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Science and
Research at the
U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
EPA Progress Report, 2012
Office of Research and Development
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Innovation Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow
A message from Lek Kadeli
Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator
U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development
This report highlights just a small sample of the
research results that the scientists and engineers
at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
Office of Research and Development delivered
in support of the American people in 2012.
While just a snapshot, it reflects the enormous
positive impact of what a group of dedicated,
highly-skilled, and passionate researchers can
accomplish when they work together to cultivate
an atmosphere of innovation and common
purpose in providing solutions to environmental
health issues.
No other environmental research organization in
the world offers the collective depth and breadth
of expertise represented by EPA's research staff.
From assessing the promise and potential risks of
emerging technologies using tiny nanoparticles
thousands of times smaller than the width of a
human hair, to exploring the dynamics and far-
reaching challenges of global climate change,
EPA brings together experts from a diversity of
environmental and human health fields.
Collectively, this body of experts, together with
partners throughout the scientific community,
provide the firm, scientific foundation the
Agency needs to fulfill its mission on behalf of the
American people: to safeguard human health
and protect the environment.
EPA researchers are at the forefront of a
movement to advance environmental and
human health science into the next generation.
Their goal is not only to support efforts to
reduce pollution and lower the risks posed by
environmental exposure and contamination, but
to advance the science needed to achieve a
more sustainable and prosperous future.
In doing so, they are helping to fundamentally
change the business of protecting human
health and the environment from one focused
on what should not be done, to one based on
growth and opportunity. Together with their
partners, EPA researchers are part of a growing
community of scientists and engineers embracing
an entrepreneurial spirit aimed at delivering the
knowledge, tools, and solutions needed to meet
today's most pressing environmental challenges in
ways that simultaneously spark economic growth
and lay the groundwork for the a new wave of
American jobs.
This spirit of innovation is exemplified throughout
this report, which highlights some of the research
results and impacts achieved by EPA scientists
and engineers and their partners during 2012. A
few examples follow.
• Developing remote, mobile air monitoring
sensors and technologies that will improve
local air quality monitoring and are
expected to help oil refineries and other
industries save some $500 million over
the next ten years. (See New Technology
to Improve Local Air Quality Monitoring,
Reduce Costs.)
• Working with partners from the Department
of Health and Human Services to launch
the "My Air, My Health" initiative. My
Air, My Health provided the incentive to
inventors, software and app developers,
and engineers to develop personal, portable
sensors for air quality and human health.
(See Sparking Innovation for Clean Air).
• Testing a novel, proof-of-concept coastal
water quality monitoring system that taps
data gathered from the International Space
Station's Hyperspectral Imager for Coastal
Ocean (HICO) through an EPA Pathfinder
Innovation Project. (See Supporting
Innovation.)
• Advancing the science and engineering
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Innovation Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow, continued
of "green infrastructure" techniques such
as rain gardens, rain barrels, and green
roofs that mimic natural conditions to help
urban water systems develop new ways
to reduce stormwater and remove excess
nutrients from runoff. This work will help
communities improve local waterways while
avoiding costly upgrades and replacements
to sewer systems and other "gray"
stormwater infrastructure. (See Tapping
Green Infrastructure and A Tool for Urban
Stormwater Management.)
Working with collaborators from Rutgers
University and a New Jersey Department
of Environmental Protection team to
use a remote-controlled, submarine-like
"autonomous underwater vehicle" to
monitor water quality off the coast of New
Jersey, helping collect important data
while reducing costly helicopter flights. (See
Gliding beneath the Surface.)
Developing new tools to help communities
protect the health of their residents while
advancing a more sustainable future, such
as a sophisticated geographic information-
based mapping tool called the EnviroAtlas
(see Developing the EnviroAtlas to Support
Community Decisions), and an on-line
tool that helps illustrate the connections
between natural ecosystems and human
health. (See The Eco-Health Relationship
Browser.)
Combining advances in exposure science,
biology, mathematical and computer
modeling, and computer technology
to advance the EPA's Computational
Toxicology research and advance new,
efficient, and fast high-throughput screening
efforts. (See EPA's Computational Toxicology
Research; Chemical Evaluation Dashboards
for Decision Makers, and ToxCast Partnership
to Advance Chemical Testing, Reduce
Animal Testing).
• Growing EPA's widely-used Integrated Risk
Information System ("IRIS") Program with
a progress report to the U.S. Congress,
highlighting continued improvements such
as proactive stakeholder engagement
and increased transparency, and
the completion of several critical IRIS
assessments, including dioxin (noncancer)
and tetrachloroethylene (perc). (See
Growing IRIS: Advancing EPA's Integrated
Risk Information System.)
• Enhancing the nation's ability to detect,
respond to, and recover from a deliberate
or accidental release of chemical,
biological, or radiological agents through
updates and improvements to tools such
as I-WASTE and the Wide Area Recovery
and Resiliency Program (see Supporting
Emergency Response and Recovery),
and the Selected Analytical Methods for
Environmental Remediation and Recovery.
(See Read to Respond: Improving the
Nation's Emergency Preparedness).
EPA's overall research strategy unites six
complementary, highly-coordinated and
Transdisciplinary research programs: Air,
Climate, and Energy; Sustainable and Healthy
Communities; Safe and Sustainable Water
Resources; Chemical Safety for Sustainability;
Human Health Risk Assessment; and Homeland
Security Research.
This report highlights some of the many
accomplishments EPA researchers and their
partners have achieved working together across
these programs throughout 2012. This report is
dedicated to their service and exemplifies the
innovative work they do everyday to support the
American people and advance a healthy and
sustainable future for the nation.
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PageS
Table of Contents
Air, Climate, and Energy Research
Safe and Sustainable Water Resources Research.
Sustainable and Healthy Communities Research..
Chemical Safety for Sustainability Research
Human Health Risk Assessment Research
Collaborating with Partners
Homeland Security Research ,
...6
. 17
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.72
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Page 6
Air, Climate, and Energy
American communities face health and
environmental challenges from air pollution and
the growing effects of climate change, both of
which are intricately linked to the choices we
make about energy production and use.
Improving air quality, reducing greenhouse gas
emissions, and developing strategies to help
communities and individuals address climate
change are central to EPA's mission to protect
human health and the environment.
EPA's Air, Climate, and Energy research program
examines the interplay among air pollution,
climate change, and energy use and production
to develop innovative and sustainable solutions for
improving air quality and addressing global climate
change. EPA research efforts in that regard support
policies with far-reaching health benefits across the
nation.
This section highlights a few of the research results
EPA researchers and their partners have achieved
in 2012 in the areas of air, climate, and energy.
Learn More!
For more information and to learn more about the scope and impact of EPA Air, Climate, and Energy
research, please visit: www.epa.gov/research/airscience/.
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EPA research provides new insights into how pollution affects cardiovascular health.
Protecting Cardiovascular Health from Air Pollution
EPA scientists and grantees are making important
new discoveries about the links between air
pollution and cardiovascular health, part of the
Agency's commitment to protecting human
health. The research is giving medical experts
new insights into how pollution affects the human
cardiovascular system, including the finding that
a combination of pollutants can cause much
greater health problems that just a single agent
alone.
In 2012, EPA and EPA-funded studies
revealed important insights into the link
between particulate matter air pollution and
cardiovascular health, including the following.
• A team of EPA-supported epidemiologists
from Harvard and Brown Universities
examined the medical records of 1,700
stroke patients in the Boston area over a 10-
year period, and compared them to hourly
measurements of fine particle air pollution.
They found a link between the pollution and
an increased risk of ischemic strokes (the
kind that occur when blood vessels to the
brain are blocked).
• EPA scientists collaborated with researchers
from Duke University to find that people
exposed to a combination of particulate
matter and nitrogen dioxide may suffer
worse health effects than just particulate
matter alone.
• In a study by EPA scientists, researchers
found the potential for omega-3 fatty
acids to protect the cardiovascular system
from the harmful effects of fine particulate
matter.
EPA scientists also advanced the understanding
of the link between cardiovascular health
and another air pollutant: ground level ozone.
The scientists discovered links between ozone
exposure and key indicators of cardiovascular
health, including changes in heart rhythm,
increased levels of an inflammation marker,
and decreases in compounds that help dissolve
artery-clogging blood clots. While previous
studies had shown statistical associations
between ozone exposure and such health
problems, the EPA research identified a
biologically-based explanation for these effects.
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EPA modified this electric-powered car with state-of-the-art technology to measure levels of different air pollutants along major
roadways and other pollution source locations.
New Technology to Improve Local
Air Quality Monitoring, Reduce Costs
In 2012, EPA scientists and engineers continued to
advance the use and development of innovative
technologies for researching, monitoring, and
managing air pollution. The research is providing
new, low-cost capabilities to measure emissions
near industry, roadways and other areas
where air pollution may be a concern but has
traditionally been difficult to study.
For example, in Wyoming, EPA researchers
mounted air sensors on a vehicle to create a
mobile monitoring platform for use along oil and
gas pipelines. The device relays real-time data
to occupants in the vehicle that they can use
to identify spikes in emissions that could identify
leaks.
In a similar project, EPA researchers used an
electric-powered, modified vehicle or "air sniffing
car" equipped with air monitoring technology to
quantify emissions profiles along major roadways
and study the potential health impact that traffic
poses to those living, working, or going to school
near major highways.
In addition to mobile air monitors, EPA
researchers introduced novel monitoring
approaches utilizing advanced stationary sensor
technology. For example, a new approach was
developed for monitoring air quality at petroleum
refineries to more rapidly detect and identify
leaks so that small problems can be found and
fixed. Referred to as fence line monitoring, the
system uses a series of sensors mounted along a
facility's perimeter to capture emissions from all
processes occurring within the facility rather than
deploying more expensive monitoring devices
targeted at individual processes within the
facility.
The innovative, low-cost fenceline sampling
approach has support from EPA's Office of Air
and Radiation and partners in the industrial
sector because it offers a highly cost effective
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This mobile air monitoring device relays real-time data to occupants in the vehicle they can use to identify spikes in emissions that
could indicate leaks along oil and gas pipelines.
approach to support a new refinery sector
proposal under the Clean Air Act. The sensors
are expected to result in significant savings at
refineries and provide a more flexible compliance
framework. The Agency estimates that industry will
realize savings of some $500 million over 10 years
in reduced compliance costs.
The new technologies EPA is advancing show
the promise of establishing low cost, round-the-
clock monitoring capabilities that would serve
as both an early warning system for industry to
stop potentially costly leaks and better protect
neighboring communities from air pollution.
Improvements in stationary air sensor technology allow
remote sensors to scan for "chemical footprints " of emission
characteristics.
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Page 10
Sparking Innovation for Clean Air
My Air
My Health
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The My Air My Health competition challenged Americans to develop
personal, portable sensors that measure air pollution and a person's
physiological response to pollution.
In addition to advancing its own innovative use
of air monitoring technologies, EPA is mining
the collective efforts of inventors, software and
application ("app") developers, independent
engineers, and other innovators to spark the
development of the next generation of air
pollution monitoring devices and technologies.
The goal is to inspire the development of
revolutionary, low-cost, accurate, and easy-
to-use air monitors that will provide individual
citizens and health protection professionals alike
better pictures of local air quality, and support
actions and decisions to protect public health.
In June, 2012, EPA and the Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS) launched the "My
Air, My Health Challenge," a call to innovators
to create personal, portable, near-real-time,
location-specific systems to simultaneously
monitor and report air pollutants and potentially
related health parameters such as heart rate and
breathing.
On November 15, 2012 four finalists were selected
from 39 proposals. The four projects and their
teams were:
Ultra-fine particle sensing
devices that also measure
respiratory function and vital
signs.
Mobile application and website
to link exposures to carbon
monoxide and fine particulate
matter with heart rates and
blood oxygen levels.
"Smart" athletic clothing that
measures airborne pollutants
and relevant health metrics.
Integrated modular air quality
sensors, breathing games,
and a software package that
promote public sharing of
health information.
Each received $15,000 to move their ideas from
the design phase to working prototype, one of
which will be selected as the overall winner and
receive a cash award of $100,000 in June 2013.
Agency researchers are also providing technical
support and evaluation to nine teams from
across the United States and Europe who have
developed portable sensors for continuous or
near-continuous nitrogen dioxide and ozone
monitoring.
This collaboration stemmed from the 2012 Apps
and Sensors for Air Pollution Monitoring Workshop,
which brought outside developers together with
EPA researchers. The EPA evaluation team will
issue a final report in summer 2013.
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Leading the Way to Cleaner Cookstoves
EPA research on indoor cookstoves could benefit millions.
For roughly half the world's population, the
source for both cooking and keeping warm is a
simple fire pit surrounded by three large stones
arranged to keep a pot, grill, or cooking surface
above the flames. For the people who rely on
them, these simple and inexpensive "solid fuel"
cookstoves do the job.
They are also among the world's leading
source of environmental death due to indoor
air pollution. In its report, Global Health Risks:
Mortality and burden of disease attributable to
selected major risks (World Health Organization,
2009, accessed December 2012 at http://bit.ly/
UjXvSp) the World Health Organization estimates
that indoor air pollution from typical household
fires for heating and cooking contributes to
nearly two million premature deaths annually.
"Indoor smoke from solid fuel causes about 21 %
of lower respiratory infection deaths worldwide,
35% of chronic obstructive pulmonary deaths
and about 3% of lung cancer deaths," the report
states. And because women and children
typically spend more time in countries where
such cookstoves are used, they are the most
affected.
EPA engineers and scientists are helping to
lead an international effort to develop a inside
the home new generation of clean burning
cookstoves that will bring relief to those exposed
to cookstove emissions in the developing world.
In 2012, EPA research engineers and their
colleagues published results from the most
extensive independent study done to date
to analyze emissions and energy efficiency of
cookstoves. The researchers tested 22 different
cookstove designs, measuring emissions of air
pollutants that cause harmful health effects and
contribute to climate change, including carbon
monoxide, particulates, hydrocarbons, carbon
dioxide, methane, and black carbon.
Results of the worldwide study revealed
considerable differences in the amount of air
pollutants emitted and in energy efficiency.
Among the key findings, researchers found
that emissions from some advanced cookstove
technologies are significantly lower than the most
widely used "three-stone" open fire.
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A 2009 report by The World Health Organization estimates that the indoor air pollution from typical household cooking fires
contributes to nearly 2 million premature deaths annually.
In addition to supporting the potential health
benefits from developing new cookstove
technologies, the ongoing research is providing
important scientific insights into global climate
change. Because traditional cookstoves account
for approximately 20 percent of worldwide
emissions of black carbon—a contributor to
global climate change—they represent an
important potential opportunity for taking action
to address climate change.
A third study currently underway will provide
additional information on cookstoves, including
solar cookers. The work is supported by the
EPA-led Partnership for Clean Indoor Air, now
integrated with the Global Alliance for Clean
Cookstoves, a United Nations Foundation
initiative.
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Biodiesel is fuel derived from plants, animals, or other living organisms.
Health Effects of Biodiesel
The potential benefits of biodiesel—fuels derived
from plants, animals, or other living organisms—
as a substitute for conventional fossil fuels are
numerous: they can be produced domestically,
are generally safe to handle, and are naturally
biodegradable. The use of biodiesel fuels
can both lower the nation's dependence on
imported fossil fuels and convert waste streams,
such as used cooking grease, into a marketable
commodity sold to power vehicles or heat homes
and businesses.
But while the allure of biodiesel is powerful,
important questions about the long-term impacts
associated with its use are largely unanswered.
EPA researchers are working to solve that
important knowledge gap, conducting studies to
better understand the health effects of biodiesel,
from producing the fuel, to burning it.
In 2012, EPA researchers continued to advance
work examining how biodiesel fuels burn, working
to identify the amount and types of pollutants
in biodiesel exhaust, and how the pollutants in
those emissions might affect human health.
Specifically, the researchers are looking to see
if components of biodiesel emissions are likely
to have properties that trigger adverse health
effects, including changes in gene structures,
lung and cardiac reactions such as altered
electrocardiograms (known commonly as EKG),
heart rate variability, blood pressure, and lung
function in both healthy, normal individuals and
those susceptible to health problems.
Another area of interest EPA researchers are
advancing is the potential health effects
of biodiesel blends, fuels that combine a
percentage of bio-based fuels with more
traditional petroleum diesel. Biodiesel fuel
sources and the amounts used to create
blends are a constantly moving target because
innovative technologies and market forces can
dramatically change the fuel type or blend.
That work is developing the science needed to
quickly test and evaluate the potential health
and environmental impacts of emerging fuel
sources.
What EPA researchers are learning will provide
decision makers with critical information and
guide further research in the quest to develop
alternative fuel sources that do not have the
unintended consequences of harmful emissions.
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Research results provided key information used in the development of emission standards for industrial boilers, allowing for less
costly, more efficient ways for boiler owners and operators to reach safer emissions targets.
Reducing Hazardous Air Pollutants
from Industrial Boilers
New studies conducted by EPA researchers in
2012 are playing a critical role in Agency efforts
to reduce hazardous air pollution while also
making it easier and less costly for industries and
boiler operators to comply with new National
Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants
(NESHAP) rules under the Clean Air Act.
Research results provided key information used
in the development of emission standards for
industrial boilers that EPA estimates will have a
significant impact on protecting public health:
preventing 6,500 premature deaths and 4,000
heart attacks a year starting in 2014. The rules are
also expected to cut mercury emissions to the
environment by as much as 90 percent.
The research was conducted at the 1.2
megawatt Multipollutant Control Research
Facility at EPA's Research Triangle Park campus
in North Carolina where engineers can burn
coal, oil and gas under different operating
conditions to test a variety of different pollutant
control technologies. There, researchers tested
air pollution control technologies for particulate
matter (PM) to determine if the technologies
might also be effective in reducing additional
pollutants regulated under the new boiler
NESHAP rules. The research produced quality
data that supports the use of PM as a surrogate
for regulating hazardous air pollutants.
Researchers also extensively tested another
control technology called Dry Sorbent Injection
(DSI) and showed its effectiveness in removing
hazardous air pollutants.
EPA's Office of Air and Radiation incorporated
the research findings into the development of the
NESHAP rules, allowing less costly, more efficient
ways for boiler owners and operators to reach
safer emissions targets.
EPA engineers at the 1.2
megawatt Multipollutant
Control Research Facility
in North Carolina can
burn coal, oil and gas
under different operating
conditions to test a variety
afferent pollutant
control technologies.
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EPA scientists are building and advancing computer models that calculate scenarios of the potential impacts of climate change.
Exploring Climate Change and Air Quality Scenarios
Predicting the likely impact that future climate
change will have on air quality, the environment,
and ecosystems is critical so that potentially
damaging effects can be reduced.
EPA scientists are building and advancing
computer models that calculate scenarios of the
potential impacts of climate change, helping
the public, policymakers, and community and
business leaders incorporate sound science into
their decisions.
Examples of work advanced during 2012 include:
Climate change and land use: How will the
complex interrelationships between land-use,
such as housing density and development,
and climate change drive environmental
impacts in air and water quality, human
health, ecosystems, and other environmental
parameters? Increased knowledge of the
dynamic connections between climate
change and land use will help local
communities better prepare and make
important decisions today.
EPA's Integrated Climate and Land Use
Scenarios (ICLUS) project is providing just that
kind of information. ICLUS is an online tool and
model that enables researchers to tap existing
climate change science to run models that
calculate potential environmental scenarios
related to the connections between climate
change and U.S. land use patterns.
In January of 2012, ICLUS researchers released
data for each region in the contiguous
United States to support the National Climate
Assessment, a periodic report produced by
the U.S. Global Change Research Program
and delivered to the President and U.S.
Congress.
Reducing pollution from the cement industry
sector: EPA modelers are developing the
Industrial Sector Integrated Solutions (ISIS)
model to help industries better evaluate
pollution reduction strategies. The model
provides sophisticated calculations to
illustrate the trade off and benefits of how
various options and changes in operations will
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affect multiple pollutants simultaneously, and
how changes in emissions policy could affect
production. The goal with ISIS is to present the
optimal cost-effective controls needed to
meet emissions reduction requirements.
EPA researchers completed the first ISIS model
for the cement industry sector. It allowed
the agency to better evaluate impacts on
domestic and international competitiveness
as well as plant-by-plant projections of likely
control technology installations.
Exploring scenarios for complex environmental
decisions: An EPA team combined
components of several existing models to
develop Geos-CHEM LIDORT Integrated
with MARKAL for the Purpose of Scenario
Exploration (GLIMPSE). This sophisticated
decision-support tool examines the impacts
of complex environmental decisions involving
air quality, climate change, ecosystems, and
energy production. For example, GLIMPSE
can be used to determine the best strategy to
simultaneously address black carbon emissions
to reduce health effects while mitigating
climate change impacts.
The model is designed to be fast and
comprehensive allowing decision makers to
explore a range of options to assess multiple
environmental goals such as improved air
quality, climate change mitigation and
ecosystem conservation.
Climate Change and
Human Health
In addition to advancing climate models, EPA
researchers are exploring the impact that
an increase in events such as heat waves,
flooding, and poor air quality will have on the
public, particularly vulnerable populations such
as older adults.
EPA research is providing crucial information
that can be used to better prepare and
protect the public from a changing climate.
Important published studies in 2012 include:
• EPA scientists conducted a review of the
latest published research demographics,
relevant climate stressors, and factors
contributing to the vulnerability of older
adults to those stressors. The study
confirmed previous findings that older
Americans are likely to be especially
vulnerable to stressors associated with cli-
mate change.
• EPA scientists provided a better
understanding of the potential range of
estimated ozone-related human health
impacts brought on by climate change.
Through the use of multiple models,
epidemiological studies, and population
projections, the study was among the
first to explicitly explore the uncertainty
surrounding assessment of these impacts.
- MS.7:
Older adults may be among the
least able to cope with impacts of
climate change.
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Safe and Sustainable Water Resources
Across the nation, people are placing increased
demands on the finite water resources that supply
precious drinking water, support healthy aquatic
ecosystems, and fill important societal and
economic needs, including energy, agriculture,
and industrial production.
EPA's Safe and Sustainable Water Resources
research program provides the science and
innovative technologies that the Agency—and the
nation—need to maintain drinking water sources
and systems, as well as to protect the chemical,
physical, and biological integrity of our waters.
EPA scientists and engineers, together with their
research partners, are addressing 21st century
challenges to water supplies and infrastructures by
integrating research across social, environmental,
and economic disciplines. Together they are
working to provide lasting, sustainable solutions to
those challenges.
This section highlights a few of the research results
EPA researchers and their partners achieved
in 2012 to support safe and sustainable water
resources.
Learn More!
For more information and to learn more about the scope and impact of EPA water research, please
visit: www.epa .aov/research/waterscience/.
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Page 18
A focused scientific study will determine the potential impacts,
if any, of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources.
Hydraulic Fracturing
Study: Progress and Outreach
Hydraulic fracturing is a technique used to
release natural gas and oil from underground
reservoirs. EPA is conducting a focused scientific
study to determine potential impacts, if any, of
hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources.
The study is looking at the full cycle of water as it
is used in hydraulic fracturing.
In December, 2012, EPA released its first hydraulic
fracturing progress report, Study of the Potential
Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing on Drinking Water
Resources. The report describes 18 research
projects undertaken as part of the study and
summarizes the current status of each project.
While the progress report outlines work currently
underway, it does not draw conclusions about
the potential impact of hydraulic fracturing
on drinking water resources. A draft report,
expected in late 2014, will synthesize results and
address the study's research questions. The
report has been designated a Highly Influential
Scientific Assessment, meaning it will receive the
highest level of peer review in accordance with
EPA's Peer Review Handbook.
In 2012, EPA also announced an enhanced
technical engagement and stakeholder
outreach effort regarding the hydraulic
fracturing study. EPA is taking several steps to
meet its stakeholder engagement goals:
1. Increase technical engagement with the
stakeholder community to ensure that EPA
has ongoing access to a broad range of
expertise and data outside the Agency. Five
technical roundtables, held in November,
2012, focused on each stage of the water
cycle as pertains to hydraulic fracturing.
EPA will host in-depth technical workshops
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1. Water
Acquisition
4
2. Chemical
Mixing
L
4. Flowback and
Produced Water
3. Well (Wastewaters)
Injection
The five stages of the water cycle as pertains to the hydraulic fracturing process.
5. Wastewater
Treatment and
Waste Disposal
Page 19
to address specific issues raised during these
roundtables in greater detail.
2. Obtain feedback on projects undertaken
as part of the study and ensure that EPA is
up-to-date on changes in industry practices
and technologies. The Agency is soliciting
public involvement in identifying relevant
data and scientific literature specific to
inform the hydraulic fracturing study. In
November, 2012, EPA published a Request
for Information in the Federal Register.
3. Improve public understanding of the goals
and design of the study. In addition to the
organized technical meetings, EPA will seek
opportunities (such as association or state
organization meetings) to provide informal
briefings and updates on the study to a
diverse range of stakeholders, including
states, non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), academia, and industry. EPA
will also increase the frequency of public
webinars, hosting them after each technical
meeting.
Hydraulic Fracturing Chemicals
Included in EPA's hydraulic fracturing
progress report is a list of over 1000
chemicals associated with hydraulic
fracturing processes. EPA researchers
curated and reconciled multiple EPA,
industry, and public chemical lists to
produce this consolidated inventory of
unique substances associated with
hydraulic fracturing.
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Page 20
Bristol Bay, Alaska:
Assessing Potential
Mining Impacts on
Salmon Ecosystems
Bristol Bay watershed in southwestern Alaska
supports the largest sockeye salmon fishery in
the world, is home to 25 federally recognized
tribal governments, and contains large mineral
resources. The potential for large-scale mining
activities in the watershed has raised concerns
about the impact of mining on the sustainability
of Bristol Bay's world-class fisheries, and the
future of some of the Alaska Native tribes in the
watershed who have maintained a salmon-
based culture and subsistence-based lifestyle for
at least 4,000 years.
This pristine and unique watershed supports all
five species of Pacific salmon and half of the
world's sockeye salmon population. The fishery
(commercial, recreational, subsistence) is
valued at more than $365 million per year, with
hunting and sight-seeing bringing the total value
to almost $500 million per year. The Bristol Bay
watershed also holds large deposits of valuable
minerals. One deposit—the Pebble Deposit—if
fully developed, has the potential of becoming
one of the largest mines of its type in the world.
EPA received petitions from nine federally
recognized tribes and other stakeholders
expressing concern that the salmon fishery would
be at risk from large-scale mining and asking that
EPA take action to protect salmon populations
affected by the Bay's Watershed. Other tribes
and stakeholders who support development in
the Bristol Bay watershed requested EPA take no
action until a permitting process begins.
In response to the petitions, EPA is conducting an
assessment of the Bristol Bay Watershed to better
Approximately 50% of the world's production of sockeye salmon
comes from the Bristol Bay Watershed.
understand how future large-scale mining may
affect the salmon fishery. EPA will use the results
of the assessment to evaluate options for assuring
that the resources of Bristol Bay, are effectively
protected.
EPA's draft report, An Assessment of Potential
Mining Impacts on Salmon Ecosystems of Bristol
Bay, Alaska, was released in May 2012; it then
underwent a 60-day public comment period
and external peer review panel. The final report
is expected to be completed and publicly
available in 2013.
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Alaskan peninsula.
-------
Water pumped in and out of ship hulls to provide stability can introduce of non-native invasive species.
Stemming the Tide of Invasive Marine Species
In 2012, EPA scientists finalized an Atlas of non-
native marine and estuarine species for the
North Pacific Ocean. The Atlas provides a
comprehensive reference to help biologists,
marine and estuarine managers, and others
identify species that were likely introduced by
the release of ballast water—the water that ships
pump in and out of their hulls to maintain stability.
The Atlas provides key information for assessing
which areas are prone to risk from invasive
marine species, and identifies traits that make
certain groups of species potentially disruptive
when released outside their natural range.
In addition to the Atlas, EPA researchers
partnered with colleagues from the U.S. Coast
Guard to develop new performance verification
protocols to ensure that disinfection technologies
and devices used by ships for destroying
organisms in ballast water are effective. The
test protocols were subsequently validated by
independent tests conducted by engineers and
scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)
in Key West, Florida.
This research is expected to help stem the tide of
economic and environmental impacts caused
by the release of invasive species in ballast water.
The zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) is native to Eastern
Europe, but was discovered in the Great Lakes nearly 25 years
ago.
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Rainwater runs off of roads into the sewer system.
A Tool for Urban
Storm Water Management
Stormwater overflow presents a big problem in
many urban areas. Heavy rains send torrents of
water running over pavement, rooftops, and all
the other impervious surfaces that cover most
city grounds. Not only does this excess water
cause superficial flooding of roads and buildings,
but it also floods city sewer systems. Combined
sewer systems that collect municipal sewage and
stormwater in a single pipe system can overflow
during heavy rain resulting in 'combined sewer
overflows' where sewage and other pollutants
overflow into nearby waterways. EPA researchers
are developing tools and strategies to help
city planners, managers, and others address
stormwater problems.
EPA's Storm Water Management Model (SWMM)
is used widely for planning, analysis and design
related to stormwater runoff, combined sewers,
sanitary sewers, and other drainage systems in
urban areas. SWMM is a rainfall-runoff simulation
model that gives users important information
about local water patterns. This helps inform
the design and implementation of natural and
"green" (such as rain gardens and green roofs)
as well as traditional "gray" (pipes) stormwater
management alternatives. This publicly available
model averages 2,000 downloads every month
and is often used as a core modeling engine by
municipalities.
EPA recently expanded SWMM (version 5) to
explicitly model the performance of specific
types of low impact development controls,
such as porous pavement, bio-retention areas
(e.g., rain gardens, and green roofs), infiltration
trenches, vegetative swales, and other forms
of green infrastructure (see "Tapping Green
Infrastructure" on adjacent page). The updated
model allows engineers and planners to
accurately represent any combination of low
impact controls within a study area to determine
their effectiveness in managing stormwater and
combined sewer overflows.
The development of predictive modeling
tools like SWMM for the design of integrated
green and gray infrastructure for use in urban
watersheds is intended to improve resource
management, criteria development, and
regulatory decisions.
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Rain garden pilot project with monitoring equipment at the St. Francis Court Apartments in Cincinnati.
Tapping Green Infrastructure
EPA researchers are studying green infrastructure,
water management techniques that tap or
mimic natural conditions to achieve efficient,
sustainable stormwater management systems.
Examples of green infrastructure include: rain
gardens, rain barrels, green roofs, cisterns,
daylighted streams, and retention ponds. The
environmentally-friendly techniques of green
infrastructure present sustainable options for
reducing urban water problems and health risks.
The work will provide cities and local communities
with tools and guidance they can use to combat
water-quality issues such as flooding, combined
sewer overflows, and nutrient impairment.
With research ranging from soil analysis to best
placement modeling, EPA researchers are
working to inform city managers and decision-
makers about green infrastructure practices.
Research data are also used to inform the
development and evaluation of stormwater
modeling tools such as the Storm Water
Management Model.
• Urban Soil Assessment: Researchers assessed
characteristics of urban soils in various
locations to inform the development of
an Urban Soil Assessment Protocol. By
accounting for how excess stormwater will (or
will not) move through surface and deeper
soils, this protocol helps direct communities
when and how to use green infrastructure in
an economically feasible way.
• Guiding Green Infrastructure in Omaha: In
collaboration with the City of Omaha and
the Nebraska Department of Environmental
Quality, EPA scientists analyzed soils and
prepared monitoring equipment for the
introduction of green infrastructure to
selected sites througout the city. EPA is
•
2010 URBAN SOILS ASSESSMENT
Rediscovering Your
Community's Urban Soils
Soil core samples were taken at various urban soil
testing sites.
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Page 24
Researchers dig up and examine a soil core for analysis at a potential
green infrastructure site in Omaha.
providing guidance on how the city and state
can incorporate green infrastructure into their
combined sewer overflow control plan. EPA will
also work with the local U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS) to establish monitoring sites around the
green infrastructure installations to determine
how well they perform with respect to water
capture and infiltration.
Daylighting Streams to Improve Water
Quality: Researchers recently compared
the effectiveness of buried streams (streams
routed into underground pipes) versus open-
air streams for removing harmful nitrogen from
water systems. Early research results suggest
that buried streams are less effective at
removing nitrogen than daylighted streams—
streams above ground and open to the air.
These findings suggest that daylighting streams
could prove a sustainable method for nitrogen
removal and improved water quality. The
outcomes of this study and further research
will be used to inform a new modeling tool
for urban managers. This tool will help identify
places within a city where daylighting streams
would be most effective.
Monitoring Green Infrastructure: Green
infrastructure pilot projects are underway
in Cincinnati, Ohio, and EPA scientists are
monitoring the hydrology (water flow patterns)
Researchers sample an open-air
stream (top) and a buried stream pipe
(bottom).
and water quality at select rain garden and
permeable pavement sites. The Metropolitan
Sewer District of Louisville, Kentucky is working
with EPA scientists to develop a monitoring
plan to demonstrate the performance of
individual green infrastructure controls and the
aggregated effectiveness of these measures
on combined sewer flow. Additionally, EPA is
monitoring the long-term performance of green
infrastructure best management practices at
the EPA facility in Edison, New Jersey.
• Cleveland's Vacant Lots: Based on technical
guidance from EPA experts, Cleveland, Ohio
has incorporated a green infrastructure pilot
program into its combined sewer overflow
consent decree. This program takes advantage
of the city's vacant land, turning that land
into green spaces that not only absorb excess
stormwater, but also improve the social and
economic fabric of neighborhoods historically
lacking green space.
-------
This autonomous underwater vehicle can safely and efficiently collect water quality data.
Gliding Beneath the Surface
Low levels of dissolved oxygen (DO) in ocean
environments have the potential to harm sea life
and degrade the health of aquatic ecosystems.
New Jersey's coastal waters have long suffered
from low oxygen conditions, putting the state in
violation of water quality standards.
In order to improve understanding of the
highly variable ocean processes that influence
oxygen levels in New Jersey's coastal zone, a
collaborative team of researchers from New
Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection
and Rutgers University developed a robotic
vehicle to investigate beneath the ocean
surface. Supported by EPA's regional science
programs, the team operated this autonomous
underwater vehicle (AUV), named the "Slocum
Glider" and evaluated its ability to capture data
about coastal water quality efficiently.
Dissolved oxygen levels have historically been
measured based on infrequent sampling,
providing imprecise results. In contrast, the AUV
takes rapid-fire readings of dissolved oxygen,
salinity, and temperature at various depths,
resulting in a much more comprehensive
database for dissolved oxygen. The AUV also
goes where ships and scientists cannot safely go,
including sampling beneath Hurricane Irene, one
of the few times an AUV captured data during
such a powerful storm.
The Slocum Glider was relaunched on July 10,
2012 to collect water quality readings along
more than 185 miles of the NJ coastline. This
experiment monitored coastal conditions
during the peak of summer, when a transitional,
mixed layer of water separates warmer surface
waters from colder layers below. Under certain
conditions, this layering of the water column can
lead to poor water quality and be harmful to
humans and aquatic life.
Information gathered by the Slocum Glider is
informing New Jersey's upcoming re-evaluation
of impaired coastal waters. Use of this glider
technology has already allowed EPA's regional
office (Region 2) in New York to divest from its
previous practice of monitoring dissolved oxygen
by helicopter, which was a costly approach with
limited results.
-------
EPA's Virtual Beach software allows for real-time water quality monitoring at Wisconsin beaches.
Real-time Beach Monitoring
The principal cause for beach closings and
advisories is water pollution caused by elevated
levels of bacteria, primarily E. coll. which
indicates human or animal waste contamination.
However, by conventional methods,
measurements of E. coll levels can take up to 24
hours. By the time results are compiled, water-
quality conditions may have already changed.
Bacteria indicative of human or animal waste is the principal
cause for beach closings.
To improve beach water monitoring, EPA
scientists developed Virtual Beach modeling
software. This tool, updated in March 2012, is
designed to predict pathogen indicator levels
at recreational beaches, giving water-quality
information in real-time or even before the
contamination occurs.
Using the Virtual Beach software, managers
can easily map their beach using an intuitive
graphical interface. By looking at data on the
local watershed, Virtual Beach's models can
find correlations between certain weather and
water conditions and bacterial outbreaks, giving
beach managers advanced warning of the
kinds of contamination events that lead to swim
advisories and beach closures.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
(WDNR) partnered with EPA and the U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS) to tap EPA's Virtual
Beach software for real-time water monitoring
at Wisconsin beaches. The impact of that effort
was the creation of the Nowcast Program,
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Page 27
^ Swimcast
Nowcast
Nowcast (Operational/Testing)
Forecast (Operational/Testing)
Various (Development'Testing)
Anal map of the Great Lakes showing beaches currently under Nowcast or other water quality monitoring programs.
which works with local public health departments
along Wisconsin's Great Lakes coast to improve
the timeliness, accuracy, and cost-effectiveness
of water-quality monitoring at high-priority
recreational beaches. The program creates
and implements early-warning models that can
predict the level of E. coli bacteria and the
probability of exceeding water-quality guidelines
in real-time.
In 2011, two beaches piloting Nowcast models
reduced the number of missed advisories by 20
percent and reduced the number of incorrectly-
posted advisories by 50 percent. As of June 2012,
Nowcasts were being used to make management
decisions at seven high-priority beaches on
Lake Michigan. Models have been developed
for an additional 21 beaches on Lake Michigan
and Lake Superior by Wisconsin and the U.S.
Geological Survey.
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Page 28
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Legacy sediment layers are visible in this Big Spring Run stream bank (Photo credit: Dr. Dorothy Merritts)
Sediment Removal to Improve Water Quality
Excess sediments and nutrients, especially
nitrogen and phosphorous, are a leading cause
of water quality impairment in streams and
wetlands throughout the nation, particularly in
the mid-Atlantic region. Legacy sediments are
the deposits of sediment and nutrients that built
up as a result of historic mill dam construction.
EPA scientists are researching the removal
of legacy sediments as a cost-effective and
sustainable means of reducing sediment and
nutrient pollution in watersheds.
Historic damming of streams and rivers led to a
huge backup of sediment and the destruction
of natural water and soil systems. Most of the
dams are now abandoned, but as the natural
water systems return, they threaten to release
massive amounts of sediment and nutrients to
downstream waters. EPA, in collaboration with
federal, state, and academic partners, focused
.
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Page 29
research efforts on Big Spring Run (BSR), a rural
stream in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania that is
impacted by legacy sediments.
Beginning in 2009, legacy sediments were
removed from Big Spring Run and buried
wetlands were exposed and reconnected to
the floodplain water system. Water quality and
geologic assessments of the area showed that
stream bank erosion was more extreme than
expected and nutrient levels were high in ground
and surface waters. Restoration is expected to
greatly reduce sediment transport and nutrient
contamination, especially because healthy
wetlands will naturally filter and convert harmful
excess nutrients out of the water system.
Restoration of Big Spring Run was completed in
September 2012. Researchers found that since
September, the plant community composition
at BSR has changed significantly, showing signs
of healthy wetlands. These early results point to
a promising method for protecting downstream
waters from further sediment and nutrient
pollution by the removal of legacy sediments
and the associated wetland restoration.
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Page 30
One of two waste water treatment facilities at Ft. Riley, KS.
Partnering to Achieve "Net Zero"
EPA supports a United States Army sustainability
initiative—called Net Zero—to reduce energy,
water and waste from Army facilities. This cross-
agency collaboration is a test case for new
technologies to improve efficiency and to
minimize waste of resources. Technologies that
prove successful through this partnership will
serve as examples of tools that can benefit other
communities across the United States and world-
wide.
The Net Zero-EPA collaboration began for
EPA with the signing of a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) between EPA and
the Army. Two Army bases chosen to pilot
this research collaboration are Fort Riley,
Kansas and Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM),
Washington. The initial focus is on water issues
such as stormwater management, water reuse,
monitoring aging water infrastructure for leaks,
and ways to improve efficiency.
In July, 2012, EPA scientists met with Army staff
at Fort Riley to discuss water infrastructure
challenges and specific technology needs of the
base. The site visit allowed an integrated project
team to prioritize needs and identify potential
EPA collaboration with the United States Army will reduce
waste and increase efficiency of Army facilities.
-------
projects. Project plans were drafted in the fall
and finalized in December, 2012.
Page 31
Projects that were drafted include:
1. Perform assessment and introduce
rehabilitation technologies that address the
maintenance and upgrading of aging water
infrastructure in a cost-effective manner
2. Implement small-scale water reuse systems
to significantly reduce the need for potable
water use
3. Facilitate a study to investigate education/
outreach approaches focused on behavior
and culture changes needed to reduce
water consumption
Similar project planning is underway for Joint
Base Lewis-McChord, exploring stormwater
management that incorporates green
infrastructure approaches into current
stormwater systems and decontamination
techniques to improve understanding of handling
and treatment of waste water.
An additional MOU, signed with the U.S.
Department of Defense in February, 2012,
complements the Army MOU, and expands EPA's
opportunities to promote and transfer technology
successes broadly to other communities and
additional military installations.
POTABLE WATER
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Planned projects Include Introducing small-scale
water reuse systems to conserve potable water.
Learn More about EPA Safe and Sustainable Water Research
• Visit: www.epa.gov/research/waterscience/.
• See the 2012 Water Research issue of EPA's Science Matters newsletter: http://l .usa.gov/WgsrVb
• Download a copy of EPA's Safe and Sustainable Water Resources Strategic Research Action Plan,
2012-2016: www.epa.gov/research/docs/sswr-strap.pdf.
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The single largest Chesapeake Bay pollutant is excess nutrients, which come from wastewater treatment plants and stormwater
runoff, among other sources.
Community-Based Chesapeake Bay
Stormwater Management
Presidential Executive Order 13508 directs the
federal government to lead efforts to restore
and protect Chesapeake Bay, a body of
water plagued by pollutants and poor water
quality. The largest group of Bay pollutants is
excess nutrients, which come from wastewater
treatment plants and runoff from cropland,
urban and suburban areas, and other sources.
To address the problem of nutrient pollution from
urban stormwater runoff in the Bay area, EPA's
Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grant program
sought applications for applied research aimed
at identifying pathways for effective and durable
community-based stormwater management.
In September, 2012, STAR announced a $700,000
award to the University of Maryland to work with
local communities to improve urban stormwater
management in the Chesapeake Bay area.
The awarded project, Sustainable Community
Oriented Stormwater Management: A Sensible
Strategy for the Chesapeake Bay, will use
innovative community involvement methods.
Maryland researchers will use information from
community member submissions and interviews
to create a model of troublesome stormwater
areas within the community. Using this model,
scientists and the community will collaborate to
develop improved and sustainable stormwater
management practices to reduce stormwater
pollution from hot spots, maintain long-term
water quality in Chesapeake Bay, and protect
the health of the community.
In 2011, EPA awarded almost $2.5 million
dollars to Penn State University to open an
interdisciplinary research center that is studying
green infrastructure to improve water quality
in Chesapeake Bay. The team that runs this
center works to combine decision making
and green infrastructure issues to improve
stormwater management. The Penn State and
Maryland teams plan to work together and
share information as they both strive to improve
Chesapeake Bay.
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V
Sustainable and Healthy Communities
EPA's Sustainable and Healthy Communities
research program works to help communities
meet their current needs in ways that protect the
environment and enhance human health over the
long term, so that future generations can meet
their needs, too.
Working closely with community stakeholders
and other decision makers to identify the
information, science, and technologies they
require, EPA scientists use a holistic approach to
advance research that reflects the three pillars
of sustainability: economy, society, and the
environment. The work provides decision-support
tools and information that communities need
to develop proactive, strategic solutions for a
prosperous and environmentally sustainable future.
This section highlights a few of the research results
EPA researchers and their partners have achieved
in 2012 to support sustainable and healthy
communities.
Learn More!
For more information about the scope and impact of EPA research to support sustainable and healthy
communities, please visit:
• EPA Sustainability: www.<
Download a copy of Sustainable and Healthy Communities Strategic Research Action Plan,
2012-2016: www.eDa.aov/research/docs/shc-straD.Ddf.
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Satellite imaging shows a smoke plume from the 2008 North Carolina peat fire.
Studying the Connections between Wildfire
Smoke and Community Health
More than 73,000 wildfires broke out in the United
States in 2011, and that figure is expected to rise
with climate change. Results from a new EPA
study will help state agencies and the EPA Office
of Air and Radiation identify and assist vulnerable
communities and individuals who are highly
susceptible to air pollutants—especially those
released by wildfires.
Researchers compared different health factors
in counties in eastern North Carolina that were
exposed to smoke from a 2008 peat wildfire in
Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. The peer-
reviewed study shows that poorer residents had
a much higher chance of getting sick from air
pollutants caused by the wildfire.
During the fire, burning deposits of partially
decayed vegetation released smoke and haze
for several weeks. One particularly bad episode
left dense ground-level smoke covering most
of the eastern and central parts of the state for
approximately three days. Researchers found
that during this time, significantly more people
than usual visited hospital emergency rooms for
heart and lung complications linked to wildfire
smoke inhalation.
Using data collected from 98 percent of all
emergency departments in North Carolina,
researchers examined health behaviors such as
excessive alcohol consumption, access to clinical
care, socio-economic status and unemployment
rates, among other factors. By analyzing
these factors for patients who visited hospitals
following the 2008 fire, researchers found that a
community's low socio-economic status was the
best indicator of risk for worsening asthma and
heart failure after smoke exposure.
Results from this study, titled Cardio-respiratory
Outcomes Associated with Exposure to Wildfire
Smoke are Modified by Measures of Community
Health, were published in the September
2012 online edition of the scientific journal
Environmental Health.
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Page 35
Protecting People from Arsenic and Lead in Soil
EPA research results in an effective way of protecting human
health while guiding clean-up activities at Superfund and other
contaminated sites.
A team of EPA scientists looked at the way the
digestive system takes in arsenic after exposure
to develop an innovative and efficient way to
determine the bioavailablility of arsenic and lead
in soils. They used that model to make a tool that
shows how much bioavailable arsenic is in soil.
The tool can detect how much arsenic is actually
toxic. The result is an effective way of protecting
human health while guiding cleanup activities at
superfund and other contaminated sites.
Use of the tool, still in its testing stage, has led to
significant cost savings at a number of regional
Superfund site offices and could ultimately help
EPA assess human exposure to soil contaminants in
a much more cost effective way.
Toxics and human digestion may sound like a
daunting pair, but EPA researchers have found
a way to create a computer model of the
digestive system and the way it absorbs arsenic
to create a powerful science tool. This device is
one of several innovative tools EPA researchers
are developing to better estimate human
exposure to arsenic and lead in soil.
Currently, mitigating the dangers of locations
with contaminated soils means using heavy
equipment to remove the entire top layer
and hauling the soil to a landfill designed for
hazardous material. Then the soil is treated and
all the toxins are removed. This method, although
effective, is expensive and inefficient because
not all forms of soil contaminants are harmful to
animals and humans, or "bioavailable" (can be
absorbed into the bloodstream). Arsenic and
lead are toxic only in this bioavailable form.
i,'
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.
The EnviroAtlas maps ecosystem services such as air filtration provided by these urban trees.
Developing the "EnviroAtlas" to Support
Community Decisions
EPA researchers are developing the EnviroAtlas,
a Web-based mapping tool that will provide
users with an easy-to-use, visual way to explore
and better understand the benefits of natural
ecosystems and how they can be conserved
and enhanced for a sustainable future.
The tool provides information community
decision makers need to make strategic choices
about development and environmental policy,
based on a more comprehensive understanding
of the interactions between human activities and
the many goods and amenities (often referred to
as "ecosystem services") that people derive from
nature.
The EnviroAtlas is a Web-based mapping
application that allows users to view and analyze
multiple ecosystem services in a specific region
such as drinking water supplies or recreational
and cultural amenities. Decision-makers can use
the Atlas to forecast what will happen to these
natural resources under future population growth
and climate change.
EPA researchers are working with partner
agencies to develop this online, interactive
decision-support tool. The EnviroAtlas
collaborators currently include the Natural
Resources Conservation Service and U.S. Forest
Service (both part of the U. S. Department
of Agriculture), the U.S. Geological Survey
(Department of the Interior), the National
Geographic Society, the nonprofit organization
NatureServe, and the City College of New York.
Other organizations working with EPA researchers
to take advantage of the information provided in
the EnviroAtlas include:
• The Strategic Highway Research Program
2 of the National Academy of Sciences
which is exploring the use of the Atlas for
sustainable highway planning.
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• LcmdScope America, an online resource
for the land-protection community, now
includes multiple data layers from the
EnviroAtlas.
Also, the EnviroAtlas will most likely be a major
resource for the forthcoming EcolNFORMA,
an online digital information system on
ecosystem services and biodiversity currently in
development. The development of EcolNFORMA
was recommended in a report by the President's
Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
The EnviroAtlas will also feature detailed data
on 50 to 250 cities and towns across the country.
The community component of EnviroAtlas, will
provide fine-scale information linking human
health and well-being to environmental
conditions such as urban heat islands, near-road
pollution, and other quality of life indicators.
Ongoing development of the EnviroAtlas in 2012
focused heavily on this community component.
The EnviroAtlas development team worked with
all 10 EPA regional offices to identify communities
for the next phase of high-resolution analyses,
and current plans include six tribal communities.
The first community pilot project is for Durham,
North Carolina (see "The Durham Pilot" on this
page).
In 2012, the EnviroAtlas became available to
EPA's partners (other federal agencies and
several universities). Public access to the tool is
planned for 2013.
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This aerial map of downtown Portland, ME, from the
EnviroAtlas, is classified into open spaces (greens), impervious
surfaces (pinks), and water (blue).
In September, EPA scientists ran a field monitoring project
with Durham high school students in environmental science
advanced placement classes. The goal was to engage students
in participatory research and improve understanding about the
extent to which tree cover reduces the urban heat island effect.
Pictured here, students learned to use temperature sensors at
EPA's research campus in Research Triangle Park, NC.
The Durham Pilot
In 2012, EPA completed the EnviroAtlas
community component for the city of Durham,
North Carolina. Working with the Durham
community, researchers created map layers
for supply and demand of ecosystem services,
and societal implications for the city's natural
resources.
Local partners in Durham will use EPA research
products like the EnviroAtlas to diagnose
environmental problems, analyze alternatives,
and track the performance of implemented
management approaches. Tools and approaches
developed in Durham will be transferable to other
communities around the country.
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Shade trees in urban areas contribute to multiple ecosystem services such as heat mitigation and air filtration while also encouraging
engagement with nature and other benefits as suggested by the Eco-Health Relationship Browser.
The Eco-Health Relationship Browser
Ecosystem services are the goods and services
people derive from the natural environment,
such as clean water, fertile soil for crop
production, pollination, and flood control and
water filtration from wetlands. While many
of these services and their benefits are easily
recognizable, many, such as air filtration, are not,
and as a result are easy to undervalue.
To help communities and others better account
for and protect the benefits they derive from the
environment, in 2012 EPA researchers developed
an Eco-Health Relationship Browser. The browser
is designed to increase our understanding of the
nation's ecosystems, the services they provide,
and how those services benefit public health and
well being.
The publicly-available, Web-based browser uses
a series of interactive "info-bubbles" to help users
easily identify linkages between human health
and ecosystem services. For example, forests
are ecosystems that contribute to cleaner air
through natural air filtration, and air pollution has
been shown to be connected to the incidence
of migraine headaches. Through this association,
changes in forest ecosystems could be linked to
frequency of migraines.
The info-bubbles also contain sidebar
descriptions that briefly explain the selected
topic and pop-up boxes that illuminate
associated ecosystem service linkages, complete
with citations of relevant scientific studies about
the connections. A complete bibliography is also
available from the browser webpage.
The Eco-Health Relationship Browser is one new
tool in the Agency's efforts to better understand
and quantify connections between ecosystems,
ecosystem services, and human health. This
information is critical for decision makers as they
work to preserve and protect valuable and
interconnected assets and strive to ensure
sustainable and healthy communities.
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Page 39
A two-year EPA study investigated toxic vapors and radon concentrations in indoor air and underground soils near residences.
EPA Science Supports Vapor Intrusion Guidance
Most threats to people in buildings, such as fire,
flood, hazardous spills, or structural damage,
are dramatic and easy to identify. But while
it may not be something worthy of coverage
on the evening news, vapor intrusion—the
contamination of indoor air by harmful gases,
both naturally occurring (such as radon) or
or resulting from chemical spills), that migrate
upward from the ground or ground water—also
poses serious health risks.
EPA scientists have provided measurements and
analysis methods for a new guidance document
to better evaluate the problems associated with
toxic chemicals that seep into people's homes
through vapor intrusion.
During a two-year study, EPA scientists
investigated spatial and seasonal changes in
the concentrations of vapors, including volatile
organic compounds (VOS) and radon in indoor
air.
The outcomes were published in October 2012 in
a report titled, Fluctuation of Indoor Radon and
VOC Concentrations Due to Seasonal Variations.
Results from the study, along with several
other documents and tools were compiled as
part of the Agency's Final Subsurface Vapor
Intrusion Guidance, made publicly available on
November 30, 2012.
This guidance document provides reliable ways
to measure vapor intrusion and answers questions
first posed in the 2002 EPA document on the
same topic. The results of the research and
guidance provide environmental managers and
others from EPA Regional Offices and states with
easy-to-understand ways to evaluate sites for
VOC vapor intrusion.
Additional ongoing EPA research on vapor
intrusion includes developing approaches for
measuring vapor impacts, evaluating sampling
tools to assess impacts at petroleum sites, and
modeling studies to better understand the
screening of certain vapor intrusion chemicals.
The suite of research supports efforts to develop
assessment approaches for contaminated sites
and buildings, and to inform multiple regulatory
efforts related to vapor intrusion issues.
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Two 55 gallon drums (in series) for sand filtration are always in service while the third is undergoing backwash. Daniel Concepcion,
a University of Puerto Rico student, completed his Masters Degree based on these drum sand filter studies.
Water Systems in Puerto Rico
EPA researchers are customizing innovative water
treatment systems to help better protect people
living in small communities in Puerto Rico that
currently rely on untreated sources of drinking
water, making them susceptible to periodic
outbreaks of waterborne diseases.
To offer sustainable solutions to the water
quality challenge, EPA scientists aimed to
design treatment systems that could serve local
populations. For example, they sought systems
that would be inexpensive, fabricated from local
parts and supplies, and easy to build, operate,
and maintain—such as systems that could be
operated via gravity or solar power.
The researchers delivered. The result of their work
was the creation of two "slow" sand filtration
systems constructed in a remote location in Rio
Piedras. The systems not only provide a locally
sustainable, clean drinking water supply, they
also serve as demonstration and training centers
for surrounding communities and water system
operators.
Researchers plan to further customize their
designs to address filtration needs of specific
contaminants in certain rural communities, such
as naturally occurring arsenic. The long-term
objective is to create versatile systems that can
be used by small communities anywhere in need
of reliable, low-cost, and low-maintenance water
purification systems.
Currently, the researchers have focused on
nearly 250 local Puerto Rico water systems that
are not under the regulation of the Puerto Rico
Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA). A third
of these non-PRASA systems either offer no
treatment or have treatment systems that are out
of order or not in use. Economical and technical
challenges, including a lack of electricity, make
it impossible to integrate traditional treatment
systems into these communities; this makes
the impact of EPA's research results critically
important.
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Sustainability Science: Understanding
Ecosystem Services in Wetlands
The multitudes of benefits people derive from
the environment are so abundant and free
flowing that they are easy to overlook. Because
these benefits are difficult to quantify, they are
often left out or undervalued in risk assessments
and other analyses that decision makers use to
set environmental policies and protect human
health.
EPA scientists have embarked on a research
effort to help change this oversight. Research
in Tampa Bay, Florida is advancing the science
of sustainability by focusing on aspects of the
natural environment that form the foundation of
ecology, economy, and overall well-being. These
beneficial aspects of nature are what scientists
refer to as "ecosystem services," and include
such things as flood control, fertile soils, biological
diversity, and the natural cycles that cleanse air
and water.
In 2012, EPA scientists completed a two-year
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The results of two-year study on wetlands and marshes near Tampa Bay, FL will become part of a dynamic model to understand how
human disturbance affects the ecosystem services of wetlands.
study in nine mangrove wetlands and 18
freshwater riparian and marsh sites with varying
levels of human disturbance in the Tampa Bay
drainage basin. Analysis of the study results will
become part of a dynamic model that allows
users to understand how human disturbance
affects the ecosystem services of wetlands,
particularly regarding the removal of nutrient
pollution and improved water quality. This project
is part of an effort to illustrate the trade-offs in
ecosystem services associated with alternative
management decision scenarios. Research
results are available through a new, user-friendly
website for Tampa Bay.
Additionally, scientists are partnering with local
governments, other research entities, planning
organizations, and citizen and business groups
to identify and assess the values a productive
ecosystem provides to the community. All
these experts will help paint a more complete
picture of Tampa Bay that decision makers
can use when establishing development and
environmental plans.
A U.S. Human Well-being Index
A defining component of sustainability, as
highlighted in the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969, is "to create and
maintain conditions under which humans
and nature can exist in productive
harmony, that permit fulfilling the social,
economic, and other requirements of
present and future generations."
EPA's Human Well-being Index (HWBI),
released as a draft in 2012, is being
designed to help communities live more
sustainably. When final, the HWBI will
provide a Web-based predictive model to
help communities better quantify the flow
of ecosystem services, and make decisions
that prioritize human well-being.
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EPA's lakes web tool helps users understand the linkages between changing nutrient cycles and the delivery of important ecosystem
services to residents and visitors of the Northeast.
Nutrient Tool for Lakes
EPA researchers in Narragansett, Rhode Island,
recently updated an important online resource
that contains information on more than 28,000
lakes in the northeastern United States. Scientists
developed this Web tool to guide management
decisions, particularly those that affect the flow
of nutrients into the nation's lakes.
Lakes provide valuable benefits—called
ecosystem services—to residents and visitors
and are increasingly important for maintaining
recreational opportunities and amenities.
However, northeastern population growth
threatens regional lakes by, for instance,
increasing levels of nutrients entering lake waters.
EPA's updated Web tool helps users understand
the linkages between changing nutrient cycles
and the delivery of important ecosystem services
to residents and visitors of the northeast.
The online lakes tool includes a Lakes Ecosystem
Services Database, which combines information
from a variety of sources such as EPA's National
Lakes Assessment and the U.S. Geological
Survey's SPARROW Model for water quality,
among other datasets. The tool also includes
a Geographic Information System (GIS) that
provides geospatial visualization, search, and
analysis options.
Users can go online and query, sort, and
download data on lake location, depth, volume,
land cover, and surrounding human population.
They can also study the flow of nitrogen and
phosphorus into certain lakes, as well as explore
associations between those nutrients and the
benefits that people obtain from lakes. The tool is
intended to aid lake managers in the northeast
and nationwide to foster a better understanding
of the links between management decisions,
nutrients, and lake ecosystem services.
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The Tribal-Focused Environmental Risk and Sustainability
Tool is designed to provide tribes with the best available human
health and ecological scientific information.
Supporting Sustainable and
Healthy Tribal and Native
Alaskan Communities
The 565 federally recognized Tribal nations
across the United States manage more than
95 million acres of land. EPA's American Indian
Environmental Office works with those Tribes to
protect human health and the environment
by supporting and implementing federal
environmental and related human health
protection laws (as consistent with the Tribes'
sovereign rights, federal responsibilities, and
EPA's official Indian Policy).
That effort is supported by research exploring
ways to advance sustainable and healthy Tribal
communities. EPA scientists and the National
EPA-Tribal Science Council work collaboratively
to better understand environmental and human
health issues important to Native American and
Eskimo communities. (The EPA-Tribal Science
Council is composed of a tribal representative
from each of the nine Agency regions across the
country.)
In 2012, EPA scientists and their partners
from tribes across the country continued to
develop and pilot a Web-based environmental
decision-support tool called the Tribal-Focused
Environmental Risk and Sustainability Tool (Tribal-
FERST). The tool is designed to provide tribes with
the best available human health and ecological
scientific information.
Using stakeholder feedback from the National
Tribal Caucus, numerous tribes, the consortium
of United South and Eastern Tribes (USET), Tribal
Colleges and Universities, and other stakeholders,
EPA researchers incorporated a host of new
enhancements into the beta version of Tribal-
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Page 45
FERST. These included additional tribal
information resources, enhanced maps
in a Geographic Information System
database with the ability to overlay
local data.
EPA researchers also collaborated with
the Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy
Tribe of eastern Maine to pilot Tribal-
FERST and address priority issues facing
the tribe, such as the need to consider
adaptive coastal management
strategies in the face of potential
sea level rise. The tribe also piloted
Tribal-FERST as a decision support
tool for comparing different waste
management options and outcomes,
including the production of power,
revenue, and jobs under various
scenarios.
Also in 2012, the EPA Tribal-FERST
team joined with the USET consortium
to develop a tribal environmental
assessment roadmap and link Tribal-
FERST with the USET Tribal Water Quality
database and exchange node.
These ongoing partnerships, as well
as outreach at key tribal meetings
across the country, serve to enhance
Tribal-FERST and continue to connect
EPA science with tribal environmental
needs.
-
EPA scientists and the National EPA-Tribal Science Council work
collaboratively to better understand environmental and human health
issues important to Native American and Eskimo communities.
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Protecting Children's
Health for a Lifetime
For more than 14 years, EPA has partnered with
the National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences (NIEHS) to expand knowledge about
children's environmental health through the
EPA/NIEHS Children's Environmental Health and
Disease Prevention Research Program. Together,
they have invested more than $150 million to
support a network of multidisciplinary Children's
Environmental Health and Disease Prevention
Research Centers (Children's Centers).
Through the collaborative network, scientists,
statisticians, pediatricians, epidemiologists, local
community representatives, and other experts
engage in cross-cutting research to understand
and reduce children's health risks and promote
health and well-being in the communities where
they live, learn, and play.
Children's Center researchers are investigating
environmental, genetic, and epigenetic changes
in gene expression based on nutrition and other
factors) components of disease and disease
prevention, as well as how social and cultural
factors may be linked to many of today's most
pressing children's health challenges, including
asthma, autism, attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD), neurodevelopmental deficits,
childhood leukemia, diabetes, and obesity.
By design, a major emphasis of the Chidren
Center's program is to effectively share research
results with health care professionals, educators,
community groups, and parents in accessible,
practical ways that will have real-world impacts
in preventing disease and improving the health
and development of children.
A sample of the many recent Children's Center
research findings over the past year include:
• A study by researchers at the Center for
Environmental Research and Children's
Health at the University of California, Berkeley
found an association between levels of the
chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) and lower levels
of thyroid hormones in pregnant women
and newborn boys. Thyroid hormone during
pregnancy and the neonatal period is critical
to proper development.
• Researchers from the Dartmouth Children's
Center suggest that rice and food containing
organic brown rice syrup can expose children
to arsenic, a known carcinogen that can
also adversely affect neurologic, respiratory,
hematologic, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal,
and other systems.
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Page 47
• Researchers at Columbia University's
Center for Children's Environmental Health
(CCCEH) found that children with exposures
to phthalates (chemicals found in personal
care and plastic products) have elevated
risk of asthma-related airway inflammation.
• CCCEH researchers were the first to find
a difference between how boys and
girls respond to prenatal exposure to the
insecticide chlorpyrifos. They found that boys
appear to be more vulnerable and lower
IQs have been seen in boys exposed in the
womb to this chemical.
• A brain imaging study by CCCEH researchers
found that even low to moderate levels
of exposure to the insecticide chlorpyrifos
during pregnancy may lead to long-term,
potentially irreversible changes in the brain
structure consistent with IQ deficits at age
seven.
To learn more about EPA's Children's
Environmental Health and Disease Prevention
Research Centers, including how to sign up for
monthly EPA-sponsored webinars presenting the
latest research findings, please visit: www.epa.
aov/ncer/childrenscenters/.
EPA is part of a collaborative network of experts who engage
in cross-cutting research to understand and reduce children's
health risks and promote health and well-being in the
communities where they live, learn, and play.
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Visitor to the Smithsonian's National Zoo learns about EPA research and the importance of biodiversity.
EPA, Smithsonian Biodiversity and Human
Health Exhibit Opens
EPA science has taken its place as a featured
exhibit alongside giant pandas, bald eagles, and
tigers at the Smithsonian Institution's National
Zoological Park in Washington, DC.
Working under a long-standing Memorandum
of Understanding between EPA and the
Smithsonian to support partnerships between the
two organizations, zoo exhibit developers and
EPA scientists joined forces to produce a new,
permanent interpretive exhibit highlighting the
Agency's leadership role supporting biodiversity
and human health research, and the importance
of healthy ecosystems for the well being of
humans.
Opened in late 2012, the exhibit is housed in
the zoo's Amazon/a Science Gallery. It features
a host of interpretive elements, including a
computer-based "tick counting game" that
invites children and other visitors to explore the
forest as environmental scientists do, a suite of
videos featuring EPA and partner field biologists,
and a host of education materials such as
posters, publications, and artifacts.
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Page 49
Chemical Safety for Sustainability
Chemical safety is a major priority for EPA.
Achieving a safer and more sustainable future
requires developing new, innovative methods to
design, manufacture, use, and dispose of existing
and new chemicals in cleaner, less toxic ways.
With tens of thousands of chemicals currently in use
and hundreds more introduced every year, it also
demands faster, more efficient chemical testing
and screening methods.
EPA chemical research is focused on advancing
a better understanding of chemicals to maximize
safety and sustainability. Researchers are
developing fast, efficient, and less-costly ways to
collect and analyze data, better predict chemical
risk, and help reduce the current backlog of
chemicals not fully assessed for potential human
health and environmental effects.
The data and studies EPA researchers generate are
publicly available through transparent, accessible,
online tools, providing the latest science-based
safety data to support better, more informed
decisions protecting human health and the
environment.
This section highlights some of the top
research results in computational toxicology,
nanotechnology, sustainable chemical design,
pesticides, industrial chemicals, endocrine
disrupting chemicals, and human health risk EPA
researchers and their partners achieved in 2012.
Learn More!
For more information about the scope and impact of EPA research to support Chemical Safety
Sustainability, please visit: www.epa.gov/research/chemicalscience/.
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EPA researchers are leading the development of innovative, new tools and toxicology screening and testing methods that are faster
and less costly than traditional practices.
EPA's Computational Toxicology Research
There are currently more than 80,000 chemicals
listed or registered for use under EPA authorities,
many of which have not been thoroughly
assessed for the health and environmental
risks. With hundreds more introduced into the
marketplace every year, it's easy to see the
enormous challenge facing EPA officials and
others tasked with ensuring the sustainable
production, use, and disposal of chemicals.
To meet that challenge, EPA researchers are
leading the development of innovative new
tools and technologies to evaluate the safety of
chemicals, products, and emerging materials.
EPA computational toxicology researchers are
using advances in exposure science, molecular
and systems biology, chemistry, mathematical
and computer modeling, and computer
technology to predict chemical hazards and
risk. In the process, they are ushering in a new
generation of predictive tools to evaluate
potential chemical risk to human health and the
environment.
EPA's computational toxicology research
continued to make important strides in 2012.
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Researchers analyzed automated, high-
throughput screening data and developed
high-throughput exposure predictions for
over 1,000 chemicals of interest. "High-
throughput" refers to the speed of chemical
tests (assays) or predictions, defined as
being capable of generating test results
or predictions for hundreds to thousands
of chemicals in just days or weeks. The
researchers also analyzed chemical
structures to identify which chemical
properties are more likely to influence toxicity
and exposure potential.
These accomplishments promise to deliver
advanced methods that are not only higher
performing and faster, but also far less costly
to use.
Tox21
EPA researchers and their partners conduct
high-throughput chemical screening using
robotics and a variety of other technologies
available from a research partnership called
Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century ("Tox21").
Tox21 is a collaborative federal research
partnership uniting EPA, the National Institutes
of Health, and the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration to screen tens of thousands of
chemicals.
The automated systems move small, specialized
test plates, each with 1,536 tiny wells of liquid
test solutions and containing human cells or
proteins, through a series of computerized
screening and analysis activities, in effect
simultaneously running thousands of separate
experiments at a time.
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EPA researchers are working to provide web-based tools that supply summary information based on extensive chemical exposure and
hazard data, decision-rules, and predictive models.
Increasing Transparency and Accessibility of
Chemical Safety Information
EPA's computational toxicology research
is building accessible, online databases on
thousands of chemicals that can be shared
with the public and those making policy
and regulatory decisions about the safety of
chemicals.
As these extensive, Web-accessible databases
are being developed, EPA is collaborating with
academia and industry partners to gather the
"critical mass" of chemical hazard and exposure
data needed to advance innovation, and
to launch the next generation of sustainable
chemical design. By using the data to identify
the features of chemicals that contribute to their
hazardous properties, chemical engineers and
others will have the information they need to
design new functional, yet safer, chemicals.
The public release of computational toxicology
data provides opportunities to engage
stakeholders and to promote transparency
on how the data are used to inform EPA
decisions. It is also expected that by actively
engaging stakeholders and making research
results widely accessible, EPA will promote the
commercialization and use of the data and its
research, facilitating chemical safety assessments
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Pane 53
and the design of benign or less hazardous
materials by industry and others.
An additional result of this investment in
innovative science will be a reduction in the
number of animals needed for evaluating
chemical hazard and risk.
Chemical Evaluation Dashboards for
Decision Makers
For those protecting human health and the
environment by making decisions regarding
chemical risks and health effects, the extensive
databases and proliferation of additional
scientific information being generated by EPA's
CompTox and other research efforts can be
daunting.
To overcome this obstacle, EPA computational
toxicology researchers are developing
customizable and user-friendly Web-based
applications—called "Dashboards"—that
provide accessible, useful summary information
on chemical exposure and hazard data,
decision-tools, and predictive models. The
Dashboards compile information useful for
predicting risk and prioritizing chemicals for
further testing.
Prototype Dashboards were developed in
2012 for EPA's Endocrine Disruption Screening
program, to support chemical prioritization
for the Toxic Substances Control Act, and for
chemicals of concern for the Safe Water Drinking
Act's Candidate Contaminant List.
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ToxCast Partnership to Advance Chemical
Testing, Reduce Animal Testing
A major component of EPA's computational
toxicology research (see previous stories) is EPA's
toxicity forecaster, or "ToxCast." Researchers are
using ToxCast as part of work to systematically
screen chemicals to better understand the
potential impact exposures have on processes
in the human body that lead to adverse health
effects.
Using ToxCast, EPA screened more than 1,000
chemicals in some 700 fast, automated tests
called high throughput assays. Research results,
presented in a host of published scientific papers
in peer-reviewed journals, show ToxCast can be
used to predict a chemical's potential for liver
toxicity, developmental toxicity, reproductive
toxicity, and cancer.
Based largely on the promising results of ToxCast
for advancing computational toxicology
methods and for ushering in a new generation
of chemical screening methods that will be
faster, less costly, and greatly reduce the use
of laboratory animals, in March 2012, EPA and
the cosmetics company L'Oreal announced
a collaboration to expand the work to include
substances from the cosmetic sector.
As part of the partnership, L'Oreal is providing
EPA with $1.2 million in collaborative research
funding plus robust safety data from a set of
representative cosmetic substances. Substances
from L'Oreal are being assessed by ToxCast
and results will be compared to the safety data
L'Oreal provided.
For more than 30 years, L'Oreal has invested
in animal-free toxicology tests and the EPA
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'•• • •'
Using ToxCast, EPA researchers and their partners are screening more than 1,000 chemicals in some 700 fast, automated tests ,
including robot-assisted ones (pictured) to better understand their potential impact on processes in the human body that lead to
adverse health effects.
collaboration will help the company to make
predictions on the safety of substances earlier
in the development process. It also expands
the types of chemical use groups that EPA
researchers are now assessing in ToxCast.
The L'Oreal research partnership is just one
of many that EPA researchers have fostered
to increase the scope and impact of
computational toxicology research efforts.
One of the largest is the Toxicity Testing in the
21st Century (Tox21) collaboration with the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the
National Institutes of Health, which pools federal
resources and expertise to screen more than
10,000 chemicals for potential toxicity (see EPA's
Computational Toxicology Research).
EPA now has partners from more than 100
different organizations ranging from industry,
academia, trade associations, other federal
agencies, state governments, and non-
governmental organizations. Partners provide
a wide variety of support, including chemicals,
software, chemical toxicity study data and
results, different kinds of high-throughput
screening, and much more.
Partnerships are finalized through numerous types
of agreements. Individuals and organizations with
an interest in promoting the use of computational
toxicology and exposure science are invited to
participate in EPA's Computational Toxicology
Communities of Practice; for more information,
visit: http://1 .usa.aov/fevacF.
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4 i*.L
Ensuring Safe Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials
Nanomaterials are materials between one and
100 nanometers in size (a nanometer is one
billionth of a meter). These tiny materials often
exhibit unique properties that are different from
those of the same substances in a larger size, and
have been tapped for manufacturing processes
and for applications in paint, cosmetics, treated
wood, electronics, and other products. While
nanomaterials offer important benefits, they may
also present some risks.
EPA is leading scientific efforts to understand the
potential risks to humans and the environment
from nanomaterials. This work includes:
• Collaborating on Nano-copper: As part
of the U.S. National Nanotechnology
Initiative, EPA and the U.S. Consumer
Product Safety Commission (CPSC) are
collaborating in a worldwide effort to assess
the effects of nanomaterials. Joint research
includes exploring the potential human
and environmental effects from exposure
to copper nanomaterials used in wood
treatment products for decks and fences.
• Children's Exposure: Another part of the EPA-
CPSC collaboration focuses on the potential
exposure of children to nanoparticles. Of
particular interest is nanosilver, which can
prevent the growth of some bacteria or fungi
and is sometimes used in the manufacturing
of children's toys. Researchers are developing
the tools, approaches, and protocols
needed to determine if nanosilver is released
from children's products under real-world
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Page 57
conditions. Preliminary study results on 13
products indicate that the silver levels to
which children may potentially be exposed
during normal product use is low.
• Nanosilver: To investigate potential health
risks of nanosilverin everyday products
such as body soap, laundry detergent, and
toothpaste, scientists from EPA and the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, researched
the changes that occur when nanosilver
interacts with the acidic environment of a
synthetic human stomach.
Results showed that nanomaterials could
alter the amount of silver that is absorbed
by the body. Researchers further developed
methods and standard test procedures for
characterizing the physical and chemical
properties that influence the health risks
associated with nanosilver.
EPA researchers also released the document:
Nanomaterial Case Study: Nanoscale Silver in
Disinfectant Spray (see next column).
EPA Case Study: Nanosilver in
Disinfectant Spray
In 2012, EPA released Nanomateriai Case
Study: Nanoscaie Silver in Disinfectant
Spray.
The case study was conducted to support
research planning efforts for nanomaterials
such as the studies mentioned previously.
Researchers considered nanosilver in
disinfectant sprays across the entire
lifecycle of products, including how they
are produced, shipped, stored, used, and
disposed of or recycled. The report presents
information about how nanosilver materials
and waste by-products might move and
change before coming into contact with
people and other organisms, and the
potential impacts of exposures in these
populations.
For more information, and to download a
copy of the report, see: http://1 .usa.gov/
WOo7vO.
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EPA research advancements in 2012 included narrowing down the field of already confirmed endocrine disrupting chemicals to
support targeted studies to identify specific mechanisms likely to cause harmful effects.
Endocrine Disrupting Chemical Research
Normal growth and development, from
conception, through pregnancy and to
childhood and adolescence, depends on the
intricate timing and release of hormones by
the body's endocrine system, which regulates
growth, maturation, and reproduction in people
and animals.
Scientists have discovered that exposures
to excess hormones or to certain chemicals,
known collectively as "endocrine disrupting
chemicals," can disrupt the functioning of the
endocrine system, which can lead to a series
of development problems and other adverse
effects, including cancer, diabetes, obesity,
infertility, and childhood disorders.
As part of the effort to better protect human
health and the environment, learning more
about endocrine disrupting chemicals and how
to screen and identify them from the thousands
of chemicals in use has been a high priority for
EPA researchers since the early 1990s.
In 2012, EPA scientists used innovative
approaches to assess thousands of chemicals
for potential endocrine disruption, and worked
with outside research partners to investigate the
effects of hormones in waste from concentrated
animal feeding operations.
Innovative approaches included an EPA-
developed Quantitative Structure Activity
Relationship (QSAR)-based estrogen expert
system, and the ToxCast approach (see previous
stories), to screen thousands of chemicals and
provide new information to EPA's Endocrine
Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP). The expert
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Page 5 9
system predicts the potential for chemicals
to bind to estrogen hormone receptors and
activate genes that cause health effects.
EPA researchers worked closely with the EDSP
to define the potential "chemical universe" of
endocrine disrupting chemicals that require
screening. In 2012, they identified more than
10,000 chemicals that make up this "chemical
universe," by identifying properties that could
cause them to interfere with natural hormones
and disrupt the endocrine system.
Advancements in 2012 included narrowing
down the field of already confirmed
endocrine disrupting chemicals to support
targeted studies and the identification of
specific chemical interactions with important
biological processes that are likely to cause
toxicological effects. The scientific information
is being used to help prioritize which
chemicals should be tested first by EPA, and
what additional tests are needed to assess the
chemicals.
Reducing Endocrine Disrupting
Chemicals in Chesapeake Bay
EPA scientists worked with the University of
Maryland Wye Research Center to determine
how to reduce the amounts of endocrine
disrupting hormones associated with
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations
from reaching nearby waterways. Hormone-
containing wastes from these operations can
get into soil and water, leading to adverse
effects such as intersex conditions in fish.
Research results from the collaboration
showed that tilling poultry fecal waste into
the soil and injecting the waste underground
reduced endocrine disrupting hormones
concentrations, as compared to not tilling the
waste into the ground.
The findings will inform actions to reduce the
amount of poultry steroid hormones in storm
runoff coming from areas along Chesapeake
Bay.
PvT
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A series of EPA studies are providing key information to minimize exposure to PCBs in schools.
PCB Research Supports Safer Schools
In 2012, EPA researchers completed the first three
of five studies they are conducting to answer
questions about polvchlorinated biphenvls,
(PCBs) in schools. What they are learning is
providing key information to minimize exposures
and better protect students, teachers, and
others.
PCBs are a structurally similar group of manmade
chemicals useful for a variety of applications.
Some PCBs, for example, are slippery, making
them valuable as industrial lubricants. Heat and
flame resistant, they were also used as insulators
in transformers, electrical appliances, and
fluorescent light fixtures. PCBs were also used as
stabilizers in paints, adhesives, and caulking.
PCBs were widely used from 1950 until the
late 1970s. Congress banned their use and
manufacture in 1976 in the face of growing
evidence linking their exposure with adverse
human health effects, including cancer,
reproductive problems, and neurological
development.
While PCB exposures have been greatly reduced,
the combination of their previous widespread
use and persistence has meant they are still
present in the environment. Buildings, including
schools, built or renovated between 1950 and
1970 may contain PCBs, particularly in caulking or
fluorescent lighting fixtures.
In response to concerns raised by parents, EPA
scientists are identifying and evaluating potential
PCB sources in schools and advancing a better
understanding of how people might be exposed.
The researchers are also investigating methods to
minimize or eliminate PCB emissions in schools.
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In 2012, EPA researchers released the results
of three studies. The first two studies focused
on primary sources (such as caulk and lighting
fixtures) and secondary sources (paint, masonry
walls, and dust that can absorb PCBs from
primary sources) of PCBs in schools. The third
study investigated a containment method known
as "encapsulation" where PCB sources are
covered with a coating material to reduce air
and surface concentrations of PCBs.
Results of the studies include:
• Encapsulation is only effective at reducing
air concentrations to desirable levels when
PCB content in the source is low. Selecting
high-performance coating materials is key
to effective encapsulation. Multiple layers of
coatings enhance the performance of the
encapsulation.
As EPA researchers gain new information they will
make further recommendations on how to best
prevent harmful PCB exposure in schools.
Caulk put in place between 1950 and 1979
may contain as much as 30% PCBs and can
emit PCBs into the surrounding air. PCBs
from caulk may also contaminate adjacent
materials such as masonry or wood.
Fluorescent lighting fixtures that still contain
their original PCB-containing light ballasts
have exceeded their designed lifespan, and
the chance for rupture and emitting PCBs is
significant. Sudden rupture of PCB-containing
light ballasts may result in exposure to the
occupants and may also result in the addition
of significant clean-up costs.
Some building materials (e.g., paint and
masonry walls) and indoor dust can absorb
PCB emissions and become potential
secondary sources. When the primary PCB-
emitting sources are removed, the secondary
sources often emit PCBs.
Learn More about
EPA Chemical Safety
for Sustainability
For more information about
the scope and impact of
EPA Chemical Safety for
Sustainability research, visit:
• EPA Chemical Safety for
Sustainability: www.epa.gov/
research/chemicalscience/.
• EPA Computational
Toxicology Research: www.
epa.gov/comptox/
• Download a copy of
EPA's Chemical Safety
for Sustainability Strategic
Research Action Plan,
2012-2016: http://epa.gov/
research/docs/css-stra p.pdf
-------
EPA and research partners are exploring how to incorporate
the concepts of sustainability to advance the design of new,
innovative, "green " products made of safe substances and
manufactured with efficient, clean processes.
Promoting Chemical
Sustainability
There is no doubt that chemicals can make our
lives easier. They are ubiquitous in our medicines,
the cleaning and disinfection products we use
to clean our homes and workplaces, and used
throughout industry to make the many products
we use and enjoy everyday. What would be
even better would be to continue to enjoy these
multiple benefits with minimal or no negative
impacts to human health and the environment.
Together with partners, EPA is exploring how
to incorporate the concepts of sustainability
to advance the design of new, innovative,
"green" products made of safer substances
and manufactured with more efficient, clean
processes.
In September 2012, EPA signed a Memorandum
of Understanding with the National Science
Foundation (NSF) to collaborate to help steer
more chemical research toward advancing
sustainability. In December, EPA and the National
Science Foundation released two requests
for applications (RFAs) to support innovative
research projects investigating ways to use
benign, more natural materials in developing
chemicals for use in everyday products.
The RFAs seek to fund innovative chemical
safety research focused on two distinct areas:
(1) sustainable, safe alternatives to existing
chemicals, and (2) assessments looking at the
entire life cycle of chemicals, from production to
disposal.
In addition to the partnership with NSF, EPA's
own scientists continued to advance chemical
sustainability throughout 2012. One example
is Greenscope, a six-year-effort that has
identified and ranked 139 separate indicators
of the chemical manufacturing processes on
a "sustainability scale" from 0 to 100 percent
sustainable.
In order to test Greenscope, researchers devised
a computer model of a hypothetical biodiesel
facility that included all the manufacturing
processes and sustainability indicators. A
published case study on the model illustrated
how they were able to assess the sustainability
of the plant. Also, in February 2012, EPA signed
an MOU with the company Procter and Gamble
to develop sustainability measures for its supply
chain management system, and possibly deploy
Greenscope at P&G facilities in the future.
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Page 63
\
Human Health Risk Assessment
EPA's Human Health Risk Assessment research
program provides state-of-the-science products in
support of risk assessment, such as independently
peer-reviewed human health assessments for
individual chemicals and chemical mixtures;
integrated science assessments and technical
support to meet partner and stakeholder needs;
and tools to modernize human health risk
assessment.
The research results and products of the
program are used by local, state, national, and
international authorities to guide waste site
cleanups, protect the air, set exposure limits for
chemicals in drinking water, and determine the
potential risk to public health from exposures to
multiple environmental contaminants.
EPA researchers are helping to advance the
science of risk assessment through original
research, consultation with experts, and by
accepting new challenges. These include
developing community risk assessment tools and
tailoring risk assessments to inform key decisions.
This section highlights a few of the many
achievements from EPA's Human Health Risk
Assessment program from 2012. For more
information on the scope and impact of EPA
research on human health risk assessment, please
visit: http://www.epa.aov/ncea/.
Learn More!
For more information about the scope and impact of EPA research to support Human Health Risk
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IRIS is a human health risk assessment program through which Agency scientists
evaluate and present comprehensive risk information on the health effects that may
result from exposures to contaminants in land, water, and air.
Growing IRIS: Advancing EPA's Integrated Risk
Information System
EPA researchers provide leadership to assess the
potential health effects posed by exposures to
chemicals in the environment. A critical part
of that effort is the Agency's Integrated Risk
Information System, or "IRIS."
IRIS is a human health assessment program
through which Agency scientists evaluate and
present comprehensive information on the
health effects that may result from exposures to
contaminants in land, water, and air.
IRIS health assessments provide information on
the hazards a chemical may pose as well as
information on "dose-response" (the relationships
between amounts of exposure and expected
effects), resulting in reference doses, reference
concentrations, cancer slope factors, and
inhalation unit risks. When combined with
information about people's environmental
exposure to a chemical, IRIS assessments can be
used to characterize health risks.
IRIS assessments are not full risk assessments or
regulations, but they provide part of the scientific
foundation that supports Agency decisions and
actions for the nation's environmental laws, and
are widely used throughout the country on the
federal, state, and local levels to guide cleanup
and other actions to protect human health.
Currently, IRIS contains information on more than
560 chemicals.
Over the past few years, EPA has taken steps
to significantly improve the IRIS program. Those
efforts continued throughout 2012.
On June 5, 2012, EPA publicly released an IRIS
progress report to the U.S. Congress (EPA's
Integrated Risk Information System Program,
Progress Report and Report to Congress, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency). The report
provided Congress, stakeholders, and the public
with an update on the program, and on EPA's
progress toward implementing recommendations
to improve the program made by the National
Research Council (NRC) in 2011.
Improvements were illustrated further with
the release of the 2012 draft assessments for
ammonia (IRIS Toxicological Review of Ammonia,
External Review Draft, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency) and several isomers of
trimethylbenzene (IRIS Toxicological Review of
Trimethylbenzenes, External Review Draft,. U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency).
The assessments present a new, highly
improved document structure which includes
a template for describing the literature search
approach used in the assessments. In addition,
the documents clearly identify the strengths
and weaknesses of the analyzed studies and
explicitly describe how EPA guidance, methods,
and criteria were applied in developing the
assessments.
-------
Continuing the Agency's commitment to
improving the IRIS program, on May 16, 2012,
EPA announced that the NRC would conduct
a comprehensive review of the IRIS program's
assessment development processes, review
current methods for integrating data, and
recommend approaches for weighing
scientific evidence for chemical hazard
identification.
For more information on the IRIS program,
including opportunities to engage with EPA,
please visit the IRIS website (www.epa.gov/
IRIS/).
Strengthening IRIS
Because of the critical importance of IRIS in
supporting EPA and beyond, a strong, vital
and scientifically sound program is key to
providing needed health risk information.
Over the past two years, EPA has worked to
strengthen and streamline the IRIS program,
improving transparency and increasing
the number of final assessments added to
the IRIS database. Continually improving
IRIS is a priority for the Agency, and efforts
are underway to further strengthen and
streamline this important program.
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Page 66
Confirming longstanding scientific understanding and research, the final assessment characterizes perc as a "likely
human carcinogen. "
EPA's IRIS Program Releases Final Health
Assessment for "Perc"
In February 2012, EPA released the final health
assessment for the chemical tetrachloroethylene,
also known as perchloroethylene, or more
commonly as "perc."
Perc is a chemical solvent widely used in the
dry cleaning industry and to manufacture some
consumer products and other chemicals; it is also
a common environmental contaminant.
Confirming longstanding scientific understanding
and research, the final assessment characterizes
perc as a "likely human carcinogen." The
assessment, which underwent rigorous,
independent peer review, includes toxicity
values for both cancer and non-cancer effects
associated with exposure to perc over a lifetime.
EPA has already taken several significant actions
to reduce exposure to perc. For example, the
Agency established clean air standards for dry
cleaners that use perc, including requirements
that dry cleaners operating in residential buildings
phase out its use by late 2020. EPA also set limits
for the amount of perc allowed in drinking water.
The toxicity values reported in the perc IRIS
assessment will be considered in future actions to
protect public health, such as:
• Informing new Superfund clean up sites
where vapor intrusion leads to indoor air
contamination from perc,
• Revising EPA's Maximum Contaminant Level
for perc as part of the carcinogenic volatile
organic compounds group in drinking water,
as described in the Agency's drinking water
strategy, and
• Evaluating the need for additional limits on
the perc emissions into the atmosphere; (perc
is listed as a hazardous air pollutant under the
Clean Air Act).
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Page 67
CAUTION
HAZARDOUS WASTE SITE
DIOXIN CONTAMINATION
* STAY IN YOUR CAR
* MINIMIZE TRAVEL
* KEEP WINDOWS CLOSED •
• STAY ON PAVEMENT r'"
• DRIVE SLOWLY
As a result of efforts by EPA, state governments and industry,
known and measurable air emissions ofdioxins in the United
States have been reduced by 90 percent since 1987.
Final Non-Cancer Science
Assessment for Dioxins
Released
On February 17, 2012, EPA reached a major
milestone by completing its non-cancer health
assessment for dioxin. Dioxins are toxic chemicals
that exist naturally and can be released to the
environment through forest fires, backyard burning
of trash, certain industrial activities, and residue
from past commercial burning of waste.
Over the past two decades EPA has worked to
significantly reduce emissions from all of the major
industrial sources of dioxins. Today, the largest
remaining source of dioxin emissions is backyard
burning of household trash.
EPA's final report, Reanalysis of Key Issues Related
to Dioxin Toxicity and Response to MAS Comments,
Volume 1 (Dioxin Reanalysis), describes the health
effects (other than cancer) that may result from
exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin
(TCDD), the most toxic of the many different forms
of dioxin (also known as congeners).
The assessment also establishes, for the first time,
a non-cancer oral reference dose (RfD) that
represents the amount of dioxin a person can
be exposed to every day over a lifetime that
is not likely to cause harmful effects. Scientists
can use this RfD to calculate the toxicity of the
many other dioxin congeners relative to TCDD.
This provides a way to add up the toxicity of all
dioxin congeners that appear together in an
environmental mixture.
Most Americans have low-level exposure to
dioxins. The health effects associated with
dioxins depend on several factors, including:
how much dioxin a person is exposed to, when
someone was exposed, and for how long and
how often someone is exposed. Based on data
from animal and human epidemiology studies,
there is concern that exposure to low levels
of dioxins over long periods (or exposures at
sensitive times during the lifespan) might result
in reproductive or developmental effects and
other health effects.
The non-cancer health assessment for dioxin
is a significant achievement for EPA and
will contribute to the Agency's mission of
protecting public health. The information in the
assessment will be considered in a variety of
Agency activities, such as establishing cleanup
levels at Superfund sites, reviewing the drinking
water standard for dioxin, and evaluating
whether additional Clean Air Act limits on dioxin
emissions are warranted.
2,3,7,2
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Page 68
Integrated Science Assessments: Gathering the Best Air
Science to Protect Human Health and the Environment
EPA sets National Ambient Air Quality Standards
(NAAQS) for six "criteria" air pollutants—ozone,
particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulfur
dioxides, nitrogen oxides, and lead—considered
harmful to human health and the environment.
Interdisciplinary teams of EPA scientists prepare
the Integrated Science Assessments (ISAs)
that review, synthesize, and evaluate the most
policy-relevant science to serve as a scientific
foundation for the review of NAAQS. The ISAs
synthesize relevant information from a large body
of literature, generally encompassing thousands
of studies, from across scientific disciplines
-------
including atmospheric chemistry, exposure
science, epidemiology, animal and human
toxicology, and terrestrial and aquatic ecology.
All ISAs are vetted through a rigorous scientific
peer review process, which includes two reviews
by the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Council,
and are made available for public review and
comment.
documents to help evaluate the impacts of
ambient air pollution mixtures on health and
climate. The multipollutant assessments are
expected to help EPA scientists and managers
better understand uncertainties about the effects
of pollutants within the air pollution mixture. The
multipollutant assessment work will also stimulate
additional research and data gathering activities
to benefit future assessments.
During 2012, EPA scientists continued to make
significant progress in developing ISAs. In
February, the Agency released the second
external review draft of the ISA for lead for
public review and comment, and in November
released the third draft of the lead ISA. In June,
EPA released the third external review draft of
the ISA for ozone and related photochemical
oxidants for public review and comment.
EPA also held a "kickoff" workshop to initiate
the next review of the health-based NAAQS
for nitrogen oxides, in keeping with the Clean
Air Act requirement for periodic reviews of the
standards.
In addition, EPA scientists are laying the
groundwork for incorporating multipollutant
analyses into their assessments. The Agency
is currently developing multipollutant science
Integrated Science Assessments Released in
2012:
Lead
• November 2012: EPA released the third
external review draft of the ISA for Lead for
public review and comment. [Federal Register
Nov27. 2012]
• February 2012: EPA released the second
external review draft of the ISA for Lead for
public review and comment. [Federal Register
Feb2, 20121
Ozone
• June 2012: EPA released the third external
review draft of the Integrated Science
Assessment of Ozone and related
Photochemical Oxidants (EPA/600/R-10/076C)
for public review and comment. [Federal
Register Jun 19,2012]
-------
*•<•
V
I >
*ut*f- ' •
EPA's draft assessment concludes that current ambient air concentrations of asbestos In the Libby, Montana mine area did not appear
to cause levels of risk above EPA Superfund targets.
Asbestos Toxicity Estimates to Help Protect
Health in Libby, Montana
In 2009, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson
declared a public health emergency in Libby,
Montana. This unprecedented action by an EPA
Administrator recognized serious health risks,
including lung cancer, mesothelioma, asbestosis,
and decreased lung function, posed from
exposure to Libby Amphibole asbestos present in
the community from past mining and vermiculate
processing.
EPA started cleanup activities for the
contaminated former Libby mine in 1999, and
the area was listed as a Superfund site in 2002.
Throughout that time, Agency researchers have
worked closely with partners from EPA's Region
8 Office (serving Montana, Colorado, North
Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming) and
the local community to support those efforts and
better protect public health.
-------
In 2011, EPA released the IRIS Toxicological
Review of Libby Amphibole (External Review
Draft). This health assessment, when final, will
support cleanup and related risk management
initiatives at the Libby Superfund site.
The draft assessment presents conclusions
about potential human health hazards for
cancer and non-cancer health effects, and it
provides toxicity values that will be used to help
characterize risk in areas where people may be
exposed to Libby Amphibole asbestos.
The draft assessment has undergone rigorous
peer review and incorporates a transparent
process including ample opportunity for
community and stakeholder involvement and
public comment. An explicit part of the process
was to engage the affected community in the
review process. Those efforts continued well into
2012.
In February of 2012, EPA's Scientific Advisory
Board (SAB) held a public peer review meeting
on the draft Libby Amphibole asbestos
assessment and held two public teleconferences
of the SAB Libby Amphibole Asbestos Panel in
May to discuss the Panel's report on its review of
the draft assessment.
EPA scientists will consider public and peer review
comments as they finalize the assessment. The
final assessment will help the Agency secure
the best path forward for cleaning up Libby
Amphibole asbestos and for protecting public
health at the Libby Superfund site.
Learn More about EPA's Human Health Risk Assessment Research
For more information about the scope and impact of EPA Human Health Risk Assessment
research, visit:
• EPA Human Health Risk Assessment Research: www.epa.gov/nceawwwl/hhra/index.htm.
• EPA Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS): http://www.epa.gov/iris/
• Download a copy of EPA's Human Health Risk Assessment Strategic Research Action Plan,
2012-2016: http://epa.gov/research/docs/hhra-strap.pdf
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rak %f
Page 72
"« J
Supporting and Building Partnerships
EPA supports the nation's leading scientists
and engineers to facilitate the pursuit and
dissemination of high-quality research to build
a strong foundation for Agency actions and
decisions. Additionally, EPA researchers cultivate
and maintain partnerships with research
colleagues at colleges and universities around
the world, at partner federal and state human
health and environmental agencies, and other
entities throughout the scientific community.
The Agency's extramural research program funds
research grants, graduate and undergraduate
fellowships, and large research centers through
a competitive solicitation processes and
independent peer review. These programs
engage the nation's best scientists and engineers
in targeted research that complements EPA's
own research.
EPA is also one of 11 federal agencies that
participate in the Small Business Innovation
Research (SBIR) program, established in 1982 to
strengthen the role of small business in federal
research and development, to create jobs,
and to promote technical innovation. EPA's
SBIR program awards funds to innovative small
businesses that have novel concepts for products
and technologies that will help spur economic
growth while advancing a more sustainable
future.
Learn More!
For more information on EPA research grants, fellowships, and awards,
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Page 73
EPA Research Grants and Fellowships for 2012
EPA funds research grants and graduate
fellowships in numerous environmental science
and engineering disciplines through its Science
to Achieve Results (STAR) program. The
program engages the nation's best scientists
and engineers in targeted research that
complements EPA's own intramural research
program and supports partners in other federal
agencies.
The Agency awarded 126 Fellowships (87
graduate and 39 undergraduate), 114 grants
(this includes funds awarded in Fiscal Year 2012,
which includes late 2011), and 32 Small Business
Innovation Research (SBIR) awards to support
environmental research conducted in 2012.
Grants are given through competitive solicitation
processes followed by independent peer review.
In addition, through this same competitive
process, EPA periodically establishes large
research centers in specific areas of national
concern. Currently, centers focus on children's
environmental health, nanotechnology, clean
air, computational toxicology, health effects
of pollutants, and green infrastructure and
stormwater management for Chesapeake Bay.
-------
STAR Graduate Fellowships
The STAR Graduate Fellowship Program supports
masters and doctoral candidates working
towards advanced degrees and careers
in environmental science and engineering.
Students can pursue degrees in traditionally
recognized environmental disciplines as well as
other fields such as environmental anthropology,
urban and regional planning, and decision
sciences.
STAR fellowships are intended to help defray the
ever-increasing costs associated with studies
leading to advanced degrees in environmental
sciences. Eighty-seven STAR Graduate Fellowships
were awarded to support graduate work in
human health and environmental research in
2012.
Greater Research Opportunities (GRO)
Fellowships
The Greater Research Opportunities (GRO)
fellowships support undergraduate students in
environmental fields of study. The goals of the
program are to bolster the next generation of
environmental leaders, inspire and train diverse
communities, and boost excellent research and
development.
Eligible students receive support for their junior
and senior years of undergraduate study and for
an internship at an EPA facility during the summer
between their junior and senior years. The
fellowship provides up to $20,700 for academic
support and up to $8,600 of support for a three-
month summer internship. The Agency awards
approximately 40 new fellowships each year.
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STAR Grants to Support Air Quality Measurement
Technology and Management
EPA awarded four grants totaling approximately
$1.25 million to develop and demonstrate new
air quality measurement technology.
The supported research will allow measurements
of pollutants and the creation of smaller
measurement devices for addressing emerging
air pollution issues and improving air pollution
measurement and data collection.
Additionally, five projects were supported with
$2 million to create the scientific foundation for
improving the air quality management system.
These projects will increase the rate at which
new information is incorporated into regional
and local air quality management and develop
techniques for improved air quality.
Summary of Air Quality Measurement Technology Grants
Recipients
Washington University
University of
California-San Diego
Princeton University
University of
Wisconsin-Madison
Research Project
Development of Cost-effective, Compact Electrical
Ultrafine Particle (eUFP) Sizers and Wireless eUSF
Sensor Network
A compact, low-cost, network accessible, optical
particle counter for the real time measurement of
submicron aerosol particle size distributions
Compact Multi-Pollutant Mid-Infrared Laser
Spectroscopic Trace-Gas Sensor
Assessing the Synergistic Impact of Anthropogenic
and Biogenic Emissions on Air Pollution Using Novel
High-Sensitivity, Real-Time Monitors for Fundamental
Carbonyls
Amount Awarded
$499,000
$250,000
$250,000
$250,00000
Total: $1.25M
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Summary of Air Quality Management Grants
Recipients
University of Texas-Austin;
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology
University of North Carolina-
Chapel Hill; Pennsylvania State
University-Main Campus
Georgia Institute of Technology,
Georgia Environmental
Protection Division, Georgia
Forestry Commission
Texas A&M University-Kingsville
SUNY-Albany, SUNY College
of Environmental Science and
Forestry
Research Project
Analysis of Dynamic, Flexible NOx and SO2
Abatement from Power Plants in the Eastern
U.S. and Texas
Dynamic Electricity Generation for
Addressing Daily Air Quality Exceedances in
the US
Dynamic Management of Prescribed
Burning for Better Air Quality
Optimization of Multipollutant Air Quality
Management Strategies
Creating Building Blocks fora More Dynamic
Air Quality Management Framework
Amount Awarded
$500,000
$250,000
$500,000
$249,115
$499,945
Total: $2.0M
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The frequency of extreme events such as large storms and severe droughts, is expected to increase with continued climate change.
STAR Grants to Support Research on the Impacts of
Global Climate Change
EPA awarded 14 grants, totaling more than $8
million, to support research exploring ways to
provide the information and tools needed for
effective air and water quality management
during anticipated increases in extreme events
such as large storms and severe droughts.
The Agency-supported research focuses
on understanding the hazards of extreme
events, and to establish ways for experts and
stakeholders, such as climate scientists, impact
assessment modelers, and air and water quality
managers, to address water and air quality
challenges and increase community resiliency in
the face of extreme weather events and natural
disasters.
-------
Summary of STAR Grants for Extreme Event Impacts on Air Quality
and Water Quality with a Changing Global Climate
Recipients
Oregon State University
Georgia Institute of Technology -
Main Campus
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Colorado State
University, North Carolina State
University
University of South Florida
Michigan Technological
University, University of Louisville
University of Texas at Austin
Mississippi State University
Public Policy Institute of
California, Climate Central
Cornell University, National
Center for Atmospheric Research
Ohio State University - Main
Campus
University of South Florida
Research Project
Prediction and quantification of Combined
Sewer Outflows under extreme storm events:
Flow dynamics and Reduction of Combined
Sewer Outflows
Air Qualitv Impacts of Extreme Weather
Events: Historical Analysis and Future
Projection
Usina Advanced Statistical Techniques
to Identify the Drivers and Occurrence of
Historical and Future Extreme Air Quality
Events in the United States from Observations
and Models
Early Career: The hazards of Extreme
Climatic Events: Predictina Impacts
Impacts of Climate-induced Chanaes in
Extreme Events on Ozone and Particulate
Matter Air Qualitv
Response of Reaional Air Quality to Severe
Drought
Role of land use and BMPs in reducina the
effect of extreme maanitude events on
sediment and pollutant transport in the SE US
Coastal Plain and Mississippi Alluvial Valley
Intearatina Information from Climate
Scientists and Resource Manaaers: Informina
Preparedness and Adaptation to Extreme
Event Impacts on Air and Water Qualitv in
California
Extreme Air Quality Events Usina a Hierarchy
of Models: Present and Future
Ensurina Safe Drinkina Water in Lake Erie:
Quantifyina Extreme Weather Impacts on
Cvanobacteria and Disinfection Byproducts
Ecoloaical Assessment of Generalized Littoral
Environments Decision-Support System
fEAGLE/OS)
Award Amount
$265,528
$749,859
$749,931
$374,936
$374,960
$750,000
$363,258
$710,529
$746,825
$734,122
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Summary of STAR Grants for Extreme Event Impacts on Air Quality
and Water Quality with a Changing Global Climate, continued
Recipients
University of Washington
Michigan State University
Columbia University in the City of
New York
Research Project
Prediction of Effects of Changing
Precipitation Extremes on Urban Water
Quality
Forecastina and Evaluatina Vulnerability of
Watersheds to Climate Chanae, Extreme
Events, and Algal Blooms
Combinina Empirical Orthoaonal Function
and Extreme Value Theory Methods to
Characterize Observed and Future Chanaes
in Extreme U.S. Air Pollution Events
Award Amount
$699,905
$750,000
$749,951
Total: $8,0 19,534
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STAR Grants to Support Chesapeake Bay
EPA awarded the University of Maryland a grant
totaling $691,674 for supporting a research
center to identify new, collaborative approaches
to reduce urban stormwater from reaching
Chesapeake Bay.
The center's research includes: applying existing
stormwater-reduction techniques in new ways;
developing new techniques and technologies;
identifying why existing Chesapeake Bay
restoration or protection strategies have
succeeded or failed; developing methods
and metrics to document water-quality
improvements in Chesapeake Bay tributaries;
and developing strategies for specific sectors
(residential, industrial, commercial developments,
transportation infrastructure) in the Chesapeake
Bay watershed to contribute to a cleaner Bay.
The University of Maryland research will
complement similar EPA-supported work
conducted by Pennsylvania State University
researchers to understand how decisions are
made at multiple levels to improve the planning,
design, adoption, and successful implementation
of innovative, sustainable stormwater
management systems to protect and restore
Chesapeake Bay. EPA awarded Pennsylvania
State University a grant of $2,173,026 in 2011 to
support that research. (Also see Community-
Based Chesapeake Bay Stormwater
Management on page 30.)
Summary of Grants to Support Water and Watersheds, Pollution Prevention, and
Sustainable Development for Chesapeake Bay
Recipients
University of Maryland - College
Park
Pennsylvania State University
Research Project
Sustainable Community Oriented
Stormwater Manaaement: A Sensible
Strateav for the Chesapeake Bav
Center for Green Infrastructure and
Stormwater Manaaement (awarded in mid
20111
Amount
Awarded
$691,674
$2,173,026
Total: $2,864,700
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Oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill coats the water's surface, June 2010.
STAR Grants to Support the Environmental Impact and
Mitigation of Oil Spills
EPA awarded four grants totaling $1.9 million to
explore the development of innovative oil spill
mitigation technologies and to provide needed
technical assistance to Gulf Coast communities
impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The funding will enable Gulf Coast communities
affected by the oil spill to effectively participate
in research projects so that they can benefit
from, and use, the results in restoration
and cleanup activities. The EPA-supported
research will develop cost-effective, innovative
technologies with low environmental impact that
can be used for mitigating the impacts of oil spills,
including: oil dispersants, surface washing agents,
and bioremediation agents; also supported are
projects investigating the environmental effects
of oil spills and the application of dispersants and
other clean up measures.
Summary of Grants for studying the Environmental Impact and Mitigation of Oil Spills
Recipients
Michigan State University,
Louisiana State University-Baton
Rouge
Clemson University, University of
South Alabama
Iowa State University, Columbia
University in the City of New York,
Louisiana State University-Baton
Rouge
Skidaway Institute of
Oceanography, University of
Maryland, University of Southern
Mississippi
Research Project
Environmental Impact and Mitigation of Oil
Spills
Dendritic Polymers as Biocompatible
Dispersants for Oil Spill Remediation
Producing and Characterizing Bacillus
Subtilis Biosurfactants with Potentially
Lower Environmental Impact for Salt Water
Applications
Uptake and Effects of Dispersed Oil Droplets
and Emulsified Oil by Estuarine Crustaceans
in the Gulf of Mexico
Amount
Awarded
$500,000
$500,000
$500,000
$476,553
Total: $ 1,976,553
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Pare 82
STAR Grants to Support
Treatment Technologies
for Small Drinking Water
EPA awarded 11 grants totaling $5.5 million
to support research on and demonstration
of new and existing drinking water treatment
technologies in small, public water systems to
reduce or eliminate chemical contamination.
The research aims to provide small systems with
reliable and more cost-effective treatment
technologies to better manage co-occurring
chemicals or groups of chemical contaminants
in their water systems, resulting in cleaner water
and a reduction in waterborne illnesses.
Summary of EPA Grants Research and Demonstration of Innovative Drinking Water
Treatment Technologies in Small Systems
Recipients
University of Massachusetts,
Amherst
Lincoln University-MO, University of
Missouri- Columbia
University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign
University of Texas - Austin
University of Nevada - Reno
Arizona State University, Main
Campus; University of Alaska,
Anchorage
The City College of New York
Research Project
Use of Ferrate in Small Drinkina Water
Treatment Systems
Improvina Drinkina Water Qualitv for Small
Rural Communities in Missouri
Sustainable Catalytic Treatment of Waste
Ion Exchanae Brines for Reuse Durina
Oxvanion Treatment in Drinkina Water
Fluoride, DBF Precursors, and Particles:
Simultaneous Removal with Aluminum Salts
A Solution for Small Drinkina Water Systems
Contaminant Removal Usina Membrane
Distillation for Sustainable Drinkina Water
Treatment
Sustainable Sorbents and Monitorina
Technoloaies for Small GroundwaterSvstems
Municipal Sewaae Sludae Based Composite
Adsorbents For Removal Of Contaminants
from Drinkina Water Sources
Award Amount
$497,078
$499,996
$500,000
$499,357
$499,743
$500,000
$499,746
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Summary of EPA Grants Research and Demonstration of Innovative Drinking Water
Treatment Technologies in Small Systems, continued
Recipients
University of Texas at El Paso, New
Mexico State University - Main
Campus
Clarkson University, Southern
Nevada Water Authority
University of Florida, University of
South Florida
University of Iowa, Johns Hopkins
University, University of California -
Riverside,
Research Project
Point Of Use (POU) Water Treatment
Systems For Improvina Sustainabilitv And
Environmental Justice in Colonias of the
Paso del Norte Reaion
Intearation of Filtration and Advanced
Oxidation: Development of a Membrane
Liauid-Phase Plasma Reactor
Small, Safe, Sustainable (S3) Public Water
Systems throuah Innovative Ion Exchanae
Research and Demonstration of Electrospun
Nanofiber Filters: Multifunctional, Chemically
Active Filtration Technoloaies for Small-Scale
Water Treatment Systems
Award Amount
$498,906
$499,779
$499,361
$499,466
Total: $5,493,432
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STAR Grants to Support Computational Toxicology
EPA awarded eight grants totaling nearly $8.6
million to support research to develop new,
innovative ways to test and screen chemicals
and chemical mixtures.
In support of EPA's commitment for safe and
sustainable chemicals, the Agency is supporting
the development of computational toxicology
methods (high-throughput assays; see more in
the "Chemical Safety forSustainability" section of
this document). The supported work is advancing
insight into the causal relationship between
chemical exposures and adverse developmental
and reproduction health effects.
Summary of Grants for Developing High-Throughput Assays for Predictive Modeling of
Reproductive and Developmental Toxicity Modulated Through the Endocrine System
or Pertinent Pathways in Humans and Species Relevant to Ecological Risk Assessment
Recipients
University of Texas-Austin
Batelle Memorial Institute, Pacific
Northwest Division
University of California-Davis
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
North Carolina State University
University of North Carolina-
Chapel Hill
Oregon State University
University of South Carolina at
Columbia
Research Project
High Information Content Toxicity Screening
Using Mouse and Human Stem Cell Models
of Endocrine Development and Function
High-Throughput Cellular Assays for
Modeling Toxicity in the Fish Reproductive
System
In Vitro to In Vivo Screening of Thyroid
Hormone Receptor Disrupting Chemicals
Cell-Free Neurochemical Screening Assays
to Predict Adverse Effects in Mammals, Fish,
and Birds
Multi-Sensor Reporter Cell Technology to
Assess Hazard Involving Endocrine Signaling
Pathways
Carolina Center for Computational
Toxicology: Assays, models and tools for
NextGen safety assessments
Toxicity Screening with Zebra fish Assay
Imaging Assessment of G-protein-coupled
Estrogen Receptor Activation
Award Amount
$1,200,000
$1,199,908
$649,345
$1,199,222
$950,507
$1,200,000
$1,199,999
$1,063,460
Total: $8,662,441
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Collaborating on Health Disparities Research
EPA is a partner in the Federal Collaboration
on Health Disparities Research, a coordinated,
federal effort to target health improvement
in populations disproportionately affected by
disease, injury, and/or disability. The collaboration
pools scientific expertise and resources to
advance the research needed to accelerate
the elimination of health disparities in vulnerable
populations.
Additionally, EPA is partnering with the National
Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
(NIMHD), a division of the National Institutes
of Health. This partnership supports health
disparities research that takes into account the
complex interaction of biological, social, and
environmental factors that influence the health
of certain populations. EPA and NIMHD recently
funded 10 grant awards to support research
initiatives and activities within NIMHD Centers of
Excellence program.
Institution
University of New Mexico Health
Sciences Center
Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell
University
Georgia State University
University of Kansas Medical Center
Columbia University Medical Center
The University of Texas at El Paso, The
University of Texas Health Science
Center Houston
University of Illinois at Chicago
Meharry Medical College, Charles
Drew University of Medicine &
Science, National Space Science
and Technology Center, Tulane
University of Louisiana, University of
Maryland - Baltimore, University of
Tennessee - Knoxville
University of South Carolina at
Columbia, University of Maryland
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor,
Drexel University, Jackson State
University
Project Titles
New Mexico Center for Advancement
of Research, Enaaaement, & Science
on Health Disparities (NM CARES HD) -
Environmental Health Core
Environmental Health Disparities Research
Core
Center of Excellence: Environmental
Health Disparities Core
Central Plains Center for American Indian
Health Disparities (CPC-AIHD) Revision
Environmental Health Disparities Research
in NOCEMHD
Revision Application to Support
Environmental Health Disparities Research
Improving Environmental Health
Disparities: A Fundamental Cause
Approach
Environmental Context of Health
Disparities
Analysis and Action on the Environmental
Determinants of Health and Health
Disparities
Center for Intearative Approaches
to Health Disparities - Environment
Assessment Core
Award Amount
$792,750
$860,901
$724,523
$791,461
$850,638
$752,795
$817,064
$684,465
$669,258
$556,144
Total: $7,499,999
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Stoking the Economic Engine: EPA's Small Business
Innovation Research Awards
There are approximately 25 million small
businesses in the United States today. As the
leading source of employment growth, these
firms have generated 60 to 80 percent of new
jobs over the past decade, and are responsible
for developing most of the country's new
technologies.
EPA is helping to stoke the economic engine
and tap the entrepreneurial energy of small
businesses to meet today's environmental
challenges while also growing a green and
sustainable economy.
EPA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
program was established to ensure that new
technologies are developed to solve priority
environmental problems. In 2012 EPA awarded
nearly $4.1 million to 32 small companies to
support the development of new technologies
for protecting the environment and public
health.
Twenty-five small businesses received "proof
of concept" awards up to $80, 000 (phase I
recipients). In addition, seven companies that
received similar awards in 2011 were awarded
additional 2012 funding, up to $300,000, to move
their technologies towards commercialization
and implementation (phase II recipients).
-------
Summary of EPA Phase I SBIR Awardees
Small Business
Aerodyne
Research Inc.
Luna Innovations
Inc.
OnTo Technology
LLC
Fungi Perfect! LLC
Orono Spectral
Solutions Inc
GVD Corporation
ThornProducts
LLC
LIES Inc.
SolarBee Inc.
Fluidic
microControls, Inc
Faraday
Technology Inc.
Sunocs LLC
Los Gatos
Research Inc.
NEI Corporation
Compact
Membrane
Systems Inc.
Intelligent Optical
Systems Inc.
T3 Scientific LLC
Altex
Technologies
Corporation
NanoSonic Inc.
Okeanos
Technologies LLC
Project Titles
Size-Selection Aerosol Characterization Instrument
Non-Formaldehvde Bio-based Phenolic Resins
Recvclina Rare Earth Metals from Nickel Metal Hvdride
Batteries
Comprehensive Assessment of Mycofiltration Biotechnoloay to
Remove Pathoaens from Urban Storm Water
Preconcentration Technoloav for Infrared Analysis of
Organophosphates in Water
Environmentallv-Benian Polvtetrafluoroethvlene (PTEE) Coatina
for Mold Release
New Technoloay for Electricity Monitorina & Reportina Built
into Electrical Receptacles and Switches
Real-Time, In-Line Sensor for Wastewater Monitorina
Improvina TTHM Reduction Processina and Operational
Efficiencies in Potable Water Distributions Systems Usina Solar-
Powered Circulation with Diffused, Near-Surface Aeration
A 10 Kilowatt, Rankine Cycle Aaricultural Waste to Enerav
Conversion Module Utilizina Ultra Micro Turbo-Alternators
Microelectrode Arrav to Enable Robust Water Monitorina for
Multiple Contaminants at Sub-Nanomolar Concentrations
A Non-Toxic Composite Flame Retardant
Ultra-Sensitive Detection of Air Toxics Usina Incoherent Cavitv
Ringdown Spectroscopy
Siloxane Removal from Bioaass Usina a Novel Drop-In
Technology
Enhanced Drvina of Pipeline Ethanol
Fiber Optic Distributed Chemical Sensors for Environmental
Impact Monitorina in Carbon Seauestration
Forward Osmosis Water Purification Membranes for Small
Operations
Hiahlv Efficient Water Manaaement System for Lianocellulosic
Biomass
VOC-free, Hiahlv Flame Resistant HvbridSil™ Insulation
Coatinas for Next Generation Thermal Insulation and Eneray
Efficiency
Cost Effective Seawater Desalination with ICP Element Arrays
Award Amount
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
-------
Summary of EPA Phase I SBIR Awardees, continued
Small Business
Synanomet LLC
Adherent
Technologies Inc.
The Laser Sensing
Company
Electron Energy
Corporation
Membrane
Technology and
Research Inc.
Project Titles
Novel Lianin-Based Maanetite Nanocomposites for Removal
of Phosphate from Contaminated Waters
Emission Control System for Small Boilers
lnFRNO2: INfrared Faradav Rotation of NO2 for Portable Sub-
Part-Per-Billion Sensors
Cost-Effective Rare Earth Element Recyclina Process from
Industrial Scrap and Discarded Electronic Products to
Valuable Maanetic Alloys and Permanent Maanets
Membrane Process for Solvent Reclamation and Reuse
Award Amount
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
Summary of EPA Phase II SBIR Awardees
Small Business
OPTRA Inc.
FBS Inc.
Adherent
Technologies Inc.
Advanced
Diamond
Technologies Inc.
Faraday
Technology, Inc.
TDA Research
Inc.
Lynntech Inc.
Project We
Fourier Transform Infrared Phase Shift Cavity Ring Down
Spectrometer
Defect Detection in Water Pipelines Using Ultrasonic Guided
Waves
Catalytic Emissions Reduction System for Outdoor Wood Boilers
Development of a Scalable, Low-cost, Ultrananocrystalline
Diamond Electrochemical Process for the Destruction of
Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs)
Functional Chrome Coatings on Hard to Access, Internal
Surfaces of Industrial Parts from an Environmentally Benign
Trivalent Chromium Bath
Pipeline-Quality Methane from Anaerobic Digestion Streams
Microelectrochmical Capillary System for Environmental
Analytical Lab on a Chip
Amount
Awarded
$299,956
$299,960
$300,000
$299,686
$299,981
$300,000
$299,999
Total:
$2,146,352
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P3—Winning the Sustainable Future
On April 25, 2012 EPA announced the winners
of its annual P3 Awards Competition for
Sustainability. More than $1 million was awarded
to university and college teams from across
the country who participated in the 8th Annual
National Sustainable Design Expo on the National
Mall in Washington, D.C.
The three "Ps" of P3 are People, Prosperity and
the Planet. Established in 2004, the competition
is focused on supporting innovative designs that
benefit people, promote prosperity, and protect
the planet while advancing Sustainability around
the world.
The competition has two phases. In the Phase I,
student teams and their faculty advisors submit
research proposals for a chance to win up to
$15,000 in seed money to research and develop
designs for sustainable solutions to current
environmental and human health challenges.
Phase I grantees are invited to Washington,
DC each spring to display their research at
the National Design Expo. At the Expo, a
panel of experts convened by the American
Association for the Advancement of Sciences
evaluates the projects and passes along their
recommendations to EPA officials for selecting
the winners.
In addition to the coveted P3 Award, winning
teams received additional funding of up to
$90,000 for moving their projects into Phase
II, when they start developing marketable
prototypes of their sustainable designs.
Previous P3 award winners have started
successful businesses and are marketing the
technologies in the United States and around the
world.
Winners of the 2012 awards include:
• Appalachian State University for developing
an artificial wetland suitable for recycling
of grey water from small businesses for
immediate reuse.
• Butte College for developing structural
insulated panels for building construction using
rice hulls, an abundant agricultural waste, as
the primary raw material.
-------
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University for
designing a foldable solar power water
purification system that can fit into a
backpack for easy transport for use after a
disaster affecting drinking water supplies.
• Gonzaga University for developing a simple
ventilation system for kitchens in rural dwellings
using electrical power generated from
thermoelectric cells driven by waste heat from
cooking fires.
• Oregon State University for raising awareness
of pollution associated with the production
and use of plastic mulch by farmers and
testing alternative biodegradable mulch
material.
• Princeton University for developing, testing
and deploying an electricity generation
system that can be transported in a standard
shipping container and rapidly set up in rural
communities and post disaster areas.
• Santa Clara University for developing a fuel
cell capable of continuous sustainable energy
supply to meet energy demands in rural
communities in developing nations lacking
reliable energy grids.
• Southern Illinois University- Carbondale for
developing methods to extract (recycle)
metals from coal combustion byproducts
to reduce mining waste and to produce
a concrete with reduced carbon dioxide
emissions.
• SUNY College of Environmental Science
and Engineering for studying ways to
recover struvite, a slow release fertilizer, from
digested animal manures and assessing its
marketability.
• Texas State University - San Marcos for
converting rice husks, a byproducts of
agriculture, into a starter material called
lignocellulose for producing fabrics, biofuel
and silica nanoparticles.
• University of California - Riverside for designing
a solar collector to heat ambient air for use
in home appliances, such as clothes dryers
and space heaters, to reduce home energy
consumption.
• University of Cincinnati for developing a
pilot scale system to convert grease from
restaurants, a waste sent to landfills, to
renewable biodiesel.
• University of Connecticut for investigating
ways to use local industrial byproducts such as
steal slag and lime kiln dust to control erosion
and to stabilize roads in Nicaragua.
• University of Oklahoma - Norman for
designing, field-testing, constructing,
analyzing, and documenting a habitat for
humanity house built of compressed earth
blocks.
• Vanderbilt University for developing a
biohyrid solar panel that substitutes a protein
from spinach for rare metals (mined) and is
capable of producing electricity.
2072 Honorable Mention winners include:
• Christian Brothers University for developing
technologies to improve energy efficiency
in the building envelope of residences in
Memphis, Tennessee, that focus on the
thermal properties of materials, fire safety,
material stability and cost.
• Clarkson University for studying the feasibility
of using waste heat and leachate from a
solid waste management facility for energy to
produce biodiesel from algae.
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• Drexel University for designing a pilot-scale
reactor for a local landfill that uses algae to
produce biofuels from landfill leachate and
gas.
• Missouri University of Science and Technology
for designing a novel way to reduce the
energy lost when power coming into a house
is converted to the current needed by many
household electronics to run.
• Purdue University for designing, building and
installing affordable "ram" pumps in Haiti to
improve the availability of water for its citizens.
• Rochester Institute of Technology for designing
a hydrofoil system that harvests energy from a
river while minimizing the harmful effects that
dams create for river flow and sediments.
• Santa Clara University for developing a high
efficiency solar absorber/exchanger that can
bring low cost energy to urbanites who have
limited space for solar collectors.
• Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville for
evaluating the use of selenium-polluted
plant waste materials harvested from
phytoremediation sites to produce selenium-
enriched edible mushrooms.
• University of California - Davis for designing
and monitoring an affordable green roof
technology that uses the shading from plants
to cool roof surfaces and reduce peak
electricity demand by up to 75 percent.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
for creating and implementing a point-of-
use disinfectant for drinking water that is
cheap, non-toxic and effective in reducing
waterborne illness in developing nations.
• University of Texas at Austin for designing,
constructing and testing vermicomposting
(composting with worms) bins to improve
public health in the Dominican Republic by
reducing water contamination from organic
waste.
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Image of Chesapeake Bay taken from the International Space Station.
Supporting Innovation
Innovative organizations recognize the
importance of tapping the collective expertise
of their staff and encouraging everyone to
contribute ideas and submit possible solutions
that support the organizational mission. EPA's
Office of Research and Development has
embraced this concept to harness the talent and
energy of its scientists and engineers.
The Agency's Pathfinder Innovation Projects
(PIPs) encourage staff researchers to try bold
ideas that could produce transformational
advancements in environmental and human
health protection. PIPs reward the ingenuity
and entrepreneurial spirit of Agency scientists
and provide seed funding for proof-of-concept
research.
Like EPA's extramural granting programs (see
previous stories on the STAR grants and EPA's P3
student competition forsustainability), the PIP
program employs a competitive review process
to identify and support the best, most innovative
proposals.
External panels evaluate proposals on several
criteria, including the potential to dramatically
transform how EPA solves environmental
problems and the potential for significant
progress toward sustainability.
Teams selected for their PIP proposals receive
funding and time to work on the research.
Although the awards are for internal EPA studies,
some scientists do work across disciplines
and garner external support. For instance, an
Agency research team collaborated with the
Naval Research Laboratory and NASA on the
International Space Station to test a novel proof-
of-concept satellite system that can monitor
coastal water quality.
In 2012, ten new PIPs—on topics that range
from building a toxicity screening system that
more closely mimics air pollution exposure in
human lung cells, to making risk assessments of
waterborne viruses more reliable—joined the
growing list of projects that cultivate innovative
solutions to support EPA's mission to protect
human health and the environment.
Learn More about EPA research grants,
fellowships, and awards
• EPA Extramural Research Funding and Award
opportunities: www.epa.gov/ncer/
• EPA's Small Business Innovation Research
Program: www.epa.gov/ncer/sbir/
• EPA Research Fellowships: www.epa.gov/
ncer/fellow/
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Homeland Security
EPA's Homeland Security research supports the
Agency's role as the lead federal agency for
protecting water systems and decontamination
efforts following incidents involving chemical,
biological, or radiological contamination.
The research strengthens the resiliency of
communities to prepare for and respond to
contamination incidents. The research enables
water utility managers, laboratory technicians,
on-scene coordinators, risk assessors, risk
communicators, and emergency responders to
detect, prepare for, respond to, and recover
from terrorist attacks and other disasters.
This section highlights some of the results EPA
researchers and their partners have achieved in
2012 advancing Homeland Security.
Learn More!
For more information abut the impact and scope of about EPA Homeland Security Research, please
visit: www.eDa.aov/nhsrc/.
-------
EPA researchers develop monitoring and early warning technologies as well as help utilities and communities prepare response for
potential contamination events.
Protecting Drinking Water Supplies
The vast majority of Americans need look no
further than their kitchen faucet to find clean,
safe, and abundant drinking water. The nation's
water distribution system is a model of success
for delivering this vital resource in ways that
also protect public health. That success is
underscored by the need for constant vigilance
to protect water sources and distribution systems
from deliberate or accidental contamination.
This was a fact that became clear in the wake
of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent
mailing of anthrax-tainted letters to U.S. Senators
and media outlets.
EPA is the primary federal agency responsible
for treating drinking water and decontaminating
drinking water infrastructure in the event of
a terrorist attack or other incident involving
chemical, radiological, or biological agents
introduced into the water supply. These
responsibilities are supported by scientific and
engineering research conducted in EPA's
Homeland Security Research program.
EPA researchers are developing the scientific and
technical solutions needed to secure and sustain
the nation's water systems. A primary goal of
that work is to prevent or minimize the impact
-------
of any attempted or actual contamination
event. This is done through the development
of monitoring and early warning technologies
and software to provide system-wide, real time
surveillance.
In 2012, EPA researchers continued to advance
the Agency's award-winning CANARY Event
Detection software, a technology that serves
as an early warning system for water utilities.
CANARY is used to quickly distinguish between
day-to-day variations in water chemistry and
those variations from a contamination event.
Researchers are pursuing ways to tap information
collected simultaneously from multiple locations
(rather than each location separately). In
addition, researchers released a Quick Start
Guide to make the software more accessible
and user-friendly by providing step-by-step,
downloadable instructions.
Along with threat detection and monitoring
tools, EPA scientists and engineers are also
working to help water utilities, communities, and
the public be better prepared to respond and
recover (decontaminate and clean up) once
contamination occurs. To learn how to better
respond to biothreat agents in drinking water,
they studied the effectiveness of chlorination and
chloramination for destroying anthrax.
They also developed a standard protocol—the
Standardized Persistence and Decontamination
Experimental Design Protocol—that research
laboratories across the country can follow when
investigating the decontamination of water
pipes. The use of such a protocol will facilitate
comparability of research findings across studies
and advance consistency and confidence in
decontaminating water infrastructure.
Need to Know: Helping
Water Utilities Prepare
As the lead federal agency for water
security, EPA researchers play a critical role
in helping their partners at water utilities and
in the response community better prepare
for emergencies. In 2012, EPA's National
Homeland Security Research Center and
the Water Information Sharing and Analysis
Center (WaterlSAC) teamed up to deliver
the webcast "Anticipating the Public's
Questions during a Water Emergency." The
webcast provided practical information that
drinking water utilities can use in formulating
effective communication plans. These
plans can then be employed during a water
contamination event.
EPA also released a companion publication,
Need to Know: Water Emergency Questions,
presenting practical information that crisis
communicators can directly apply to
planning and response. The publication
is the result of a series of interviews and
webinars EPA conducted to identify the
anticipated information needs of water
utilities and the public following events that
threaten the safety of drinking water. The
report is available for downloading at: l.usa.
aov/QovLtF.
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Department of Health and Human Services, the
Department of Defense, and others.
Collectively they are working to find ways to
inform the design of emergency response and
decontamination procedures to eliminate
the hazards posed by anthrax spores after
an initial release. A focus of the program is to
explore how anthrax spores might renter the
air, ("reaerosolization") from surfaces where
they settled after first being released. SPORE
researchers conducted wind tunnel tests
using anthrax surrogates and have found that
reaerosolization of anthrax spores can occur
even after the spores have settled, a key fact to
consider for cleanup and disposal operations.
Another effort is underway in collaboration with
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) to understand how best to eliminate
the threat of an anthrax release in water.
Researchers conducted seven laboratory-
based studies in water using anthrax surrogates
along with other microbes identified as potential
bioterrorism agents.
Researchers from the EPA/CDC partnership
found that the effectiveness of chlorine and
other disinfectants in killing the various biological
contaminants depended on how many microbes
are present, the pH and temperature of the
water, the type and quantity of organic and
inorganic particles in the water and the kind of
material used in construction of the pipes. The
studies are providing important information to
EPA's Office of Water and water utility managers
who may have to deal with such biological
contaminants.
The results of EPA's homeland security research
will better inform and prepare the Agency and its
stakeholders in responding to a terrorist threat or
attack. These tools and techniques will result in
quicker and more cost-effective response to and
recovery from not just terrorist attacks, but other
disasters, both natural and accidental.
-
'
.
Researchers conducted tests using this wind tunnel to determine
that anthrax spores can reaerosolize, even after settling to the
ground.
-------
I-WASTE is a web-based tool that provides a suite of waste management information for cleaning up after natural disasters, terrorist
attacks, and widespread outbreaks of animal disease.
Supporting Emergency Response and Recovery
Tragic events from the terrorist attacks of 2001
to the recent destruction left in the wake
of Superstorm Sandy have made images of
emergency response all too familiar: emergency
crews rush in, search and rescue operations
commence, and those affected are tended to
and moved to more secure areas. Research
products addressing terrorism response and
recovery can also be employed in other
situations.
For the past ten years, EPA's homeland security
researchers have been conducting research that
supports federal, state, and local decision makers
working to prepare emergency responders and
local communities with the information they
need.
In 2012, EPA researchers continued to work with
partners from the Department of Homeland
Security on the Wide Area Recovery and
Resiliency Program (WARRP). The program is a
collaborative effort to develop and demonstrate
actions to reduce the time and resources
needed to recover from a large-scale chemical,
biological, or radiological event, such as one
affecting military installations, urban areas, or
critical infrastructure.
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Page 99
Working with EPA's Office of Solid Waste and
Emergency Response, public health officials, and
waste management experts, EPA researchers
have developed plans and tools to provide
real-time information on waste disposal. EPA
researchers updated the Agency's Incident
Waste Assessment System and Triage Estimator
(I-WASTE), a web-based, easily accessible tool
that provides a suite of waste management
information for cleaning up after natural disasters,
terrorist attacks, and widespread outbreaks of
animal disease.
I-WASTE 2012, available at http://bit.lv/12fs1EK.
offers emergency response planners information
on waste characterization, treatment, and
disposal options, and how to incorporate safe,
efficient waste management operations into
emergency response plans.
To support emergency response operations
involving hazardous biologicals and chemicals,
in 2012 EPA researchers released SERRA 4.0
database (SERRA is an acronym for "Support for
Environmental Risk Assessment). The "knowledge
base" provides an extensive compilation
of scientific information to assist scientists,
emergency personnel, and decision makers
responsible for planning and managing cleanup
operations, including mitigating hazards, in the
aftermath of a terrorist event.
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Methods presented in SAM will allow for quicker and more efficient and effective lab analysis, communication, and support in the
event of an emergency.
Ready to Respond: Improving the Nation's
Emergency Preparedness
In the event of an environmental disaster
involving potential contamination from radiation,
biological, or chemical agents, the need for
fast, accurate laboratory analysis is essential for
supporting emergency response, recovery, and
remediation operations. In the ten years since
EPA's Homeland Security Research program was
established, Agency researchers have helped
the nation become significantly better prepared
for just such response activities.
Agency scientists increased the nation's ability
to analyze large quantities of environmental
samples following the intentional or unintentional
release of hazardous chemical, biological, or
radiological (CBR) substances. To accomplish
that, they have established the Environmental
Response Laboratory Network (ERLN), a
nationwide network of analytical labs that can
quickly support large-scale responses.
In support of the Network, EPA researchers
have prepared Selected Analytical Methods for
Environmental Remediation and Recovery (SAM)
-2012, the latest update of a compendium
of methods for use in analyzing samples for
chemical, biological, radiological, and biotoxin
contamination.
The standardized analytical methods
presented in SAM allow labs to share samples,
increasing the speed of analysis, improving
data comparability, and simplifying the task of
recruiting and using commercial labs for rapid
analytical support in the event of an emergency.
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Page 101
Researchers have prepared the latest update of a compendium of methods for use in analyzing samples for chemical, biological,
radiological, and biotoxin contamination.
EPA researchers worked in collaboration with the
Agency's Office of Emergency Management,
the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water,
the Office of Radiation and Indoor Air, and EPA
Region 10 (serving the Pacific Northwest) to
update and improve SAM 2012.
EPA has developed companion documents to
provide information regarding field screening
equipment, sample collection, rapid screening
and preliminary analysis equipment, and sample
disposal information to supplement the analytical
methods included in SAM 2012.
The latest version of SAM 2012 incorporates
revisions to the list of target sample types and
provides the latest analytical methods and
procedures. Method updates included are
based on the availability of new methods or
data, and now present more than 200 method
summaries for biological, chemical, and
radiochemical agents.
In addition to providing access to the latest
document, EPA's SAM-2012 website (www.epa.
gov/sam) hosts a Methods Query, sample matrix
type, and specific capabilities of a laboratory.
The site also has full documentation of publicly
available laboratory methods, companion
documents, sample collection procedures, and
links to technical contacts and key collaborators.
Learn More about EPA Homeland Security Research
• EPA Homeland Security Research: www.epa.gov/nhsrc/
• Read the Homeland Security issue of EPA's Science Matters Newsletter, http://epa.gov/research/
sciencematters/september2011 /index.htm
• Download EPA's Homeland Security Strategic Research Action Plan, 2012-2016: http://epa.gov/
research/sciencematters/september2011 /index.htm.
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United States Environmental Protection Agency
US EPA Research
@EPAresearch
Office of Research & Development is the scientific
research arm of the US EPA.
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