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The Evolution of Regulatory Risk Assessment in Chemicals: From Superfund to Emerging Contaminants

Explore the history and future of regulatory risk assessment in chemicals, from the Clean Air Act to emerging contaminants of concern. Learn about the challenges and new approaches in assessing and ensuring safety. Contact Patrick Gwinn at pgwinn@integral-corp.com for more information.

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The Evolution of Regulatory Risk Assessment in Chemicals: From Superfund to Emerging Contaminants

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  1. Regulatory Chemical Risk Assessment From Superfund to Contaminants of Emerging ConcernWhere Have We Been and Where Are We Going? Patrick Gwinn November 19, 2015

  2. Where Did Regulatory Health Risk Assessment Come From? • Clean Air Act • Safe Drinking Water Act • CERCLA (Superfund) • Toxic Substances Control Act • Resource Conservation & Recovery Act • Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act • Food Quality Protection Act

  3. Regulatory Risk Assessment RiskAssessment

  4. How Have We Done?

  5. Scale of Progress

  6. Scale of Progress

  7. Scale of Progress

  8. Scale of Progress

  9. Scale of Progress ~275 ME MEGs ~165 ME Soil

  10. Contaminants of Emerging Concern • Pharmaceuticals • Flame retardants • Perfluorinated Compounds • Personal Care Products

  11. Contaminants of Emerging Concern • Pathway to environment • Real or perceived risk • Knowledge lacking or evolving • No environmental standards • New science • New detection capabilities • New exposure pathways

  12. Contaminant of Emerging Concern are…Chemicals, but also… • Physical materials • Micro plastics • Nanoparticles • Pathogens • Radionuclides www.ngdc.noaa.gov www.bioenergyconsult.com www.noaa.gov

  13. “Perceived Threat” is Common Concept • Not risk, but perception of risk X √ √ Mortylefkoe.com

  14. Consider…. • ~ 15,000 employees in the USEPA • Assume that • Each employee ONLY addresses safety of chemicals in commerce • Only 10% of the 68 million chemicals currently in commerce need assessment • All toxicity and exposure data are available • Each assessment takes 3 months to complete • You would need more than 100 years to complete the work!!!!

  15. Change is Needed to the Way We Assess Chemical Risk • Shorter-term • Methods to prioritize chemicals • More tiered, faster assessments • Testing and data to support • Users & Manufacturers • International • Long-term • Move away from chemical-by-chemical assessment toward classes/groups • Predictive tools for exposure, toxicity • Effects-based rather than chemical monitoring

  16. Summary • Emerging contaminants are a collective concern • New approaches are needed to assess and ensure safety • Reauthorization of TSCA • Streamline regulatory process • Long-term solutions rooted in new tools and assessment approaches that are still being developed

  17. Thank you for your time. Patrick Gwinn pgwinn@integral-corp.com

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