Environmental Assessment
Evaluating Ecological Risk to Invertebrate Receptors from PAHs in Sediments at Hazardous Waste Sites (External Review Draft)
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Report Information
In March 2004, ORD's Ecological Risk Assessment Support Center (ERASC) received a request from the Ecological Risk Assessment Forum (ERAF) relating to the evaluation of ecological risk to vertebrate and benthic invertebrate receptors from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds (PAHs) in sediment at hazardous waste sites. The External Review Draft addressing this request provides an overview of an approach for assessing risk to invertebrate receptors resulting from exposure to PAHs in contaminated sediments. [Reaching a consensus scientific position on vertebrate risk issues is a longer-term prospect.]
The approach, based on procedures described in U.S. EPA (2003), involves the use of equilibrium partitioning techniques to determine exposure/bioavailability and narcosis theory to estimate sublethal toxicity of PAHs. Examples of how to use this approach with analytical data resulting from the analysis of contaminated sediments are provided. Additionally, this approach offers risk assessors a useful tool for assessing the risk of PAHs to benthic invertebrates at hazardous waste sites, particularly when used with other contaminated sediment assessment methods.
- by phone at: 513-569-7740
- by email at: kravitz.michael@epa.gov
History/Chronology
| Jul 2005 | An internal review draft was completed. |
| Dec 2006 | Internal review was completed and comments were addressed to produce an External Review Draft. |
| Mar 2007 | An External Review Draft was released for public comments. |
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This download(s) is distributed solely for the purpose of pre-dissemination peer review under applicable information quality guidelines. It has not been formally disseminated by EPA. It does not represent and should not be construed to represent any Agency determination or policy.
Related Links
- Procedures for the Derivation of Equilibrium Partitioning Sediment Benchmarks (ESBS) for the Protection of Benthic Organisms: PAH Mixtures (PDF) (175 pp, 1 KB, about PDF)
- EPA's Ecological Risk Assessment Support Center (ERASC)
- Evaluating Ecological Risk to Invertebrate Receptors from PAHs in Sediments at Hazardous Waste Sites (Final Report)