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THE ECOTOX DATABASE AND ECOLOGICAL SOIL SCREENING LEVEL (ECO-SSL) WEB SITES
Citation:
Russom, C L. THE ECOTOX DATABASE AND ECOLOGICAL SOIL SCREENING LEVEL (ECO-SSL) WEB SITES. Presented at 2002 SETAC Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, November 16, 2002.
Description:
The EPA's ECOTOX database (http://www.epa.gov/ecotox/) provides a web browser search interface for locating aquatic and terrestrial toxic effects information. Data on more than 8100 chemicals and 5700 terrestrial and aquatic species are included in the database. Information is either abstracted from peer-reviewed publications or transferred from third-party data collections which are typically not available in the open literature. All pertinent information on the species, chemical, test methods, and results are entered into the database. The comprehensive nature of the data collection makes it amenable for use in risk assessments, modeling, and ranking and prioritization exercises. The ECOTOX database provides a means of locating high quality ecological effects data for a wide-range of terrestrial and aquatic receptors. An evaluated data set, developed through a collaborative effort with EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, provides scientifically sound, ecologically-based, soil screening levels (Eco-SSLs) for 23 contaminants of concern and four receptors (terrestrial plants, soil invertebrates, and avian and mammalian wildlife). The Eco-SSL web application provides an overview of the contaminant including environmental forms, sources of environmental contamination, background concentrations, mechanisms of toxicity, and essential element status, if applicable. Separate discussions are provided for each receptor group including a comprehensive list of literature evaluated under the effort, summary of data used in deriving Eco-SSL values, and access to the raw data records within EPA's ECOTOX database. The web site includes links to all standard operating procedures and guidance documents used in the derivation of the Eco-SSL values. This is an abstract of a proposed presentation and does not necessarily reflect EPA policy.