Impact/Purpose:

Research in this area concentrates on developing new data, innovative tools, and improved technologies to support decisionmaking by EPA’s Office of Water as it relates to unregulated chemicals and microorganisms on the Contaminant Candidate List and the implementation of rules by States, local authorities, and water utilities.

Description:

EPA's Office of Water (OW) is concerned about potential neurotoxicity of monomethyl, dimethyl, monobutyl, and dibutyl organotins that can leach into drinking water from PVC pipe. NTD’s evaluation of these organotins indicated that they were not likely to be a significant risk at the expected levels of exposure, and OW decided not to impose additional regulatory controls for organotin lechates on the basis of these results. Currently, the cyanobacteria and their toxins are being considered as candidates for listing as significant water contaminants. Increased detection of cyanotoxin in drinking water has fueled the need for health effects research. The complexity of bloom dynamics, the diversity of toxins, and the limited availability of toxins has precluded comprehensive toxicity testing. To address this complex challenge, NTD assumed a key role in organizing a multidisciplinary workshop to develop a comprehensive, government-wide research strategy for cyanobacteria that will play a key role in shaping NTD’s future research. In another new direction, NTD’s also has initiated a multidisciplinary research project to characterize potential health effects of waterborne manufactured nanomaterials. The explosion of industrial nanotechnology includes applications for environmental remediation with the potential for drinking water contamination. The overall lack of toxicological information on nanomaterials is recognized, with much of the data that currently does exist focused on the inhalation route of exposure. NTD is undertaking and coordinating a multidisciplinary research project to evaluate potential absorption, distribution, and toxicity of metallic oxide (iron and titanium) -based nanomaterials expected to be used in hazardous waste remediation. This project may be significant as the starting point of a program to evaluate a broader spectrum of manufactured nanomaterials.

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