Risk Assessment and Indoor Air Quality (Indoor Air Research)

252 Pages·1998·2.84 MB·English

by  Elizabeth L. Anderson

Risk Assessment

and
Indoor Air Quality
Edited by
Elizabeth L. Anderson
and
Roy E. Albert
© 1999 by CRC Press LLC
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Risk assessment and indoor air quality / edited by Elizabeth L.
Anderson and Roy E. Albert.
p. cm. -- (Indoor air research series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-56670-323-9 (alk. paper)
1. Health risk assessment. 2. Indoor air pollution--Health
aspects. 3. Ventilation--Health aspects. 4. Air quality--
Evaluation. 5. Environmental risk assessment. I. Anderson,
Elizabeth L., Ph.D. II. Albert, Roy E. III. Series.
RA566.27.R573 1998
613′.5--dc21 98-26281
CIP
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© 1999 by CRC Press LLC
Series Preface
The field of indoor air science is of growing interest and concern given that
modern society spends the better part of each day indoors. Since the indoor air
environment is a major, continual exposure medium for occupants, it is important
to study what is present and if and how it affects the health and comfort of occupants.
Volumes in this Indoor Air Research Series are intended to provide state-of-the-
art information on many areas germane to indoor air science including chemical and
biological sources, exposure assessment, dosimetry, engineering controls, and per-
ception of indoor air quality. In each volume, authors known for their expertise on
the topic will present comprehensive and critical accounts of our current understand-
ing in the area.
It is hoped that the series will advance knowledge and broaden interest among
the scientific community at large in the indoor air science field.
Max Eisenberg, Ph.D.
Series Editor
© 1999 by CRC Press LLC
Preface
Indoor air pollution was rarely identified as an environmental concern prior to
the early 1970s. Since that time, however, both real and perceived indoor air prob-
lems have increased almost continuously. One reason is that buildings were tightened
and air exchanges reduced to conserve energy. Another is that federal efforts began
to control outdoor air pollutants, many of which also are indoor air pollutants.
Finally, scientific techniques and methods began to be developed that provided better
opportunities for quantifying the contaminants and their likely effects. One of the
most important emerging tools is the science of risk assessment.
This book was commissioned by the Center for Indoor Air Research as a state-
of-the-art review of the science of risk assessment and its application in understand-
ing and remediating indoor air quality concerns. While the science of risk assessment
and its uses for indoor air quality are well characterized and in growing use, both
topics are rapidly evolving due to scientific, regulatory, political, and public con-
cerns. Thus, this book was written to characterize the subjects, but at the same time
to provide the necessary reference resources for more in-depth, future investigation.
At the same time, it was written for use by readers with a wide range of educational
and professional qualifications. It is the hope of the authors that the book will serve
as a useful reference tool for advances and innovative solutions in these fields.
Elizabeth L. Anderson, Ph.D.
Roy E. Albert, M.D.
Editors
© 1999 by CRC Press LLC
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge Dr. Max Eisenberg and Dr. Lynn Kosak-
Channing of the Center for Indoor Air Research for their support, insights, and
patience during the preparation of this book.
© 1999 by CRC Press LLC
The Editors
Elizabeth L. Anderson, Ph.D., is President and CEO of Sciences International,
Inc. in Alexandria, Virginia and has over 20 years experience in risk assessment.
At the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), she established and
directed the central risk assessment program for ten years. She founded the Carcin-
ogen Assessment Group and later was Director of the Office of Health and Envi-
ronmental Assessment (OHEA) in the Office of Research and Development, with a
staff of over 140 and an annual budget exceeding $14 million. The primary functions
of OHEA were to provide leadership to establish EPA-wide guidelines for risk
assessment, to conduct risk assessments on the health effects of toxic chemicals,
and to oversee the risk assessment program for all of EPA’s regulatory programs.
Since leaving EPA, Dr. Anderson has been engaged in managing governmental
and private sector health and environmental consulting activities. She is an interna-
tionally recognized expert and lecturer and has published numerous journal articles
in the areas of risk assessment and carcinogenicity. She was the recipient of the EPA
Gold Medal for Exceptional Service and the Distinguished Service Award from the
Society for Risk Analysis. She is a member of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science and the New York Academy of Sciences. Her professional
activities relating to risk assessment include the following:
Board of Scientific Counselors, Committee to Review the National Health and Envi-
ronmental Effects Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
1997.
Peer Review Committee, Exploratory Research Program, Environmental Physics, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, 1997.
Peer Review Committee, Exploratory Research Program, Environmental Chemistry,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997 (reappointed for 1998).
Department of Defense Peer Review Committee, Strategic Environmental Research
and Development Program (SERDP), 1997.
Chaired Peer Review Committee, Risk assessment guidelines for combustion sources,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1996.
Peer Review Committee, Center for Risk Assessment, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, 1996.
External Advisory Board, Center for Risk Management of Engineering Systems,
University of Virginia, 1987–present.
Editorial Board for the journal Human and Ecological Risk Assessment; appointed
1994–present.
New York Power Commission Advisory Panel to recommend research programs to
evaluate risk associated with electric and magnetic fields, 1990.
Risk Assessment Review Panel for the State of New Jersey; appointed 1988.
Panel of experts evaluating risk analysis activities of four federal agencies, General
Accounting Office, for House Committee on Science and Technology, February
1986.
© 1999 by CRC Press LLC
Charter Member, Society for Risk Analysis (member of steering committee to establish
society, 1980); member of editorial board, Risk Analysis; elected council member,
1981; president, 1984–1985.
Subcommittee on Risk Analysis, Health and Environmental Research Advisory Com-
mittee, Department of Energy, 1985.
EPA Representative to the National Cancer Advisory Board, 1982–1985.
Interagency Risk Management Council, cabinet council committee; chairman, com-
mittee to develop guidelines for assessing reproductive risk.
International Program for Chemical Safety (IPCS) Committee Editorial Staff, princi-
ples for evaluating health risks to progeny associated with exposure to chemicals
during pregnancy, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 1984.
Interagency Regulatory Liaison Group, Work Group on Risk Assessment. (Work group
published the article “Scientific Bases for Identification of Potential Carcinogens
and Estimation of Risks,” JNCI 63:242, 1979); Chairman of the work group, 1980.
Risk Analysis Liaison Committee, National Academy of Sciences/National Science
Foundation (under P.L. 96–44).
National Academy of Sciences/Food and Drug Administration, Advisory Committee
on institutional means for assessment of risk to public health (under H.R. 7591).
Roy E. Albert, M.D. specializes in research related to the quantitative aspects
of chemical and radiation carcinogenesis. Dr. Albert has served as a consultant to
various governmental and state committees, including: Surgeon’s General Advisory
Committee on Smoking and Health; Air Pollution Advisory Committee (New York
City Department of Health); Ad Hoc Committee on Environmental Health Research
— Panel on Hazardous Trace Substances for the Office of Science and Technology,
Executive Office of the President; Motor Vehicle Nitrogen Oxide Standard Commit-
tee; and Committee on Water Treatment Chemicals for the National Research Council.
Dr. Albert is currently Professor of Environmental Health and Chairman of the
Department of Environmental Health and the Kettering Laboratory at the University
of Cincinnati Medical Center. Dr. Albert was the principle author of EPA’s first
carcinogen risk assessment guidelines and subsequently served for ten years as Chair-
man of the Carcinogen Assessment Group at the Environmental Protection Agency.
Dr. Albert received a Distinguished Contribution Award (Society for Risk Anal-
ysis, 1984). His professional affiliations include:
American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association for Cancer Research
American College of Toxicology
New York Academy of Sciences
Radiation Research
Society for Epidemiological Research
Society for Occupational and Environmental Health
© 1999 by CRC Press LLC
Contributors
Roy E. Albert, M.D. Robert M. Little
Professor and Chairman Analyst
Department of Environmental Health Sciences International, Inc.
Kettering Laboratory (ML 56) Suite 500
University of Cincinnati Medical 1800 Diagonal Road
Center Alexandria, VA 22314
3223 Eden Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45267-0056
Suresh H. Moolgavkar, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, Moolgavkar Consulting
Elizabeth L. Anderson, Ph.D.
Group
President and CEO
Sciences International, Inc.
Sciences International, Inc.
9005 NE 21st Place
Suite 500
Bellevue, WA 98004
1800 Diagonal Road
Alexandria, VA 22314
David R. Patrick, P.E.
Vice President
Nicholas J. Gudka. M.S.
Sciences International, Inc.
Program Manager
Suite 500
Sciences International, Inc.
1800 Diagonal Road
Suite 500
Alexandria, VA 22314
1800 Diagonal Road
Alexandria, VA 22314
Steave H. Su, M.P.H.
John J. Liccione, Ph.D. Senior Associate
Project Manager Sciences International, Inc.
Sciences International, Inc. Suite 500
Suite 500 1800 Diagonal Road
1800 Diagonal Road Alexandria, VA 22314
Alexandria, VA 22314
Lance A. Wallace
11568 Woodhollow Court
Reston, VA 20191
Affiliated with:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
© 1999 by CRC Press LLC
Table of Contents
Series Preface
Preface
Chapter 1
Introduction to Risk Assessment
Elizabeth L. Anderson and David R. Patrick
Chapter 2
The Elements of Human Health Risk Assessment
Elizabeth L. Anderson and David R. Patrick
Chapter 3
Hazard Identification of Indoor Air Pollutants
John J. Liccione
Chapter 4
Dose-Response Assessment — Quantitative Methods for the Investigation
of Dose–Response Relationships
Suresh H. Moolgavkar
Chapter 5
Exposure Characterization
David R. Patrick
Chapter 6
Risk Characterization
Roy E. Albert
Chapter 7
Characterization of Uncertainty
Steave H. Su, Robert M. Little, and Nicholas J. Gudka
Chapter 8
Measurement of Indoor Air Contaminants
Lance A. Wallace
Chapter 9
Application of Risk Assessment
David R. Patrick
Chapter 10
Future Directions in Risk Assessment
David R. Patrick
© 1999 by CRC Press LLC
List of Tables
1.1 Indoor Air Pollutants, Sources, and Health Effects
3.1 Information Used in Hazard Identification
5.1 Subpopulations with Potentially Increased Responsiveness
to Indoor Air Pollutants
7.1 Major Sources of Uncertainty in Risk Assessment
7.2 Scenario, Parameter, and Model Uncertainty (Type B Uncertainty)
8.1 Weighted Arithmetic Mean Overnight Personal Exposures (Indoor Air)
Compared to Outdoor Air Concentrations: New Jersey,
All Three Seasons (µg/m3)
8.2 Weighted Estimates of Air and Breath Concentrations
of 19 Prevalent Compounds
9.1 Estimate of the Current Scientific Confidence in Information
Important to the Particulate Matter NAAQS Decision
© 1999 by CRC Press LLC