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Development of Near-Field Human Health Exposure Factors for Life Cycle Assessment-Cyclexpo II
Citation:
Huang, L., V. Nguyen, AND O. Jolliet. Development of Near-Field Human Health Exposure Factors for Life Cycle Assessment-Cyclexpo II. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/X-18/267, 2018.
Impact/Purpose:
This work is part of a broader set of activities commissioned by the U.S. EPA Chemical Safety for Sustainability Research Program within the Office of Research and Development, designed to improve decision-making related to chemicals and their role in the economy through integrating processes and systems for evaluating alternative decisions across the life cycle, with two key outcomes: a) the identification of key linkages in the continuum between the production of a chemical, its release, subsequent fate and transport in the environment, potential exposures, and its adverse outcomes and b) the deeper understanding of the relevant physiochemical and other inherent properties of chemicals that influence environmental fate, exposure, and biological responses.
Description:
The general goal of the work described here is to build a knowledge base of tools and models addressing human health assessment that are appropriate for situation-specific and near-field exposure scenarios that may be encountered as part of a chemical life cycle. More specifically, it aims at the development of methodologies and exposure/characterization factors for near-field scenarios, focusing on chemicals found in four different archetypes of consumer products including: personal care products (PCPs), detergents, household sprays, and building materials. The methodologies and exposure or characterization factors was developed using a modular approach that makes it possible to use alternative fate, transport, exposure, and risk assessment methods and tools within the overall methodology. Per indication of the EPA project leader, the scope of the work was focused on chemical- “product category” combinations for building materials, and the calculation of exposure factors (Product intake Fractions – PiFs) rather than characterization factors (CFs).