Selecting the Most Hazardous Substance for the Threat

Three factors are considered in selecting the most hazardous substance for the threat:
- Ecotoxicity (fresh water or salt)
- Persistence (river or lake)
- Bioaccumulation Potential (fresh water or salt)
Because of parallelism between the threats, the issues in determining the most hazardous substance have already been discussed in Section 12 and 13 of this course. Here is an opportunity for a quick review:
- How do I distinguish between fresh water, salt water, and brackish water?
  
  "Definitions" HRS Guidance Manual, Definitions, pages 229-230 for freshwater, brackish water, saltwater.
  
  "Procedure" HRS Guidance Manual, "Determining Salinity...", pages 239, 241
- If I have targets in both fresh water and salt water, how do I chose the proper value for ecotoxicity and bioaccumulation potential?
  
  HRS Rule, page 51621, last 3 bullets and page 51622, last bullet
- How do I select the proper value for persistence?
  
  Internet Training Section 12
The most hazardous substance for the environmental threat is the substance with the highest product of ecotoxicity, persistence, and bioaccumulation potential factor value (BPFV). Enter this product at line 15 of HRS Table 4-1, page 51608

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