SEDL / STP / STP1264-EB / STP16024S

Estimating Risk to Ecological Receptors from Contaminated Soil at Superfund Sites

Burns, TP
Engineering and Environmental Compliance Group, Science Applications International Corp., Oak Ridge, TN

Cornaby, BW
Engineering and Environmental Compliance Group, Science Applications International Corp., Oak Ridge, TN

Hadden, CT
Engineering and Environmental Compliance Group, Science Applications International Corp., Oak Ridge, TN

Pages: 38    Published: Jan 1996

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Abstract

Risks to non-human receptors from contaminated soil at three Superfund sites in New York and New Jersey are assessed using new techniques for screening contaminants of potential concern (COPCs) and characterizing risk. Contaminants were screened as ecological COPCs by comparing toxicity, mobility, and persistence thresholds to values for contaminants obtained from reference texts and electronic databases. Published “no effect levels”, chronic, and acute test endpoints were used to establish conservative toxicity thresholds. Risks to groups of organisms with similar exposures were compared by deriving exposure factors for major exposure pathways. These factors multiplied by the contaminant concentration in the soil and divided by the appropriate toxicity threshold give risk quotients. These methods are consistent with EPA's Framework for Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) and are flexible enough to incorporate the limited data available for many hazardous waste sites. Results of the ERAs are compared, and the affect on risk management decisions at the three Superfund sites are considered.