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Human exposure modeling in a life cycle framework for chemicals and products
Citation:
Thomas, K., D. Vallero, P. Egeghy, P. Price, J. Bare, D. Meyer, AND S. Csiszar. Human exposure modeling in a life cycle framework for chemicals and products. ISES Annual Meeting, Henderson, NV, Henderson, NV, October 18 - 23, 2015.
Impact/Purpose:
The National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL) Human Exposure and Atmospheric Sciences Division (HEASD) conducts research in support of EPA mission to protect human health and the environment. HEASD research program supports Goal 1 (Clean Air) and Goal 4 (Healthy People) of EPA strategic plan. More specifically, our division conducts research to characterize the movement of pollutants from the source to contact with humans. Our multidisciplinary research program produces Methods, Measurements, and Models to identify relationships between and characterize processes that link source emissions, environmental concentrations, human exposures, and target-tissue dose. The impact of these tools is improved regulatory programs and policies for EPA.
Description:
A chemical enters into commerce to serve a specific function in a product or process. This decision triggers both the manufacture of the chemical and its potential release over the life cycle of the product. Efficiently evaluating chemical safety and sustainability requires combining impact assessment tools and databases from the life cycle assessment field with exposure models that rapidly and reliably characterize human exposures and doses via multiple direct and indirect exposure pathways. Incorporating near-field, location-specific sources into exposure modeling will improve traditional far-field fate and bioaccumulation approaches commonly used in life cycle assessment to assess exposure. A framework for research that integrates higher throughput near-field chemical exposure models into life cycle assessment has been developed to support sustainability-based decision-making. Research will focus on improving and applying models for predicting exposures and doses for chemicals released during chemical production, product manufacturing, product use, and end of life reuse and disposal. Model release inventories for each life cycle stage will inform appropriate far- and near-field exposure scenarios including spatial location, duration, and relevant populations or lifestages impacted. Life cycle inventory data will be combined with exposure and dose models in a tool to allow more rapid assessments across a wide range of chemicals and products, including emerging chemicals of interest and use scenarios with limited information. Case studies for high interest/high priority chemicals and products will be used to evaluate the framework and tool. The research addresses a need for information and tools to support chemical safety decision-making, alternatives assessments, and sustainable materials management.
