EPA’s Experience with Assessment of Site- Specific Environmental Problems: A Review of IEMD’s Geographic Study of Philadelphia

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Abstract
EPA’s Integrated Environmental Management Division (IEMD) has completed a study of human exposure to toxic substances through air and drinking water for the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Exposure and health risks were calculated using: environmental data obtained from EPA, Philadelphia, and ambient monitoring programs conducted by IEMD; standard EPA fate and transport models; and pollutant potency estimates. The analysis considered a limited number of organic compounds. For the chemicals considered, the analysis found that chloroform in drinking water contributed over 70% to the total estimated cancer risks from air and drinking water. This was true for both the population and the most exposed individual. For the air toxics risks, which were relatively small, the analysis indicated that area and point sources contributed equally to the problem. For point sources, volatilization of organic compounds from the largest sewage treatment plant accounted for almost half of the air cancer risks to the population. Cumulative lifetime individual risks (plausible upperbound) for air and drinking water were 10−4 for nine pollutants throughout many sections of the metropolitan area.

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