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Long-Term Goal 2-11: Research Description
Back to Long-Term Goal 2 (LTG 2):
Research Descriptions and Posters
Title: Development of New Tools for Community-Based Cumulative Risk Assessment
Presenter: Bradley Schultz, NERL
Contributors: Valerie Zartarian, Timothy Barzyk, Michael Breen, Davyda Hammond (NERL), Deborah Segal (NCER)
Science Questions:
This research addresses the following key science questions:
- How to systematically identify and prioritize key chemical stressors within a given community?
- How to develop individual estimates of exposure to multiple stressors for epidemiologic studies?
- What tools can be used to assess community-level distributions of exposure for the development and evaluation of the effectiveness of risk reduction strategies?
The Research:
This poster describes a continuation of the work from the LTG 2-10 poster, where more background information on this research area is provided. The LTG 2-10 poster described an evaluation of existing exposure and risk assessment tools for community use, case studies involving the application of existing tools, a review of existing low-cost measurement methods, development of the research plan for this program, and the rationale and structure of a new ORD tool for community-based cumulative risk assessment, in collaboration with EPA's multiple program office, all EPA regions program called CARE, www.epa.gov/care. This poster describes the ongoing research to improve community-based, cumulative exposure and risk assessments.
Specifically, the research includes:
- Developing models to estimate community exposures and risks for inclusion in the new Community-Focused Exposure and Risk Screening Tool (C-FERST) for individual chemicals, sources, and health effects. Initial issues for C-FERST include developing community/cumulative risk estimates for: (A) Individual chemicals or substances such as: radon, environmental tobacco smoke, cumulative childhood lead exposure, excess UV rays exposure due to stratospheric ozone depletion, benzene, and possibly particulate matter and ozone. These first chemicals were chosen because they are large contributors to cumulative exposures for some outcomes and because it was possible to make significant progress in a reasonable amount of time to demonstrate the approach; (B) Sources of human exposure, such as diesel vehicles; and (C) health effects, such as childhood asthma, in partnership with other research.
- Upcoming STAR (NCER) grants on the combined effects of non-chemical stressors and toxic agents (complementary with chemical stressors strengths in-house at ORD) and on the development of models or techniques that will enable the analysis of disparate types of data involved in cumulative risk assessments.
- Exposure models for individuals in health studies such as the National Children's Study. First, an Exposure Models for Individuals (EMI) is being developed by NERL for human exposures to chemicals linked to asthma in collaboration with NHEERL (NHEERL work under the Air Research MYP). After application in asthma health research, the model will be made publicly available for other uses, including the NCS (measurement methods for NCS described under LTG 3), and possibly linking EMI with health models into an ORD exposure-health asthma model and potential community/cumulative application.
- Possible measurements study in the future to evaluate C-FERST predictions in a local area and to develop and test very low cost measurement methods for community use in cumulative risk assessment; also possible modeling applications and measurements work to evaluate models for use in assessing the effectiveness of voluntary actions take by community programs, which would complement work described under LTG4.
Impact and Outcomes:
The products of this research will:
- Empower communities with local exposure information (based on solid science) so that they can make informed, cost-effective decisions and take action.
- Improve public health in communities.
- Advance exposure science for community/cumulative risk assessment.
- Provide scientific leadership in community research.
Currently, most CARE community "risk prioritization" is simply risk perception due to the lack of cumulative risk information at the community level. The C-FERST tool, developed in close collaboration with EPA's coordinated community program, CARE, will bridge the gap between the emerging community-based cumulative risk science and actual use by EPA's Regional Offices first, and then community groups at large. After publication of scientific papers in the peer-reviewed literature on individual topics, and appropriate peer review of the C-FERST tool, the goal is for the tool to be publicly available. C-FERST will provide an ongoing link between quality science and community application. All of EPA's Regional Offices and the national EPA CARE program are awaiting the continued development of C-FERST and its release.
A new STAR program will fund areas in which EPA has limited expertise and capacity, in the combined effects of non-chemical and chemical stressors, and is an attempt to engage the broader research community in this issue. The ORD community/cumulative exposure research plan, submitted for publication, will facilitate broader participation to improve the science of community-based cumulative risk assessment.
The Exposure Model for Individuals (EMI) will enhance research into the relationship between multi-pollutant human exposures and health effects. It will first enhance EPA's health research and will then be made available publicly to other researchers after it is applied in EPA health research and peer reviewed.
Key Products:
Zartarian, V.G. and B. D. Schultz. 2008. "EPA Human Exposure Research on Assessing Cumulative Risk in Communities." Submitted for publication 9/2008.