Environmental risk assessment reports chapter 23

448 A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT REPORTSdetailed chemical, environmental, and legal information because they support teach-ing programs and research.. Depending on

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CHAPTER 23

Scientific Library Research

for Risk Assessment

Kathy Malec and David A Belluck

CONTENTS

I Introduction 447

II Library Resources 448

A Electronic Media 448

B Surfing the Net for Risk Assessment Data 449

C Hard Copy 452

III Selected Environmental Information Sources 455

IV Conclusion 455

I INTRODUCTION

Library research is one of the most important factors in the development of a successful risk assessment Modern environmental research libraries contain jour-nals, reference books, government documents, and CD-ROMs (containing important guidance documents, laws, and databases) They allow access to resident or on-line public and commercial technical databases, and library holdings around the nation.

Documents not immediately available on research library shelves can usually be quickly obtained via interlibrary loan requests

Library staff are indispensable guides through the sometimes bewildering array

of hard copy and electronic media resources They understand the strengths of the different resources that are integral to their mission For example, public libraries, especially larger libraries, contain basic reference works, directories, and indexes to scientific literature A number are also depositories for a variety of federal govern-ment docugovern-ments University/college libraries contain a more substantial amount of

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448 A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT REPORTS

detailed chemical, environmental, and legal information because they support teach-ing programs and research Federal, state, and local government agencies support numerous technical libraries Many federal agencies and their field components maintain libraries For example, EPA has libraries in Washington, D.C., in many of its regional offices, and in various EPA laboratories around the country This type

of arrangement is mirrored by other federal agencies In addition, small but important library collections may be held in hard copy, microfiche, or electronic form by government agency division, sections, bureaus, or offices Depending on the orga-nization of the state government, there may be pollution control, natural resources, health department, or other state libraries containing information needed for risk assessment research Many city or county governments have substantial environ-mental programs with a library or collection of materials helpful for risk assessment research The type of library needed varies with the focus and technical rigor of a risk assessment report.

II LIBRARY RESOURCES

A Electronic Media

Risk assessors and risk assessment project teams use library resources to define the risks associated with environmental releases and known media contamination They want the most recent data available in order to ensure the usefulness of their risk report and findings At the same time, they need to build a large body of information

of historical, technical, and policy information that will be used in the risk assessment report After defining the level of scientific rigor needed to answer their questions, risk researchers head for the technical library to begin their work.

An important first step in any risk assessment project is to confer with technical librarians about a given research problem These professionals can save the researcher considerable time in finding answers to their problems by acting as a guide to library resources In many cases, technical librarians are also trained to perform computer database searches Modern libraries offer many services and data sources that are not obvious to the researcher and can differ significantly among libraries.

Risk assessment researchers need to determine the types of data they require to perform their risk assessment Will general publications for lay audiences suffice or will highly technical publications targeted at a narrow band of specialists be required? Does the researcher need publications from a geographic region, a partic-ular language, or from a particpartic-ular time period? Is historical data or cutting edge data needed? Answers to these questions will determine the types of library resources

a researcher will need to obtain and will help a technical librarian to focus their suggestions for your research.

One of the most powerful tools currently available to risk assessment researchers

is the computer database search For many researchers, this type of search has replaced handsearching abstracting service hard copies still found in most technical libraries Whether they are resident on CD-ROMs or via telephone connections to

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SCIENTIFIC LIBRARY RESEARCH FOR RISK ASSESSMENT 449

remote computer sites, computer database searches offer the researcher a way to scan the world’s literature Searching languages used by computer databases can range from simple logic to highly stylized syntax that must be precisely followed

Selection of single or multiple key words to use in a computer database search

is a critical initial step in data acquisition Using dioxin as an example, a researcher might match the key word dioxin (or dioxins) to the media of concern (e.g., ground-water, soil, air), human or environmental health, or a specific organism Computer databases allow the user to combine words to expand the scope of a search or to limit the number of possible data sources that would contain a specific combination

of key words

Many libraries maintain computer accessible databases at no cost to users These same libraries may also have access to government or commercial databases that operate on a pay as you go basis The more complex the search the more it costs to run.

There are a great many databases available to the risk assessment researcher.

There are so many that contain environmental information, in fact, that it would be

an advantage to the researcher to learn about the variety available An excellent survey of the breadth available is Environment Online: The Greening of Databases

(Eight Bit Books, Wilson, CT, 1992) The book was originally published as a series

of three articles in Database magazine It includes a number of other columns published in Database and Online magazines, as well as chapters on environmental information in general interest, scientific and technical, and business and regulatory databases; a list of environmental terms and phrases; search tips; and strategies for locating legislative materials, legal literature, and information from the Federal

also help the risk researcher evaluate information located during a database search.

Table 1 presents a summary of available databases, vendors, ease of use, cost, and helpful and explanatory notes

There are numerous and ever-increasing numbers of private and public databases available commercially as on-line systems or as CD-ROMs One of the best com-pilations of these services can be found in Environment Online.

It is often necessary to have indepth training to effectively use a given database.

Consult with a reference librarian to determine if you should perform a given database search yourself or with the assistance of a librarian trained and experienced

in using a particular database.

B Surfing the Net for Risk Assessment Data

The Internet has become a key source of toxicological and other data used in risk assessment Risk assessment data on the Internet can come from government and private vendors While finding risk assessment related sites is not difficult, deter-mining which key terms will access important sites can be difficult Search engines (e.g., Yahoo, Lycos, Magellan, Excite, and Alta Vista) are used to find risk assessment related sites These are sites where typing in key terms (e.g., toxicology, risk assess-ment) and hitting enter will result in a database search and display of sites which match your terms Each search engine has its own strength and weaknesses and should be evaluated by the user for his or her own purposes Once a search engine

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Table 1 U.S EPA Environmental Information Documents

Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office, ECAO-Cin, 26 Martin Luther King Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268

Prepares human health-based risk assessment documents and conducts toxicology research Serves as focal point for the collection, summarization, evaluation, and assessment of toxicology data for environmental pollutants Call 513-569-7531

Environmental Information Management: A State Resource Guide, Information Sharing Branch, Information Management and Services Division, Office of Information Resources Management (PM-211D), U.S

EPA, Washington, D.C 20460

Brief compilation of environmental information sources

Environmental Law: A Selective, Annotated Bibliography and Guide to Legal Research, May 1993, Library Management Series, EPA 220-B-93-009

An outstanding reference guide to resources

in environmental law

Environmental Monitoring Assessment Program (EMAP), 401 M Street, SW, Washington, D.C 20460

Provides framework for integrating existing and new environmental data Supplies environmental data to EPA’s Center for Environmental Statistics Call

202-260-7238 for assistance

EPA Locator Call 202-260-2090 for U.S EPA employee

telephone numbers

EPA Telephone Directory (EPA Headquarters Telephone Directory- WITS Edition)

This indispensable document contains telephone numbers for U.S EPA regional and field components Call GPO at 202-260-2118 to order the latest edition

Ground-Water Research Technical Assistance Directory

Contact Office of Research and Development, Washington, D.C for latest edition

Guide to Key Environmental Statistics in the U.S Government, Center for

Environmental Statistics, Office of Policy, Planning and Evaluation, U.S EPA, 410 M Street, SW, Washington, D.C 20460

Programs generating key environmental statistics Call 202-260-3726

Health Effects Summary Tables (HEAST) Provides summary tables of toxicology data,

some of which may be on the IRIS system

Contact NTIS at 703-487-4650 or 800-336-4700

Information Systems Inventory (ISI) Computerized inventory of EPA data

systems Updated summaries of more than

500 EPA data systems Available through NTIS or EPA libraries

Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Up-to-date health risk and EPA regulatory

information for selected chemicals For many regulatory agencies, IRIS data supersedes all other data sources

Available via computer hookup IRIS user support at 513-569-7254

National Computer Center (NCC), Research Triangle Park, NC 27711

Most of EPA’s mission critical data systems reside at this facility For information concerning access to these databases call 800-334-2405 or 919-541-7862

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computer opening up the home page of the selected site From this point it is a matter of exploring the site, clicking on each offered subject, or using a site search engine to narrow the list of possible pages to be individually evaluated by the user

There are several excellent sites offered by U.S government agencies They include the ATSDR and U.S EPA websites Many of the publications listed by these sites can be downloaded to a personal computer, for example from the U.S EPA’s on-line library service, http://cave.epa.gov Many of the databases listed in these sites are searchable and the information sources or references they list are readable and can be downloaded Examples of what these two sites offer for risk assessment projects are listed below.

1 ATSDR (http://atsdr1.atsdr.cdc.gov:8080/atsdrhome.html)

• HazDat, ATSDR’s Hazardous Substance Release/Health Effects Database

• ToxFAQs, short, easy to read summaries about hazardous substances excerpted from ATSDR Toxicological Profiles

• Public Health Statements, easy to read summaries of many hazardous sub-stances

• A Primer on Health Risk Communication Principles and Practices, a practical guide for effectively communicating health risk information to the general public

• Cluster Version 3.1, PC/DOS software to help researchers determine the statis-tical significance of a disease cluster

• Access to the Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESN) Gateway, a way to obtain datasets from other organizations, containing environmental, earth science, and global change information

• Case Studies in Environmental Medicine, an excellent series of documents that relate chemical exposures to human disease

• Information Center Bookmarks to Web Resources, a comprehensive listing of extremely useful computer accessible information sources for risk assessors

• Electronic links to the Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and U.S EPA

2 U.S EPA (http://www.epa.gov/epahome/index.html)

• Rules, regulations, and legislation

• U.S EPA publications

• Environmental test methods and guidelines

• EPA datasytems and software

• Finding EPA information libraries, hotlines, and information locators

Each program office has its own home page from which information can be accessed For example, persons working on pesticide risk analyses can access the Office of Pesticide Programs and obtain the following types of information:

1 Reregistration Eligibility Decisions (REDs) and RED fact sheets

2 The “Rainbow Report” on pesticide reregistration review status of individual pes-ticides

3 Pesticide (re)registration progress reports

4 Special Review Reports

5 Environmental Federal Register Notices

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6 Pesticide Effects on Health and the Environment — At the time of writing this site was under construction It will offer reports and databases which EPA uses to determine the impact of specific pesticides on health and the environment This site notes that the following resources are useful for this purpose

• Pesticide Information Network (PIN) bulletin board system that provides an on-line collection of files containing current and historic pesticide information

Currently available information includes the Pesticide Monitoring Inventory (PMI) (including the Pesticides in Ground Water Database), the Ecological Incident Information System (EIIS), a Regulatory Status database, and a Bio-logical Pesticides dataset

7 GOP (http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html)

• Code of Federal Regulations (all titles)

• Federal Register, 1995 to date

• Public laws

• Congressional documents, bills, hearings

• U.S government manual

C Hard Copy

The world of risk assessment and its associated sciences and disciplines are in a constant state of change Keeping up with these changes means learning effective use of environmental library resources While computer databases provide an excel-lent and efficient method to find relevant citations, the risk assessment researcher must still rely on hard copies of texts, government documents, reference materials, and telephone contacts with appropriate persons in the private and public sectors.

Although data in these printed works can rapidly become obsolete (e.g., changes in telephone numbers, addresses and key personnel, regulatory concentrations), they offer a wealth of background information vital in the development of a risk assess-ment Examples of such documents include:

• Clayton, George D and Clayton, Florence E., Eds., Patty’s Industrial Hygiene and

published in six parts Compounds are included in classes of substances, e.g., metals, epoxy compounds, or esters Each chapter discusses various human and animal studies which have been conducted on the class of compounds

Tables of contents of a large number of journals, published weekly, in several parts

Of particular interest are: agriculture, biology, and environmental sciences; engi-neering, technology, and applied sciences; physical, chemical, and earth sciences;

and life sciences

Agency, Policy, Planning and Evaluation report no EPA 230/09/90/081, Washing-ton, D.C Includes general information on how to identify hazardous substances

in the environment; how to estimate risk; and government programs to reduce risk and inform the public of possible risks It also contains a glossary of terms; a

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bibliography of EPA publications on hazardous substances; and directories of state and EPA contacts, and private and nonprofit organizations

Spring-field, VA, 1970 - present Published quarterly Contains abstracts of EPA publica-tions published by NTIS The October-December issue contains indices for the entire year In addition, there are presently, cumulations for 1970-1976, 1977-1983, and 1984-l990 Documents are indexed by title, key word, personal and corporate author, sponsoring office, and report number The user should keep in mind, however, that not every EPA document is distributed by NTIS and that EPA offices should be contacted directly if the publication cannot be located elsewhere A complete NTIS database is also available on CD-ROM

quarterly publication with annual cumulations, this index contains a section on toxicology and health, including toxicology of pesticides, heavy metals, and agri-cultural chemicals, and the effects of toxic materials on humans, other animals, and plants Pollution Abstracts is also available in some libraries on CD-ROMs as part of a database called Poltox

Division, Office of Information Resources Management, U.S Environmental Pro-tection Agency, Washington, D.C Published annually An extremely valuable tool for obtaining information from the U.S EPA The volume contains clearinghouses and hotlines (e.g., Superfund), EPA and state agency libraries, and major EPA dockets

MD, Published periodically Contains a detailed breakdown of various EPA offices

in Washington, in the regions, and at the environmental laboratories located nation-wide Indices by subject and personnel title are included

Published annually Detailed directory to Federal legislative committees and sub-committees, the U.S EPA headquarters, other Federal agencies dealing with envi-ronmental issues (including the Dept of Agriculture, Dept of Energy, Health and Human Services, and Dept of Fish and Wildlife), and state environmental agencies

Also includes a list of clearinghouses and hotlines from the EPA, DOT, and U.S

Coast Guard, and other agencies Since this directory is published annually, it is probably more reliable than the EPA Headquarters Directory for correct telephone numbers It is also much easier to use

Insti-tutes, Rockville, MD In addition to the governmental sources included in the

orga-nizations (e.g., Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, the National Environmental Association, and the Sierra Club), publications, and databases

quarterly By far the most up to date directory available It includes the departments and the independent agencies (e.g., U.S EPA) of the Federal government Under each major division, there is a detailed breakdown of offices and staff Indices are both by personal name and by major office There are no index entries for the offices listed under departments/agencies (e.g., Office of Solid Waste and Emer-gency Response), however, so users need to refer to the department/aEmer-gency entry

in order to locate a specific office

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government agencies and programs; research facilities and educational programs;

clearinghouses and hotlines; publications; databases; and library collections Entries

on risk assessment and toxicology, for example, include the Center for Risk Man-agement, Risk Science Research Center, Syracuse Research Center, Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory, Toxicological and Environmental Chemistry, and the Toxics Use Reduction Institute It also includes an appendix containing the EPA National Priorities List Some of this information will become dated (e.g., Federal telephone number changes), so an updated version should be consulted if available This sourcebook is a good starting place for those unfamiliar with the field

no EPA/600JK-93J006, Washington, D.C Includes various EPA programs and staff with their areas of expertise and telephone numbers This volume is particu-larly valuable for contacts in various areas such as Risk Assessment Forum, Office

of Health Research, Health Effects Research Laboratory, and Office of Health and Environmental Assessment The contacts contained in this directory would be particularly valuable in interpreting regulation language and for sources for par-ticular kinds of information

• Howard, Philip, H., Ed., Handbook of Environmental Fate and Exposure Data for

this series to date: Large Production and Priority Pollutants (vol 1), Solvents (vol

in each volume were selected from chemicals included in the National Library of Medicine’s (NLM) Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) Listed for each chemical (if data are available) are substance identification, chemical and physical properties, toxicity and environmental fate, and exposure potential (e.g., natural and artificial sources, terrestrial, aquatic and atmospheric fate, and biodegradation)

• Lewis, R J., Dangerous Properties of Industrial Materials, 1992 and 1993 Update, 8th ed., Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York Volume 1 is an index by chemical name and includes many synonyms for each chemical The information included for each chemical varies widely, depending on the information available The basic record includes synonyms, Chemical Abstracts number, formula and molecular weight, dose information, inclusion in various federal government hazardous chem-ical lists, and available references

11th ed., Merck & Co., Rathway, NJ A new edition of this index is published approximately every 8 or 9 years It includes physical descriptions, chemical properties, history of research, and indices by chemical name, synonym, formula, and Chemical Abstracts number

Data Corp., Park Ridge, NJ Presently published in two volumes and contains Pesticide Fact Sheets issued by the U.S EPA, arranged alphabetically, with numer-ical, common name, generic name, and trade name indexes They include descrip-tion of chemicals; use pattern and formuladescrip-tions; science findings (including toxicological characteristics, oncogenicity, mutagenicity, and teratogenicity); mary of regulatory positions and rationales; summary of labeling statements; sum-mary of major data gaps; and the name of the contact person at the EPA

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III SELECTED ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION SOURCES

Information presented in this chapter is designed to help the reader locate information sources and information that could be critical to his or her project Many of the sources listed in this primer should be used as a first contact for finding information.

For example, when calling the Safe Drinking Water Hotline, you may want to obtain very technical documents or information that persons working for the Hotline may not have or be qualified to answer However, they can find out who in EPA has the documents you need or the technical person you need to contact This basic method works well if you have patience and don’t give up as you get bounced from office

to office in your search for a person to help you get the information you need Since institutions are constantly changing their internal structures and telephone numbers, the reader is advised that the addresses and telephone numbers provided can change

at any time The reader should obtain an organization’s general telephone number from commercial telephone directories to locate telephone numbers that have changed since publication of this book (see Tables 1 – 6 ).

IV CONCLUSION

Each section of a risk assessment report requires specific types of information.

Information can be obtained by mail from private and public organizations or through library research Modern environmental research libraries and their professional staffs offer the researcher an electronic and paper highway to find appropriate references for use in their risk analysis.

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Table 2 Clearinghouses, Hotlines, Bulletin Boards, and Docket

GENERAL Clearinghouses, Hotlines,

Bulletin Boards, and Dockets

Clearinghouses are central access points for technical reports and documents

Hotlines and bulletin boards provide access to information for persons via telephone or computers Dockets are collections of documents used by EPA to make regulatory decisions

Center for Environmental Research (CERI)

Exchange of scientific and technical information

513-569-7562

environmental information 202-260-5917

Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse

Reference library, electronic reference, hotline, and outreach efforts 703-821-4800

AIR AND RADIATION Air Docket Public record information

on Clean Air Act matters

202-260-7548

Air Risk Information Support Center (AIR RISC) Hotline

Toxic pollutant health, exposure, and risk assessment 919-541-0888

BACT/LAER Clearinghouse

Best Available Control Technology at Lowest Achievable Emission Rate Air pollution control technology information related to new source review permitting requirements 919-541-2376

Control Technology Center (CTC) Hotline

Air emissions and air pollution control technology for all pollutants 919-541-0800

EPA Model Clearinghouse Interpretations of modeling

guidance Electronic bulletin board 919-541-5683

National Air Toxics Information Clearinghouse (NATICH)

Noncriteria air pollutants and air toxics control program development

919-541-0850

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