Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, hosted by Office of Research & Development, US Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA; Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Salamanca, Plz. Caidos 1-5, Salamanca 37008, Spain.
Office of Research & Development, US Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA.
J Hazard Mater. 2021 Mar 5;405:124270. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124270. Epub 2020 Oct 16.
Performing risk evaluation is necessary to determine whether a chemical substance presents an unreasonable risk of injury to human health or the environment across its life cycle stages. Data gathering, reconciliation, and management for supporting risk evaluation are time-consuming and challenging, especially for end-of-life (EoL) activities due to the need for proper reporting and traceability. A data engineering framework using publicly-available databases to track chemicals in waste streams generated by industrial activities and transferred to other facilities across different U.S. locations for waste management is implemented. The analysis tracks chemicals in waste streams generated at industrial processes and handling at off-site facilities and then estimates releases from EoL activities. The final product of this effort is a framework that identifies a set of chemical, activity, and industry sector categories as well as hazardous waste flows, emission factors, and uncertainty indicators to describe EoL activities. This framework helps to identify EoL exposure scenarios that would otherwise not be evaluated. As a case study, methylene chloride, one of the first ten chemicals to undergo risk evaluation under the amended U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act, was evaluated with results highlighting potential additional exposure scenarios.
进行风险评估对于确定化学物质在其整个生命周期阶段是否对人类健康或环境造成不合理的伤害风险是必要的。数据收集、协调和管理以支持风险评估是耗时且具有挑战性的，特别是对于寿命终结（EoL）活动，因为需要进行适当的报告和可追溯性。实施了一个数据工程框架，该框架使用公开可用的数据库来跟踪工业活动产生的废物流中的化学物质，并将其转移到美国不同地点的其他设施进行废物管理。该分析跟踪在工业过程中产生的废物流中的化学物质和在现场外设施中的处理，然后估计寿命终结活动的排放。这项工作的最终产品是一个框架，该框架确定了一组化学物质、活动和工业部门类别，以及危险废物流、排放因子和不确定性指标，以描述寿命终结活动。该框架有助于识别否则不会进行评估的寿命终结暴露场景。作为一个案例研究，评估了在修订后的美国《有毒物质控制法》下进行风险评估的首批十种化学物质之一的二氯甲烷，结果突出了潜在的额外暴露场景。
