative solutions to
reduce the "greenhouse" effect. The lab also
studies various combustion methods which can
reduce pollutant emissions by altering the ways
hazardous wastes are burned. It is developing
methods to minimize formation of pollutants
during combustion of municipal solid waste.
We are beginning to realize that some of
the worst pollutants we breathe may actually
be in indoor air. The lab is working to reduce
indoor air pollution, mainly by testing indoor
materials and substances in environmental
chambers to determine what types of gases and
particles are emitted^ The results of these
studies are givenlo EPA's regulatory office, to
product manufacturers, to consumer protection
groups, and to others so that future products
and materials can be made pollutant-free.
Radon, a naturally occurring, colorless gas,
enters buildings through cracks in foundations
and may cause 5,000 to 20,000 lung cancer
deaths yearly. The lab is developing techniques
for reducing radon in existing houses, schools,
and other buildings as well as suggesting new
ways to construct buildings that will reduce
radon entry.
ENVIRONMENTAL CRITERIA
AND ASSESSMENT OFFICE
...serves as a bridge between EPA's research
labs and the offices that actually write regula-
tions. This office provides: criteria for evaluat-
ing the impact of pollutants; health and envi-
ronmental assessment documents used by the
EPA administrator as a basis for decisions
regarding the regulation and control of pollut-
ants; special reports; and technical assistance to
international organizations and state and local
governments.
Of special interest are the broad, multi-dis-
ciplinary assessments of widespread pollutants
or classes of pollutants and the detailed studies
of the health (lexicological) effects of hazard-
ous pollutants. The office also develops risk
characterization methodology and directs the
agency's indoor air research program.
OFFICE OF AIR QUALITY
PLANNING AND STANDARDS
...sets standards for pollutants considered
harmful to public health or welfare and, in
cooperation with EPA's regional offices and the
states, enforces compliance with the standards
through state implementation plans and regula-
tions controlling emissions from stationary
sources.
The office evaluates the need to regulate
potential air pollutants and develops national
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emission standards; works with state and local
agencies to develop plans for meeting these
standards; monitors national air quality trends
and maintains a database of information on air
pollution and controls; provides technical guid-
ance and training on air pollution control to
other EPA offices and state and local agencies;
and monitors compliance with air pollution
standards.
OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION
AND RESOURCES
MANAGEMENT
...operates the National Computer Center which
provides large-scale data processing capabilities
to users throughout the agency. In addition,
the computer center manages a national data
communications network which allows all 50
states to have direct access to EPA's environ-
mental information.
This office also maintains the agency's na-
tionwide telephone service, provides contract-
ing support to about one-third of all EPA pro-
grams, and pays all EPA contract bills — about
$1 billion annually.
WORKING TOGETHER FOR A
CT FANF.R ENVIRONMENT
EPA's laboratories and offices in the Re-
search Triangle provide vital information
individuals, industry, conservationists, various
levels of government, and the public in general
need to make informed decisions. With this
information, each of us can choose to act in
ways which ensure a quality environment.
9- % Recycled Paper
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