Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
change; 3) water quality and nutrient pollution; and 4) shifting spatial and tem-
poral scales. The chapter ends with a section on, “Using New Science to Drive
Safer Technologies and Products”, which discusses ways in which EPA can
prevent environmental problems before they arise.
The examples in this chapter are not intended to be comprehensive; rather,
they are provided to illustrate from different perspectives the many ways in
which new advances in science, engineering, and technology could be embraced
by the agency, its scientists, and regulators to ensure that the agency remains at
the leading edge of science-informed regulatory policy to protect human health
and the environment. Having assessed EPA's current activities, the committee
notes that EPA is well equipped to take advantage of most of the new scientific
and technologic advances and that, in fact, its scientists and engineers are lead-
ers in some fields.
TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES TO ADDRESS
CHALLENGES RELATED TO CHEMICAL EXPOSURES,
HUMAN HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT
New technologies will be important to EPA for identifying chemicals in
the environment, understanding their transport and fate in the environment, as-
sessing the extent of actual human exposures through biomonitoring, and identi-
fying and predicting the potential toxic effects of chemicals. Current and emerg-
ing tools and technologies related to these topics are discussed in the sections
below.
Identifying Chemicals in Environmental Media
Analytic chemistry continues to improve at breakneck speed, and analytic
determinations for both metals and organic chemicals have improved exponen-
tially. Chemicals can now be detected at ever lower concentrations. For some
organic chemicals, such as chlorinated dioxins, standard EPA methods include
the routine measurement of samples in parts per quadrillion (ppq) or picograms
per liter (pg/L) (EPA 1997), which allows risk managers to characterize lifetime
uptake of exposure to various carcinogens and daily uptake rates in chronic haz-
ard quotient assessments of chemicals that were not previously detectable. Sim-
ply being able to measure concentrations of chemicals in environmental media
or blood confronts EPA with new decisions on whether to set maximum con-
taminant levels in drinking water or allowable daily intakes in food or whether
to allow states to do so independently if health effects are uncertain.
As the public learns about new methods of detection of chemicals in, for
example, their blood, their children's blood, and the environment (water, air, and
soil), questions arise as to what such occurrences mean. Of course, the simple
detection of chemicals in relevant receptors does not necessarily imply any hu-
man health or ecologic effects. To evaluate the health implications of chemical
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