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Space, time, and chemical risk assessment
Citation:
Etterson, M. Space, time, and chemical risk assessment. Dept. of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Talk, Minneapolis, MN, November 17, 2017.
Impact/Purpose:
This presentation will describe the tiered process of chemical risk assessment at USEPA, with a special focus on pesticides and the development of the MCnest model. The target audience is students the Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Program at the University of Minnesota.
Description:
Exposure to manufactured chemicals is a fact of contemporary life for both humans and wildlife. In many cases, these exposures occur at safe environmental concentrations. However, spectacular exceptions have occurred (e.g., DDT and eggshell thinning, monocrotophos and Swainson’s Hawk mortality). USEPA is responsible for ensuring that regulated chemicals used in accordance with their labeling will not pose risks to humans or wildlife. This is done through a process called Ecological Risk Assessment. I will describe how USEPA conducts Ecological Risk Assessment for birds potentially exposed to pesticides, focusing on spatio-temporal considerations in the Risk Assessment process. I will also describe recent research on new ecological models for population-level risk assessment at USEPA.