Current status of sport fish consumption advisories for PCBs in the Great Lakes.

During the past two decades, there have been a number of efforts to harmonize the advice given by different jurisdictions to consumers of sport-caught fish from the Great Lakes. Five years ago, an eight-state task force arrived at consensus recommendations with respect to fish consumption advisories for PCB-contaminated fish from these bodies of water. This report will examine the impacts of these efforts on advisories in these eight states and also how these state advisories compare to that of the Province of Ontario which shares some of these Great Lakes. Careful analyses of the differences among jurisdictions in recommendations and in the bases for these recommendations will illustrate the difficulties in achieving complete consensus. It will be shown that there are a large number of choices that must be made in developing an advisory and that these choices depend largely on policy considerations rather than science. Examples of these policy choices include whether to adjust measured fish concentrations for PCB losses due to preparation and cooking and whether to adjust PCB concentrations to account for nonfish sources of PCBs. Considering the variations among jurisdictions with respect to managing the risks from contaminants in various environmental media, it appears unlikely that uniformity can be achieved unless a regional rather than a state by state approach is taken. Whether a regional or a state by state approach is taken, the information in this report can be used to structure the fish consumption advisory decision-making process.

Anglers' attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors as impacted by the Michigan Fish Consumption Advisory.

This study examines the relationship between a person's knowledge that a current ego-involving behavior may include health risks and the undertaking of a subsequent behavior change to reduce this risk. Specifically, 396 licensed anglers were surveyed concerning their beliefs about the health risks of consuming sport-caught fish, their knowledge of the risk information contained in the Michigan Fish Consumption Advisory, and their personal fish consumption behavior. Sixty-five percent of the anglers surveyed reported reading part or all of the Michigan Fish Consumption Advisory; however, as a group, they perceived the risks from eating sport-caught fish as small.

Environmental risk harmonization: federal/state approaches to risk assessment and management.

As environmental laws and regulations have evolved in recent years, disparities have arisen in the assessment and management of similar risks by different governmental units. Such inconsistencies have had several adverse impacts. One is that resources may not be used most effectively to reduce risks and a second is that public confidence in government may be eroded and thus support for environmental protection. This article presents a summary of a conference and workshop that was held to address the sources of these disharmonies in risk assessment and risk management and to make recommendations as to how to improve the situation. It includes international, national, and state perspectives and utilizes a case study to illustrate the variety of issues associated with harmonizing risk assessment and risk management among governmental units. The workshop summaries demonstrate that, while there are presently many areas of disagreement, there are also significant issues upon which agreement can be reached and which can serve as the basis for further harmonization efforts.

Deposition of malathion and permethrin on sod grass after single, ultra-low volume applications in a suburban neighborhood in Michigan.

Deposition of malathion and permethrin onto grass surfaces, after ultra-low volume (ULV) application, was studied in a suburban neighborhood in Saginaw County, Michigan. Commercial concentrates of malathion (Cythion ULV) and permethrin (Biomist 4 + 12) were sprayed using a truck-mounted ULV aerosol generator. Sod-grass blocks (0.18 m2) were placed in the frontyard and backyard of homes in the neighborhood at 4 distances to 91.4 m from the road where applications were made. Grass samples were taken from the sod blocks before application and at 15 min, 12 h, 24 h, and 36 h after application. Samples were extracted with solvent, and extractions were subjected to gas-liquid chromatography for detection of malathion and permethrin. Ranges of detection for malathion were 0.0-16.6 mg/0.18 m2 and for permethrin were 0.0-25.9 mg/0.18 m2. Most detections were from samples taken nearest the road at 15 min after application. Detections declined as a logarithmic function of time after application and as an exponential function of distance from the road.

Female reproductive and developmental toxicology: overview and current approaches.

In recent years, concern about possible female reproductive and developmental toxicity due to environmental contaminants, such as PCBs, has been growing. Because this area of toxicology had not been emphasized prior to this time, there are many gaps in current knowledge about female developmental and reproductive toxicology and only a limited number of validated tests to assay effects of toxicants on various parts of the reproductive and developmental cycle. This article reviews the current state of knowledge on this topic and also explores a variety of techniques for assessing female reproductive and developmental toxicity. These include an assay of the state of intercellular communication among the embryo, fetus and placenta; protocols for assessing toxicity in early pregnancy; and techniques for evaluating the role of glutathione in protecting the conceptus from xenobiotics.

Assessment of human exposure to chemicals from Superfund sites.

Assessing human exposure to chemicals from Superfund sites requires knowledge of basic physical, chemical, and biological processes occurring in the environment and specific information about the local environment and population in the vicinity of sites of interest. Although progress is being made in both areas, there is still a tremendous amount to be done. Participants at this meeting have identified several of the areas in need of greater understanding, and they are listed below. Movement of dissolved and volatile organics, especially NAPLs, in the subsurface environment. This includes study of the partitioning of compounds between NAPLs, air, water, and soil. Partitioning of volatilized chemicals between gaseous and aerosol components of the atmosphere. This includes understanding how these components influence both wet and dry deposition. Long-term movement from sediments into biota and how these affect chronic toxicity to sediment biota. Broad validation of PBPK models describing partitioning of compounds from sediment and water into fish. Reactions of chemicals sorbed to atmospheric particles. This includes application of laboratory models to real and varied atmospheric conditions. Interactions between biotic and abiotic transformations in soil and sediment. Applicability of physiological pharmacokinetic models developed in laboratory studies of experimental animals and clinical investigations of humans to environmental chemicals, concentrations, and routes of exposure in humans. Use of human and wildlife behavioral and biomonitoring information to estimate exposure. This includes better understanding of human variability and the applicability of information gathered from particular wildlife species. To successfully address these gaps in our knowledge, much more analytical data must be collected.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Workshop on the health effects of HCl in ambient air.

This article presents a summary of the proceedings of the Workshop on the Health Effects of HCl in Ambient Air, held in Detroit, Michigan, on October 15, 1990. Participants addressed three topic areas: sources, levels, and chemistry of HCl in ambient air; toxicity of atmospheric HCI to humans and animals; and the need for future research on toxicity and exposure. Consensus conclusions related to each of these topic areas, arising form the deliberations of the workshop participants, are presented. These include: (1) atmospheric HCl will most commonly exist in the gaseous form; (2) long-range transport of HCl is probably of limited importance; (3) ambient HCI levels are in the low parts per billion range; (4) irritation of the upper airways appears to be the most sensitive indicator of exposure; (5) such effects are likely to occur only at exposure levels much greater than those measured in ambient air; and (6) future health research should focus on occupationally exposed populations and potentially sensitive subgroups, e.g., asthmatics.

Workshop on human health impacts of halogenated biphenyls and related compounds.

A workshop on the Human Health Impacts of Halogenated Biphenyls and Related Compounds was held to assess the state of current research on these chemicals and to make recommendations for future studies. Participants discussed results from laboratory animal experiments on PCBs, PBBs, dioxins, and dibenzofurans which demonstrate a common mode of toxicological action while also revealing large variations in toxicological potency both within and between these chemical families. These variations demonstrate the importance of congener-specific analyses in future studies of effects of exposure to these compounds. Results from epidemiological studies of environmentally exposed adult and pediatric populations from the U.S., Japan, and Taiwan and occupationally exposed cohorts from around the world were considered. It was concluded that available evidence did not demonstrate serious adverse effects such as cancer, in exposed adult cohorts but did provide indications of possible neurobehavioral effects in children exposed in utero. In addition, workshop participants described newly developed markers of exposure and techniques for assessing endocrinological, immunological, and neurological effects and suggested these be applied to epidemiological studies of the effects of polyhalogenated compounds. Other recommendations included identification of other cohorts and development of a large registry of exposed individuals; performance of detailed studies of reproductive function and outcomes in exposed populations; and follow up of neurobehavioral effects in offspring of exposed women.

Data base selection in toxicological risk assessment and management.

In recent years, there has been increasing awareness of the differences in maximum allowable levels developed by the various federal regulatory agencies. It has generally been presumed that the variation in levels arises from differences in risk management decisions, i.e., how the data are used. This study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that differences in choice of data to utilize also have a significant impact on interagency variation. To test this hypothesis, a comparison was made between the data bases used by the EPA Office of Drinking Water and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in setting maximum levels for pesticides in drinking water and workplace air, respectively. The results show that the same data are only infrequently used as bases for both types of regulatory levels. The study also indicates that the differences in data selection cannot be ascribed to factors related to the applicability of different data for the two types of exposures--drinking water and workplace air. There are essentially no differences in the data with respect to route of exposure, species (laboratory animals vs humans), or length of exposure. No obvious scientific basis for the differences was found. Other possible selection factors are discussed.

Reducing uncertainty in risk assessment.

This article presents a summary of the proceedings of the Symposium and Workshop on Reducing Uncertainty in Risk Assessment, held at Michigan State University, on May 18-19, 1987. Participants addressed four topic areas: safety factors in noncarcinogen risk assessment; relevance of biological data in risk assessment; upper and lower bounds in carcinogenic risk assessment; and exposure assessment. One additional issue, risk communication, was discussed as a result of participant interest. Consensus recommendations in these five areas, resulting from the deliberations of the workshop groups, are presented. In addition to the specific recommendations, some general conclusions could be drawn. One was that the increased understanding of underlying mechanisms of toxicity, gained in the last decade, should be incorporated as much as possible into the risk assessment process. A second conclusion was that more effort should be devoted to increasing this understanding and developing the best methods for applying this knowledge to risk assessment. Last, more effort should be made to improve the communication of these assessments to the public and to policy makers so that the best and most complete information is utilized in risk management decisions.