Regional Workbench Consortium

Regional Workbench Consortium - Using the Technologies of Tomorrow for the Problems of Today

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3m. Relationship Between Ecological and Human Health Research
http://www-apps.niehs.nih.gov/sbrp/eag/web/3m.html
USEPA’s Superfund statutory authority mandates that it protect both human and ecological health at hazardous waste sites. The protection of human health has received more attention by the public, the USEPA, and other federal and state site managers. However, recently increased emphasis has been placed on the development of technologies and data to better assess ecological health. Now, a risk assessment is prepared for each site that includes separate assessments of human health and the ecological impacts of a site.

The Program’s broad mandates enable its investigators to conduct ecological research that is enhancing our ability to assess or predict the damage that hazardous substances cause to ecosystems. Multidisciplinary SBRP investigators are positioned to use the tools and approaches developed for human studies and apply them to ecological studies. In turn, not only are human studies used to advance ecological studies, but the converse is also applicable. Understanding changes at an ecological level can also be predictors of health effects in humans.

Significant areas of study that need to be addressed include:

Conduct wildlife impact studies that more fully assess complex ecological conditions that can then be used to 1) develop remedial options that are protective and cost-effective; and 2) assess whether the remedial action was effective in reducing risk to ecological systems.\
Identify wildlife species that can be used as biomonitors of chemical exposure and potentially apply them to human health risk assessments.
Conduct bioavailability studies in sentinel species, particularly at large complex sites, such as contaminated sediment sites
Conduct food web studies to evaluate how toxic contaminants in water and sediments travel through the food chain, which can impact entire ecosystems and pose a potential human health threat.