introduction to superfund
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Introduction to Superfund. UNC Superfund Research Program Sarah Yelton , M.S. Funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Central Questions. What is a hazardous waste site? What is a Superfund Site? How can you identify these sites in your community? - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
+
Introduction to Superfund
UNC Superfund Research Program Sarah Yelton, M.S.
Funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
+ Central Questions
What is a hazardous waste site?
What is a Superfund Site?
How can you identify these sites in your community?
How is hazardous waste cleaned up?
How can you incorporate Superfund topics into your classroom?
+According to the EPA…
One in four Americans lives within 4 miles of a hazardous waste site, yet many US citizens are unaware of these sites and their implications for human health.
To search for EPA clean-up sites in your community: http://www.epa.gov/cimc
+Cleanups in My Communitya mapping and listing tool that shows where pollution is being or has been cleaned up under EPA's Superfund, RCRA and/or Brownfields cleanup programs.
+What is Superfund? Also known as the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA).
Established by Congress in 1980 to clean up the country’s worst hazardous waste sites;
Locates, investigates, cleans up and monitors hazardous waste sites throughout the US;
Works with communities to return hazardous waste sites to safe and productive sites;
Administered through the Environmental Protection Agency in cooperation with state and tribal governments.Source: EPA, http://www.epa.gov/superfund/index.htm
+What is a Superfund Site?
“A Superfund site is any land in the United States that has been contaminated by hazardous waste and identified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a candidate for cleanup because it poses a risk to human health and/or the environment.”
- US Environmental Protection Agency
+The ATSDR 2013 Substance Priority List ARSENIC
LEAD
MERCURY
VINYL CHLORIDE
POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS
BENZENE
CADMIUM
BENZO(A)PYRENE
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/SPL/index.html
These substances are most commonly found at facilities on the National Priorities List (NPL) and are determined to pose
the most significant potential threat to human health due to their known or suspected toxicity and
potential for human exposure at these NPL
sites.
+Toxic Chemicals Can:
Interact with macromolecules within the body
Impair or inhibit metabolic processes
Induce mutations in DNA (mutagenic)
May increase the risk of cancer by altering cellular metabolism or damaging DNA directly (carcinogenic)
Impair reproduction
Induce birth defects (teratogenic)
+How do we measure contaminants?
The concentration of a contaminant in water or soil is often reported in parts or million (ppm) or parts per billion (ppb).
Toxic chemicals present in even ppm or ppb amounts can be harmful to human health.
+Bioaccumulation vs BiomagnificationBioaccumulation
Concentration of a pollutant within an organism Body Burden refers to the amount of pollution
present in an organism Pollution of the human body begins before birth
Biomagnification Concentration of a pollutant within a food chain
PCBs, DDT, Mercury, Arsenic, Dioxin
+
http://www.seathos.org/what-is-bio-magnification/
+National Priority List (NPL) Superfund Sites
Site Status as of July 22, 2014 51 sites proposed for the NPL 1319 NPL sites 1158 NPL sites with physical cleanup
construction completed 382 deleted sites
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/query/queryhtm/npltotal.htm
North Carolina
National Priority List of Superfund sites (July 2014)
42 sites: 39 final; 3 deletedhttp://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/where.htmhttp://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/status.htm
+Hazardous Waste:How do we Clean it Up?
“Dredging of Pollutants Begins in Hudson” New York Times, May 15,
2009
+Superfund Clean Up Timeline
Discovery of Contaminated Site
Preliminary Assessment/Inspection
NPL Site Listing Process
Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study
Records of Decision
Remedial Design & Action
Construction Completion
NPL Deletion
Site Reuse/Redevelopment
=Clean-Up
+Remediation of contaminated soil
Remediation Use a detergent to clean
contaminated soil Thermal desorption Isolate contaminated area
Concrete dikes Cap with impervious
layers of plastic/clay
Bioremediation Allow natural processes to
breakdown contaminant Biostimulation
+Soil Remediation Challenges
Underground
Ground water moves 1 meter/yr
Many complex interactions with soil constituents
Expensive!
www.epa.gov/.../sites/PAD003058047/photos.htm
+Remediation of contaminated water
Prevent spreading Skim contaminant from surface Mix and aerate to promote
natural clean up Clean up contaminated
sediments Dredge Place a cover over them Allow natural processes to
break them down Allow natural processes to
breakdown contaminant
Surface Water
+Remediation of contaminated water
Pump and treat and return to ground
Containment Allow natural processes
to breakdown contaminant
Groundwater
+Who pays for Superfund cleanup?
Until 1995, funded by a tax on petroleum and chemical industries $1.6 billion was collected and the tax went to a trust fund
for cleaning up abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites.
Trust fund was exhausted by the end of FY 2003
Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) are first in line, if they can be identified
If no PRPs identified, funds can be appropriated by Congress out of general revenues
+ Superfund in the Classroom
“Students read background information about Superfund; discuss relevant Superfund sites in NC.”
Stacy Rinehart, 7th grade science, Wake County Schools
“Working in groups, students research different Superfund sites in NC. Students use worksheets to simplify the technical information.”
John Cardarelli, 6th grade science, Winston Salem Schools
+Investigating a Superfund Site of InterestSuperfund Sites, EPA Region 4
http://www.epa.gov/region04/superfund/sites/sites.html
+Investigating a Superfund Site of Interest
+
+Superfund in the Classroom
How might you use this website inquiry with students?
How might you incorporate this site into your class (e.g., guest speaker, etc.)?
How have you covered Superfund and/or hazardous waste topics with your class in the past?
+ UNC Superfund Research Program
Advances the scientific knowledge required to understand and reduce risks to human health associated with several of the highest priority
chemicals regulated under the Superfund program, namely polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and chlorinated
hydrocarbons (TCE and PCB).
+UNC Superfund Research Program
Biomedical Research Projects Toxicity caused by Oxidative Stress (e.g., DNA
Damage) Toxicity of Trichloroethylene (TCE) Cadmium Induced Toxicity
Cleanup (Remediation) Research Projects Bioremediation of PAH contaminated soil Bioavailability of toxic compounds in water and
sediment
Faculty Research Projects:
+ Biomedical Research
How dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs ) damage DNA
Metabolism of trichloroethylene (TCE) in the bodyInfluence of maternal cadmium exposure on newborn birth weight
+ Remediation (Cleanup) Research
How well PAH-contaminated soil is cleaned up using bioremediationDevelopment of passive sampling devices to measure longer term environmental exposures
+
Research TranslationGetting Science into Application
+Dr. Rebecca Fry: Toxic Metals and Your Health
Studies the relationship between toxic metals in the environment and detrimental health effects, particularly in children.
Studying children’s health effects related to prenatal exposure to cadmium in North Carolina
With DHHS, mapped the presence of toxic metals in well water throughout the state
+Toxic metals: Arsenic
Is there the potential for exposure in North Carolina?
Is there the potential for exposure in vulnerable populations?
Is there a risk of exposure from food?
How do metals impact our health?
+Arsenic occurs naturally
20th most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust
A known multiple organ carcinogen
Non-cancer endpoints
+Sources of arsenic
Treated wood
Pesticides or herbicides
Industrial by-products Smelting Coal Emissions
Food Juices, Rice, Seafood
Drinking water
+
Smedley, Pauline L.. 2008 Sources and distribution of arsenic in groundwater and aquifers. In: Appelo, Tony, (ed.) Arsenic in Groundwater : a World Problem. British Geological Survey
Arsenic: continues to poison the water of millions around the globe
+
2009
75,000 people
>63,000 wells over 10 yrs1436 wells >10 ppbHundreds > 50 ppbMax=800 ppb
Sanders et al. Environ Int 2012
Smedley, Pauline L.. 2008 Sources and distribution of arsenic in groundwater and aquifers. In: Appelo, Tony, (ed.) Arsenic in Groundwater : a World Problem. British Geological Survey
More than 2.3 million people in N. Carolina use water from private, unregulated wells
+Arsenic concentration (2009)
Sanders, A.P, et al. (2011) Arsenic in North Carolina: Public Health Implications, Environment International, Vol. 38 pp. 10-16
+Arsenic in NC (10 yr avg)
+
2009
75,000 people
>63,000 wells over 10 yrs1436 wells >10 ppbHundreds > 50 ppbMax=800 ppb
Sanders et al. Environ Int 2012
Smedley, Pauline L.. 2008 Sources and distribution of arsenic in groundwater and aquifers. In: Appelo, Tony, (ed.) Arsenic in Groundwater : a World Problem. British Geological Survey
More than 2.3 million people in N. Carolina use water from private, unregulated wells There is the potential for toxic metals exposure via
private well water
+ Toxic metals are detectable in pregnant women in North Carolina
Lead: 1 exceeds CDC pregnant women advisory (5 ug/dL)
Mercury: 5 exceed pregnancy level of concern (3.5 ug/L)
Sanders et al. Plos One 2012
+ Toxic metals are detectable in pregnant women in North Carolina
Lead: 1 exceeds CDC pregnant women advisory (5 ug/dL)
Mercury: 5 exceed pregnancy level of concern (3.5 ug/L)
Sanders et al. Plos One 2012
Some of the samples from pregnant women in North Carolina
indicate exposure to toxic metals
+Health effects of prenatal arsenic exposure
Newborn health effects related to maternal exposure to arsenic include increased risk of spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, preterm birth, low birth weight, and infant mortality (reviewed by Vahter, 2008)
Prenatal and early life exposure to arsenic is associated with adult onset disease Cancer and non-cancer endpoints Gene expression is
+Making Superfund RelevantShare relevant scientific concepts and societal issues with students
Connect industrial hazardous waste to household hazardous waste to help empower students to improve their immediate environment
Ample resources and curricula to support your teaching
+http://www.sph.unc.edu/srp/
+http://www.epa.gov/superfund/
+Haz-ED
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/students/clas_act/haz-ed/hazindex.htm
+Citizen’s Guide to Clean Up Technologies
http://www.clu-in.org/products/citguide/
+Cleaning Up Contaminated Sites
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/students/wastsite/index.htm
+NY Times Topics: Superfund
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/superfund/index.html
+Contact Information
Superfund Research ProgramUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hillhttp://www.sph.unc.edu/srp/
Sarah Yelton
(919) 966-0895