July 2014 EPA Fact Sheet: Spent Foundry Sands Risk Assessment Risk Assessment Results and Beneficial Use Implications EPA, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Ohio State University (OSU), has completed a risk assessment of spent foundry sands in soil-related applications, specifically manufactured soil, soil-less potting media, and roadway sub-base, which is a foundation layer of roads. The risk assessment demonstrates that the use of specific spent foundry sands in the evaluated uses is protective of human health and the environment As such, the EPA supports the beneficial use of these materials that would otherwise go to waste, because they are comparable to virgin materials and below the agency's health and environmental benchmarks. The risk assessment results are specific to silica-based spent foundry sands from iron, steel and aluminum foundry operations. Background on Risk Assessment: To address soil-related uses of spent foundry sands, the EPA, USDA, and OSU launched a collaborative effort to evaluate the potential risks of using spent foundry sand and to encourage beneficial use. The overall goals for the risk assessment were to: • Review the available information on spent foundry sands in soil-related applications; • Identify likely exposure pathways and receptors associated with various uses; • Use a combination of screening and modeling methods to determine whether the proposed uses of spent foundry sands are protective of human health and the environment; and • Discuss the findings within the context of certain overarching concepts (e.g., the complexities of soil chemistry) and provide conclusions. Spent foundry sands from leaded and non-leaded brass and bronze foundries, and spent foundry sands containing olivine sand were not included in this assessment. Potential Benefits: EPA believes that there is potential for growth in the beneficial use market for the evaluated uses, resulting in substantial environmental benefits. Approximately 2.6 million tons of spent foundry sand is beneficially used outside of foundries annually, with iron, steel and aluminum sands representing 96 percent of the foundry sands that are beneficially used. Currently, only about 14 percent of those sands are beneficially used in soil-related applications. Environmental benefits from the beneficial use of SFS include reduced energy and water impacts associated with food production, and reduced CO2 emissions associated with the construction of roadways and other infrastructure. An EPA analysis (EPA, 2008) provides estimates of the environmental benefits that can be achieved with the beneficial applications that were studied in this risk assessment The analysis calculated environmental benefits per 1,000 cubic yards of spent foundry sands and then extrapolated those benefits to the total amount of spent foundry sands used in a specific application in one year. As a point of reference, 1,000 cubic yards of spent foundry sands would cover the size of a football field approximately 6 inches deep. Table 1 below presents the results of this analysis. Page 1 of 2 ------- July 2014 Table 1: Environmental Benefits of Spent Foundry Sands Beneficial Uses Avoided Impacts Road Base Use - Extrapolated to 144,288 tons of spent foundry sand Manufactured Soil Use - Extrapolated to 220,949 tons of spent foundry sand Total avoided impacts Equivalencies Energy Consumption (megajoules) 17,800,000 27,900,000 45,700,000 Annual electricity consumption of 800 homes Water consumption (1,000 gallons) 3,000 4,800 7.8 million gallons Amount of water to fill 12 Olympic swimming pools C02 Emissions (metric tons) 1,500 2,500 4,000 metric tons Removing 840 cars from the road for one year Working Towards a Sustainable Future: The risk assessment supports EPA's ongoing efforts to advance Sustainable Materials Management fwww.epa.gov/smml by demonstrating that the beneficial use of spent foundry sands in soil- related applications can help reduce the environmental impacts associated with food production as well as the construction of roads and other infrastructure. The full risk assessment is available at: http: //epa.gov/waste /conserve /imr /foundry/index.htm Page 2 of 2 ------- |