Grantee Research Project Results
Experimental Validation and Reliability Evaluation of Multimedia Risk Assessment Models
EPA Grant Number: R825411Title: Experimental Validation and Reliability Evaluation of Multimedia Risk Assessment Models
Investigators: Siegrist, Robert , Sheldon, Andrew , Dawson, Helen
Current Investigators: Siegrist, Robert , Dawson, Helen , Sheldon, Andrew
Institution: Colorado School of Mines
EPA Project Officer: Chung, Serena
Project Period: December 15, 1996 through December 14, 1998
Project Amount: $256,174
RFA: Environmental Fate and Treatment of Toxics and Hazardous Wastes (1996) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Hazardous Waste/Remediation , Land and Waste Management , Safer Chemicals
Description:
This project will quantitatively evaluate the performance and reliability of multimedia contaminant transport models used for assessing human exposure and health risk from soils contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Research methods include large-scale contaminant leaching and volatilization experiments, computer modeling, health risk calculations, and statistical data analysis. Large-scale leaching and volatilization experiments will be performed for in situ soil contamination and for soil treatment residuals (i.e., post-treatment chemical remnants). For typical exposure scenarios, estimated health risk values based on experimentally observed chemical leaching and volatilization behavior will be compared with risk estimates obtained from stochastic contaminant transport model results. Contributions to risk assessment uncertainty from multimedia contaminant transport modeling, versus uncertainty contributions from human chemical intake and toxicological evaluations, will be compared. Statistical error and uncertainty analyses of model-versus experiment-based risk estimates will be used to gauge model performance. The goal is to identity typical model performance for practical risk assessment applications based on input parameters developed from standard site data collection methods, rather than based on model calibrations that cannot be accomplished for most contaminated sites. The information developed during the project will be essential for decision makers who must establish "acceptable" modeling error and uncertainty tolerances for health risk assessments in keeping with the data quality objectives process.Publications and Presentations:
Publications have been submitted on this project: View all 8 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
Health, Scientific Discipline, Waste, Water, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Contaminated Sediments, Geochemistry, Environmental Chemistry, Health Risk Assessment, Chemistry, Fate & Transport, Risk Assessments, fate and transport, ecological risk assessment, fate, sediment treatment, contaminant transport, risk characterization, multimedia risk assessment models, VOCs, contaminated sediment, sediment transport, transport contaminants, reliability evaluation, adverse human health affects, hazardous waste, soils, experimental validation, ecological impacts, toxic environmental contaminants, assessment methods, terrestrial and aquatic fate, assessment technology, ecology assessment models, hazardous waste sites, leaching, human health risk, ecological transferability, exposure assessment, leachateProgress and Final Reports:
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.