EPA 2015 Draft Aquatic Life Ambient Criteria for Selenium in Freshwater

740 Pages·2015·8.17 MB·English

United States Office of Water EPA 822-P-15-001
Environmental Protection 4304T July 2015
Agency

Draft
Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality
Criterion for

Selenium – Freshwater
2015

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Office of Science and Technology
Washington, D.C.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ ii
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. iv
List of Figures ..................................................................................................................................v
Notice ............................................................................................................................................. vi
Foreword ....................................................................................................................................... vii
Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... viii
Acronyms .........................................................................................................................................x
Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... xi
1 Introduction and Background ...................................................................................................1
1.1 History of the EPA Selenium AWQC for Aquatic Life ................................................... 1
2 Problem Formulation ................................................................................................................4
2.1 Overview of Selenium Sources and Occurrence .............................................................. 4
2.2 Environmental Fate and Transport of Selenium in the Aquatic Environment ................. 9
2.2.1 Selenium Species in Aquatic Systems ........................................................................ 9
2.2.2 Bioaccumulation of Selenium in Aquatic Systems ................................................... 11
2.3 Mode of Action and Toxicity of Selenium..................................................................... 13
2.4 Narrow Margin between Sufficiency and Toxicity of Selenium ................................... 15
2.5 Interactions with Mercury .............................................................................................. 16
2.6 Assessment Endpoints .................................................................................................... 17
2.7 Measures of Effect ......................................................................................................... 19
2.7.1 Fish Tissue................................................................................................................. 20
2.7.2 Water ......................................................................................................................... 22
2.7.3 Summary of Assessment Endpoints and Measures of Effect .................................... 23
2.7.4 Conceptual Model of Selenium Effects on Aquatic Life .......................................... 25
2.7.5 Analysis Plan for Derivation of the Chronic Fish Tissue-Based Criterion Elements 26
2.7.6 Analysis Plan for Derivation of the Fish Tissue Criterion Elements Duration ......... 27
2.7.7 Analysis Plan for Derivation of Chronic Water-based Criterion Element ................ 27
2.7.8 Analysis Plan for Derivation of the Water Criterion Elements Duration ................. 30
2.7.9 Analysis Plan for Intermittent-Exposure Water-based Criterion Element Derivation
................................................................................................................................... 31
3 Effects Analysis for Freshwater Aquatic Organisms .............................................................32
3.1 Chronic Tissue-Based Selenium Criterion Element Concentration ............................... 32
3.1.1 Acceptable Studies of Fish Reproductive Effects of Four Most Sensitive Genera ... 33
3.1.2 Summary of Acceptable Studies of Fish Reproductive Effects ................................ 39
3.1.3 Invertebrate Chronic Effects ..................................................................................... 42
3.1.4 Summary of Relevant Invertebrate Tests .................................................................. 45
3.1.5 Derivation of Tissue Criterion Element Concentrations ........................................... 46
3.1.6 Selenium Fish Tissue Toxicity Data Fulfilling Minimum Data Needs ..................... 52
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3.2 Chronic Water Column-based Selenium Criterion Element .......................................... 55
3.2.1 Translation from Fish Tissue Concentration to Water Column Concentration ........ 55
3.2.2 Equation Parameters .................................................................................................. 63
3.2.3 Food-Web Models ..................................................................................................... 75
3.2.4 Classifying Categories of Aquatic Systems. ............................................................. 76
3.2.5 Deriving Protective Water Column Concentrations for Lentic and Lotic System
Categories .................................................................................................................. 80
3.2.6 Derivation of Averaging Period for Chronic Water Criterion Element .................... 85
3.3 Intermittent-Exposure Water Criterion Element: Derivation from the Chronic Water
Criterion Element ........................................................................................................... 86
4 National Criterion for Selenium in Fresh Waters ...................................................................90
4.1 Protection of Downstream Waters ................................................................................. 94
5 Site-specific Criteria ...............................................................................................................95
6 Effects Characterization .........................................................................................................97
6.1 Fish and Amphibians ...................................................................................................... 97
6.1.1 Principles for Using Studies for which EC s Cannot Be Calculated ....................... 97
10
6.1.2 Acceptable Studies of Fish Reproductive Effects of Genera not the Four Most
Sensitive .................................................................................................................... 98
6.1.3 Reproductive Effects in Catfish (Ictaluridae).......................................................... 105
6.1.4 Reproductive Effects in Amphibians (Xenopus laevis)........................................... 110
6.1.5 Reproductive Studies Not Used in the Numeric Criterion Derivation .................... 110
6.1.6 Salmo GMCV: EPA Re-analysis of a Key Study Used in Criterion Derivation..... 113
6.1.7 Impact of Number of Tested Species on Criterion Derivation................................ 116
6.1.8 Comparisons between Concentrations in Different Tissues ................................... 116
6.1.9 Studies of Non-Reproductive Effects ...................................................................... 117
6.1.10 Special conditions for consideration of primacy of water column criterion
elements over fish tissue criterion elements ............................................................ 117
6.1.11 Comparison of Fish Chronic Reproductive Effects and Chronic Non-Reproductive
Effects...................................................................................................................... 122
6.2 Water ............................................................................................................................ 124
6.2.1 Validation of Translation Equation for Developing Water Column Concentrations
................................................................................................................................. 124
6.3 Protection of Threatened or Endangered Species ........................................................ 126
6.3.1 Special Consideration for Pacific Salmonid Juveniles ............................................ 128
6.4 Aquatic-Dependent Wildlife is Beyond the Scope of this Aquatic Criteria Derivation
...................................................................................................................................... 131
7 References ............................................................................................................................133
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Summary of the Draft Freshwater Selenium Ambient Chronic Water Quality Criterion
for Protection of Aquatic Life. ......................................................................................... xiv
Table 2.1. Predominant chemical forms of selenium in discharges associated with different
activities and industries. ...................................................................................................... 9
Table 2.2. Summary of Assessment Endpoints and Measures of Effect Used in Criteria
Derivation for Selenium. ................................................................................................... 24
Table 3.1. Maternal Transfer Reproductive Toxicity Studies. ...................................................... 40
Table 3.2. Ranked Genus Mean Chronic Values for Fish Reproductive Effects Measured as Egg
or Ovary Concentrations. .................................................................................................. 42
Table 3.3. Ranked Invertebrate Whole-Body Chronic Values with Translation to Expected
Accompanying Fish Whole-Body Concentrations ........................................................... 46
Table 3.4. Four lowest Genus Mean Chronic Values for Fish Reproductive Effects. .................. 47
Table 3.5. Tested Reproductive-Effect Egg-Ovary (EO) Concentrations Converted to Whole-
Body (WB) Concentrations............................................................................................... 48
Table 3.6. The lowest four reproductive-effect whole-body GMCVs. ......................................... 49
Table 3.7. Tested Reproductive-Effect Egg-Ovary (EO) Concentrations Converted to Muscle
(M) Concentrations. .......................................................................................................... 51
Table 3.8. The lowest four reproductive-effect fish muscle GMCVs........................................... 51
Table 3.9. Minimum Data Requirements Summary Table Reflecting the Number of Species and
Genus Level Mean Values Represented in the Chronic Toxicity Dataset for Selenium in
Freshwater. ........................................................................................................................ 53
Table 3.10. EPA-derived Trophic Transfer Function (TTF) Values for Freshwater Aquatic
Invertebrates. ..................................................................................................................... 69
Table 3.11. EPA-Derived Trophic Transfer Function (TTF) Values for Freshwater Fish. .......... 70
Table 3.12. EPA-Derived Egg-Ovary to Whole-Body Conversion Factor (CF) Values. ............. 73
Table 3.13. Data for the 53 Site Minimum Translations of the Egg-Ovary Criterion
Concentration Element to a Water Column Concentration. ............................................. 82
Table 3.14. Water column criterion element concentration values translated from the egg-ovary
criterion element. .............................................................................................................. 84
Table 3.15. Representative Values of the Intermittent Water Criterion Concentration Element. 88
Table 4.1. 2014 External Peer Review Draft Freshwater Selenium Ambient Water Quality
Chronic Criterion for Aquatic Life. .................................................................................. 91
Table 6.1. Correlation matrix (values of r) for Ictaluridae and Centrarchidae abundance and for
selenium food chain contamination for the Hyco Reservoir data reported by Crutchfield
(2000). ............................................................................................................................. 107
Table 6.2. Freshwater Chronic Values from Acceptable Tests - Non-Reproductive Endpoints
(Parental Females Not Exposed). .................................................................................... 119

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1. Map indicating deposits of selenium in mining regions. .............................................. 6
Figure 2.2. Areas of western U.S. susceptible to selenium contamination (light gray) and where
agricultural land is irrigated (darker green). ....................................................................... 7
Figure 2.3. Diagram of selenium partitioning, bioaccumulation, and effects in the aquatic
environment. ..................................................................................................................... 25
Figure 2.4. Conceptual model for translating the selenium egg-ovary concentration to a water
column concentration. ....................................................................................................... 31
Figure 3.1. Distribution of reproductive-effect GMCVs for fish measured as egg-ovary
concentrations. .................................................................................................................. 47
Figure 3.2. Distribution of reproductive-effect GMCVs for fish, measured as egg-ovary
concentrations but converted to whole-body concentrations as shown in Table 6. .......... 50
Figure 3.3. Distribution of reproductive-effect GMCVs for fish, measured as egg-ovary
concentrations but converted to muscle concentrations as shown in Table 3.7................ 52
Figure 3.4. Example aquatic system scenarios and the derivation of the equation parameter
TTFcomposite. .................................................................................................................. 61
Figure 3.5. Effect of relative sample collection time on correlation coefficients of selenium
measurements in particulate material, and invertebrate and fish tissue. ........................... 66
Figure 3.6. Enrichment factors (EF) for 69 aquatic sites derived from published studies and
organized by waterbody type. ........................................................................................... 77
Figure 3.7. The relationship between C and C , and C and EF for the 27 lentic and
water particulate water
42 lotic aquatic systems. ................................................................................................... 79
Figure 3.8. Distribution of EF values for the same 69 aquatic systems as shown in Figure 3.6 and
3.7 grouped by lentic and lotic aquatic system categories. ............................................... 80
Figure 3.9. Probability distribution of the water column concentrations translated from the egg-
ovary criterion element at 20 lentic and 33 lotic aquatic sites. ......................................... 84
Figure 3.10. Illustration of intermittent spike exposure occurring for a certain percentage of time
(e.g., 10%) over a 30-day period, and background exposure occurring for the remaining
percentage of time (e.g., 90%). ......................................................................................... 87
Figure 6.1. Crutchfield (2000) observations of channel catfish (CCF) and largemouth bass
(LMB) in Hyco Reservoir beginning a few years after populations of largemouth bass
had been reduced by Se contamination. .......................................................................... 109
Figure 6.2. Distribution of (a) fish (Trophic Level 3) non-reproductive GMCVs for fish
measured as whole-body concentrations or muscle concentrations converted to whole
body, and (b) invertebrate (Trophic Level 2) GMCVs, and (c) the WB criterion
applicable to TL3. ........................................................................................................... 122
Figure 6.3. Distribution of fish reproductive effect GMCVs from Figure 3.2 and distribution of
fish nonreproductive effect GMCVs and invertebrate GMCVs from Figure 6.2. .......... 123
Figure 6.4. Scatter plot of predicted versus measured concentrations of selenium in fish. ........ 125
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NOTICE
This draft document has undergone a contractor-led external expert peer –review process,
as well as an EPA intra-agency review process following publication and public comments
received in July 2014. Final review by the Health and Ecological Criteria Division, Office of
Science and Technology, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has been completed, and the
draft is approved for publication.
When published in final form, this document will provide guidance to States and Tribes
authorized to establish water quality standards under the Clean Water Act (CWA), to protect
aquatic life from toxic effects of selenium. Under the CWA, States and Tribes are to establish
water quality criteria to protect designated uses. State and tribal decision makers retain the
discretion to adopt approaches on a case-by-case basis that differ from this guidance when
appropriate. While this document contains EPA’s draft scientific recommendations regarding
ambient concentrations of selenium that protect aquatic life, it does not substitute for the CWA
or EPA’s regulations; nor is it a regulation itself. Thus, it cannot impose legally-binding
requirements on EPA, States, Tribes, or the regulated community, and might not apply to a
particular situation based upon the circumstances. EPA may change this draft document in the
future. This document has been approved for publication by the Office of Science and
Technology, Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or
recommendation for use. This document can be downloaded from:
http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/criteria/aqlife.html

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FOREWORD
Section 304(a)(l) of the Clean Water Act of 1977 (P.L. 95-217) requires the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to publish water quality criteria that
accurately reflect the latest scientific knowledge on the kind and extent of all identifiable effects
on health and welfare that might be expected from the presence of pollutants in any body of
water, including ground water. This document is a second proposal of an updated chronic
ambient water quality criterion (AWQC) for the protection of aquatic life based upon
consideration of all available information relating to effects of selenium on aquatic organisms.
Comments from the general public and an external expert peer review panel on an earlier draft
published in the Federal Register in May, 2014 have been incorporated into this proposal.
The term "water quality criteria" is used in two sections of the Clean Water Act, section
304(a)(l) and section 303(c)(2). The term has a different program impact in each section. In
section 304, the term represents a non-regulatory, scientific assessment of ecological effects. The
criterion presented in this document is such a scientific assessment. If water quality criteria
associated with specific designated uses are adopted by a state as water quality standards under
section 303, and approved by EPA, they become enforceable maximum acceptable pollutant
concentrations in ambient waters within that state. Water quality criteria adopted in state water
quality standards could have the same numerical values as criteria developed under section 304.
However, states may adjust water quality criteria developed under section 304 to reflect local
environmental conditions and human exposure patterns. Alternatively, states may use different
data and assumptions than EPA in deriving numeric criteria that are scientifically defensible and
protective of designated uses. It is not until their adoption as part of state water quality standards,
and subsequent approval by EPA, that criteria become enforceable. Guidelines to assist the states
and Indian tribes in modifying the criteria presented in this document are contained in the Water
Quality Standards Handbook (U.S. EPA 1994), which along with additional guidance on the
development of water quality standards and other water-related programs of this agency have
been developed by the Office of Water.
This draft document is guidance only. It does not establish or affect legal rights or
obligations. It does not establish a binding norm and cannot be finally determinative of the issues
addressed. Agency decisions in any particular situation will be made by applying the Clean
Water Act and EPA regulations on the basis of specific facts presented and scientific information
then available.

Elizabeth Southerland
Director
Office of Science and Technology

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Technical Analysis Leads
Joseph Beaman, U.S. EPA, Office of Water, Office of Science and Technology, Health and
Ecological Criteria Division, Washington, DC
[email protected] (primary contact person)

Gary Russo, U.S. EPA, Office of Water, Office of Science and Technology, Standards and
Health Protection Division, Washington, DC
[email protected]

Charles Delos, U.S. EPA, Office of Water, Office of Science and Technology, Health and
Ecological Criteria Division, Washington, DC (retired)

U.S. EPA Office of Water Reviewers
Elizabeth Behl
Kathryn Gallagher
Lisa Huff
Michael Elias

Intra-Agency Panel Peer Reviewers (2014-2015)
Dale Hoff and Charles Stephan, U.S. EPA, Office of Research and Development, Mid-Continent
Ecology Division, Duluth, MN

Cindy Roberts, U.S. EPA, Office of Research and Development, Office of Science Policy,
Washington, DC

Jim Lazorchak, U.S. EPA, Office of Research and Development, National Exposure Research
Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH

Jeff Gallagher, U.S. EPA, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, Office of
Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Washington, DC

Laura Phillips, David Hair, and Scott Wilson, U.S. EPA, Office of Water, Office of Wastewater
Management, Washington, DC

Rosaura Conde, Ruth Chemerys, and Eric Monschein, U.S. EPA, Office of Water, Office of
Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds, Washington, DC

Lars Wilcut and Jim Keating, U.S. EPA, Office of Water, Office of Science and Technology,
Washington, DC

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Julianne McLaughlin, ORISE Postdoctoral Participant, Office of Water, Office of Science and
Technology, Washington, DC

Cheryl Atkinson and Frank Borsuk, U.S. EPA Region 3, Philadelphia, PA, and Wheeling, WV

Joel Hansel, U.S. EPA Region 4, Atlanta, GA

Dean (Robie) Anson, Candice Bauer, and Angela Vincent, U.S. EPA Region 5, Chicago, IL

Lareina Guenzel, U.S. EPA Region 8, Denver, CO

Diane Fleck, Eugenia McNaughton, and Daniel Oros, U.S. EPA Region 9, San Francisco, CA

Lisa Macchio, and Burt Shepard, U.S. EPA Region 10, Seattle, WA

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ACRONYMS
AE Assimilation Efficiency
AWQC Ambient Water Quality Criteria
BAF Bioaccumulation Factor
CF Conversion Factor
CV Chronic Value (expressed in this document as an EC10)
CWA Clean Water Act
dw Dry Weight
ECx Effect Concentration at X Percent Effect Level
EF Enrichment Factor
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
EO Egg Ovary
FCV Final Chronic Value
GMCV Genus Mean Chronic Value
IR Ingestion Rate
k Rate of selenium loss
e
k Rate of selenium uptake
u
LOEC Lowest Observed Effect Concentration
M Muscle
MATC Maximum Acceptable Toxicant Concentration (expressed mathematically as the
geometric mean of the NOEC and LOEC)
MDR Minimum Data Recommendations or Requirements
NPDES National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
NOEC No Observed Effect Concentration
SMCV Species Mean Chronic Value
TMDL Total Maximum Daily Load
TRAP EPA’s Statistical Program: Toxicity Relationship Analysis Program (Version
1.22)
TTF Trophic Transfer Factor
WB Whole body
WQBELS Water Quality-based Effluent Limitations
WQC Water Quality Criteria
WQS Water Quality Standards
ww Wet Weight

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