US EPA

The state-of-the-art assessment of risk to the ecosystem is still evolving. Although single species tests have provided valuable information for the assessment of ecologic risk, it is necessary to focus on ecosystems-level tests and analyses. The increasing availability of predictive models makes assessment of risk to the environment, rather than simply to a single species, more possible. The United States has yet to develop government or agency wide guidelines for conducting ecologic risk assessments although the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency currently has efforts underway to develop such guidelines in the Office of Health and Environmental Assessment. However, various standard test methods have been developed to provide toxicologic benchmarks primarily for the measurement of acute toxicological effects. Recent research efforts have been directed toward developing test methods that predict chronic and acute toxicologic effects based on results of short term exposure to organisms during sensitive life stages. This paper presents a partial compilation of methods used in performing ecological risk assessments developed by the U.S. Environmental protection Agency or published by the American Society for Testing and Materials and looks at the future directions of the U.S. EPA in the development of new ecological risk assessment methodologies and approaches.

Falco, J. AND R. Moraski. ASSESSMENT OF ECOLOGIC RISKS RELATED TO CHEMICAL EXPOSURE: METHODS AND STRATEGIES USED IN THE U.S. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/D-89/069 (NTIS PB89222673), 1989.

Published in Risk Management of Chemicals in the Environment, Vol. 12 of NATO: Challenges of Modern Society. ans M. Seip & Anders B. Heiberg, Eds. anuary 1989