The Human and Ecological Risk Division (HERD) supports DTSC programs by providing human and environmental risk assessment consultation and worker safety support.
Human Risk Assessment
Arsenic Strategies: Determination of Arsenic Remediation Development of Arsenic Cleanup Goals for Proposed and Existing School Sites This guidance is the suggested approach from the DTSC Human and Ecological Risk Division (HERD) for arsenic at proposed and existing school sites. During the Preliminary Environmental Assessment (PEA) or Remedial Investigation (RI) for school sites, arsenic may be identified as a chemical of concern based on comparisons to naturally occurring background concentrations. Once arsenic has been identified as a chemical of concern, a standard approach is needed to determine if remedial action is warranted and, if so, how to develop appropriate cleanup goals.
Guidance for the Evaluation and Mitigation of Subsurface Vapor Intrusion to Indoor Air - Interim Final This DTSC guidance document provides recommendations on specific technical or scientific issues that may be encountered when evaluating subsurface vapor intrusion to indoor air. It outlines the procedures for evaluating this exposure pathway and provides recommendations on elements that should be included in a facility investigation. It also presents information on indoor air sampling and the engineering approaches for the mitigation of human exposure.
US EPA Johnson & Ettinger Models Modified to Include California Health Criteria The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) developed a model in 1998 which estimates human health risks from subsurface vapor intrusion into buildings. This model is based on the work of Johnson and Ettinger, and is revised periodically to incorporate different assumptions about soil properties as well as new human health criteria developed by US EPA.
Supplemental Guidance for Human Health Multimedia Risk Assessments of Hazardous Waste Sites and Permitted Facilities This DTSC guidance manual supplements the US EPA directives by providing recommendations on specific technical or scientific issues that may be encountered when preparing multimedia risk assessment reports for submittal and review by DTSC.
CalTOX CalTOX is a spreadsheet model that relates the concentration of a chemical in soil to the risk of an adverse health effect for a person living or working on or near the contaminated soil. CalTOX computes site-specific health-based soil clean-up concentrations given target risk levels or human health risks given soil concentrations at the site.
Background Metals at Los Angeles Unified School Sites - Arsenic This guidance is intended to supplement the DTSC PEA Guidance Manual (DTSC1994), and provide a uniform and streamlined approach for evaluating background arsenic at LAUSD school sites.
Human Health Risk Assessment Note 1 This note summarizes exposure factors which may be used as default values in human health risk assessments for California military facilities.
DTSC Regional Office Ecological Risk Assessment Process Workshops The Department of toxic Substances Control (DTSC), Human and Ecological Risk Division (HERD) will sponsor ecological risk assessment workshops at the DTSC Berkeley, Cal Center, Cypress, and Glendale Regional Offices during the summer of 2007. The goal of the workshops is to provide DTSC project managers and other DTSC staff with an overview of ecological risk assessment, including DTSC's guidance for performing ecological risk assessments. Speakers will include ecotoxicologists from HERD, the Department of Fish and Game, Office of Spill Prevention and Response (DFG/OSPR), and the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA). Due to the limited amount of space, this workshop is open to DTSC and Cal/EPA staff only. Please see the agenda for links to the speakers' presentations.
Guide to the Assessment and Remediation of State-Managed Sediment Sites (June 2007) The Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials (ASTSWMO) Sediments Focus Group has developed this paper which presents issues related to State sediment sites, which are typically smaller than those listed on the national priority list (NPL). State sediment sites can offer unique and complex challenges, such as limited resources of the State remedial programs and smaller, less financially viable responsible parties. This paper highlights sediment risk assessment and remediation issues, and provides references for States to motivate and cooperatively accomplish sediment cleanups
Because of the many chemicals in commerce, the improved methods for detecting chemicals in environmental and biological media and the increased interest by scientists and the public in understanding the types of toxicity that chemicals may pose, more and more scientists and toxicologists are identifying “emerging chemicals of concern,” or ECCs.
Environmental Chemistry Laboratory
ECL is hosting bi-weekly seminars (2nd and 4th Wednesdays) from 2-3 pm in Berkeley. For information please contact Dr. Brown at frbrown@dtsc.ca.gov
The Environmental Chemistry Laboratory (ECL) provides DTSC and other boards and departments within Cal/EPA with expertise and laboratory capacity in the areas of analytical chemistry and biochemistry. Scientists identify and measure concentrations of toxic chemicals in many different media including air, water, soil, hazardous waste streams, and biological or human tissues. These efforts require application or adaptation of existing procedures or the development of new analytical methods.
