Metal Finishing Facility Risk Screening Tool (MFFRST)
Notice
The MFFRST model, originally released in October 2001, is not supported by EPA any longer. For transparency, an old version of the software is available under downloads.Abstract
The Metal Finishing Facility Risk Screening Tool (MFFRST) is a user-friendly pc-based computer tool which allows an individual to evaluate the potential exposures and health risks to workers and nearby residents from emissions from individual metal finishing facilities. Emissions into the air (from stacks to the outdoor environment and fugitive emissions from indoor sources) from routine operations are the only emissions considered in MFFRST.
Also, only inhalation exposures from air emissions are evaluated, not other potential exposure pathways from airborne emissions such as dermal contact, soil impacts (from deposition), and food chain impacts. As the name implies, this is a screening tool, and as such, its development has followed these principals: 1) the computer interface must be user-friendly, 2) the data needs are manageable and sufficient guidance for all model parameters should be provided either in the accompanying documentation or attached data bases, and 3) the results are purposively conservative such that, if assessments show an insignificant potential human health risk, the user can feel confident of that judgment.
On the other hand, if the results suggest a potential concern, the user should not consider these as definitive and should consider additional assessment efforts including: refinement of assumptions in the use of MFFRST, the use of more refined and sophisticated modeling, monitoring to evaluate actual air concentrations, or other measures.
Also, only inhalation exposures from air emissions are evaluated, not other potential exposure pathways from airborne emissions such as dermal contact, soil impacts (from deposition), and food chain impacts. As the name implies, this is a screening tool, and as such, its development has followed these principals: 1) the computer interface must be user-friendly, 2) the data needs are manageable and sufficient guidance for all model parameters should be provided either in the accompanying documentation or attached data bases, and 3) the results are purposively conservative such that, if assessments show an insignificant potential human health risk, the user can feel confident of that judgment.
On the other hand, if the results suggest a potential concern, the user should not consider these as definitive and should consider additional assessment efforts including: refinement of assumptions in the use of MFFRST, the use of more refined and sophisticated modeling, monitoring to evaluate actual air concentrations, or other measures.
Related Link(s)
- Paper titled, A Risk Assessment Tool for the Metal Finishing Industry from the 1999 AESF/EPA Conference for Environmental Excellence. (PDF) (9 pp, 97 KB, about PDF)
- Paper titled, Characterizing Site-Specific Source Emissions for EPA's Risk Assessment Tool for the Metal Finishing Industry from the 1999 AESF/EPA Conference for Environmental Excellence (PDF) (19 pp, 650 KB, about PDF)
- Paper titled, EPA's Metal Finishing Facility Risk Screening Tool (MFFRST): Part 1. Status and Update from the 2000 AESF/EPA Conference for Environmental Excellence (PDF) (15 pp, 134 KB, about PDF)
- Paper titled, EPA'S Metal Finishing Facility Risk Screening Tool (MFFRST): Part 2. Updates to Source Emission Characterization from the 2000 AESF/EPA Conference for Environmental Excellence (PDF) (27 pp, 1 MB, about PDF)
- Paper titled, EPA's Metal Finishing Facility Risk Screening Tool (MFFRST): Status and Update from the 2001 AESF/EPA Conference for Environmental Excellence (PDF) (15 pp, 127 KB, about PDF)
- Paper titled, A Validation of the Emissions Model from EPA's Metal Finishing Facility Risk Screening Tool - MFFRST from the 2001 AESF/EPA Conference for Environmental Excellence (PDF) (9 pp, 168 KB, about PDF)