Methodology for Deriving Ambient Water Quality Criteria for the Protection of Human Health

211 Pages·2003·2.22 MB·English

United States Office of Water EPA-822-R-03-030
Environmental Protection Office of Science and Technology December 2003
Agency 4304
Methodology for Deriving Ambient
Water Quality Criteria for the Protection
of Human Health (2000)
Technical Support Document
Volume 2: Development of National
Bioaccumulation Factors
EPA-822-R-03-030
Methodology for Deriving
Ambient Water Quality Criteria
for the Protection of
Human Health (2000)
Technical Support Document
Volume 2:
Development of
National Bioaccumulation Factors
Final
Office of Science and Technology
Office of Water
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20460
NOTICE
The policies and procedures set forth in this document are intended solely to describe
EPA methods and guidance for developing or revising ambient water quality criteria to protect
human health, pursuant to Section 304(a) of the Clean Water Act, and to serve as guidance to
States and authorized Tribes for developing their own water quality criteria. This guidance does
not substitute for the Clean Water Act or EPA’s regulations, nor is it a regulation itself. Thus, it
does not impose legally binding requirements on EPA, States, Tribes, or the regulated
community, and may not apply to a particular situation depending on the circumstances.
This document has been reviewed in accordance with U.S. EPA policy and approved for
publication. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute an endorsement
or recommendation for use.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Project Leader
Erik L. Winchester U.S. EPA Office of Science and Technology
Tala R. Henry U.S. EPA Office of Science and Technology
Coauthors
Lawrence P. Burkhard U.S. EPA National Health and Environmental Effects Research
Laboratory
Philip M. Cook U.S. EPA National Health and Environmental Effects Research
Laboratory
Keith G. Sappington U.S. EPA National Center for Environmental Assessment
Erik L. Winchester U.S. EPA Office of Science and Technology
U.S. EPA Human Health Methodology Workgroup
William Beckwith U.S. EPA Region 1
Jeff Bigler U.S. EPA Office of Science and Technology
Sally Brough U.S. EPA Region 10
Karen Clark U.S. EPA Office of General Counsel
Gregory Currey U.S. EPA Office of Waste Management
Vicki Dellarco U.S. EPA Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances
Charles Delos U.S. EPA Office of Science and Technology
Arnold Den U.S. EPA Region 9
Catherine Eiden U.S. EPA Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances
Michael Firestone U.S. EPA Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances
Steven Galson U.S. EPA Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances
Sue Gilbertson U.S. EPA Office of Science and Technology
Joel Hansel U.S. EPA Region 4
Wayne Jackson U.S. EPA Region 2
William Jordan U.S. EPA Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances
Margaret Kelly U.S. EPA Office of Children’s Health Protection
Sharon Lin U.S. EPA Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds
Roseanne Lorenzana U.S. EPA Region 10
Gregory McCabe U.S. EPA Region 7
Bruce Mintz U.S. EPA National Environmental Research Laboratory-RTP
William Morrow U.S. EPA Office of Science and Technology
Jacqueline Moya U.S. EPA National Center for Environmental Assessment
Deirdre Murphy U.S. EPA Air Quality Planning and Standards
Joseph Nabholz U.S. EPA Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances
Russell Nelson U.S. EPA Region 6
Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta U.S. EPA National Health and Environmental Effects Research
Laboratory
Lynn Papa U.S. EPA National Center for Environmental Assessment
Robert Pepin U.S. EPA Region 5
David Pfeifer U.S. EPA Region 5
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Rita Schoeny U.S. EPA Office of Science and Technology
Charles Stephan U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development
David Tomey U.S. EPA Region 1
Fritz Wagener U.S. EPA Region 4
Jennnifer Wigal U.S. EPA Office of Science and Technology
Jeanette Wiltse U.S. EPA Office of Science and Technology
Gary Wolinsky U.S. EPA Region 9
Philip Woods U.S. EPA Region 9
William Wuerthele U.S. EPA Region 8
U.S. EPA Technical Reviewers
Sidney Abel U.S. EPA Office of Pesticide Programs
Charlotte Bertrand U.S. EPA Office of Policy, Economics and Innovation
James Breithaupt U.S. EPA Office of Pesticide Programs
Stephanie Irene U.S. EPA Office of Pesticide Programs
Patricia Jennings U.S. EPA Office of Pesticide Programs
Ann Johnson U.S. EPA Office of Policy, Economics and Innovation
Michael Kravitz U.S. EPA National Center for Environmental Assessment
Matthew Lorber U.S. EPA National Center for Environmental Assessment
Deirdre Murphy U.S. EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards
Lucy Shanaman U.S. EPA Office of Pesticide Programs
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EXTERNAL
PEER REVIEW WORKGROUP
The following professionals were part of the External Peer Review
Workgroup–Bioaccumulation Workgroup, that provided technical and scientific review regarding
the content and technical approach in the July 1998 Draft Ambient Water Quality Criteria
Derivation Methodology: Human Health. Their comments were reviewed and incorporated
where appropriate to develop this final document.
Damian Shea, Ph.D. NC State University
Brendan Hickie, Ph.D. Trent University
Robert Hale, Ph.D. Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Karen Erstfeld, Ph.D. Rutgers University
Lynn McCarty, Ph.D. LS McCarty Scientific Research and Consulting
Potential areas for conflict of interest were investigated via direct inquiry with the peer
reviewers and review of their current affiliations. No conflicts of interest were identified.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Notice.......................................................................... ii
Foreword ...................................................................... iii
Acknowledgments .............................................................. iv
External Peer Review Workgroup .................................................. vi
1. Introduction ............................................................ 1-1
1.1 Purpose ............................................................... 1-2
1.2 Scope .................................................................. 1-2
1.3 Important Bioaccumulation and Bioconcentration Concepts ..................... 1-3
2. Definitions ............................................................. 2-1
3. Overview of the National BAF Methodology ................................ 3-1
3.1 Summary of Four Bioaccumulation Methods ................................. 3-3
3.1.1 Field-Measured BAFs .............................................. 3-3
3.1.2 BAFs Predicted from a Field-Measured BSAF .......................... 3-3
3.1.3 BAF Predicted from Laboratory-Measured BCFs ........................ 3-4
3.1.4 BAFs Predicted from K ........................................... 3-4
OW
3.1.5 Advantages and Limitations of BAF Methods .......................... 3-5
3.2 Framework for Deriving National BAFs ...................................... 3-5
3.2.1 BAF Derivation Procedures for Inorganic and Organometallic Chemicals .... 3-7
3.2.2 BAF Derivation Procedures for Ionic Organic Chemicals ................. 3-7
3.2.3 BAF Derivation Procedures for Nonionic Organic Chemicals .............. 3-8
4. Background Information on Lipid Normalization, Bioavailability, and
Biomagnification ........................................................ 4-1
4.1 Lipid Normalization ...................................................... 4-1
4.1.1. Background and Theory ............................................ 4-1
4.1.2 Assumptions and Limitations ........................................ 4-2
4.2 Technical Basis of Freely Dissolved Normalization of Chemical Concentration
in Water ......................................................... 4-5
4.2.1 Background Theory and Basic Equation ............................... 4-5
4.2.2 Effects of Chemical Sorption to DOC and POC on Chemical Bioavailability.. 4-8
4.2.3 Sorptive Behavior of Nonionic Organic Chemicals with DOC and POC
(Including Plankton) in the Water Column ............................ 4-10
4.2.4 Values for the Particulate and Dissolved Organic Carbon Partition
Coefficients K and K ........................................... 4-12
poc doc
4.2.5 Selection of Appropriate K s for Partitioning (Bioavailability) Predictions .. 4-20
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4.3 Importance of Sediment-Water Concentration Quotient (J ) .................. 4-21
socw
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4.4 Derivation and Use of Food Chain Multipliers ................................ 4-24
4.4.1 Derivation of FCMs Using a Food Web Model ......................... 4-25
4.4.2 Derivation of Food Chain Multipliers Using Field Data .................. 4-40
4.4.3 Food Chain Multiplier Uncertainties.................................. 4-41
5. Calculating Baseline BAFs for Nonionic Organic Chemicals Using
the Four Methods ....................................................... 5-1
5.1 Method 1: Deriving Baseline BAFs from Total BAFs (BAFts) .................... 5-1
T
5.1.1 Sampling and Data Quality Considerations ............................. 5-2
5.1.2 Assumptions and Limitations ........................................ 5-4
5.1.3 Validation of Method 1 ............................................. 5-5
5.2 Method 2: Deriving Baseline BAFs from BSAFs ............................... 5-8
5.2.1 Determination of BSAF Values ..................................... 5-10
5.2.2 Relationship of Baseline BAFs to BSAFs ............................. 5-11
5.2.3 Derivation of the Baseline BAF Equation for Method 2 .................. 5-12
5.2.4 Sampling and Data Quality Considerations ............................ 5-13
5.2.5 Assumptions and Limitations ....................................... 5-14
5.2.6 Validation of Method 2 ............................................ 5-15
5.3 Method 3: Deriving Baseline BAFs from Laboratory-Measured BCFs (BCFts)
T
and FCMs ............................................................. 5-19
5.3.1 Sampling and Data Quality Considerations ............................ 5-19
5.3.2 Assumptions and Limitations ....................................... 5-21
5.3.3 Validation of Method 3 ............................................ 5-22
5.4 Method 4: Baseline BAF Derived from K × FCM ........................... 5-23
OW
5.4.1 Assumptions and Limitations ....................................... 5-23
5.4.2 Validation of Method 4 ............................................ 5-24
6. Derivation of National BAFs for Nonionic Organic Chemicals ................. 6-1
6.1 Selecting Final Baseline BAFs .............................................. 6-2
6.1.1 Calculating Species-Mean Baseline BAFs for Each BAF Method ........... 6-3
6.1.2 Calculating the Trophic Level–Mean Baseline BAF for Each BAF Method ... 6-7
6.1.3 Selecting the Final Trophic Level–Mean Baseline BAFs .................. 6-7
6.2 Basis for the National Default Lipid Fraction (f) of Commonly Consumed Fish and
R
Shellfish................................................................ 6-9
6.2.1 Variability in Lipid Content.......................................... 6-9
6.2.2 Data Sources .................................................... 6-10
6.2.3 Data Analysis .................................................... 6-15
6.2.4 Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis ................................. 6-28
6.3 Basis for the National Default Values of DOC and POC........................ 6-37
6.3.1 Data Sources .................................................... 6-38
6.3.2 Data Retrieval and Screening ....................................... 6-39
6.3.3 Results ......................................................... 6-41
6.3.4 Uncertainty/Limitations in National Default Values ..................... 6-42
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