Bioavailability of Contaminants in Soils and Sediments: Processes, Tools, and Applications

433 Pages·2003·6.39 MB·English

by  National Research Council (U. S.) Committee on Bioavailability of Contaminants in Soils and Sediment

BIOAVAILABILITY
OF
CONTAMINANTS
IN AND
SOILS SEDIMENTS
PROCESSES, TOOLS, AND APPLICATIONS
Committee on Bioavailability of Contaminants in Soils and Sediments
Water Science and Technology Board
Division on Earth and Life Studies
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS • 500 5th St., N.W. • Washington, DC 20001
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the
National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of
Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the
committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for
appropriate balance.
Support for this project was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-
FC01-99EW59049, the U.S. Department of Defense under Purchase Order No. DASW01-00-P-3588,
the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force under Purchase Order No. DAAD05-00-P-7387, the Strategic
Environmental Research and Development Program under Contract No. DACA72-99-P-0210, the
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences under Purchase Order No. 273-MH-918344, the
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry under Contract No. 200-2000-00629, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency under Grant No. X-82966601, and the Gas Research Institute
under Grant No. 8339.
International Standard Book Number: 0-309-08625-6
Library of Congress Control Number: 2002117001
Additional copies of this report are available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street,
N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001; [phone] or [phone] (in the Washington metropolitan
area); Internet <http://www.nap.edu>.
Copyright 2003 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of
distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the
furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the
authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate
that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr.
Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the
National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is
autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the
National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government.
The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at
meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior
achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm. A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of
Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences
to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination
of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the
responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to
be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of
medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute
of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in
1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s
purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in
accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the
principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National
Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the
scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both
Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. Wm. A. Wulf are
chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.
www.national-academies.org
COMMITTEE ON BIOAVAILABILITY OF CONTAMINANTS IN
SOILS AND SEDIMENTS
RICHARD G. LUTHY, Chair, Stanford University, Stanford, California
RICHELLE M. ALLEN-KING, Washington State University, Pullman
SALLY L. BROWN, University of Washington, Seattle
DAVID A. DZOMBAK, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
SCOTT E. FENDORF, Stanford University, Stanford, California
JOHN P. GIESY, Michigan State University, Lansing
JOSEPH B. HUGHES, Rice University, Houston, Texas
SAMUEL N. LUOMA, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California
LINDA A. MALONE, College of William & Mary School of Law,
Williamsburg, Virginia
CHARLES A. MENZIE, Menzie-Cura & Associates, Inc., Chelmsford,
Massachusetts
STEPHEN M. ROBERTS, University of Florida, Gainesville
MICHAEL V. RUBY, Exponent, Boulder, Colorado
TERRY W. SCHULTZ, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
BARTH F. SMETS, University of Connecticut, Storrs
NRC Staff
LAURA J. EHLERS, Study Director
ANIKE L. JOHNSON, Project Assistant
iv
WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BOARD
RICHARD G. LUTHY, Chair, Stanford University, Stanford, California
JOAN B. ROSE, Vice Chair, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg
RICHELLE M. ALLEN-KING, Washington State University, Pullman
GREGORY B. BAECHER, University of Maryland, College Park
KENNETH R. BRADBURY, University of Wisconsin, Madison
JAMES CROOK, CH2M Hill, Boston, Massachusetts
EFI FOUFOULA-GEORGIOU, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis–St. Paul
PETER GLEICK, Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment,
and Security, Oakland, California
JOHN LETEY, Jr., University of California, Riverside
DIANE M. McKNIGHT, University of Colorado, Boulder
CHRISTINE L. MOE, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
ROBERT PERCIASEPE, National Audubon Society, Washington, DC
RUTHERFORD H. PLATT, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
JERALD L. SCHNOOR, University of Iowa, Iowa City
LEONARD SHABMAN, Resources for the Future, Washington, DC
R. RHODES TRUSSELL, Montgomery Watson, Pasadena, California
Staff
STEPHEN D. PARKER, Director
LAURA J. EHLERS, Senior Staff Officer
JEFFREY W. JACOBS, Senior Staff Officer
WILLIAM S. LOGAN, Senior Staff Officer
MARK C. GIBSON, Staff Officer
M. JEANNE AQUILINO, Administrative Associate
ELLEN A. DE GUZMAN, Research Associate
PATRICIA A. JONES KERSHAW, Research Associate
ANITA A. HALL, Administrative Assistant
ANIKE L. JOHNSON, Project Assistant
JON Q. SANDERS, Project Assistant
v
Preface
Protection of human health and ecosystems is much more challenging today
than 33 years ago when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was
founded. Environmental problems in the United States today are diffuse rather
than localized, subtle rather than obvious, and involve multiple environmental
media (air, water, soil, sediment, and biota) rather than a single medium. Com-
plex environmental questions transcend disciplinary boundaries and involve mul-
tiple temporal and spatial scales. Since 1970, advances in analytical measurement
techniques have occurred that now allow the detection of more and more chemi-
cals at lower and lower levels. As the new millennium begins, there is a wealth of
information about how parts of the environment might function and where chemi-
cal contaminants may be found. At the same time it has become all the more
difficult to understand what is really important and what should receive highest
priority. This is exemplified by our national efforts to assess and manage thou-
sands of acres of contaminated soil and sediment.
It is against this backdrop that the National Research Council (NRC) under-
took an examination of the bioavailability of contaminants in soils and sediments.
Of primary interest is the risk that contaminated soils and sediments pose to
humans and ecological receptors, for which estimating exposure is essential for
sound decision-making and devising effective solutions. This report focuses on
an assessment of those physical, chemical, and biological factors that may make
only a fraction of the total contaminant mass in soil and sediment actually avail-
able to humans and ecological receptors. A large amount of empirical data sug-
gests that soils and sediments may sequester chemical contaminants and that
chemicals in soils and sediments behave differently than when present in water,
vii
viii PREFACE
air, or food. The influences that soils and sediments have on contaminant interac-
tions between phases, the transport of contaminants to organisms, the entry of
contaminants into living cells, and contaminant accumulation within organisms
and possible toxic effects are referred to herein as “bioavailability processes.”
Understanding these processes is central to improving risk assessment, prioritiz-
ing among various problems, and using resources to achieve the greatest benefit.
While the term “bioavailability” is relatively new, bioavailability as a con-
cept has a long history in toxicology, pharmacology, crop science, and nutritional
science. Common to all of these contexts is uptake by living organisms. In con-
trast, the application of bioavailability process understanding in the environmen-
tal arena has occurred much more recently, largely within the last decade, and it
involves such contextual issues as solubility, mass transfer, mobility, and reac-
tion in addition to uptake by living organisms. Explicitly assessing contaminant
bioavailability is viewed by many as a way to help set contaminated site cleanup
goals that are more financially or technically feasible, and that involve leaving
appreciable amounts of contaminant mass in place, while still being protective of
public health and the environment.
Prior to commencing this study, the NRC’s Water Science and Technology
Board hosted a one-day workshop in November 1998 to assess the need for a
NRC study of bioavailability of contaminants in soils and sediments, attended by
approximately 25 key experts. A consensus from the attendees was that there is a
growing acceptance of incorporating site-specific bioavailability measurements
in site management decisions, but that many of the methods being considered for
bioavailability assessment have not been critically reviewed or validated. As a
result of the workshop, possible study questions were proposed, a prospectus was
drafted and circulated, and project sponsors were identified.
The NRC Committee on Bioavailability of Contaminants in Soils and Sedi-
ments convened its first meeting in May 2000 and met five additional times over
the next two years. The committee’s charge included assessing the application of
bioavailability concepts for managing hazardous compounds and guiding risk
assessment. The committee sought to put the growing interest in bioavailability
into perspective by focusing on building a mechanistic-based understanding of
bioavailability processes. The primary goal was to define the scientific under-
standing needed to advance confidence in use of bioavailability concepts, and to
assess the tools needed to characterize and measure bioavailability.
The study benefited greatly from contributions of various individuals who
made presentations at our meetings, including Fran Kremer, Peter Grevatt, Sarah
Levinson, Mark Maddaloni, Elmer Akin, Mark Johnson, Chris Weis, and Mary
Reiley, all from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Brad Smith and
Cathy Vogel, Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program; Beth
Anderson, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; Michael Major,
U.S. Army; Doris Anders, U.S. Air Force; Sharon Williams-Fleetwood, Agency
for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry; Chet Miller, Department of Energy;
PREFACE ix
Greg Planicka, National Environmental Policy Institute; Teresa Bernhard, Naval
Engineering Field Activity Chesapeake; Steve McGrath, IACR-Rothamsted;
Monty Elder, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality; Todd Bridges
and Jeff Steevens, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Al Page, University of Califor-
nia at Riverside; Larry Goldstein, Electric Power Research Institute; Hans Stroo,
ThermoRetec; Ron Jensen, Southern California Edison; Roman Lanno, Okla-
homa State University; and Diane Henshel, Indiana University.
The study would not have been possible without the very capable manage-
ment and excellent guidance provided by Laura Ehlers of the WSTB. She served
as the study director and organized meetings, kept us on track from meeting to
meeting, provided important reminders about discussion points, and helped iden-
tify places where the committee seemed to be stalled and suggested possible
paths forward. She synthesized and edited the final report and was always our
tireless cheerleader. Anike Johnson took care of the many mailings and made
local meeting arrangements.
More formally, the report has been reviewed by individuals chosen for their
diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures ap-
proved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this indepen-
dent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the authors
and the NRC in making the published report as sound as possible and to ensure
that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and respon-
siveness to the study charge. The reviews and draft manuscripts remain confiden-
tial to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We thank the following
individuals for their participation in the review of this report: Graeme Batley,
CSIRO Energy Technology; G. Allen Burton, Wright State University; Kim F.
Hayes, University of Michigan; Michael J. McLaughlin, CSIRO Land and Water;
Aaron L. Mills, University of Virginia; Joseph J. Pignatello, Connecticut Agri-
cultural Experiment Station; Rosalind A. Schoof, Gradient Corporation; and Eric
H. Weyand, Rutgers University.
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive com-
ments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recom-
mendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The
review of this report was overseen by Bruce E. Rittmann, Northwestern Univer-
sity. Appointed by the NRC, he was responsible for making certain that an
independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with insti-
tutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered.
Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring
committee and the NRC.
Richard G. Luthy, Chair