2014 Accomplishments
OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
United States Environmental Protection Agency
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Table of Contents
Air, Climate, and Energy Research 2
Safe and Sustainable Water Research 8
Sustainable and Healthy Communities Research 16
Human Health Risk Assessment 29
Chemical Safety for Sustainability Research 34
Homeland Security Research 41
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\ IITI'/p3kt\ n 1 a, an impinging
or striking; 2 the force of impression of one thing on
another: an impelling or forceful! effect.
Impact. Every research project conducted or supported by
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office
of Research and Development has a single, overarching goal:
to support EPA's mission of protecting human health and
the environment. The Office is well suited for embracing
such an ambitious challenge. No other research organization
offers the collective diversity of expertise uniting public health,
environmental, social, and other scientists to address the most
pressing environmental and related human health challenges, many
of which are far more far-reaching and complex than before.
Together, this community of researchers has blazed a 40-year path
toward science-informed actions that have led to cleaner air, safer
water, and more prosperous lands. This progress has improved
public health and well-being, having an impact on every American
community and beyond.
These achievements have been quantified across a host of
indicators, including: lower blood lead-levels in children, the
population growth of peregrine falcons and other birds of prey
moving from near extinction to complete recovery, the increase in
the number of swimmable and fishable local water ways, millions
of pounds and gallons of pollutants kept out of air and water,
and acres of formerly contaminated and condemned industrial
sites rehabilitated into parks and other community assets. Even
the measurement of lifespans have increased—by five months—
for those living in cities that have enjoyed the most dramatic
improvements in air quality.
2014 accomplishments include tools, data, and models that
are: protecting public health; improving air quality; helping
communities become more resilient in the face of a changing
climate; reducing emissions of carbon and other pollutants/-
ushering in new generations of safer, more sustainable chemicals/-
promoting homeland security and emergency response; and
advancing safe and sustainable drinking water and water resources.
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Air,
Climate,
and Energy
Research
Improving air quality/ reducing carbon and other
greenhouse gas emissions/ and developing strategies to
help communities and individuals address the effects of a
changing climate are central to EPA's mission to protect
human health and the environment. Research by EPA's Air/
Climate/ and Energy research program and its partners has
played a prominent role in protecting the air we breathe
and providing new understandings about the relationship
between air quality/ climate change and energy production.
Studies are advancing technology to better measure and
monitor air quality/ providing innovative modeling tools to
help predict and respond to the impacts of climate change/
and investigating the adverse health and environmental
effects related to air pollution and a changing climate.
EPA air/ climate/ and energy research results have far-
reaching impact/ providing the scientific foundation for
decisions and actions to protect public health and the
environment.
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Taking Action on Climate Change
More frequent heat waves. Spikes in coastal flooding. An increase in severe droughts and wildfires. How do we put such events
into perspective, what might the future hold—and most importantly—how does the nation take collective action in response to the
increasingly clear evidence that the effects of climate change are unfolding?
The first steps are rooted in science.
The U.S. Global Change Research Program, which coordinates
scientific research across 13 Federal departments, recognizes
the foundational role of science in understanding global change
and its impacts: "Research, along with an array of increasingly
sophisticated tools for collecting and analyzing data, can provide
essential knowledge to governments, businesses, and communities
as they plan for and respond to the myriad manifestations of global
change, including sea-level rise and ocean acidification, heat
waves and drought, and the severe storms, floods, and forest fires
that pose an ever-growing risk to life, property, and agriculture."
EPA scientists and their partners are directly supporting President
Barack Obama's "Climate Change Action Plan" to reduce carbon
pollution, prepare the United States for the impacts of climate
change, and lead international efforts to combat climate change
and prepare for its impacts. The research results, knowledge,
data, and tools Agency scientists produce help decision makers
incorporate climate change into long-term strategies that promote
sustainable, resilient, and healthy communities.
Working with partners from the U.S. Geological Survey and
the U.S. Forest Service, Agency researchers published Best
Practices for Continuous Monitoring of Temperature and Flow in
Wadeable Streams (EPA/600/R-13/170F), a guide for collecting
accurate, year-round temperature and hydrologic data at stream
sites, an important component for monitoring climate change and
its potential impacts over time.
EPA researchers also focus on helping communities mitigate
the expected effects of climate change. "Urban adaptation can
roll back warming of emerging megapolitan regions" (PNAS
February 25, 2014 vol. Ill no. 8 2909-2914), co-authored by
EPA scientists, demonstrates important climate change mitigation
techniques available for urban areas, specifically how three types
of roofing (cool, green, and hybrid) can help reduce local
temperatures.
Evaluating roof designs and other technologies to help
communities is part of Agency efforts to protect human health
in the face of climate change. Agency researchers presented
results of the first application of a model to support decision
making in the journal Urban Climate: "Developing a model
for effects of climate change on human health and health-
environment interactions: Heat stress in Austin, Texas" (Urban
Climate 06/2014). When complete, the model will have broad
applications for identifying and supporting effective actions to
protect health and the environment.
Agency researchers collaborated with colleagues from a number
of different organizations within and outside government on the
Climate-Smart Conservation Workgroup. The consortium released
Climate-Smart Conservation: Putting Adaptation Principles into
Practice. This key resource presents practical information for
natural resources managers to integrate climate change into their
planning, including assessing ecosystem vulnerability, identifying
and prioritizing adaptation and implementation options, and
monitoring the effectiveness of adaptation actions.
EPA scientists made significant contributions to the signature
government climate change publication the 2014 National
Climate Assessment. The most comprehensive analysis to date,
it documents current and expected climate change impacts and
responses across different regions. The goal of the Assessment is
to inform public and private decision-making at all levels.
In his remarks at the September 2014 United Nations Climate
Summit, President Obama said, "We cannot condemn our
children, and their children, to a future that is beyond their
capacity to repair. Not when we have the means—the
technological innovation and the scientific imagination—to begin
the work of repairing it right now."
The scientific papers, model, tools, and contributions to such
high-profile reports as the 2014 National Climate Assessment
illustrate how EPA researchers and their partners are at the
forefront of the technological and scientific imagination President
Obama spoke of during his speech.
Advancing the science of climate change is just one of many achievements made by
EPA Air, Climate and Energy researchers and their partners during 2014. Additional highlights follow.
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Climate-energy and the Water-energy Nexus
EPA researchers are studying the effects that climate-change-driven drought might have
on electricity generation. Using MARKet Allocation (MARKAL), an energy trade-off
model created by the Brookhaven National Lab, they are searching for potential ways to
maximize electricity while minimizing water use and carbon dioxide emissions.
Results of their work are presented in two 2014 papers on MARKAL water-energy
nexus modeling: "Strategic responses to COS emission reduction targets drive shift the
U.S. electric sector water use" (Energy Strategy Reviews/ Volume 4, August 2014),
and "A review of water use in the U.S. electric power sector: insights from systems-level
perspectives" (Chemical Engineering, Volume 5, August 2014).
Up In Smoke: Wildfires, Air Quality, and Public Health
Scientists expect climate change to lead to longer, more intense wildfire seasons.
Research by EPA-supported scientists at the Harvard School of Engineering and
Applied Sciences suggests that by the year 2050, wildfire seasons will increase in length
by some three weeks, produce twice as much smoke, and burn a wider area in the
Western States.
Other published research provides public health officials with a way to use smoke
forecast models to reduce health and economic risks, and insights into how differences
in wildfire smoke composition affect our health differently: "Cardiopulmonary toxicity
of peat wildfire particulate matter and the predictive utility of precision cut lung slices"
(Particle and Fibre Toxicology, 2014: 11.29). An EPA research team received support
from the Joint Wildfire Science Program (FireScience.gov) to continue this important
work through a study of the chemical composition of smoke from wildfires around the
country.
Air Quality Monitoring From Space: DISCOVER-AQ
The final field component of an extensive, multi-year study to advance the measurement
of ground-level air quality from space concluded in and above the metropolitan Denver,
Colorado area in summer 2014 when scientists from EPA, NASA, and other federal
partners collected data from satellites, airplanes and ground-level monitors. The study,
called Deriving Information on Surface conditions from COIumn and VERtically
or DISCOVER-AQ, has provided scientists a wealth of data to improve pollution
measurements that will lead to better air quality forecasts and more accurate assessments
of pollution sources and fluctuations.
As part of the project, EPA-trained teachers followed the action from Houston, where
they led students in operating compact, ground-based air monitoring devices placed at
eight local public schools. The schools then contributed the data they collected to the
EPA research team.
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c
Sensor
Measure Learn-Share
Citizen Science Toolbox for Air Quality Sensors
There is a growing interest by citizens to learn more about what's going on in their
community: What's in the air I breathe? What does it mean for my health and the health
of my family? How can I learn more about these things and even be involved in the
process? Is there a way for me to measure, learn, and share information about my local
air quality? Thanks to EPA researchers, they now have a resource to explore those
questions.
Released in 2014, EPA's Air Sensor Toolbox for Citizen Scientists provides information
and guidance on new low-cost compact technologies now available for measuring
air quality. The Toolbox includes: a guidebook to help citizens more effectively and
accurately collect air quality data in their own communities; information on sampling
methodologies; generalized calibration and validation approaches; options for
measurement methods; data interpretation guidelines; education and outreach resources/-
and low-cost sensor performance information. The toolbox is available at: http://www.
epa.gov/heasd/airsensortoolbox.
Advancing the Next Generation of Air Sensors
EPA is leading the implementation of a new generation of air sensors: portable, low-cost
technologies that collect and transmit data in real time. The Agency's fourth workshop,
held June 2014 at its campus in North Carolina, focused on the opportunities and
challenges associated with the next generation of air quality monitoring technology and
data.
The workshop brought nearly 500 interested parties together looking to improve sensor
design, performance and usability, including community groups, sensor developers,
state, local, and tribal officials, researchers, private industry and non-profit organizations.
The RETIGO Tool
The proliferation of low cost, portable air sensors has meant that collecting real-time
measurements from cars, bicycles, and other vehicles is an increasingly common method
for investigating local air quality. Making use of the data, which includes geographical
and time-based (geospatial) components, however, is still a technical challenge. EPA
researchers are lowering the bar to meeting that challenge with the Real-Time Geospatial
Data Viewer, or "RETIGO."
RETIGO is a free, web-based tool that allows users to visualize air quality data on
a map. The tool helps users visualize, analyze, and understand geospatial air data,
opening up a wealth of new capabilities to view and consider large sets of air quality
data collected by citizen science groups, researchers, and others interested in local air
quality. It is available at: www.epa.gov/retigo.
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Air Pollution, Genes, and Our Health
EPA researchers and collaborators are investigating potential links between an
individual's genetics and the way their body, particularly their cardiovascular system,
responds to air pollution exposure. Their work was made possible by the sharing of
an extensive clinical health database by Duke University Medical Center. Named
CATHGEN, the database contains information from nearly 10,000 volunteers, most
diagnosed with cardiovascular disease.
In initial studies using the CATHGEN database, researchers demonstrated a
relationship between traffic-related air pollution and risk factors of diabetes and
metabolic syndrome, a condition that contributes to cardiovascular disease. Another
finding concludes that exposure to traffic-related air pollution is associated with diseases
of the blood vessels and hypertension.
Understanding Local Air Quality with Fine-scale Modeling
EPA scientists developed several innovative techniques for tapping the widely-used
Community Multi-scale Air Quality model (CMAQ) to explore highly localized local
air quality, down to the county, city, or even neighborhood levels.
Such fine-scale modeling helps states address areas where air pollution has been difficult
to reduce, such as those that don't meet National Ambient Air Quality Standards. It
can also be used to inform air quality assessments and improve exposure estimates for
conducting health studies. The refinements support even more robust and accurate
modeling capabilities.
Urban Air Studies with the Smog Simulator
EPA engineers and scientists developed a novel mobile smog simulator they can use
to produce customized air samples based on smog "recipes" for different parts of the
country. Researchers can then use the samples to model and study the health effects of
exposures to typical air mixtures found in cities across the country on laboratory animals,
cell cultures, and even plants.
Using a unique temperature control feature built into the simulator, scientists are
investigating the impacts of a warming climate on air photochemistry and physics, and
the subsequent impacts on human and environmental health. The research is supporting
EPA's evaluation of air mixtures for setting the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
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Supporting World-class Air, Climate, and
Energy Research
To complement its own clean air, climate, and energy research/ EPA supports some of the nation's leading scientists/
engineers/ and research organizations to conduct focused studies that address high priority science questions and
advance solutions to today's more pressing health and climate challenges. Research grants announced during 2014
follow.
EPA Awdrded $9 Million for Cleaner-burning Cookstove
EPA is a leader in the international effort to reduce the health
and environmental threats related to the rudimentary cookstoves
and open fires used by nearly half of the people in the world.
According to the World Health Organization, cookstove smoke
is a major contributor to indoor air pollution in developing
countries, causing approximately four million premature deaths
annually and a wide range of illnesses. The black carbon emitted
from such cookstoves also contributes to climate change, disrupts
weather patterns, and accelerates the melting of snow and ice.
In 2014, the Agency committed $9 million in grant funding for
six universities to conduct research toward cleaner technologies
and fuels for cooking, lighting, and heating homes. The research
advances work to improve indoor air quality and positively
impact the health of people living wherever cookstoves are used,
including Native Alaskan communities and across the developing
world. The research will also benefit efforts to reduce the impact
of cookstove emissions on climate, and contribute to the ultimate
goal- development and widespread adoption of cleaner-burning
stoves and fuels. The universities and their research projects are
outlined below.
University
Research
Funding Amount
University of California,
Berkeley
Researchers will explores the relationship between household and village-
scale pollution, to better understand the effectiveness of cookstove
interventions.
$1,495,454
University of Colorado,
Boulder
Researchers will use small, inexpensive sensors to better monitor human
exposure to pollution from residential burning. They will also collect data
through health assessments and outdoor air quality measurements in Ghana.
1,500,000
Colorado State University,
Fort Collins,
Researchers will use cookstove interventions in China, India, Kenya, and
Honduras to explore the emissions, chemistry, and movement of indoor
smoke. They will also conduct health assessments and model exposures to
improve the understanding of climatic impacts of stove interventions.
$1,500,000
University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign
Researchers will investigate how local resources affect community acceptance
of heating stove interventions. They will also explore how measurements will
improve the understanding of air quality and climatic benefits of cookstove
interventions in Alaska, Nepal, Mongolia, and China.
$1,499,998
University of Minnesota
Researchers will measure changes in air quality and health outcomes from
cleaner cooking and heating technologies. They will also model to assess a
rural cookstove intervention in China.
$1,489,388
Yale University
Researchers will use socioeconomic analyses, emissions and pollution
measurements, and global climate modeling to investigate the impacts of
cookstove interventions in India.
$1,499,985
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Safe and
Sustainable
Water
Resources
Research
Increasing demands for sources of clean water, combined
with changing land use practices/ population growth/ aging
infrastructure/ and drought pose significant threats to the
Nation's water resources. Failure to manage the Nation's
waters in an integrated/ sustainable manner can jeopardize
human and aquatic ecosystem health/ which can impact our
society and economy.
It is the responsibility of EPA to conduct research and
analyses that will ensure that the Nation's water resources
are safe for use and can be sustained for future generations.
In EPA's 40-year history/ significant advances have been
made in protecting the country's waters through the
effective control of potable water treatment and point-
source contamination. This has resulted in better protected
and improved human and ecosystem health through
reductions in waterborne disease organisms and chemicals.
Through innovative science and engineering/ EPA's Safe
and Sustainable Water Resources Research Program
is developing cost-effective solutions to these current/
complex water issues and proactively developing solutions
to emerging concerns. Our research is helping to ensure
that clean/ adequate/ and equitable supplies of water are
available to support human health and resilient aquatic
ecosystems/ now and into the future.
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ROAD
FLOODED
Soaking It In: Green Infrastructure
Hopping over the small stream running down the side of the street
and avoiding the spray of passing cars may be the only time most
people focus on stormwater runoff, but it is just that kind of water
that threatens the quality and integrity of local waterways across
the nation. When rain hits pavement and rooftops, it mostly flows,
picking up contaminants and excess nutrients before reaching
storm drains that feed directly into sewer systems. During big
storms and melting events, the sheer volume of that runoff often
overwhelms such systems, leading to "combined sewer overflows"
that dump mixtures of already tainted runoff and raw sewage
directly into rivers and other local water resources.
In contrast, natural areas such as grassland, forests, and wetlands
absorb and hold excess water in place, filtering out sediment
and pollutants while also helping to recharge groundwater. EPA
researchers are working to help local communities make their
developed areas function more like those kinds of natural areas
when it comes to stormwater management. Agency scientists and
engineers, along with their partners, are advancing techniques and
practices that tap or mimic natural habitats to reconnect the land to
hydrologic cycles that absorb, hold, and cleanse stormwater.
Collectively referred to as "green infrastructure," these practices
offer innovative, low cost ways to reduce stormwater runoff and
associated problems, offering local communities opportunities to
save money while having true impact improving water quality.
One tool that EPA researchers have developed to support the
assessment and adoption of green infrastructure is the National
Stormwater Calculator. This free, online tool provides decision-
makers and others with information and analysis they need to
assess the impact of incorporating green infrastructure practices,
such as rain gardens, rain barrels, cisterns, and open parks, into
their projects. It is designed to be used by anyone interested
in reducing runoff from a property, including site developers,
landscape architects, urban planners, and homeowners.
As part of the Climate Assessment Tool package announced in
the President's Climate Action Plan, EPA researchers enhanced
the Calculator with climate assessment capabilities, which will help
communities incorporate green infrastructure into future climate
scenarios. In addition, the Calculator is now a resource for LEED
Project Credit 16 (Rainwater Management) certification by the
U.S. Green Building Council for projects that are designed to
reduce runoff volume and improve water quality of a site.
In addition to developing new tools such as the National
Stormwater Calculator, EPA researchers are working directly with
partners and communities across the nation to help them tap the
benefits of green infrastructure. For example, in collaboration with
the City of Omaha, the Nebraska Department of Environmental
Quality, and the Nebraska Water Science Center (U.S.
Geological Survey), EPA scientists are analyzing soils and
preparing a monitoring network strategy to inform and better
manage stormwater.
As part of the effort mentioned above, the Agency provided
$100,000 in applied research funding for the City of Omaha to
establish a water monitoring network built around the installation
of green infrastructure systems.
Researchers will continue to monitor water sensors that were
installed before the full implementation of green infrastructure
for at least three years, allowing them to calculate how well
green infrastructure performs with respect to water capture and
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infiltration. By analyzing sample cores of both topsoil and subsoil/
the scientists will be able to provide Omaha with key information
on how best to realize the promise of green infrastructure to
effectively manage stormwater. The impacts are expect to include
better-informed decisions/ lower cost stormwater management,
and cleaner waterways.
Another EPA partnership was established with the City of
Philadelphia, where officials are looking to advance the use of
green infrastructure for urban wet weather pollution control. As
part of that effort, in 2014, EPA provided nearly $5 million in
grants to five universities to support research exploring the financial
and social costs and benefits associated with green infrastructure
as a stormwater and wet weather pollution management tool.
Research findings from the EPA-supported research teams will
support efforts such as Philadelphia's Green City, Clean Waters,
a 25-year plan to use innovative green infrastructure to protect
and enhance local watersheds and make Philadelphia a more
sustainable city. The project will help build municipal capacity to
manage stormwater in a subset of the greater Philadelphia urban
watershed through green infrastructure.
A major impact of incorporating effective green infrastructure
techniques will be to reduce the number of "combined sewer
overflows" that occur when runoff volumes exceed the capacity
of wastewater treatment facilities. To facilitate that, EPA
released Greening CSO Plans: Planning and Modeling Green
Infrastructure for Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Control
in March 2014. The free publication provides municipalities
and sewer authorities with a single, science-based resource on
available tools and techniques to help them calculate green
infrastructure contributions to overall water management strategies.
Informed largely by EPA research on green infrastructure
techniques, Greening CSO Plans will help communities make
cost-effective decisions to maximize water quality benefits. The
resource explains how to use modeling tools such as EPA's
Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) to enhance green
infrastructure and reduce sewer overflow.
The green infrastructure tools, partnerships, and resources that
EPA researchers are delivering are ushering in a new generation of
stormwater management practices. The results offer communities
faced with upgrading and replacing obsolete, inadequate, and
often neglected sewer and wastewater treatment systems with
innovative, lower cost solutions. The impact will be measured in
hundreds of millions of dollars saved, trillions of gallons of water
conserved, and healthier, more sustainable water resources across
the country.
Advancing green infrastructure is just one of many achievements made by
ERA Safe and Sustainable Water researchers and their partners during 2014. Additional highlights follow.
Providing Information and Treatment Technologies to Small
Water Systems
State and local officials across the Nation are faced with the challenges of effectively
communicating information and overseeing training for small drinking water system
owners and operators with a wide range of expertise, skills, and preferences for modes
of communication. In addition, the large number of small systems makes it a challenge
in itself - approximately 148,803 small public drinking water systems nationwide. To
help ensure that these systems are in compliance with regulations enforced under the
Safe Drinking Water Act, state and local officials need to stay up-to-date on treatment
alternatives, regulations, health implications, and emerging contaminants. EPA researchers
are committed to helping state and local personnel, as well as small system personnel, to
deliver high quality drinking water to their customers by providing information, tools, and
technical assistance. The highlights below are just some of many current EPA activities
designed to assist with small system challenges:
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• Treatment technologies from pilot- to full-scale: Researchers have helped small
water systems by piloting an EPA developed and cost-effective biological treatment
process that has demonstrated the ability to effectively remove ammonia and iron
from the community's source water, while keeping nitrite and nitrate levels below their
respective maximum contaminant level in the treated water. As part of a Housing
and Urban Development Community Development's Block Grant, the community
completed the construction of a full-scale water distribution plant that incorporated
the technology. EPA is now investigating the opportunity to look at pilot systems that
can be used by small community drinking water systems to remove nitrate from source
water.
• The 11th Annual U.S. EPA Drinking Water Workshop: A collaborative effort between
EPA and the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators, this workshop is
held annually and has been hailed as one of EPA's best. With a goal of providing
in-depth training and information on various solutions and strategies for handling small
systems problems and compliance challenges, the 2014 workshop was attended by
225 people from forty states, tribal communities, and foreign countries. Although the
workshop was primarily attended by state personnel, attendees were also from other
federal and local agencies, academia, industry, and others.
• Small Systems Webinar Series for the States: As part of our long-term outreach efforts
to the states, EPA will hold monthly webinars to communicate current research
and treatment technologies in concert with Agency compliance priorities. The
webinars will begin in January 2015, and will provide a platform for EPA scientists
to communicate directly with state personnel, which will in turn help to foster
collaboration and dissemination of information to small systems personnel.
Final Assessment on the Potential Effects of Large-scale
Mining on Bristol Bay
Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed 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, as well as
the future of Alaska Native tribes in the watershed who have maintained a salmon-based
culture and subsistence-based lifestyle for at least 4000 years.
In response to these concerns, and stakeholder petitions both for and against agency
action under the Clean Water Act, the EPA launched the Bristol Bay Assessment in
February 2011. EPA conducted this assessment to characterize the biological and mineral
resources of the Bristol Bay watershed, increase understanding of the potential impacts of
large-scale mining on the region's fish resources, and inform future decisions by government
agencies and others related to protecting and maintaining the chemical, physical, and
biological integrity of the watershed. In January 2014, the Agency completed its study of
the science and concluded that large-scale mining in the Bristol Bay watershed poses risks
to salmon and Alaska Native cultures. For more information, visit http://www2.epa.gov/
bristolbay.
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EPA Experts Help Restore Drinking Water to Half a Million
In early August 2014, residents in and around Toledo/ Ohio awoke to an emergency
"Do Not Drink" water advisory from their local water utility, due to cyanobacterial toxins
detected in their treated drinking water. The City uses Lake Erie as their drinking water
source, which, at the time, was experiencing a large cyanobacteria harmful algal bloom.
Cyanobacteria is particularly tricky because toxins are released from the bacteria when they
are damaged, so boiling the water only makes the situation worse.
Officials with the State of Ohio immediately reached out to EPA's Cincinnati-based
research laboratory—a world leader in the evaluation and development of innovative
drinking water testing, monitoring, and treatment technologies—for technical assistance,
including water sample analysis and recommendations as to what treatment plant
adjustments could be made to further reduce cyanotoxin levels in the finished drinking
water. With that help, combined with the help of others, the City of Toledo was able to
lift the advisory within a little more than two days, restoring safe drinking water to some half
a million people. Agency researchers continue to advance ways for utilities to monitor and
protect drinking water resources, such as the development and deployment of low-cost
sensors that will help predict future algal blooms and minimize their impact.
National Wetland Condition Assessment
EPA led a multi-agency collaboration on the first-ever report on wetland ecological
condition as part of its National Aquatic Resource Surveys. The new wetland condition
assessment builds on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's data on status and trends of
wetland acreage to describe the ecological condition of the Nation's wetlands, to advance
the science of wetland monitoring and assessment, and to help build State and Tribal
wetland monitoring and assessment capabilities.
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Assessing the Nation's Water
Protecting and sustaining the nation's rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands, and other water
resources requires a detailed understanding of their current state, how they are changing,
and how human activities are affecting the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems.
To meet that challenge, EPA researchers are leading the development of standardized
field and lab methods to ensure robust, comparable data and analysis that yield nationally-
consistent, scientifically defensible assessments.
In 2014, they finished a two-year survey and field collaboration with partners from across
EPA, other federal agencies, as well as from states, tribes, natural resource agencies,
universities and other organizations to conduct wide-scale surveys of the nation's rivers and
streams. Together, they collected samples from 1,800 sites across the lower 48 states to
represent the condition of rivers and streams. The information collected is being shared as
part of a national database, and will be analyzed to support the anticipated 2016 release of
the report National Rivers and Streams Assessment 2013-2014. It will serve as a scientific
report card on America's flowing water, and contribute to a series of EPA assessments
that collectively represent the full breath of the nation's aquatic ecosystems (for more
information, see www.epa.gov/aquaticsurveys).
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EPA's Study of the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing
for Oil and Gas on Drinking Water Resources: Progress and
Research
EPA is writing a draft assessment report to answer key scientific questions about the
potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas on drinking water resources. The
draft assessment will be released for public comment and peer review in spring of 2015,
and will be the culmination of a comprehensive literature review/ EPA independent
research projects and stakeholder input. As a Highly Influential Scientific Assessment, the
draft assessment will receive meaningful and timely peer review in accordance with EPA's
peer review handbook, and undergo peer review by EPA's Scientific Advisory Board
(SAB) to ensure all information is high quality.
The assessment will provide states, tribes and local communities around the country a
critical resource to protect our drinking water resources.
Supporting
World-class Water
Research
To complement its own sustainable and safe water
research/ EPA supports some of the nation's leading
scientists/ engineers/ and research organizations to
conduct focused studies that address high priority science
questions and advance solutions to today's more pressing
water challenges. Research grants announced during 2014 follow.
Supporting Small Drinking Water Systems
EPA continued its commitment to improving America's drinking water by providing
more than $8 million to create two national centers for research and innovation in
small- to medium-sized drinking water systems. The grants support the development of
"water innovation clusters," hubs of businesses, researchers, and others all devoted to
developing and advancing innovative, new, and affordable technologies to protect and
supply safe, sustainable water supplies.
The 2014 recipients of the grants were the University of Colorado Boulder, to support
its Design of Risk Reducing, Innovative Implementable Small System Knowledge Center
(DeRISK), and the University of Massachusetts Amherst's Water Innovation Network
for Sustainable Small Systems Center. With EPA support, the two centers will develop
and test advanced, low cost methods to reduce, control, and eliminate groups of water
contaminants that present challenges to communities worldwide.
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EPA is helping cities such as
Omaha, Nebraska improve stormwater
monitoring and management.
Supporting Green Infrastructure
(Also see "Soaking It In: Green Infrastructure" at the start of this chapter.)
In May 2014 EPA provided $100,000 in applied research funding for the City of
Omaha/ Nebraska to establish a water monitoring network around the installation of
green infrastructure systems. In collaboration with the City of Omaha, the Nebraska
Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Geological Survey's Nebraska
Water Science Center, EPA scientists are analyzing soils and preparing a monitoring
network strategy. Both Omaha and the State of Nebraska asked EPA's Office of
Research and Development and the Agency's Midwest Regional Office (EPA Region
7) to provide scientific research assistance.
Researchers will install monitors to conduct before-and-after studies around the green
infrastructure implementation, including for at least three years after installations to
quantify performance with respect to water capture and infiltration. Through this
collaboration with community and state partners, the impact of the EPA research support
will extend far beyond Omaha, showing other communities how they can approach
green infrastructure.
EPA-Supported Researchers Develop Low-cost Water Filtration
for Underserved/ Rural Communities
EPA-supported researchers from the University of Texas, El Paso, together with a team of
students and professors from there and New Mexico State University, have developed
an innovative, low-cost "point of use" filtration system for underserved, rural communities
in Texas, New Mexico, and elsewhere. The group built a filtration system that can be
made with between $50 and $300 worth of common hardware supplies, and requires
just $3 to$6 of monthly maintenance—replacing the need to haul water in to rural
areas.
The work was supported by an EPA grant awarded in 2012 to support the study
of different factors in the feasibility and sustainability of water filtration devices in
communities (locally referred to as "colonias") around El Paso and Dona Ana counties.
The impact of the newly developed filtration system, currently being field tested, will be
access to clean, safe drinking water for underserved, rural communities in areas faced
with well water contaminated with (naturally-occurring) arsenic and other metals.
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EPA Awdrded Almost $9 Million to Researchers Working to
Improve Water Quality
On January 30/ 2014 EPA marked the 14th National Conference and Global Forum
on Science, Policy and the Environment with the announcement of grants to four
research institutions to support innovative and sustainable research to manage harmful
nutrient pollution. Nutrient pollution, caused by excess nitrogen and phosphorous in
waterways, is one of America's most widespread, costly, and challenging environmental
problems. It can increase human health risks (see "EPA Experts Help Restore Drinking
Water to Half a Million" earlier in this chapter), spark low oxygen in water leading to
large fish kills, and negatively impact the economy.
The grants will support sustainable water research and demonstration projects consistent
with a comprehensive strategy for nutrient management and active community
engagement throughout the research process. 'These grants will go towards research to
help us better manage nutrients and better protect our precious water resources from the
dangers of nutrient pollution, especially in a changing climate," said EPA Administrator
Gina McCarthy when announcing them.
The institutions and their research follow.
Research Institution
Project
Funding Amount
Pennsylvania State University Center
for Integrated Multi-scale Nutrient
Pollution Solutions
Nutrient flows in Pennsylvania and the Chesapeake basin.
$2,220,649
University oF South Florida Center for
Reinventing Aging Infrastructure for
Nutrient Management
Support Tampa Bay and similar coastal areas as they face
problems of aging wastewater collection and treatment
systems, and rapid population growth.
$2,220,649
Colorado State University, Center for
Comprehensive, Optimal, and Effective
Abatement of Nutrients
Linking physical, biological, legal, social and economic
aspects of nutrient management in the Western and Eastern
United States.
$2,200,151
Water Environment Research
Foundation National Center for
Resource Recovery and Nutrient
Management
Innovative research in nutrient reduction through resource
recovery and behavioral factors affecting acceptance and
implementation.
$2,220,649
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Sustainable
and Healthy
Communities
Research
How can communities and individuals meet their current
needs without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own? And more specifically/ how can they
balance the protection of our shared environment—air,
water, land, and natural ecosystem—in ways that sustain
both human health and a stable economy? Providing the
science and engineering to answer those questions is the
focus of EPA's Sustainable and Healthy Communities
research program.
EPA researchers engage community stakeholders,
individuals, partner agencies, and other decision makers to
help identify the long-term environmental and related health
challenges they face. The scientists and engineer then use
that insight to design and implement programs that provide
the decision-support tools, information, and models
needed to meet those challenges. The impact of their work
is exemplified in a host of science-based strategies and
models available to decision makers, and in the investments
these EPA partners are making today for a healthy,
sustainable, and prosperous future.
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EPA Releases EnviroAtlas
Communities are often faced with difficult decisions/ such as
trade-offs between transportation, residential or commercial
development and maintaining local wetlands, urban greenspaces,
or urban forests. To help these decision makers, EPA released
EnviroAtlas on May 7th, 2014. EnviroAtlas is a multi-scale
(national to community), web-based, interactive mapping,
visualization, and analysis tool that provides the first-ever picture
of the distribution of ecosystem services for the mainland United
States.
EnviroAtlas helps communities better understand the potential
benefits and drawbacks of their decisions by providing tools to
analyze relationships between nature, health and well-being, and
the economy. Users can investigate land cover patterns, see how
ecosystem services reduce pollution, and view closer to true scale
data to compare them across selected communities.
EnviroAtlas can help people learn about ecosystems, and
how they provide us with benefits such as clean air and water,
opportunities for recreation, and protection from severe weather.
EnviroAtlas also highlights how ecosystems provide habitats
for plants, fish, and wildlife as well as the materials people
need to produce food, clothing, shelter, and pharmaceuticals,
and provides maps on all of these topics. It lets users generate
customized maps and images that show the condition of their
local community's air, water, and landscape; as well as population
density and other demographic data.
The tool integrates over 300 separate data layers developed
through a collaboration between EPA, US Geological Survey US
Forest Service, other federal, state, and non-profit organizations,
and several universities. It is designed to help decision makers
understand the implications of planning and policy decisions
on our fragile ecosystems and the communities who depend on
goods and services from these ecosystems.
People from all levels of government, professionals, researchers,
educators, non-governmental organizations and anyone interested
in considering the benefits or impacts of a decision, such as
building a new road or city park can use EnviroAtlas. It is available
to anybody with access to a computer and an Internet connection.
No special software is needed. It is currently not optimized for
smartphone or tablet use, but a mobile-friendly version is planned
for the future.
By providing EnviroAtlas, EPA is helping to ensure that anyone
making decisions that may impact ecosystems will have the best
available knowledge to build prosperous communities while
conserving our natural resources.
To learn more and use EnviroAtlas visit: http://enviroatlas.epa.
gov/enviroatlas/.
EnviroAtlas is just one of the many achievements made by
EPA's Sustainable and Healthy Communities research program during 2014. Additional highlights follow.
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Integrated Environmental Modeling for Better Decision
Making
EPA researchers are advancing a new paradigm of environmental assessment that uses
sophisticated computer modeling to integrate a wealth of data, such as incorporating
biological, wildlife, and fishery information with land use patterns, chemical and physical
stressors, and human-caused impacts. That work is providing tools and information that
paint a clearer picture of current baseline conditions, as well as the ability to forecast
(model) potential future impacts and risks. This will better inform decisions for balancing
short and long-term goals.
Using the framework outlined above, Agency researchers conducted a case study in the
Kanawha Coal Field of West Virginia, focusing on watershed-based, cumulative impacts of
land use (primarily mountaintop mining) on the abundance of smallmouth bass and brook
trout. Because these two species are sought-after game fish, their population is a potentially
important local economic resource, and an indicator of an ecosystem service that can be
threatened by impacts associated with mountaintop mining. In addition, two papers were
submitted from the work that document how to further the use of integrated environmental
modeling to assess the impacts and stressors on landscapes and ecosystem services.
Literature Cited:
Fishing for Alternatives to Mountaintop Mining in Southern West Virginia (McGarvey, D.J. and J.M. Johnston. 2013. Ambio.
42: 298-308).
Daniel McGarvey, J.M. Johnston. 2011. A Simple Method to Predict Regional Fish Abundance: An Example in the McKenzie
River Basin, Oregon, Fisheries, 36:11, 534-546.
McGarvey, D.J., Johnston, J.M., and M.C. Barber. 2010. Predicting fish densities in lotic systems: a simple modeling approach.
2010. Journal of the North American Bentholos'ical Society 29(4):1212-1227.
Assessing Long-term Solutions for Contaminated Sites
EPA researchers are advancing techniques and technologies to help communities remediate
and rehabilitate Superfund and other contaminated sites. A major focus is to develop and
assess solutions that will protect human health and reduce environmental risks associated
with the flow of hazardous substances in groundwater. A common technique has been
Permeable Reactive Barriers (PRB), low-cost technologies installed underground that absorb
or convert hazardous materials into safe compounds. Because of their affordability and ease
of use, these barriers offer an accessible, attractive technology for communities looking to
reclaim areas for productive uses while also protecting public health. But their long-term,
sustainable use has not been well documented.
EPA researchers are changing that. In 2014, they published Fifteen-year assessment of a
Permeable Reactive Barrier for treatment of chromate and tricholoroethylene in groundwater
("Science of the Total Environment, v.468/469). The research presents an assessment
of the longest available record of the performance of a Permeable Reactive Barrier, one
installed to treat groundwater contaminants at the U.S. Coast Guard Support Center in
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Elizabeth, New Jersey. Conducted to directly support partners in the Agency's Office
of Solid Waste and Emergency Response and the local community, the study indicates
that the barrier continues to remove contaminants after fifteen years of operation. The
ongoing work not only informs such partners, but also serves as a case study to further the
understanding of techniques and technologies to rehabilitate contaminated sites.
2014 EPA Report on the Environment Website Launched
(Draft)
The Report on the Environment (ROE) presents the best available indicators of
information on national conditions and trends in air, water, land, human health, and
ecological systems. These indicators serve as a tool for EPA decision-makers, program
planners, scientists, researchers, the public, and others interested in environmental science
and policy to track changes in environmental condition. They allow EPA and the public to
assess whether the Agency is succeeding in its mission, and they help alert EPA to new
challenges that may need attention and action.
The ROE was first published in 2003 and released for review by the EPA Science
Advisory Board. It was substantially revised in 2008 and 2014. The 2014 ROE, published
exclusively on the Web, includes six new indicators and many new features. The web-
version provides access to the information from the ROE report published in 2008 with a
companion Highlights Document, which includes the underlying methodology, references,
and sources of additional information, in an on-line searchable format. The ROE compiles,
in one place, the most reliable indicators currently available to help answer 24 questions
that EPA believes are of critical importance to its mission and the nation's environment.
Advancing Vapor Intrusion Monitoring and Mitigation
EPA researchers and collaborators are advancing the science of monitoring and mitigating
vapor intrusion, when radon, volatile organic compounds, or other hazardous gases move
from contaminated groundwater through the soil and into the air of homes and other
buildings, where exposures can lead to serious health risks. In 2014, they released a draft
report for external peer review presenting the results of an extensive study conducted at
a pre-1920 residential duplex outfitted with a suite of monitors to intensively measure and
track changes in the composition of indoor air.
Comparing weekly measurements, real-time observations from continual monitoring of a
host of variables (barometric pressure, air and soil temperature, heating and air conditioning
operations, and others), and modeling scenarios allowed the researchers to perform one
of the most in-depth analyses to date of the driving forces of vapor intrusion, building on
several years' worth of data collected at the research house. Results provide science-based
guidance to help partners in EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response and
elsewhere protect people and inform actions to improve indoor air quality. The final report
is expected to be release in 2015.
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Ecosystem Service Production Function Library
One of the major challenges that researchers/ environmental managers/ and community
decision makers face is understanding the link between how today's actions and decision
might impact the long-term sustainability of ecosystems, particularly the ability of such
ecosystems to continue to provide the benefits that form the foundation of healthy, vibrant
communities. To help, EPA researchers have created the EcoService Models Library
(ESML).
The library compiles a host of different resources to serve as a single site for developing
tools and models that illustrate the connection between healthy ecosystems and ecosystem
services. ESML was designed for scientists and economists who provide advice to
communities, businesses and conservation organizations. It was made available for beta
testing in December 2014, and is scheduled for public release in 2016. EPA researchers
will continue to build library content to reflect the state of science and address user needs.
Advancing Tools to Quantify and Explore Human-Well Being
EPA's Human Well-being Index (HWBI), released as a draft in 2012, was designed to
help communities live more sustainably. This tool assists decision makers in characterizing
and quantifying the potential positive and negative effects on human well-being when
various decisions are made. The HWBI incorporates the multiple dimensions of
sustainability—environment, economy, and society—while also allowing the results to be
widely scalable from national to local levels.
The approach developed and used by the EPA to evaluate these influences was coined
TRIO for Total Resource Impacts and Outcomes. The report goes into a detailed analysis
of the development of HWBI and also helps identify the appropriate applications of the
data. The web-based predictive model will help communities identify the links between
long-term sustainability, understand the flow of ecosystem services, and prioritize the well-
being of humans.
Installing green infrastructure in the
Proctor Creek neighborhood of Atlanta, GA.
Health Impact Assessment on the Use of Green Infrastructure
in Proctor Creek
The community surrounding Proctor Creek in Atlanta faces a host of challenges, including
pervasive street flooding, repeated sewage backups, derelict properties, illegal tire
dumping, and bacterial contamination (e.co//and other fecal coliforms) in the creek itself.
Having limited resources, the community is identifying solutions that will address multiple
problems at once.
One promising solution, "Boone Boulevard Green Street Project," is incorporating green
infrastructure elements such as permeable pavement, bioretention systems, and planter
20
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boxes to reduce stormwater runoff and associated pollution. EPA researchers launched a
Health Impact Assessment to support this work. Together with local and Agency partners,
the researchers assessed green infrastructure options to identify those that minimize adverse
health impacts and maximize environmental and public health benefits. The report, Health
Impact Assessment (HIA) of Proctor Creek's Boone Boulevard Green Street in Atlanta,
GA.: was released in 2014. Results of the study are informing the Boone Boulevard-
Green Street design, led by the City of Atlanta's Department of Urban Watershed
Management.
Tribal Science Supports Community Health and Sustainability
The Tribal-specific Health Index (previous story) is just one of many examples of how
Agency researchers work for healthy and sustainable Native American and Alaskan
communities. Working closely with the EPA-Tribal Science Council (composed of
tribal representatives from each of EPA's nine regions across the country), they develop
decision-support tools that incorporate traditional environmental knowledge with
environmental, cultural, and health data. For example, one recently developed tool is the
Tribal-Focused Environmental Risk and Sustainability Tool (Tribal-FERST), a web-based,
geospatial resource developed specifically for federally recognized tribes.
Another major result of such collaboration is the 2014 report Tribal Ecosystem Research
Program Workshop/ Proper Functioning Condition (PFC) Assessment for Management
and Monitoring. It presents results and recommendations from a gathering where
participants worked to fuse traditional environmental knowledge with environmental
science to advance ecosystem Sustainability and resiliency, especially for streams and
wetland riparian areas. Such areas are key considerations for meeting tapping ecosystem
services to sustain tribal nutritional, cultural, societal, and economic needs
Ecosystem Services Research for Tampa Bay
Agency scientists have partnered with local governments, other research entities, planning
organizations, and citizen and business groups to identify and assess the values the Tampa
Bay estuary and other local environments provide to the surrounding community. Together,
these experts and stakeholders are helping identify environmental information that decision
makers can use when establishing plans to guide development and land use in the area.
For example, as part of the overall project, in 2012 researchers completed a two-year study
of nine mangrove wetlands and 18 freshwater river and marsh sites, each with differing
levels of human disturbance. The final demonstration results were delivered in the form
of a website that provides robust, community-based mapping and visualization tools for
exploring the impact of development on 8-key ecosystem services. This dynamic model
illuminates how disturbances to such wetlands affect associated ecosystem services such as
absorbing excess nutrients, a key factor related to water quality across the Tampa Bay and
many other watersheds.
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Revitalizing Great Lakes Coastal Communities
Throughout the Great Lakes region, EPA and local partners are working to restore
and enhance previously degraded areas ("Areas of Concern") to improve conditions
for coastal communities. Traditionally, this work has unfolded as focused, site-specific
activities with little coordination. To help change for the better, EPA researchers and
colleagues from the Agency's Great Lakes National Program Office brought experts
from across the area, including partners from the Great Lakes Commission, the U.S.
Geological Survey, and state Sea Grant programs, to share success stories and further
coordinate efforts to benefit local communities.
Results of the workshop were summarized in the report, Past Successes, New
Approaches and Emerging Needs for Remediation to Revitalization (R2R2R) projects:
How Great Lakes Communities Benefit from Area of Concern (AOC) Delisting. The
researchers noted existing opportunities and future ways that the results of their work
could support activities that improve economic, public health, and societal well-being
for Great Lakes coastal communities. These include advancing geographic-based
understandings of "ecosystem goods and services," developing measurable revitalization
indicators, and sharing examples of success with workshop participants and others.
Tribal-specific Health Index
To extend the reach of EPA's Human Well-being Index, EPA-supported researchers are
developing a set of indigenous health indicators to evaluate aspects of community health
that are often left out of health impact assessments.
The indicator set encompasses community health priorities such as self-determination,
natural resources security, and cultural use and practice. The indicators can be tailored
to individual tribal communities and may be useful for a number of purposes, including
baseline community health assessments, climate change impact assessments and planning,
natural resource damage assessments, and health risk analyses.
Serving EPA Regional
Offices
EPA has ten regional offices strategically located across
the country to serve states and territories in protecting
human health and the environment. These offices
address local community needs to clean up and sustain
land/ air/ water/ and natural ecosystems. Agency
scientists and engineers form partnerships with their
colleagues from the regional offices to meet high-priority/
near-term research needs of these regions.
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Annually/ the Agency's Office of Research and Development makes funds available through its Regional Applied
Research Effort (RARE) program to each EPA region to develop research topics/ and coordinates partnerships
among scientists and other technical staff across the Agency. The partnerships: (1) provide the regions and
communities across the nation with near-term research on high-priority localized needs/ (2) improve collaboration
between regions and Agency laboratories and research centers/ (3) build the foundation for ongoing and future
scientific interactions/ and (4) develop useful/ problem-solving tools and other resources for state/ local and tribal
governments to meet current and emerging environmental challenges.
Highlights from 2014 research results follow.
Investigating Brine Contaminated Ground Water
Traditionally, searching for the source of brine (salt) contamination in drinking water has
taken on expensive, "drilling blind" techniques that involve installing monitoring wells in
sometimes multiple locations to characterize site conditions and better understand where
underground plumes are flowing from. However, EPA scientists and collaborators from
Region 6 (South Central) have developed a considerably higher-tech approach that
promises to be both less expensive and more accurate.
Using and comparing results from two different electrical resistivity imaging techniques
and an electromagnetic survey, the scientists developed a way to document the source
of brine contamination at a field test site in Oklahoma, where such contamination is a
growing concern. Results of the project, completed in August 2014, demonstrated the
efficacy of a lower cost, geophysical method for characterizing saline impacts. The research
offers investigators a new, powerful approach to identifying possible sources of brine
contamination. The technique also shows promise for investigating other types of ground
water contamination.
Nail Salon Workers
For the more than 375,000 nail salon workers across the United States, using nail polish
and similar products for long hours in inadequately ventilated spaces is suspected to be
a health risk. Nail polishes and lacquers often contain chemicals which at high exposures
have been associated with respiratory effects, and even cancer.
EPA scientists worked with local partners in California to identify ways to lower chemical
exposures associated with health risks for nail salon workers. Their pilot study tested the
efficiency of steps outlined in the California Healthy Nail Collaborative program. Results
confirmed that workers in salons that had implemented steps outlined in the healthy nail
program were exposed to lower levels of toluene and other volatile organic compounds.
The impact of the work is expected to help these small businesses take action to protect
their workers and their customers, staying in business while continuing to provide a
welcome service.
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Monitoring Dissolved Oxygen Using an Autonomous Glider
The measurement of dissolved oxygen concentrations in coastal ocean waters provides a
key indicator of water quality and the health of the local ecosystem. However, rough seas
can make gathering such coastal water quality data dangerous.
Collaborators from EPA (Region 2, New England)/ New Jersey's Department of
Environmental Protection, and Rutgers University found a solution to minimize the risk: a
robotic vehicle that travels beneath the waves to efficiently and safely capture coastal water
quality data. The robotic vehicle, known as an autonomous underwater vehicle, even
allowed EPA to take ocean samples beneath Hurricane Irene, one of the few such data
collected during a powerful storm. The researchers completed six glider missions along the
New Jersey coast, mapping the subsurface dissolved oxygen concentration in near real-
time. A final report from the work was released in May 2014.
The Cicero Rail Yard Study
The impact of local sources of air pollution is a priority research area for EPA. Recent
studies have focused primarily on the impact of major roads, but that work was expanded
through a RARE project to investigate the local air quality impacts from a railroad yard. The
Cicero Rail Yard Study was the second phase of an EPA Region 5 (Upper Midwest)
RARE project.
Agency scientists used stationary and mobile air monitoring devices to investigate the
impact of rail yard activity on a surrounding neighborhood in Dearborn, Ml. The results
showed that local, concentrated areas of higher diesel emissions activity adversely
impact local-scale air quality, and that taking action may reduce such local exposure to air
pollution. The study results made front page local news, and since their release the rail yard
has joined forces with the Region to switch to newer, cleaner equipment.
Supporting
World-class Research
for Sustainable and
Healthy Communities
EPA. supports some of the nation's leading researchers
to conduct focused studies that address local science
needs and advance sustainable solutions to today's
more pressing environmental and human health challenges. A. major priority is to support and facilitate robust/
science-based decisions by Agency partners/ such as regional and program offices/ public health officials/ tribes/ and
environmental managers. Research grants announced during 2014 follow.
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Protecting Children's Health fora Lifetime
EPA and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) have
worked together for more than 15 years to protect some of our most vulnerable
citizens—children—through the EPA/NIEHS Children's Environmental Health
and Disease Prevention Research Centers program. Since its establishment, more
than 20 multidisciplinary Children's Centers have received grants to engage leading
scientists, pediatricians, epidemiologists, other research specialists, and local community
representatives to reduce children's health risks, protect them from environmental threats,
and promote health and well-being in the communities where children live, learn, and play.
Throughout 2014, Children's Centers researchers continued to add to a foundation of
research they have built that is now represented in more than 1000 peer-reviewed journals.
Examples include a study conducted by [Name of Center(s) to come], showing that
[example to come]. Such results have led to innovative thinking about how to understand
and address children's environmental health issues in ways that enable caregivers and
health professionals to prevent adverse health effects. The Children's Centers program
is an exemplary model of how collaborative, interagency federal research support can
effectively improve community and public health for children and other vulnerable groups
for real-world, positive impact.
When Students Compete for Sustainability/ Everybody Wins!
On October 15, 2014, EPA announced Phase I winners of its People, Prosperity, and the
Planet (P3) sustainability competition. Established in 2004, the two-phase competition
is focused on supporting innovative designs that benefit people, promote prosperity, and
protect the planet. Each of the 42 Phase I teams, made up of students and their faculty
advisors, were awarded up to $15,000 and invited to showcase their prototypes at the
National Sustainable Design Expo in Washington, DC.
At the National Design Expo, teams compete to move on to Phase II, which includes
EPA's coveted "P3 Award" and up to $90,000 in additional support to further develop
their design and potentially bring it to the marketplace. Previous P3 Awardees have used
their winning ideas to establish small businesses and non-profit organizations. For example,
Environmental Fuel Research, a 2008 P3 winner from Drexel University, incorporated
their grease waste-trap biofuel technology into a business enterprise and won a $100,000
EPA Small Business Innovation Research Phase I award (See "Sparking Economic Growth
Through EPA's Small Business Innovation Research Program" below). This woman-owned
startup, headquartered in a historically underutilized business zone, has the potential to
revolutionize domestic biodiesel capacity in the United States.
2014 EPA P3 Winners (Phase II)
lnstitution(s)
Cornell University
Johns Hopkins University
Project Title
"Smart" Turbidimeters for Remote
Monitoring of Water Quality
Project Summary
Cornell University and Johns Hopkins University's Water
Quality team has designed a low-cost monitor for measuring
water quality.
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Institution(s)
Project Title
Project Summary
Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University
Develop a Concentrated Solar
Power-based Thermal Cooling
System via Simulation and
Experimental Studies
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's team demonstrates an
innovative air conditioning system that runs on solar power.
Iowa State University
Developing Sustainable Products
Using Renewable Cellulose Fiber
and Biopolymer Composites
Iowa State University's team is designing a new kind of fabric
made with fibers from bacteria and yeast grown in tea and
polymers (large molecules) of corn and soy.
Purdue University
Biowall's Impact on Indoor Air
Quality and Energy
Purdue University's team is studying how to improve indoor air
quality by installing plants in a home's HVAC system.
SUNY Stony Brook
Ocean Wave Energy Harvester
with a Novel Power Takeoff
Mechanism
SUNV Stony Brook's team has designed and built Poseidon,
an ocean energy harvester that infinitely converts wave motion
into electrical energy.
University of Tennessee,
Knoxville
Green Oak as a Sustainable
Building Material
University of Tennessee Knoxville's green building team is
exploring ways to use green oak or "heart centers," the low
quality part of hardwood logs, in U.S. building construction.
University of Wisconsin-
Madison
Exchange Network for Expanded
Polystyrene Bio-Shipping
Containers
University of Wisconsin-Madison's team has implemented a
campus recycling program for Styrofoam packaging.
For a complete list of current and previous Phase I and P3 Award winners, as well as information on applying for future P3 sustainability
competitions/ please see: www.epa.sov/ncer/p3/index.html.
Environmentally-Friendly packaging made by
a Former EPA-supported small business.
Sparking Economic Growth Through EPA's Small Business
Innovation Research Program
EPA is one of 11 federal agencies in the Small business Innovation Research (SBIR)
program, established by the Small Business Innovation Development Act of 1982. The
Agency's participation is focused on supporting and facilitating the development of new
technologies with potential to solve priority environmental problems while also sparking
economic growth.
In 2014, EPA awarded 21 small businesses with "proof of concept" contracts (Phase I)
totaling $2 million to conduct research on the scientific merit and technical feasibility of
new technologies, including three businesses founded by members of winning teams from
EPA's People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) Student Competition for Sustainability (see
previous story). Many of the SBIR recipient companies go on to leverage EPA's funding
to bring their designs to reality, expand business, and create products that help protect
human health and the environment. For example, ten years after winning its first SBIR
contract, NanoMech won the Small Business Association's 2014 Tibbetts Award for its
chemical-free, nanostructured coating used for industrial cutting and lubrication.
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Summary of 2104 EPA Small Business Innovative Research Contract Awards
Small Business
AquaNano LLC
Aspen Products Group, Inc.
Biopico Systems
CLEW
Enchem Engineering, Inc.
Environmental Fuel Research, LLC*
ETSVP-JV
HJ3 Composite Technologies, LLC
Grow Plastics, LLC
Lucid Design Group, Inc.*
MesoCoat
MetaMateria Technologies, LLC
NEI Corporation
N5 Sensors, Inc.
Precision Combustion, Inc.
Reactive Innovations, LLC
SimpleWater*
Technology Proposal
Next Generation of High-Capacity Perch lorate-Selective Resins
for Drinking Groundwater Treatment
High Flux Nanofiltration Membrane for Emerging Contaminant
Control
Environmental Sensing System Enhanced With Nested
Concentrating Electrodes (ESSENCE) for Safe and Sustainable
Water Resources
Development of a Cost-effective/ Nutrient-removal/ Onsite
Household Wastewater Treatment System for Environmentally
Fragile Areas
Enhanced Decontamination of Wetted Pipe Material
Biofuel Production From Grease Trap Waste
Innovative Filters Using Nanomaterials for Removal of Gaseous
Pollutants and Particulates from Contaminated Air Streams
Green Materials for Doubling the Life of Drinking Water Pipeline
Process Development for Sandwich Core Structure PLA
Thermoformed Objects
Software Framework for Enabling Innovation in Behavior-based
Energy Conservation in Commercial Buildings
Development of Zinc Coatings on Steel by
CermacladTM to Replace Pickling Lines
Phosphorus Removal and Recovery From Municipal Wastewater
Using Nano-Enhanced Media
Lithium-ion Batteries Based on Aqueous Electrolyte: A New
Generation of Sustainable Energy Storage Devices
Low-power, Small Form-factor Benzene Sensor for Mobile
Devices-based Exposure Monitoring
Low-Cost, Regenerable Air Filter for Efficient Gaseous Pollutants
Removal
Micro Channel Electrochemical Production of Dimethyl
Carbonate
ECAR- Electrochemical Arsenic Remediation for Affordable
Water Security in America
Contract Award
$100,000
$100,000
$100,000
$100,000
$99,920
$100,000
$99,902
$99,693
$98,812
$99,584
$99,939
$100,000
$99,992
$99,191
$99,897
$99,999
$100,000
27
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Small Business
Sustainable Bioproducts, LLC
UltraCell Insulation, LLC
United Science, LLC
Vista Photonics, Inc.
Technology Proposal
Direct Conversion of Municipal and Agricultural Wastes to
Biodiesel and Ethanol Utilizing a Unique Extremophilic Fungus
UltraCell - Advanced Cellulose Insulation
Field Deployable PFCs Sensors for Contaminated Soil Screening
Inexpensive High Performance Continuous Ammonia Monitor
Contract Award
$99,944
$100,000
$100,000
$100,000
"Previous EPA P3 Award Winner
Environmental Health Research Grants for Tribal Communities
In July 2014, EPA awarded $5 million in grants to six groups, including universities
and tribes, to identify and reduce health risks associated with tribes' reliance on natural
resources. Collectively, funded researchers will investigate specific, tribal-focused health
risks linked to climate change, indoor wood smoke exposure, environmental asthma,
waterborne diseases, and other unique tribal concerns, as well as work to find the most
efficient methods of avoiding or addressing these risks.
The grants continue support provided over the past decade for impactful research that has
helped tribes address health risks. For example, the funding has resulted in the creation
of fish advisory maps that have helped various tribal fishing communities avoid mercury
and other contaminant-laden fish. The funding has also led the states of Washington and
Oregon to revise their water-quality standards to offer greater protection. In addition, a
library of resources in the Mohawk language was created to enhance education about
toxic substances and empower the community to protect the health of its citizens.
Grant Recipient
Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium,
Anchorage, Alaska
Swinomish Indian Tribal Community,
La Conner, Washington
Vurok Tribe, Klamath, California
Little Big Horn College, Crow Agency, Montana
University of Tulsa, Oklahoma
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Research
Assess, monitor, and adapt to threats to the sustainability of food and
water in remote Alaska native villages.
Examine coastal climate impacts to traditional foods, cultural sites, and
tribal community health and well-being.
Identify, assess, and adapt to climate change impacts to Vurok water and
aquatic resources, food security and tribal health.
Research climate change adaptation and waterborne disease prevention
on the Crow Reservation.
Improve indoor air quality and reduce environmental asthma triggers in
tribal homes and schools.
Measure indoor air quality in tents as related to wood smoke exposures
and identify potential health risks in remote communities in North America
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Human
Health
Risk
Assessment
EPA's Human Health Risk Assessment research program
produces state-of-the-science research results that provide
insight into the intricate and complex relationships between
human health and our environment. The program plays a
unique role in serving the needs of EPA programs and their
partners by integrating and evaluating scientific information
into assessments and other products that can be used as a
foundation for regulatory decisions that positively impact
human health.
Examples of products developed by researchers in
EPA's Human Health Risk Assessment research program
include: scientific assessments describing the human health
effects of environmental chemicals and chemical mixtures;
comprehensive assessments of the health and environmental
effects of the six criteria air pollutants (the assessments
are the scientific foundation for the National Ambient Air
Quality Standards); tools and reports that help exposure
assessors understand how and to what extent humans are
exposed to environmental contaminants; and tools and
methods to modernize human health risk assessment.
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Advancing EPAfs
Integrated Risk
Information System
EPA researchers enhance stakeholder engagement/ increase transparency/ and
improve science throughout IRIS/ the Integrated Risk Information System
EPA researchers provide leadership across the scientific and public
health communities to assess the potential health effects posed
by chemicals in the environment. A critical part of that work is
accomplished through the Agency's Integrated Risk Information
System, commonly known as "IRIS." Through IRIS, scientists evaluate
and present comprehensive information concerning the human
health effects that might result from exposures to contaminants in
land, water, and air.
IRIS assessments are neither full risk assessments nor regulations,
but they provide a major contribution to the scientific foundation
that supports Agency decisions and actions taken to protect
human health and the environment through the implementation of
the nation's environmental laws. The quality and comprehensive
nature of IRIS assessments make them a valuable resource, and
they are widely used throughout the country and beyond to guide
environmental cleanups, set health standards, and take other
important actions.
EPA researchers have continued to advance a multi-year
commitment consistent with recommendations made by the
National Academies' National Research Council (NRC) to
improve the IRIS program, making enhancements to strengthen
the science of assessments, increase transparency throughout the
program, and incorporate efficiencies in the process in order to
produce more assessments each year.
In May 2014, the NRC released their review of EPA's progress.
The NRC report applauded EPA's efforts to improve IRIS and
found that the program had made significant, steady progress
planning for and implementing changes in each element of the
assessment process. While recognizing EPA is still implementing
changes, they noted that, "overall, the committee expects that EPA
will complete its planned revisions in a timely way and that the
revisions will transform the IRIS program." Their report notes that
the IRIS Program has made substantial progress in a short time, and
the committee offered recommendations to build on the progress
that EPA has already made. EPA is now embracing many of these
recommendations to further improve the IRIS Program.
IRIS improvements include the release of preliminary materials and
public meetings to discuss those materials early in the assessment
development process. The preliminary materials transparently
communicate EPA's early strategy and process for determining
which studies are most important for incorporating into an
assessment. This early public engagement helps Agency researchers
ensure that important studies are not omitted from the assessment
process. The improvements also include using a more systematic
approach to review and select studies. Additionally, the Agency
implemented new "stopping rules" so that IRIS assessments are not
delayed by scientific debate after key milestones of the process have
passed.
IRIS researchers also continued to implement design changes to the
presentation of assessments, making the technical information they
contain more accessible and understandable. The Agency revealed
an improved, clearer, more concise and accessible document
structure for IRIS assessments. Going forward, all IRIS assessments
will include evidence tables that summarize the critical scientific
literature and exposure-response figures that graphically depict
biological responses at different levels of exposure for studies in the
evidence tables.
Another major focus is improving transparency and public
access throughout the process. Here too, the Agency has made
significant progress. EPA hosted a public workshop to discuss
recommendations from the NRC's 2014 report on ways to
further improve the scientific quality of IRIS assessments, allowing
researchers to gather specific input from the public and scientific
community about topics related to the NRC's recommendations.
30
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The workshop was open to the public and took place in Arlington,
VA, Continuing a commitment to provide remote access for those
who are unable to attend IRIS-related meetings in person, the
workshop was fully accessible via webinar and telephone.
In October 2014, EPA announced that IRIS Bimonthly Public
Science Meetings will be supplemented by scientific experts
identified by the National Academies' National Research Council
(NRC). These independent experts will provide valuable scientific
input and broaden the range of perspectives represented at IRIS
public meetings.
Science and scientific integrity are the backbone of every decision,
policy, and action taken by EPA. The Agency's commitment to
maintaining the highest standards for its IRIS program will ensure that
its work continues to reduce health risks and protect public health.
Currently, IRIS contains information on more than 500 chemicals.
For more information, including opportunities to attend workshops
or engage in other IRIS-related opportunities, please visit the IRIS
website at www.epa.gov/IRIS.
IRIS is just one of the many achievements made by
ERA's Human Health Risk Assessment research program during 2014. Additional highlights follow.
lexicological Review of Benzo[a]pyrene released for
External Review
Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) is one of a group of chemical compounds called polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons that is a byproduct of incomplete combustion, and is ubiquitous
in the environment. It metabolizes in humans and animals to form a number of metabolites
that may elicit toxicity. EPA has found acute exposures to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
similar to BaP to potentially cause red blood cell damage (leading to anemia), and
suppressed immune systems. Chronic, long-term exposures have the potential to cause
developmental and reproductive effects, and there is some evidence that life-time
exposures above certain thresholds have the potential to lead to cancer.
EPA researchers are conducting an IRIS risk assessment to better understand how
exposures to BaP can affect human health. In September 2014, they reached a major
milestone in that effort when they submitted the draft assessment to the Agency's Science
Advisory Board (SAB) for peer review and comments. The draft incorporated comments
received from a previous draft released for public comment and a public meeting, part of
the Agency's commitment to incorporating transparency and public outreach in the IRIS
process. Next steps include SAB-hosted public meetings, teleconferences, and external
peer review. A final review will be conducted by EPA, other federal agencies, and the
Executive Office of the President before the final assessment is added to the IRIS database.
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EPA researchers are tapping robotic technology
(pictured) and other advancements For
protecting human health.
Next Generation Risk Assessment: Incorporating the Latest
Scientific Advances to Protect Human Health and the
Environment
EPA researchers released the final report Next Generation Risk Assessment: Incorporation
of Recent Advances in Molecular, Computational, and Systems Biology. The report
describes how EPA researchers are tapping the rapid advancement of faster, less resource
intensive (in both time and money)/ and more robust scientific methods. It outlines how
the proliferation of emerging data and approaches in molecular, computational, and
systems biology (together called "NexGen") can better inform risk assessment.
To complete the report, Agency researchers focused on the efficacy of incorporating new
scientific advancements in ways that can help risk assessors, public health officials, and
others meet the challenges they face keeping pace with the large numbers of chemicals
introduced into the environment each year. By incorporating new techniques and
technologies, new streams of toxicity data, and advanced understandings of such systems-
biology factors as gene-environment interactions, EPA researchers are helping lead the way
to a new generation of chemical safety assessment to protect human health.
Child-Specific Exposure Scenarios Example Final Report
Released
EPA released the final report, Child-Specific Exposure Scenarios Examples, a companion
document to the widely-used Exposure Factors Handbook (U.S. EPA 2011). The example
scenarios were compiled from questions and inquiries EPA researchers received from risk
assessors and other users of the Exposure Factors Handbook (EFH) on how to select data
from the EFH to assess childhood exposures.
The purpose of the Child-Specific Exposure Scenarios Examples report is to outline
scenarios for various child-specific exposure pathways and to demonstrate how data from
the EFH may be applied for estimating dose. The handbook provides data on drinking
water consumption, soil ingestion, mouthing behavior, inhalation rates, dermal factors
(including skin area and soil adherence factors), consumption of fruits and vegetables, fish,
meats, dairy products, homegrown foods, and human milk.
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EPA Releases Final Toxicological Review of Libby
Amphibole Asbestos
On December 8, 2014, EPA released its final Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)
health assessment for Libby Amphibole Asbestos (LAA). The assessment analyzes the
potential cancer and non-cancer human health effects from inhalation exposure to LAA,
and includes the final Toxicological Review of LAA. In addition, using the toxicity values
as well as exposure data collected in Libby and Troy, Montana, EPA researchers and
partners developed a draft, site-wide Human Health Risk Assessment for the Libby,
Montana Superfund site, which quantifies the risks of exposure to LAA for residents and
workers.
The risk assessment shows that EPA's indoor and outdoor cleanups have been effective
in reducing both the cancer and non-cancer risks in Libby and Troy. The asbestos air
concentrations in Libby today are about 100,000 times lower than when mine and
processing facilities were in operation, making the air quality in Libby similar to other
Montana cities. The information will be used to identify how exposures can be reduced
to protect human health now and in the future.
Mouse Lung Tumors: Advancing the State-of-the-Science to
Protect Human Health
In 2014, EPA researchers hosted a two-day workshop to advance the state-of-the-
science of chemically-induced mouse lung tumors, an important tool for gaining insights
into the mechanisms and links between exposures to certain chemicals and human health
risks. Through the gathering, "State-of-the-Science Workshop on Chemically-induced
Mouse Lung Tumors: Applications to Human Health Assessments," leading researchers
collaborated to intensely examine a host of topics related to mouse lung tumors,
continually referring back to the human relevance of data from animal and in vitro studies.
Together, participants covered a broad range of evidence from human, animal, and
in vitro studies with a focus on specific chemicals (ethylbenzene, naphthalene, and
styrene) that cause lung tumors in mice and are implicated in a proposed species-specific
mode of action based on metabolic and physiological susceptibility. The workshop was
sponsored and organized by EPA with input from (1) a volunteer committee of outside
experts (including representatives from academic institutions, State agencies, other
Federal organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and industry), and (2) an internal
working group of experts from EPA and other Federal partners. A summary report of
the workshop is available at: http://go.usa.gov/e8Xd.
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Chemical
Safety for
Sustainability
Research
Chemicals are a lynchpin of innovation in the American
economy. Moving toward sustainable innovation requires
designing, producing, and using chemicals in safer ways.
New information and methods are needed to make better-
informed/ more-timely decisions about chemicals/ especially
since many chemicals have not been thoroughly evaluated
for potential environmental and human health effects.
EPA's chemical safety for sustainability research program is
leading the development of innovative science to support
the safe/ sustainable design and use of chemicals and
materials needed to protect human and environmental
health. The research prioritizes protection of vulnerable
species and populations/ including children and endangered
species.
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Applying Scientific Advances to Evaluate
Chemicals for Potential Endocrine Disruption
EPA researchers are developing rapid and efficient methods to
screen chemicals for potential toxicity and to estimate chemical
exposure and dose. These methods—called high-throughput—
are being used to evaluate thousands of chemicals for potential
endocrine disruption. Endocrine disrupting chemicals can
interfere with the endocrine system and lead to problems with
reproduction (i.e. egg and sperm production) and development
(i.e. healthy fetal growth). EPA's Endocrine Disrupter Screening
Program (EDSP) is congressionally mandated to evaluate chemicals
for potential endocrine disruption. The current EDSP methods
used to evaluate chemicals are thorough but costly and time
consuming (50-100 chemicals per year at a cost of approximately
$1 million per chemical).
In comparison, EPA's high-throughput toxicity research effort
(ToxCast) screened approximately 1,800 chemicals for potential
estrogen activity in three years for ~$30,000 per chemical. EPA
researchers also published high-throughput exposure estimates
(ExpoCast) for 8,000 chemicals. Integrated together, toxicity and
exposure information provide the scientific data needed to quickly
and cost effectively evaluate thousands of chemicals for potential
estrogen activity.
To facilitate access to and use of these new data, EPA researchers
developed and made publicly available an interactive dashboard
interface called the EDSP21 Dashboard. This research has
also been published in several high impact journals, including
Environmental Science and Technology (Wambaugh, et al.,
2014), Nature Biotechnolosy (Kleinstreuer, et al., 2014) and
Basic and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology (Judson, et al.,
2014).
Literature Cited:
Wambaugh, et al., 2014. "High Throughput Heuristics for
Prioritizing Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals."
Environmental Science and Technology. 48 (21): pp 12760-
12767.
Kleinstreuer, et al., 2014. "Phenotypic Screening of the
ToxCast Chemical Library to Classify Toxic and Therapeutic
Mechanisms. Nature Biotechnology. 32, 583-591.
Judson, et al., 2014. "In Vitro and Modelling Approached
to Risk Assessment from the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency ToxCast Programme. Basic and Clinical
Pharmacology and Toxicology. 115: 69-76.
The above methods are just a few of trie many achievements made by
EPA's Chemical Safety and Sustainability research program during 2014. Additional highlights follow.
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Pushing the Frontier of Exposure Science
In 2014, CSS scientists continued to drive the leading edge of science related to chemical
exposures. EPA developed new exposure prediction models, designed a new database
capturing information about chemicals found in various consumer products and awarded
research grants to academic institutions to collect much needed exposure information.
EPA researchers developed a new exposure prediction model called SHEDS-HT
(Stochastic Human Exposure and Dose Simulation- High-Throughput). SHEDS-HT
produces exposure estimates for thousands of chemicals in a more rapid and cost-effective
manner. The Environmental Science and Technology journal published "SHEDS High-
Throughput: An Integrated Probabilistic Exposure Model for Prioritizing Exposures to
Chemicals with Near-Field and Dietary Sources" (Isaacs et a I./ 2014) and it reports on the
analysis and results from the model for 2,507 organic chemicals associated with consumer
products and agricultural pesticides.
A major challenge in exposure science is estimating exposures to chemicals in consumer
products, homes, the workplace, food, soil and the air. "Exploring Consumer Exposure
Pathways and Patterns of Use for Chemicals in the Environment" (Dionisio et a I./ 2015)
describes the Chemical/Product Categories Database (CPCat), a new, publicly available
database of information on chemicals mapped to "use categories." The database uses
a controlled vocabulary to capture and streamline descriptors of chemical use for over
40,000 chemicals.
These investments in exposure science are allowing EPA to make more informed decisions
that help protect the health of Americans, in particular children.
Literature Cited:
Isaacs et a I./ 2014. "SHEDS High-Throughput: An Integrated Probabilistic Exposure Model for Prioritizing Exposures to Chemicals
with Near-Field and Dietary Sources." Environmental Science and Technology. 48 (21): 12750-9.
Dionisio et a I./ 2015. "Exploring Consumer Exposure Pathways and Patterns of Use for Chemicals in the Environment." Toxicology
Reports. V2: 228-237.
Developing Improved Research Tools to Ensure Healthy
Babies
EPA conducts innovative research on the complex interactions of chemicals with both
embryonic and early childhood developmental processes to better understand how these
interactions may lead to adverse health effects in unborn children and babies. In 2014,
the EPA used two testing platforms—zebrafish and high-throughput screening assays—to
develop new methods for screening chemicals to determine if chemicals have the potential
to affect healthy development.
Zebrafish are ideal test systems because they develop to the point that they freely swim
and eat in less than a week and have most of the same genes as humans do. EPA
researchers were able to perform sophisticated locomotor and behavioral learning tests to
assess how chemicals impact their development. As a result, EPA researchers developed
36
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a rapid chemical test (six days) and have used it to screen chemicals for potential
developmental vascular toxicity. This research has been published in Reproductive
Toxicolosy (T.L. Tal, et al., 2014) and presented at numerous scientific conferences
including the Society of Toxicology, Society of Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology
and the 9th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences, to
name a few.
EPA also developed and used high-throughput screening to assess the effects of chemicals
on brain development. This new method allows researchers to rapidly photograph
chemically-exposed brain cells and analyze synapses through a detailed photograph,
taken by a high-throughput automated microscope. This research has been published in
Neurotoxicology and -Applied In Vitro Toxicology.
Both the zebrafish testing and high-throughput screening are now evaluating chemicals of
interest such as flame retardants. Used together, the new methods allow researchers to
quickly and inexpensively test chemicals in the environment to see if they affect important
processes in development, including formation of blood vessels and the brain. This
research contributes directly to better protection for children during critical windows of
growth and development.
Literature Cited:
T.L. Tal, et al., 2014. "Immediate and Long-term Consequences of Vascular Toxicity During Zebrafish Development."
Reproductive Toxicolosy. 48: 51-61.
Valdivia, et al., 2014., "Multi-well Microelectrode Array Recordings Detect Neuroactivity of ToxCast Compounds."
Neurotoxicology. 44: 204-217.
Radio, et al., 2014. "Use of Neural Models Proliferation and Neurite Outgrowth to Screen Environmental Chemicals in the
ToxCast Phase I Library. Applied In Vitro Toxicology (available only online at the time of printing at: http://online.liebertpub.com/
doi/abs/10.1089/aivt.2014.0009).
Research Supporting Improved Sustainability Analysis and
Decisions
Rare earth elements (REE) are a group of 17 chemical elements that are vital to many
modern technologies, including consumer electronics. The ubiquity and value of these
elements places a significant stress on the environment, from the impact of mining and
extracting of precious resources to end of life recycling and disposal. EPA researchers
analyzed the production of televisions with liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and light emitting
diodes (LEDs) using a Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) approach. The SMM
approach reviewed and commented on the process (re)design, recovery and reuse,
material substitution, and technology substitution to improve the sustainability of using REEs
in televisions. The review revealed that a more holistic, material-centric philosophical shift
towards LCD and LED televisions could incentivize more efficient REE usage within all
levels of production.
These research efforts will lead to a better understanding of the impacts and will help to
make more sustainable decisions related to which chemicals to use in products.
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Estimating the Impacts of Pesticide Exposures to Improve
Ecological Risk Assessments
Under the Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA evaluates
the impact of pesticide use on wildlife, including threatened and endangered species.
In 2014, EPA researchers investigated whether interspecies toxicity estimation models
could be used in ecological risk assessments to estimate species sensitivity to pesticides
by extrapolating information from where data were available to where toxicity data were
absent.
EPA researchers demonstrated in the scientific paper "Augmenting aquatic species
sensitivity distributions with interspecies estimation models" (Awkerman et al., 2014) that
interspecies toxicity estimation (ICE) models used to augment datasets do not greatly
affect uncertainty of the estimates. Using these models to supplement available data with
extrapolated toxicity values will provide stronger and more protective risk estimations.
EPA researchers also developed an approach to rapidly explore how a pesticide or other
chemical intended for use on a specific species might present risks to other, "non-target"
species. The Sequence Alignment to Predict Across Species Susceptibility (SeqAPASS)
enables rapid qualitative assessments of protein similarities across different species. Agency
researchers conducted case studies using SeqAPASS to explore the potential impact that
neonicotinoid pesticides have on honey bees. Results confirmed that molecular targets
of the pesticides are similar across different insects, but most importantly, confirmed the
conceptual approach behind using model organisms as representatives of other species in
risk assessments. This research has been published in Aquatic Toxicology/ Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society B, and Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.
Literature Cited:
Awkerman et al., 2014. Augmenting aquatic species sensitivity distributions with interspecies estimation models. Environ Toxicol
Chem: 33(3):688-95. doi: 10.1002/etc.2456. Epub 2014 Jan 24.
Supporting World-
class Chemical Safety
Research
To complement its own chemical safety for sustainability
research program/ EPA supports some of the leading
chemists/ chemical engineers/ and other scientists to
conduct focused studies that advance high priority
science questions. Research grants announced during
2014 follow.
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$9 Million Awarded to Support Research Advancing Chemical
Sustainability
EPA awarded more than $9 million to Arizona State University and the University of
California, Santa Barbara to support research to better understand the impacts of chemicals
and nanomaterials throughout their entire life cycle—from design and manufacturing
through use and eventual disposal. The grants are a continuation of a partnership launched
in 2012 with the National Science Foundation to support collaborative work applying the
principles of sustainability to chemical design and management.
Arizona State University researchers will evaluate the potential risks and benefits of using
nanomaterials to improve the functionality of consumer products. Those at the University
of California/ Santa Barbara will develop an online tool for decision makers from industry,
academia, and elsewhere to use to evaluate the impacts of chemicals over their entire life
cycles, thereby improving chemical and product design. What the two research teams learn
will lead to the design and use of safer, more sustainable chemicals.
EPA Awarded More Than $3 Million to Study Chemical
Exposure/ Brain Development Links
In February 2014, EPA announced awards of more than $3 million in grants to four
research institutions conducting studies to better understand how chemicals interact with
biological processes, and how these interactions may lead to altered brain development.
The studies are focused on improving EPA's ability to predict the potential health effects
of chemical exposures.
The grants focus on developing better adverse outcome pathways (AOPs), which are
models that predict the connection between exposures and the chain of events that
lead to an unwanted health effect. EPA expects to use the knowledge gained from the
funded research to develop efficient and cost-effective models to better predict if and how
exposure to environmental chemicals may lead to developmental neurotoxicity.
University
North Carolina State University and Duke
University Medical Center
The University of Georgia, Athens
University of California, Davis
Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute
Research Project
Establishing an AOP for the Role of the Vitamin D Receptor in
Developmental Neurotoxicity
Human Neural Stem Cell Metabolomic, Cellular and Organ
Level Adverse Outcome Pathway Relationships for Endocrine
Active Compounds
Identification and Scientific Validation of AOPS Involving
Genomic and Nongenomic Intracellular Thyroid Hormone
Signaling in Neurodevelopment
Human Stem Cell-Based Platform to Predict Selective
Developmental Neurotoxicity
Funding
$799,496
$ 799,938
$ 800,000
$800,000
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r
$4.5 Million Awarded for New Methods in 21st Century
Exposure
EPA awarded a total of $4.5 million to five universities to support the innovative research
needed to usher in a new generation of tools and methods for characterizing indoor
exposures to chemicals associated with common consumer products, such as cleaners,
cosmetics and other personal care products, and electronics. The funds support research
continuing EPA's commitment to realize the call to modernize exposure science outlined
in the National Research Council report "Exposure Science in the 21st Century: A Vision
and A Strategy."
Advances in exposure science will provide EPA and other public health organizations
with the tools they need to accurately and efficiently assess the potential impacts of
chemicals in consumer products, enhance the capability to safely manage human health
risks, and generate information that individuals and communities can use to make informed
choices about safe chemical and product use.
The five universities each received grants of $900,000. Their research projects are outlined below.
University
Project Title
Anticipated Research Result
University of
California, Davis
Tracking Semivolatile Organic
Compounds Indoors: Merging
Models and Field Sampling to Assess
Concentrations/ Emissions/ and
Exposures
A new analytical tool to measure multiple semivolatile organic
compounds in indoor dust and the refinement of exposure models.
Duke University
Residential Exposures to Young
Children to SVOCs
The first data source of SVOC levels from indoor air in homes, as
well as advancements to: the understanding of exposures to mixtures/-
the links between specific products in the home and children's
exposure levels; models for predicting indoor SVOC exposures.
University of
California, San
Francisco
A Non-targeted Method for
Measuring Multiple Chemical
Exposures Among a Demographically
Diverse Population of Pregnant
Women in Northern California
A pioneering screening method for more than 700 environmental
chemicals, the identification of chemicals previously unmeasured in
biological samples, and novel data on the extent to which pregnant
women are potentially exposed to chemicals.
University of
Michigan
3-dimensional Micro-gas
Chromatography Device for Rapid
and Sensitive Indoor Chemical
Exposure Analysis
A portable automated device for rapid, sensitive and in-situ analysis
of hundreds of semivolatile organic compounds for indoor human
exposure assessment. The project addresses the urgent need for
technologies and methods to characterize the presence of hundreds
of semi-volatile chemicals.
Virginia
Polytechnic
Institute and
State University
Rapid Methods to Estimate Exposure
to SVOCs in Indoor Environments
A validated single-source model that can be used to make rapid
estimates of exposure to SVOCs released from specific products
used indoors; and a validated single-phase model that can be used to
make rapid estimated of exposure to a wide range of SVOCs, based
only on the average concentration of SVOCs found in indoor air.
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Homeland
Security
Research
EPA is the lead federal agency for decontamination
operations and for protecting water systems following
incidents involving chemical/ biological/ and radiological
substances. Scientists and engineers in the Homeland
Security research program provide the knowledge/ data/
and tools that form the scientific foundation for meeting
those responsibilities.
EPA homeland security research results help communities
across the country advance their emergency response and
remediation capabilities and to become more resilient in the
face of natural disasters/ acts of terrorism, or other large-
scale disruptions. Results provide water utility managers/
laboratory technicians/ emergency personnel/ risk assessors/
and other Agency partners with the information/ protocols/
and techniques they need to take action.
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Ready and
Resilient: Advancing
Decontamination
Techniques for
Buildings
In 2001, shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, letters tainted with
anthrax-causing Bacillus anthracis spores were mailed to two U.S.
Senators and a handful of major television network newscasters.
Although that mail never reached its intended targets, 22 people
who came into contact with the envelopes were infected; five
died.
Adding to the toll, at least 17 buildings were confirmed to have
been contaminated with anthrax spores, requiring extensive and
expensive clean up and decontamination efforts.
Today, the nation stands significantly better prepared to respond
to acts of bio-terrorism than it did just over a decade ago. As the
lead federal entity for responding to biological, chemical, and
radiological contamination events, EPA has played a major role in
that achievement.
On February 12lL, 2014, EPA announced the results of a multi-
year project called Bio-Response Operational Testing and
Evaluation (BOTE), a two-phase demonstration project to test
and advance decontamination methods that can be used after
anthrax spores have been released into a building.
Researchers tested three technologies: (1) fumigation with
vaporized hydrogen peroxide, (2) fumigation with chlorine
dioxide, and (3) a bleach spraying technique. To advance
the research from the laboratory to real world conditions, they
released a nonlethal, anthrax surrogate (Bacillus atropeus) in
a two-floor test facility they designed to mimic typical living
and workspaces, with rooms set up like office spaces or small
apartment dwellings.
The researchers tested all three decontamination methods
under varying conditions, and evaluated the potential for
recontamination risks that might occur due to spores reentering the
air during cleanup activities. They also examined costs including
the damage they might cause to the facility or to computers and
other electronic equipment and waste management operations
from related cleanup activities.
In the second phase of the BOTE study, partners from several
government agencies conducted a joint exercise testing the
coordinated response of health officials, law enforcement
personnel, and decontamination (environmental) responders.
The study results found that the effectiveness of each
decontamination method varied based on certain conditions,
such as the amount of humidity and temperature in the room.
The information gained during this exercise will help guide future
decontamination decisions and help to ensure a more effective
response to biological incidents. Findings have already been
used as a guide to help decontaminate other incidents, including
decontamination following the 2013 ricin events.
The results of this research will help provide state and local
leaders, on-scene coordinators, waste managers and others
with a guideline for effective decontamination in the event of a
biological threat. Because BOTE included partnerships among
several government agencies, the methods developed and lessons
learned have been shared throughout the homeland security
community, continuing to expand the impact of EPA research
efforts.
BOTE was just one of many accomplishments achieved by EPA's Homeland Security researchers during 2014. Additional highlights follow.
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l-Waste
Reducing environmental risks and restoring environmental services are essential
components of bouncing back after a community has been impacted by a natural or
human-made disaster. EPA's homeland security research program provides tools to help
communities understand and shape their own resilience.
EPA's I-WASTE is a flexible, web-based, planning and decision-making tool to address
disaster waste management issues. I-WASTE offers emergency responders, industry
representatives, and responsible officials reliable information on waste characterization,
treatment, and disposal options, as well as guidance on how to incorporate waste
management into planning and response for natural disasters, terrorist attacks and animal
disease outbreaks.
International Decon Conference
EPA held the International Decontamination Research and Development Conference
at the Homeland Security Research headquarters in Research Triangle Park, North
Carolina. The conference was designed to facilitate presentation, discussion, and further
collaboration on research and development focused on an all-hazards approach to
cleaning up contamination, especially chemical, biological, and radiological (CBR) threat
agents. This year's conference focused on research around the decontamination of indoor
and outdoor areas, and materials contaminated with biological, chemical, and radiological
agents.
Provisional Advisory Levels for Emergency Response
EPA researchers are leading the development of health-based emergency exposure
advisory levels to help inform and advise communities and emergency response
professionals while they recover from a chemical incident or attack. Researchers have
developed an approach to identify and communicate health-based emergency reference
levels—Provisional Advisory Levels (PAL)—on the health dangers associated with
exposures to high-priority hazardous chemicals and warfare agents.
While a number of exposure limit reference values exist for some of the chemicals of
concern, they do not address all of the exposure scenarios and durations in question
to inform recovery operations. In the event of a deliberate or accidental discharge of
hazardous chemicals, PALs will provide emergency responders and managers with critical
information to support site-specific decisions and actions, such as how to address the
nature and extent of clean-up operations, and to inform decision-making to allow re-entry
into an area, such as a contaminated office building, to claim personal possessions.
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United States Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
WashinSton, DC 20460
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EPA601/K-15/006
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