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Science and Research at the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

EPA Progress Report 2010

Office of Research and Development

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Washington, DC 20460
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2010 EPA Scientific Publications

Lu, L. AND T. L. GREAVER. A global perspective on below-ground carbon dynamics under nitrogen enrichment-Journal. ECOLOGY LETTERS. 

Blackwell Publishing, Malden, MA, (13):819-828, (2010).

Bar-Ilan, A., J. R. Johnson, A. DenBleyker, L. Chan, G. Yarwood, D. 

HITCHCOCK, AND J. P. PINTO. Potential Ozone Impacts of Excess 

NO2 Emissions from Diesel Particulate Filters for On- and Off-Road 

Diesel Engines. JOURNAL OF THE AIR & WASTE MANAGEMENT 

ASSOCIATION. Air & Waste Management Association, Pittsburgh, PA, 

60:977-992, (2010).

DUTTON, S. J., B. Rajagopalan, S. Vedal, AND M. P. Hannigan. Temporal Patterns in Daily Measurements of Inorganic and Organic Speciated 

PM2.5 in Denver. ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT. Elsevier Science 

Ltd, New York, NY, 44(7):987-998, (2010).

Hansen, C., T. LUBEN, J. SACKS, A. Olshan, S. C. JEFFAY, L. F. 

STRADER, AND S. D. PERREAULT. The effect of ambient air pollution on sperm quality. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES. 

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Research 

Triangle Park, NC, 118(2):203-209, (2010).

Cascio, C., M. Schaub, K. NOVAK, Desotgiu, F. Bussotti, AND R. 

Strasser. Foliar responses to ozone of Fagus sylvatica L. seedlingsgrown in shaded and in full sunlight conditions. ENVIRONMENTAL 

AND EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 

68(2):188-197, (2010).

OWENS, B. O. Endogenous Carbon Monoxide Production in Disease. Clinical Biochemistry. ELSEVIER, AMSTERDAM, Holland, 

43(15):1183-1188, (2010).

PAWLECKI-VONDERHEIDE, A. M., K. Thaxton, P. KAUFFMAN, 

AND J. N. MORGAN. Investigation of Reagent Gases for the Positive 

Chemical Ionization of Select Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers. Microchemical Journal. Elsevier BV, AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, 95(2):279-

284, (2010).

Mauderly, J. L., R. T. Burnett, M. Castillejos, H. A. OZKAYNAK, J. M. 

Samet, D. M. Stieb, S. Vedal, AND R. E. Wyzga. Commentary: Is the Air 

Pollution Health Research Community Prepared to Support a Multipollutant Air Quality Management Framework? INHALATION TOXICOLOGY. Informa Healthcare USA, New York, NY, 22(S1):1-19, (2010).

JAOUI, M., E. CORSE, M. LEWANDOWSKI, J. H. OFFENBERG, T. 

E. KLEINDIENST, AND E. O. EDNEY. Formation of Organic Tracers 

for Isoprene SOA under Acidic Conditions . ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 44(14):1798-1805, (2010).

Wood, E. C., M. R. Canagaratna, S. C. Herndon, T. ONASCH, J. H. 

KROLL, C. E. KOLB, D. R. WORSNOP, W. Knighton, R. L. SEILA, M. 

Zavala, L. T. Molina, P. F. DECARLO, J. JIMENEZ, A. J. Weinheimer, 

D. J. Knapp, B. Jobson, W. C. Kuster, AND E. J. Williams. Investigation 

of the Correlation between Odd Oxygen and Secondary Organic Aerosol 

in Mexico City and Houston. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. Copernicus Publications, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany, 10(18):8947-8968, 

(2010).

Baxter, L. K., R. J. Wright, C. J. Paciorek, F. LADEN, H. H. SUH, AND 

J. LEVY. Effects of Exposure Measurement Error in the Analysis of 

Health Effects from Traffic-Related Air Pollution. Journal of Exposure 

Science and Environmental Epidemiology . Nature Publishing Group, 

London, Uk, 20(1):101-111, (2009).

GEORGE, B. J., D. A. WHITAKER, R. C. GILLIAM, J. SWALL, 

AND R. W. WILLIAMS. Relationship Between PM2.5 Collected at 

Residential Outdoor Locations and a Central Site. JOURNAL OF AIR 

AND WASTE MANAGEMENT. Air & Waste Management Association, 

Pittsburgh, PA, 60(9):1094-1104, (2010).

Niu, J., P. E. Rasmussen, A. Wheeler, R. W. WILLIAMS, AND M. Chenier. Evaluation of Airborne Particulate Matter and Metals Data in Personal, Indoor and Outdoor Environments using ED-XRF and ICP-MS 

and Co-located Duplicate Samples. ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT. 

Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 44(2):235-245, (2010).

RODES, C. E., P. A. Lawless, J. W. Thornburg, R. W. WILLIAMS, 

AND C. W. CROGHAN. DEARS Particulate Matter Relationships 

for Personal, Indoor, Outdoor, and Central Site Settings for a General 

Population. ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT. Elsevier Science Ltd, 

New York, NY, 44(11):1386-1399, (2010).

Avery, C. L., K. T. Mills, R. W. WILLIAMS, K. A. McGraw, C. Poole, 

R. L. Smith, AND E. A. Whitsel. Estimating Error in Using Residential Outdoor PM2.5 Concentrations as Proxies for Personal Exposures: 

A Meta-Analysis. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES. 

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Research 

Triangle Park, NC, 118(5):673-678, (2010).

TURLINGTON, J. AND S. R. MCDOW. Solid Phase Extraction 

Cleanup for Non-Polar and Moderately Polar Molecular Markers of 

PM2.5 Sources. ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT. Elsevier Science 

Ltd, New York, NY, 44(17):2161-2165, (2010).

WEINSTEIN, J. P., S. HEDGES, AND E. S. KIMBROUGH. Characterization and Aerosol Mass balance of PM2.5 and PM10 Collected in 

Conakry, Guinea during the 2004 Harmattan Period. CHEMOSPHERE. 

Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 78(8):980-988, (2010).

TURLINGTON, J., D. A. OLSON, L. STOCKBURGER, AND S. 

R. MCDOW. Trueness, Precision, and Detectability for Sampling 

and Analysis of Organic Species in Airborne Particulate Matter. 

Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. Springer, New York, NY, 

397(6):07/15/2010, (2010).

Norman, L., N. G. TALLENT-HALSELL, W. Labiosa, M. WEBER, A. 

McCoy, K. Hirschboeck, J. Callegary, C. van Riper III, AND F. Gray. 

Developing an Ecosystem Services online Decision Support Tool to 

Assess the Impacts of Climate Change and Urban Growth in the Santa 

Cruz Watershed; Where We Live, Work, and Play. ENVIRONMENT, 

DEVELOPMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY. Springer, New York, NY, 

2:2044-2069, (2010).

ERWAY, M., J. Schrlau, S. Usenko, L. Ackerman, K. Hageman, A. 

Schwindt, L. Geiser, H. Taylor, W. Hafner, D. Campbell, N. Rose, S. Simonich, D. Jaffe, C. Schreck, M. Kent, T. Blett, AND D. H. LANDERS. 

Western Airborne Contaminants Assessment Project Database. U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/C-10/001, 

2010.

FOLEY, K., S. J. ROSELLE, W. APPEL, P. BHAVE, J. E. PLEIM, T. L. 

OTTE, R. MATHUR, G. SARWAR, J. O. YOUNG, R. C. GILLIAM, C. 

G. NOLTE, J. T. Kelly, A. GILLILAND, AND J. O. BASH. Incremental 

Testing of the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) Modeling 

System Version 4.7. Geoscientific Model Development . Copernicus 

Publications, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany, 3(1):205-226, (2010).

GODOWITCH, J. M., G. POULIOT, AND S. T. RAO. Assessing 

Multi-year Changes in Modeled and Observed Urban NOx Concentrations from a Dynamic Model Evaluation Perspective. ATMOSPHERIC 

ENVIRONMENT. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 44(24):2894-

2901, (2010).

Book Chapter

Alvarez, D. A. AND T. L. JONES-LEPP. Sampling and Analysis of 

Emerging Pollutants. 1Chapter 11, Y. Li, K. Migliaccio (ed.), Water 

Quality Concepts, Sampling, and Chemical Analysis. CRC Press - Taylor 

& Francis Group, LLC, Boca Raton, FL, , 199-226, (2010).

Environmental Verification Product

MCKERNAN, J., A. Dindal, AND T. Kelly. Test/QA Plan for Verification of Ozone Indicator Cards. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 

Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-10/034, 2009.

Paper in Non-Agency Proceedings

WILSON, W. E. “A Multi-pollutant Approach to Air Pollution Epidemiology: An Examination of the Associations between Individual and 

Combined Source Categories and Cardiovascular Mortality.” Presented 

at American Association for Aerosol Research Annual Conference, San 

Diego, CA, February 22 - March 26, 2010.

PINTO, J. P., J. SACKS, J. DAVIS, S. J. DUTTON, Q. Y. Meng, AND 

W. E. WILSON. “Factors Contributing to Regional Heterogeneity in 

Studies of PM Mortality.” Presented at American Association of Aerosol 

Research Conference on Air Pollution and Health, San Diego, CA, 

March 22 - 26, 2010.

WILSON, W. E. AND T. A. Cahill. “Correlations of Mass and Elemental 

Composition in 5 Aerosol Size Modes? Coarse to Ultrafine.” Presented 

at 2010 American Association for Aerosol Research International Specialty Conference on Air Pollution and Health, San Diego, CA, March 

22 - 26, 2010.

GRANGE, A. H. “Semi-Quantitative Mapping and Identification of 

Dispersed Chemicals Using an Ambient-Air Ion Source/Mass Spectrometer.” Presented at American Acad. of Forensic Sciences 62nd Annual 

Scientific Meeting, Seattle, WA, February 25, 2010.

BARRETT, W. M. “Development and Validation of a Model to Predict 

Aerosol Breathing Zone Concentrations During Common Outdoor 

Activities.” Presented at The 13th Annual OSC Readiness Training 

Program, Orlando, FL, February 01 - 04, 2010.

DIGIULIO, D. C. AND R. T. WILKIN. “Impact of CO2 Intrusion into 

USDWs, the Vadose Zone, and Indoor Air.” Presented at DOE/EPA Collaborative Review, Pittsburgh, PA, March 23 - 24, 2010.

GULLETT, B. K. “Baloon-lofted pollutant sampling of open burning 

and open detonation: abstract.” Presented at 2010 Stationary Source 

Sampling and Analysis of Air Pollutants Conference, Panama City, FL, 

March 07 - 12, 2010.

GULLETT, B. K. “An Aerostat-lofted emission sampler for open and 

diffuse combustion sources.” Presented at NC Fire Environment Working Group, Raleigh, NC, August 26, 2010.

EPA researchers produced more than 1,500* scientific citations in 2010, 

providing a wealth of “influential scientific information” and “highly 

influential scientific assessments” to the Nation. This work is represented 

in papers published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, government 

reports, books and book chapters, and presentations shared at scientific 

conferences around the world. (*Source, EPA Science Inventory: www.epa.gov/si)
Research and Development at the U.S. EPA

The Path Forward: Sustainability Message from the

Assistant Administrator Paul T. Anastas, Ph.D. 4

Air, Climate, and Energy 7

Safe and Sustainable Water Resources 17

Sustainable and Healthy Communities 25

Chemical Safety for Sustainability 33

Human Health Risk Assessment 41

EPA Research: It All Starts with Science 48

Homeland Security 51

Serving Partners, Regions, and Communities 57

Table of Contents

EPA’s integrated research programs 

provide the solid, scientific foundation 

the Agency needs to fulfill its mission to 

safeguard human health and protect the 

natural environment.

No other research organization in the 

world offers the depth and breadth 

of science and engineering expertise 

represented by EPA’s workforce. From 

nanomaterials a billionth of a meter in 

size to the global dynamics of climate 

change, EPA scientists and engineers 

are engaged in investigations that, 

collectively, cover every scale of our 

environment and focus on the links 

between the environment and human 

health.

EPA conducts research that addresses 

the highest priority science needs of 

the Nation. The work performed by 

EPA scientists and their partners from 

colleges and universities, sister Federal 

and state agencies, EPA regional and 

program offices, and a host of other 

environmental and human health 

organizations improves the air we 

breathe, the water that sustains us, and 

the land upon which we live. 

Today, EPA’s integrated, transdisciplinary 

research program is building on 40 years 

of scientific achievement to help families 

and communities realize a brighter, more 

sustainable future. 

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In January 2010, I took 

office as the Assistant 

Administrator for the 

U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency’s 

Office of Research 

and Development 

(ORD) and 

Science Advisor to 

Administrator Lisa 

P. Jackson. It was 

a special honor to 

return to EPA, where I 

started my career as a 

staff chemist 20 years 

ago.

Because of my history with EPA, I knew first 

hand that I was re-joining an Agency known 

for producing excellent, innovative science 

and research across the entire spectrum of 

environmental disciplines. EPA’s expert scientists 

and engineers work at locations across the country 

to understand how environmental issues—from 

nanoparticles smaller than the width of a human 

hair to far-reaching, complex systems such as 

global climate change—can impact all Americans. 

Among science organizations around the world, 

the breadth and diversity of EPA’s research is 

unmatched. 

There is no doubt that science and research are 

critical to advancing EPA’s mission to protect 

human health and the environment. Administrator 

Lisa P. Jackson has said time and again that science 

is the backbone of EPA. Indeed, the Agency 

depends upon its scientists and engineers to 

inform all of its decisions with rigorous research, 

analysis and assessments of the highest caliber. 

We provide the sound scientific basis for Agency 

actions that benefit the lives of all Americans, every 

day.

In 2010, while continuing to advance the kinds of 

cutting-edge research that are the hallmark of 

EPA, we also took ambitious steps to ensure that 

we are as effective as we can be for the American 

people. These steps, known collectively as the 

“Path Forward,” have ensured that all of EPA’s 

scientific work is conducted in a way that advances 

the goal of sustainability. In its common definition, 

sustainability means meeting the needs of the 

current generation while preserving the ability of 

future generations to meet their needs. At EPA, 

it means doing all that we can to not only protect 

Americans today, but also to ensure a healthy 

environment for our children, their children, and 

beyond. Achieving this ambitious goal will require 

the best minds to work together across disciplines 

in an atmosphere of innovation and creativity. 

It will also require broad thinking and a holistic, 

“systems” perspective to ensure that our science 

and research today can advance EPA’s mission into 

the future. 

We are doing just that. By bringing together 

experts from nearly every environmental 

discipline, we are building upon our demonstrated 

excellence in measuring, monitoring and 

assessing environmental problems to inform and 

empower sustainable solutions. In 2010, we broke 

down traditional scientific silos by forging truly 

transdiciplinary research areas. We established 

programs to encourage transformative innovations 

that simultaneously reduce environmental risk 

and grow the economy. We developed new 

From the Assistant Administrator for the

Office of Research and Development, Paul T. Anastas, Ph.D.

The Path Forward: Sustainability
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ways to communicate and maximize our 

impact, and we engaged with experts, 

stakeholders, and communities like 

never before. We embraced the goal of 

sustainability and, as a result, are more 

effectively conducting research for human 

health and environmental protection 

across the United States.

This year also marked EPA’s 40th

anniversary. In honor of this important 

milestone, we paused to recognize some 

of the major EPA research discoveries that 

have saved lives and improved the health 

and well-being of all Americans—landmark 

studies on the impacts of second-hand 

tobacco smoke, lead in gasoline, and air 

pollution, just to name a few. In 2010, 

we added to that proud history with 

significant accomplishments in six broad 

areas of research: Air, Climate, and Energy; 

Sustainable and Healthy Communities; 

Safe and Sustainable Water Resources; 

Chemical Safety for Sustainability; 

Human Health Risk Assessment; and 

Homeland Security. At the same time, we 

also engaged in cutting edge research to 

inform issues of national significance.

Just a few of EPA’s scientific achievements 

from the past year include:

• Agency scientists, at the request 

of the U.S. Congress, developed a 

strategic research plan to study the 

potential effects hydraulic fracturing, 

a stimulation process used during 

drilling operations, could have on 

drinking water resources when used for 

extracting natural gas supplies. 

• EPA scientists quantified the harmful 

environmental impacts of mountaintop 

mining on Appalachian streams, 

supporting comprehensive new 

guidance issued by the Agency to 

protect the health of local communities.

• Throughout the year, EPA celebrated 40 

years of clean air science in support of 

the Clean Air Act, highlighting findings 

and outcomes that have led to longer 

lives and healthier communities.

• Working with colleges and universities, 

EPA regional offices, sister federal 

agencies, states, local communities, 

Tribes, and others stakeholders, EPA 

scientists and engineers cultivated 

a number of important partnerships 

throughout the scientific community.

• The Agency’s extramural program 

provided more than 66 million dollars 

in research grants, graduate and 

undergraduate fellowships, and other 

awards.

• EPA’s Homeland Security Research 

program, along with partners from the 

Department of Energy, received a 2010 

“R&D 100 Award” from R&D Magazine

for developing CANARY, innovative 

water quality software that enhances 

a water system’s ability to detect 

when there has been intentional or 

unintentional contamination.

• The next generation of environmental 

scientists and engineers were 

recognized and rewarded with the 7th

Annual EPA P3 Awards. 

• Building on cutting-edge design 

developed by EPA engineers and their 

partners, Administrator Lisa P. Jackson 

joined Secretary of State Hillary Rodham 

Clinton to announce a major new 

partnership to improve indoor air quality 

for millions of women and children 

through the design of cleaner, more 

efficient cookstoves. 

• EPA researchers contributed science 

toward the revised National Ambient 

Air Quality Standards, a set of sciencebased standards for protecting human 

health from air pollution. 

In the midst of this important work, EPA 

and its federal partners answered the 

call when the Deepwater Horizon oil 

rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. Our 

scientists, engineers, and experts from 

across the country mobilized immediately 

to do what was necessary to protect 

the lives, communities, and ecosystems 

of our fellow citizens. EPA laboratories 

on the Gulf coast became important 

response-team hubs, EPA scientists were 

central to informing emergency response 

strategies, and EPA studies provided the 

first toxicology tests on oil dispersants 

available for use in response to the BP 

oil spill. I am proud to work in an Agency 

that was able to rise to unprecedented 

challenges with the highest level of 

scientific integrity. 

Whether engaged in crisis response, 

cutting-edge innovation, or our path 

toward sustainability, EPA scientists 

spent 2010 working to advance the 

Agency’s mission. In 2011 and beyond, 

we will continue to serve Americans by 

conducting the science and research 

needed to protect their health and their 

environment.

Thank you,

Paul T. Anastas, Ph.D.

Assistant Administrator

Office of Research and Development

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

This Progress Report is dedicated to

Patrick Harrington Hurd

October 16, 1983 – January 17, 2011
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American communities face serious 

health and environmental challenges 

from air pollution and the growing effects 

of climate change, both of which are 

intricately linked with energy options.

Building on 40 years of achievement 

in air pollution research that has led 

to landmark outcomes—including 

healthier communities and longer life 

expectancies—EPA researchers are 

exploring the dynamics of air quality, 

global climate change and energy as a set 

of complex, yet interrelated, challenges. 

This section highlights some of EPA’s many 

achievements advancing Air, Climate and 

Energy science during 2010, including: a 

year-long celebration of 40 years of clean 

air science achievements in support of the 

Clean Air Act that brought researchers, 

stakeholders and the public together to 

explore past achievements and emerging 

research efforts; the announcement of a 

major new partnership to develop clean 

cookstoves for the developing world; the 

launch of a major near-roadway study 

investigating the links between local air 

pollution and asthma; the development of 

a model illuminating how controlling manmade sources of air pollution also may 

reduce compounds released into the air 

from vegetation; and much, much more.

Air, Climate, and Energy

EPA Progress Report 2010

Office of Research and Development
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2010 marked two important milestones in 

the nation’s history of protecting human 

health and the environment: the 40th

Anniversary of the establishment of the 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and 

the passage of the landmark Clean Air Act. 

The Agency celebrated both occasions 

through the Air Science 40 program, a 

series of lectures, Webinars, and other 

public events centered on science 

communication and highlighting how 

advances in clean air and human health 

science have contributed to cleaning up 

the nation’s air and improving the health 

of its citizens.

Throughout the year, Air Science 40 

programs highlighted four decades 

of clean air science accomplishments. 

Leading EPA scientists and their partners 

also shared ongoing research efforts 

to develop a deeper understanding 

of the complex, often far-reaching, 

new challenges the Nation and local 

communities face in managing air quality. 

Emerging issues, such as the multitude 

of pollutants in the air, and the complex 

interactions between air quality and a 

changing climate, were explored and 

shared by leading experts. 

To kick off the celebration, EPA’s Clean 

Air Research Program co-sponsored an 

international conference on the latest 

science exploring the connections 

between health risks, sources of air 

pollution and their emissions, and how 

those risks might be minimized. Air 

Pollution & Health: Bridging the Gap From 

Sources to Health Outcomes was held 

March 22-26, 2010, and was sponsored 

by EPA and its partners, the American 

Association for Aerosol Research, and the 

Air and Waste Management Association. 

Following the kickoff in San Diego, Air 

Science 40 continued with Congressional 

briefings, regional presentations, and 

a seminar and Webinar series. Each 

event provided the opportunity for EPA 

scientists and their partners to share the 

latest research efforts and findings that 

are adding to a 40-year foundation of 

achievement. 

A series of Webinars and presentations 

was conducted by investigators from 

EPA-supported Particulate Matter (PM) 

Research Centers. The PM Centers are 

leading research institutes focused on 

exploring the links between particulate 

matter and human health effects. 

Presentations in the series included:

• Extrapulmonary Effects of Ambient 

Ultrafine Particles: Controlled Clinical and 

Animal Studies (Mark Frampton, M.D., 

lead investigator, Rochester PM Center)

• Ultrafine Particles and Immediate 

Responses of the Cardiovascular System 

(Annette Peters, Ph.D., lead investigator, 

Rochester PM Center)

• Novel Exposure Scenarios to Define the 

Health Effects of Particle Sources (Petros 

Koutrakis, Ph.D., Director, Harvard 

PM Center, and John Godleski, M.D., 

Associate Director, Harvard PM Center) 

• Environment Interactions in the 

Association of Air Pollution With 

Cardiovascular Disease (John Godleski, 

M.D., Associate Director, Harvard PM 

Center, and Joel Schwartz, Ph.D., lead 

investigator, Harvard PM Center)

• Geographical Differences in PM Health 

Effects, Composition, and Toxicity 

(Patrick Breysse, Ph.D., Director, lead 

investigator, Hopkins Center for PM 

Research)

• Building Science for a Multipollutant 

Future: The Health Effects Institute 

(HEI) Strategic Plan (Dan Greenbaum, 

President, HEI, and Robert O’Keefe, Vice 

President, HEI)

Air, Climate, and Energy

Celebrating the Past, Looking to the Future: Air Science 40

EPA provided a year-long look at clean air science achievements and ongoing research. 

Since the establishment of EPA 

in 1970 and passage of the Clean 

Air Act Amendments the same 

year, EPA’s Clean Air Research 

has provided the scientific 

information, tools and technology 

to reduce and control air 

pollution.
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The EPA Air Science 40 Seminars, cosponsored by EPA and its partners, 

featured a number of presentations 

highlighting important clean air research 

findings that were shared with members 

of Congress and leading scientists. 

Seminars included:

• Air Quality in a Changing Climate

What the Future Holds for 

the Air We Breathe

Co-sponsored by the American 

Geophysical Union 

• Clean Air for All?

Air Quality Across Social and Spatial Lines

Co-sponsored by the American

Thoracic Society 

• Air Pollution—A Matter of the Heart

How Polluted Air Causes

Cardiovascular Disease

Co-sponsored by the American

Heart Association 

• Breathe Cleaner, Live Longer

Understanding Air Pollution

After 40 Years

Co-sponsored by the American

Heart Association 

Since the establishment of EPA in 1970 and 

passage of the Clean Air Act Amendments 

the same year, EPA’s clean air research has 

provided the scientific information, tools, 

and technology to reduce and control air 

pollution. 2010 was a year to celebrate 

those accomplishments and look toward 

the future.

Air, Climate, and Energy

On September 21, 2010, EPA Administrator 

Lisa P. Jackson joined Secretary of State 

Hillary Rodham Clinton and a number 

of partners to announce a major effort 

to combat problems associated with 

cookstoves. Speaking at the Clinton Global 

Initiative in New York, Secretary Clinton 

announced that the U.S. Government 

was pledging $53.32 million—including a 

$6 million contribution by EPA—for the 

Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. 

Led by the United Nations Foundation, 

the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves 

aims to save lives, improve livelihoods, 

empower women and combat climate 

change by creating a thriving global 

market for clean and efficient household 

cooking solutions. The Alliance’s goal 

is to create the market and distribution 

conditions necessary for 100 million 

households to adopt clean cookstoves by 

2020.

EPA’s involvement was in part sparked 

by ongoing research conducted by EPA 

scientists and engineers who tested a 

number of household cookstoves and fuel 

combinations for performance and air 

pollution emissions. The work was done to 

support the Partnership for Clean Indoor 

Air (PCIA), an association of more than 370 

organizations contributing their resources 

and pooling their collective expertise to 

reduce smoke exposure from cooking and 

heating practices. PCIA was launched in 

Better Burning, Better Breathing: Cleaner Stoves

EPA and partners will continue the effort to develop safer, lower emission solid-fuel cookstoves.

EPA Air Science 40 Seminars
2002 at the World Summit on Sustainable 

Development in Johannesburg.

The objectives of the EPA study under the 

Partnership were threefold:

1. Determine if some cookstove designs 

have improved fuel efficiency and 

lowered pollutant emissions as 

compared with traditional “three-stone 

fire” (three stones placed around a fire 

to hold up a pot) found in many kitchens 

in the developing world.

2. Provide useful cookstove performance 

and emissions information to PCIA 

partners and others supplying stove 

technology to developing countries.

3. Compare test results using the Water 

Boiling Test protocol with those of a 

PCIA partner, Aprovecho Research 

Center in Cottage Grove, Oregon.

Research results from the study, presented 

in the paper “Solid-Fuel Household 

Cookstoves: Characterization of 

Performance and Emissions” (Biomass and 

Bioenergy Journal, February 2009;33(2)) 

showed that some stoves currently used 

in the field offer the benefits of improved 

fuel efficiency and lower pollutant 

emissions compared with traditional 

cooking methods. Stoves with lighter, less 

dense materials exposed to the heat of the 

fire tended to cook faster with better fuel 

efficiency and lower pollutant emissions.

The study provided an independent 

evaluation of 14 stove/fuel combinations 

with an emphasis on modern cookstoves 

designed to reduce harmful emissions 

and improve fuel efficiency. It illustrated 

the importance of testing stoves, 

and presented useful information for 

improving the design of stoves. Test 

results using the latest stove technology 

had not been reported in the peerreviewed scientific literature before. The 

study also showed that stove-testing 

results can be replicated between 

laboratories, and offered 

recommendations for improving the ability 

to replicate results. 

As part of the newly announced Global 

Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, EPA 

researchers and engineers will continue 

to advance their work, teaming up with 

partners across the globe to address 

critical areas such as stove testing and 

evaluation, cookstove design innovations, 

and health and exposure assessments to 

calculate the benefits of improved stoves. 

Air, Climate, and Energy

Better Burning, Better Breathing: Cleaner Stoves, Cont’d.

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Air, Climate, and Energy

Can living near a highway make you 

more susceptible to asthma attacks? EPA 

scientists, together with partners from 

the University of Michigan, teamed up in 

2010 to examine this question through 

the Near-Road EXposures to Urban Air 

Pollutants Study (NEXUS).

Beginning in the fall of 2010, scientists 

began conducting a comprehensive 

asthma trigger study that will collect and 

use data from more than 60 children 

living in Detroit who suffer from asthma. 

Scientists will look at the mixture of 

pollutants that originate from Detroitarea highway traffic to determine how the 

pollution affects children with asthma. 

Data collected from air near major 

highways, as well as in homes and schools, 

will shed light on the mixture of air 

pollutants that affect asthma and overall 

health.

EPA scientists are working with partners 

from the University of Michigan and 

scientists from across several scientific 

fields to track air pollution over its entire 

lifecycle, from identifying its various 

sources to its ultimate effects on human 

health.

Building on lessons learned from past 

EPA-led research on near-roadway air 

pollution, NEXUS will include studies of 

air pollutant sources, near-roadway air 

pollution levels and behaviors, and indoor 

air quality. During the study, scientists also 

will compare the toxicity of various air 

pollutants and conduct an epidemiological 

analysis of the health effects of air 

pollution. 

In addition to Detroit’s many heavily 

travelled highways, researchers will 

be able to look at pollution from other 

sources, including coal-fired power 

plants, metal refineries, and other heavy 

industries. They will also be able to 

examine the mix of airborne substances 

(including mold, pet dander and tobacco 

smoke) in study participants’ homes and 

at several schools to compare those levels 

with the measurements taken at outdoor 

ambient air quality sampling sites.

The NEXUS project is already providing a 

major benefit to the local community. The 

project has created financial opportunities 

for Detroit residents, employing 

community members in data-gathering 

efforts and participant interviews. The 

training that participants receive will 

prepare them for future work in scientific 

research.

Furthermore, families participating in the 

study are being given access to the data 

collected from their homes. Researchers 

are working with a partner community 

group—Community Action Against 

Asthma—to help participant families gain 

access to health care and information to 

help them reduce asthma triggers in their 

homes.

When NEXUS’ data-collection phase 

ends in 2011, scientists plan to look for 

epidemiological patterns so they can 

answer such questions as: What pollutants 

are most strongly associated with asthma? 

The data also will help scientists test and 

improve air quality models. By linking data 

from the ambient sites with data collected 

from Detroit homes and schools, scientists 

will be able to better determine how the 

ambient air is contributing to residents’ 

overall exposure to pollutants, and how to 

better predict health effects caused by air 

pollution. 

Knowing which chemicals are the most 

harmful will allow policymakers to make 

better-informed decisions about clean air 

policies in their communities; targeting 

specific chemicals, for example, makes 

it easier for industry to comply with new 

clean air regulations.

Exploring the Links Between Air Pollution and Asthma

EPA scientists and partners teamed up to examine road-related air pollution and susceptibility to asthma.

Partnerships at Work: 

To help determine the 

significance of near-road 

emissions/exposures and related 

health risks from mobile sources, 

EPA grantees developed a 

testing facility that allows for a 

controlled inhalation exposure to 

freshly diluted and mixed diesel 

exhaust. 
12

EPA researchers have discovered that 

controlling man-made sources of air 

pollution will have the added benefit of 

also reducing air pollution formed from 

compounds released from trees and 

plants.

Trees and plants release more than just 

oxygen into the atmosphere as a result of 

photosynthesis. They also release a variety 

of gases that contribute to air pollution. In 

fact, the planet’s vegetation accounts for 

about two-thirds of the pollutants known 

as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) 

emitted globally.

In the study, published in the May 15, 

2010, issue of Environmental Science & 

Technology, EPA researchers and partners 

quantified for the first time how emissions 

from vehicles, industry and power plants 

interact with natural emissions from 

vegetation to change the composition and 

makeup of chemicals in the air...for the 

worse.

The implications of the study are 

considerable, suggesting that if people can 

control man-made sources of emissions, 

they can indirectly affect the formation of 

naturally derived atmospheric pollutant 

particles.

Using computerized air quality modeling, 

investigators conducted simulations of 

natural and human-related pollution in the 

United States. When scientists took manmade pollutants out of the simulation, 

there was a 50 percent drop in pollutants 

from trees and plants in the Eastern 

United States. These pollutants, known 

as secondary organic aerosols (SOAs), are 

produced by sunlight when VOCs from 

trees, plants, cars, or industrial emissions 

interact with other airborne chemicals. 

SOAs are important for the formation of 

two regulated air pollutants, particulate 

matter and nitrogen oxide, a greenhouse 

gas.

The study suggests that roughly onehalf of the “natural” SOAs in the Eastern 

United States form only when there is 

enough man-made pollution around. 

The model can guide the development of 

strategies that can control atmospheric 

chemistry. Over the last 40 years, similar 

EPA research efforts to develop a better 

understanding of clean air science have 

led directly to policies widely credited with 

better air quality, which in turn reduces 

hospitalizations, worsening levels of 

asthma, cardiac events, and even deaths.

The research also can guide EPA to 

develop more refined and focused 

standards and strategies for effectively 

and efficiently decreasing pollution. This is 

just a first step in gaining an understanding 

of the complexity of the atmosphere. The 

research may have implications for future 

air pollution management strategies as 

well. 

Scientists predict climate change will 

stimulate the growth of trees and plants 

and extend growing seasons, resulting in 

even more emissions from natural sources. 

By controlling man-made emissions, the 

impact of emissions from trees and plants 

may be reduced.

Air, Climate, and Energy

Air Pollution: Modeling the Mix 

EPA modelers and partners show how controlling man-made sources of air pollution also may reduce 

compounds released into the air from vegetation.
13

In 2010, EPA scientists worked to 

incorporate cutting-edge air quality 

science and meteorology and additional 

capabilities into the Agency’s popular 

Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) 

model, which has been used around the 

world for more than 10 years to protect 

human health . 

Slated for release in September 2011, 

version 5.0 of CMAQ adds a new 

online capability—namely a “coupled 

meteorology-chemistry option” —to 

the air quality model that is used by 

EPA and states for designing emission 

control strategies needed to meet and 

maintain the National Ambient Air Quality 

Standards. An earlier version of the model 

is used by the National Weather Service 

to produce daily U.S. ozone air quality 

forecasts. 

The “coupled model” will better 

represent the physical and chemical 

processes occurring in the real world 

by properly simulating the feedbacks 

between meteorology and air chemistry 

so scientists can better understand not 

only how weather conditions affect the 

chemistry, but also how air chemistry can 

affect and change weather conditions. 

In this new modeling framework, 

meteorology data are updated on the fly, 

allowing scientists to use the model to 

look at smaller, finer resolution settings, 

such as individual towns and cities. 

Furthermore, while CMAQ has been used 

to assess air pollution problems at regional 

and continental scales, this new coupled 

model will allow researchers to expand the 

spatial scale to the northern hemisphere, 

thereby helping to answer questions 

about the intercontinental transport of 

air pollution and interactions between air 

quality and climate change. 

As CMAQ is already used world wide to 

help shape air quality management, the 

anticipated updates will enable regulators 

to better protect human health and the 

environment.

Air, Climate, and Energy

Expanding Atmospheric Modeling Capabilities

to Protect Human Health and the Environment

EPA scientists incorporate cutting-edge science and meteorology into a widely-used air quality model. 
Air, Climate, and Energy

As we face the reality of global climate 

change, the need for new advances 

in modeling systems and methods for 

assessing the impacts of climate on 

air quality is increasing. Robert Harley 

and his colleagues at the University of 

California, Berkeley, recently used the 

CMAQ modeling system to assess these 

impacts on future air quality in California. 

This research, which is funded through the 

EPA’s Science to Achieve Results (STAR) 

grant program, led to new insights about 

the relationship between air pollution and 

climate change.

Harley and his team of scientists show 

that climate change has the potential to 

offset some of the benefits of emissions 

reductions programs. The CMAQ 

system was used to simulate changes in 

tropospheric ozone levels resulting from 

future changes in pollutant emissions. 

By 2050, technological changes and an 

aggressive set of emissions controls are 

predicted to decrease ozone pollution. 

The magnitude of that decrease, however, 

is significantly reduced when the effects 

of climate change are considered. In fact, 

ozone levels are predicted to increase in 

the San Francisco Bay area. 

This EPA-funded research is helping air 

quality managers plan to meet healthbased air quality standards in the future. 

Poor air quality and high ozone levels 

already exist in many regions of California, 

and higher temperatures predicted with 

climate change could make this problem 

worse. Existing regulations may need 

updating to ensure public health is 

protected on a warmer planet.

Harley’s work also explored the effect of 

higher temperatures on VOC emissions. 

Cars and other mobile sources are the 

dominant anthropogenic source of VOCs in 

California, and the research team 

measured the contributions of 

two important types of vehicle-related 

pollution: tailpipe emissions and liquid fuel 

evaporation. The relative importance of 

evaporative sources could increase in the 

future as maximum daily temperatures 

rise. 

The research demonstrates several 

possible influences of climate change on 

air pollution, and the need to consider 

these effects in air quality management. 

The air quality assessment approach 

developed by Harley’s group can be 

utilized by local and state regulators 

to meet national air quality standards 

effectively and efficiently.

Modeling Shows Influence of Climate Change on Ozone Air Pollution

EPA partners show how climate change may offset some of the benefits of emissions reductions programs.

14
15

EPA-Funded Particulate Matter (PM)

Research Center Assesses Ultrafine 

PM Health Effects

EPA-funded research at the Rochester 

PM Research Center and the Southern 

California Particle Center found that 

ultrafine particulate matter (UFP) is easily 

transported throughout the body beyond 

the cardiopulmonary system. Tissue 

and cell analysis shows evidence for the 

translocation of UFP to the liver, kidneys 

and central nervous system. Exposure 

to concentrated airborne PM led to 

inflammatory responses and oxidative 

stress in key organs. Surprisingly, there 

is potential for UFP to cross into the 

circulatory and lymphoid systems, which 

could allow the particles to reach sensitive 

sites, such as the heart, spleen and bone 

marrow. 

Age and disease were found to be critical 

modifying or susceptibility factors. 

Researchers also found that impacts on 

the circulatory system could be worse 

for those with atherosclerotic vascular 

disease, such as that seen in type 2 

diabetes. The Rochester Center’s 2010 

report, Assessment of Ambient UFP Health 

Effects: Linking Sources to Exposure and 

Responses in Extrapulmonary Organs, 

integrates the results of many of the 

Center’s PM health effects studies to 

show that ultrafine particles can cause 

significant health effects in the respiratory, 

vascular and cardiac systems—especially 

in older adults and people with 

atherosclerotic vascular disease. 

Developing Methods for More Refined 

Measurements of Air Pollutants

Three EPA-funded research efforts led 

to the development of technologies for 

the continuous measurement of PM 

composition. Results will provide new 

techniques for state and local air pollution 

monitoring networks and for conducting 

intensive field studies. Accomplishments 

include:

• A new mobility spectrometer developed 

by an EPA grantee at the University 

of California, Davis, that can analyze 

distributions of molecular ions, charged 

particles and macromolecules or 

molecular clusters. The device, called 

Cross Flow Ion Mobility Spectrometry 

(CF-IMS), is lightweight, low cost and 

can analyze the composition of the gas 

phase continuously with high-mobility 

resolution.

• An EPA grantee at the Georgia Institute 

of Technology tested a cost-effective 

monitor that measures water-soluble 

components of urban aerosol. A 

potassium and a sodium ion-selective 

micro-electrode was integrated with a 

Particle-Into-Liquid-Sampler for online 

measurements and deployed near a 

prescribed burn in rural Georgia. New 

techniques for detecting the watersoluble metals iron sulfate and copper 

were also tested successfully. Results 

from the trace metals tests showed an 

improvement in measurement sensitivity 

and temporal variability over the 

traditional filter-based approach.

EPA-Funded Researchers Map 

Heat-Related Trouble Spots 

EPA-funded researchers used a novel 

approach to develop a map showing 

where people are more vulnerable to 

dangerous heat waves. 

Although heat waves and hot weather are 

known to lead to increased deaths and 

illness, what is not well understood is why 

some people are affected more strongly 

by heat than others. With the frequency of 

heat waves expected to increase in much 

of the world due to climate change, the 

links between heat and health become 

especially important.

Air, Climate, and Energy

Air, Climate, and Energy

2010 Accomplishments – In Brief
16

 A team of EPA grantees collaborated to 

map vulnerability to heat in the United 

States by analyzing 10 “vulnerability 

factors, ” including demographic data, air 

conditioning prevalence, vegetation cover, 

and diabetes prevalence, in nearly 40,000 

census tracts across the United States.

The results of the study, which were 

published in Environmental Health 

Perspectives, (Reid CE, O’Neill MS, 

Gronlund CJ, Brines SJ, Brown DG, et al., 

2009 “Mapping Community Determinants 

of Heat Vulnerability”) identified some of 

the most vulnerable areas of the country, 

providing critical insight to guide further 

research and the formulation of strategies 

to protect public health. 

EPA Partners Develop Models and 

Strategies for Smart Growth in a 

Changing Climate

Adopting “smart” urban planning 

strategies is a non-traditional pollution 

control strategy that has received 

attention from EPA grantees. Land use 

management and transportation policies 

are tools that state and local officials can 

employ to help mitigate the effects of 

climate change on air pollution.

In addition to developing air quality 

metrics for evaluating different growth 

development strategies, here are some of 

the critical findings:

• Road pricing and urban growth 

boundary policies could reduce vehicle 

miles traveled and ozone precursor 

emissions in Austin, Texas.

• A new model for developing sustainable 

communities was applied to a county 

in North Carolina to demonstrate 

neighborhood “livability” and air quality.

• Regional scale modeling predicted 

future transportation needs and land 

use to evaluate the impacts of climate 

change and, the built environment, and 

transportation technology choices on 

air quality across the upper mid-western 

U.S. The results confirmed substantial 

benefits from the Tier-II vehicle 

emissions regulations through 2050 

and that smart growth strategies could 

result in significant improvements to air 

quality in the future. 

Climate Change Predicted to Increase 

Flooding and Waterborne Disease 

Risk

Research conducted by EPA grantees 

investigated how climate change will 

impact waterborne disease risk in the 

Great Lakes region. The study focused 

on how heavy precipitation events 

are expected to change during the 21st

century. These heavy precipitation events 

are associated with flooding and sewer 

overflow conditions that are conducive to 

the spread of waterborne disease.

The researchers calculated that the 

occurrence of precipitation events heavy 

enough to cause sewer overflow into Lake 

Michigan would increase by 50% to 120%. 

This could have a great impact on the 

beaches of Lake Michigan, especially their 

availability for recreational use. Similarly, 

given that Lake Michigan is a drinking 

water source for millions of people, this 

suggests another way in which climate 

change threatens human health. 

Air, Climate, and Energy

2010 Accomplishments – In Brief, Cont’d.

Air, Climate, and Energy
17

Seeking sustainable solutions to the complex 

problems facing our nation’s drinking water 

and water resources is vital to supporting 

healthy humans, ecosystems and economies. 

EPA’s safe and sustainable water resources 

research provides the science and 

innovative technologies the Agency—and 

the Nation—needs to maintain drinking 

water sources and systems, as well as 

to protect the chemical, physical and 

biological integrity of our water. EPA 

scientists and engineers help provide 

sustainable water infrastructure, deliver 

safe drinking water, manage stormwater, 

and remove and treat wastewater, 

allowing its sustainable and safe reuse.

This section highlights some of the many 

accomplishments that EPA scientists and 

researchers made in 2010 to advance 

safe and sustainable water resources, 

including: the launch of a scientific 

program to explore the potential impacts 

of a stimulation method used to harvest 

natural gas known as hydraulic fracturing, 

the release of two major reports on the 

environmental impacts of mountaintop 

mining, the publication of a manual to 

help localities protect coral reefs, a major 

update to a widely used tool for helping 

protect the nation’s rivers and streams, 

and much more.

Safe and Sustainable Water Resources

EPA Progress Report 2010

Office of Research and Development
18

A convergence of factors, including 

rising energy prices, the national security 

benefits of developing new domestic 

energy supplies, and an economic 

downturn — have sparked great interest 

in expanding natural gas development. 

What’s more, natural gas burns cleaner 

and emits less greenhouse gas per unit of 

energy than other fossil fuels. 

With those factors already in place, a 

stimulation process known as hydraulic 

fracturing, commonly referred to as 

“fracking,” has made it possible and 

profitable to unlock natural gas reserves 

from underground geologic formations 

that were previously considered 

economically unfeasible for natural gas 

development. 

Hydraulic fracturing creates or enlarges 

cracks in subterranean rock formations. 

Crews send drilling shafts into the ground, 

and then inject a mixture of water (millions 

of gallons per well), chemicals and 

“proppants” (typically sand, or other small 

particles, to hold open the cracks) into the 

shaft at high pressure. The injected fluid 

cracks or enlarges fissures in the rock, 

allowing natural gas to flow into the well 

and up to the surface. 

The practice of hydraulic fracturing, 

however, has raised concerns about its 

potential impact on the environment and 

human health, particularly on water quality 

and drinking water. Important questions 

about hydraulic fracturing include:

• What impact does removing the large 

amounts of water needed for highpressure drilling have on a watershed 

and/or an aquifer? 

• What potential impacts do associated 

activities and materials—such as 

chemicals and drilling muds, large 

amounts of wastewater, and fractured 

underground rock—have on water 

quality and underground drinking water 

supplies?

In 2010, the U.S. Congress requested 

that EPA formulate a plan to provide the 

science needed to answer these and other 

questions related to hydraulic fracturing.

To meet that request, EPA’s Office of 

Research and Development (ORD) began 

to design a hydraulic fracturing research 

study. EPA scientists, engineers, and 

science policy experts worked together 

to define the most pertinent research 

questions, identify gaps in existing data, 

and illuminate research priorities. They 

also built a robust process to incorporate 

stakeholder input, including public 

meetings in locations close to, or in 

communities potentially impacted by, 

hydraulic fracturing activities.

To elicit ideas and suggestions from 

EPA’s Science Advisory Board (SAB), the 

Agency’s ORD produced the document, 

Scoping Materials for Initial Design of EPA 

Research Study on Potential Relationships 

Between Hydraulic Fracturing and 

Drinking Water Resources. The SAB is an 

independent, external federal advisory 

committee called upon to provide expert 

council to the Agency regarding technical 

matters.

The SAB advised EPA on the scope of a 

hydraulic fracturing study, identified key 

research questions and provided input 

for making stakeholder involvement 

an integral component of the research 

program.

EPA is now implementing the hydraulic 

fracturing study plan.

Safe and Sustainable Water Resources

Hydraulic Fracturing: Drilling for Answers

At the request of the U.S. Congress, EPA researchers prepared to lead an extensive scientific evaluation of 

the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources.
19

Safe and Sustainable Water Resources

EPA Advances Science of Mountaintop Mining Impacts 

EPA researchers release two 2010 reports to support the Agency’s new guidance for mountaintop mining. 

On April 1, 2010, EPA announced a set of 

actions the Agency was taking to further 

clarify and strengthen environmental 

permitting requirements for Appalachian 

mountaintop removal and other surface 

coal mining projects. 

EPA issues permits for such actions in 

coordination with other federal and state 

regulatory agencies, including the Army 

Corps of Engineers.

The scientific underpinning for the new 

guidance was led by EPA research outlined 

in two reports released for public comment 

and submitted for peer review by the EPA 

Science Advisory Board in 2010: 

• The Effects of Mountaintop Mines and 

Valley Fills on Aquatic Ecosystems of the 

Central Appalachian Coalfields; 

• A Field-based Aquatic Life Benchmark 

for Conductivity in Central Appalachian 

Streams.

Mountaintop mining is a form of surface 

coal mining in which the natural vegetation 

from the upper topography of a mountain 

is removed, and then heavy equipment 

and explosives are used to level the upper 

sections to expose seams of coal. The 

sections of the mountain that are removed 

(called “overburden”) to access the coal 

are pushed into the adjacent valleys for 

disposal.

The new guidelines clarified actions 

that EPA was implementing to protect 

Appalachian ecosystems in accordance 

with its mandate to uphold and enforce the 

Clean Water Act. The Effects of Mountaintop 

Mines and Valley Fills on Aquatic Ecosystems 

of the Central Appalachian Coalfields

provides a state-of-the-science assessment 

on the ecological impacts of mountaintop 

mining and valley fill operations. EPA 

researchers identified and reviewed some 

277 citations—including books, conference 

proceedings, journal articles, reports, 

theses/dissertations and other sources—to 

present a single-volume assessment of 

the latest science available on the aquatic 

impacts associated with mountaintop 

mining.

The analysis identifies five key impacts 

directly related to mountaintop mining and 

valley fill:

1. Springs, intermittent streams, and small 

perennial streams are permanently lost 

with the removal of the mountaintop 

and from burial under fill. 

2. Concentrations of major chemical ions 

are persistently elevated downstream. 

3. Degraded water quality reaches levels 

that are acutely lethal to standard 

laboratory test organisms. 

4.Selenium concentrations are elevated, 

reaching concentrations that have 

caused toxic effects in fish and birds. 

5. Macroinvertebrate and fish communities 

are consistently and significantly 

degraded. 

The second report, A Field-Based Aquatic 

Life Benchmark for Conductivity in Central 

Appalachian Streams, provides the scientific 

basis for using a field-data-derived, 

conductivity-based measurement as the 

benchmark for water quality to protect 

aquatic organisms living in Appalachian 

surface waters. 

Conductivity is a measure of the level 

of salinity (salt) in the water. Because 

mountaintop mining operations can raise 

the salinity levels of nearby streams, 

measuring it provides an indication of 

the impacts on water quality by those 

operations. EPA scientists conducted 

more than 2,000 field samples to derive 
a conductivity benchmark that protects 

95 percent of the genera (sets of similar 

and closely related species) of aquatic 

organisms living in streams in central 

Appalachia. 

Key findings of the report include:

• Concentrations of salts as measured by 

conductivity are, on average, 10 times 

higher downstream of mountaintop 

mines and valley fills than in un-mined 

watersheds. 

• The increased levels of salts disrupt 

the life cycle of freshwater aquatic 

organisms, and some cannot live 

in these waters. Water with high 

salt concentrations downstream of 

mountaintop mines and valley fills is 

toxic to stream organisms. 

• There are higher levels of the chemical 

selenium downstream of mining sites. 

Selenium exceeded the level established 

by EPA to protect aquatic life at more 

than one-half of the sites surveyed 

downstream of mountaintop mines and 

valley fills. 

• By plotting the conductivity levels at 

which organisms are no longer observed 

in streams, EPA can determine a level of 

conductivity that results in their loss. 

• A conductivity benchmark (300 

microSiemens per centimeter) that 

protects 95 percent of the genera of 

aquatic organisms living in streams in 

central Appalachia.

The two reports were produced to 

provide the best available science on the 

environmental impact of mountaintop 

mining. “We will continue to work with all 

stakeholders to find a way forward that 

follows the science and the law,” said 

Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. 

Safe and Sustainable Water Resources

EPA Advances Science of Mountaintop Mining Impacts, Cont’d.

20
21

Safe and Sustainable Water Resources

Coral reefs are the largest living structures 

on the planet and have greater biodiversity 

than rainforests. They also are one of the 

most threatened marine ecosystems. Coral 

reefs are sensitive environments because 

of their highly specific requirements for 

temperature, salinity, oxygen, light, and 

nutrients. Pollution, disease, climate 

change, physical contact, and habitat 

destruction threaten these fragile 

ecosystems. 

The President’s Ocean Action Plan (2004) 

required EPA to develop the tools and 

knowledge necessary to protect coral 

reefs from land-based pollution using coral 

reef biological criteria, a tool to protect 

biological integrity under the authority 

of the Clean Water Act. This became 

the motivation behind the 2010 EPA 

publication, Coral Reef Biological Criteria: 

Using the Clean Water Act to Protect a 

National Treasure. 

The publication was produced to provide 

information on the biological health of 

reefs to coral reef managers and other 

stakeholders, including residents living 

near reefs, tourists, fishermen, marine, 

and land-based industries, conservation 

and environmental groups, research 

organizations and educational institutions. 

It serves as a comprehensive guide on how 

to use the Clean Water Act and biological 

criteria to enhance coral reef protection 

efforts. The manual walks coral reef 

managers through the steps they should 

take to protect reefs and links back to 

what they already are doing. 

A year in the making, the manual compiles 

an array of research performed by EPA 

scientists, research that is continuing 

to better facilitate development and 

implementation of coral reef biocriteria by 

geographic jurisdictions.

The research team that developed Coral 

Reef Biological Criteria: Using the Clean 

Water Act to Protect a National Treasure

worked closely with EPA’s Office of Water, 

working off the Agency’s Ocean Survey 

Vessel BOLD to complete many of the 

reef assessments required to develop 

biocriteria approaches. 

To further the Agency’s efforts to protect 

coral reefs, EPA marine biologists and 

other researchers are continuing their 

work. Current efforts include research 

divers assessing the condition of reef 

corals, fish, sponges, and benthic 

invertebrates in the waters of the 

Caribbean Sea surrounding Puerto Rico 

and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This work will 

help to identify organisms and establish 

measurement criteria that are responsive 

to human activities or disturbances 

in the watersheds that drain into the 

waters containing reefs. Previous surveys 

have supported approaches to regional 

condition reporting for coral reefs, which 

have a patchy distribution.

 

Coral reefs have declined as much as 20 

percent over the last 40 years and maybe 

as much as 80 percent in the Caribbean 

Sea. They are a national treasure and a 

vital ecosystem to protect. EPA’s 2010 

report and the research to develop 

biocriteria to help protect reefs is a 

promising development in protecting 

these national treasures. 

Sustaining a National Treasure: EPA Released Manual to Help Protect Coral Reefs

EPA researchers produced a comprehensive guide on how to use Clean Water Act biological criteria to enhance

coral reef protection.
22

What’s ailing your stream? CADDIS can 

help you find out. CADDIS is an EPA 

website developed to help scientists 

and engineers conduct cause and effect 

assessments in aquatic systems. The 

online application uses EPA’s Stressor 

Identification (SI) process, supporting 

information, and other assessment tools 

to help scientists systematically evaluate 

the causes of harm to plants and animals 

in aquatic habitats. In some instances, the 

process produces a clear-cut answer. In 

other cases, it points to several possible 

explanations and suggests additional tests 

that can narrow down the possibilities.

Scientists sample the insects and other 

tiny creatures that live in a body of water 

as one way of evaluating its health. The 

kinds of creatures that live in healthy 

environments are different from those 

that live in troubled areas, so these counts 

serve as an indicator of whether or not all 

is well. 

A new, enhanced version of CADDIS was 

released in September 2010. This release 

contains new content in each part of the 

site, and has been reorganized into five 

volumes, or topic areas: 

• Volume 1: Stressor Identification—

includes a new causal assessment 

background section, providing 

information on the CADDIS causal 

approach, causal concepts, and causal 

history. 

• Volume 2: Sources, Stressors & 

Responses—includes new stressor 

modules for ammonia, herbicides, 

insecticides, pH (low and high), and 

physical habitat, as well as a new source 

module for urbanization. 

• Volume 3: Examples & Applications 

(Examples, Databases)—includes new 

analytical examples, illustrating the 

use of different data analysis methods; 

provides new case studies, summarizing 

completed causal assessments; and 

provides a summary of how different 

states have used causal assessment 

techniques in their systems. 

• Volume 4: Data Analysis (Analyzing 

Data)—includes new information on 

selecting an analytical approach, basic 

principles and issues, exploratory data 

analysis, basic analyses and advanced 

analyses. 

• Volume 5: Causal Databases (Candidate 

Causes, Databases)—provides an 

expanded Interactive Conceptual 

Diagram application that allows users 

to view, create and collaborate on 

conceptual diagrams, as well as use 

those diagrams to access and link 

supporting literature.

Examples of improvements include the 

new CADDIS module on urbanization, 

which focuses on a source of impairment 

rather than a specific stressor. It provides 

background information on urbanization 

in streams and presents scenarios that 

investigators should consider if they 

suspect that urban development is 

significantly affecting stream quality. 

The update provides case studies that 

walk users through the assessments that 

different states have performed, and an 

interactive tool for building conceptual 

diagrams and linking these diagrams to 

evidence published by other researchers.

CADDIS helps state agencies improve the 

condition of streams and other bodies of 

water by helping them pinpoint the causes 

of problems so that remedial actions can 

be targeted where they will do the most 

good. By providing expanded guidance 

and resources, the 2010 release of CADDIS 

will enable watershed managers to better 

protect the health of our nation’s waters.

Visit the CADDIS Web site at www.epa.

gov/caddis.

Safe and Sustainable Water Resources

Updated Online Resource Helps Protect Waterways 

EPA researchers update tool that helps scientists from states and tribes find out what is harming plant and 

animal life in streams, rivers, and wetlands.
23

Safe and Sustainable Water Resources

EPA Christens New Great Lakes 

Research Vessel (RV) 

On August 6, 2010, EPA Assistant 

Administrator for Research and 

Development, Dr. Paul Anastas, joined 

Congressman Jim Oberstar in the 

christening of the Lake Explorer II, a new 

vessel to support EPA research in the 

Great Lakes area. 

The vessel was commissioned as the RV 

Lake Explorer II to support EPA research 

in the Great Lakes—a vast region with 

more than 10,000 miles of shoreline. 

The Great Lakes are the largest surface 

freshwater system on earth, and provide 

water for drinking, transportation, power, 

recreation, and many other uses. 

The Lake Explorer II will be used to 

conduct applied and exploratory research 

on environmental stressors affecting 

water quality and the biological integrity 

of the lakes. Stresses on the lakes include 

toxic and nutrient pollution, invasive 

species, habitat degradation, air pollution, 

and runoff from farm chemicals on 

agricultural lands. 

Modeling Tool Helps Beach Managers 

Protect Swimmers’ Health

Every year, thousands of Americans swim 

at recreational beaches. When water is 

polluted, swimmers can become ill from 

exposure to waterborne pathogens. To 

reduce the number of illnesses, beach 

managers needed quicker ways to 

determine when beaches are unsafe for 

swimming and should be closed.

During 2010, EPA scientists developed two 

important tools to protect beachgoers:

• “Virtual Beach,” a mathematical 

modeling tool to help beach managers 

predict concentrations of Escherichia 

coli, Enterococcus and other indicators 

of waterborne pathogens at beaches. 

The tool uses local data such as wave 

height, water temperature and rainfall 

to develop a model that can forecast 

microbial concentrations 24- to 48- hours 

in advance. 

• A new DNA extraction method for 

determining the amount of pathogens 

present in water. The new method uses 

quantitative polymerase chain reaction 

technology to extract and quantify 

Enterococcus bacteria DNA, a fecal 

indicator, from water samples. 

Responding to Aging Water 

Infrastructure

EPA scientists and engineers evaluate 

and demonstrate innovative technologies 

and improve the cost effectiveness of 

operation, maintenance, and replacement 

of aging and failing drinking water and 

wastewater treatment and conveyance 

systems.

During 2010, EPA began a long-term 

assessment of permeable surfaces to 

address urban stormwater management. 

The research is being conducted at the 

Safe and Sustainable Water Resources

2010 Accomplishments – In Brief
24

Porous Pavement Parking Lot and Rain 

Garden Demonstration Site located at the 

Agency’s laboratory facilities at the Edison 

Environmental Center in Edison, New 

Jersey. 

At the Demonstration Site, EPA replaced a 

43,000-square-foot section of parking lot 

with three different types of permeable 

pavement and planted several rain 

gardens with different types of vegetation.

Over the next decade, EPA researchers 

will evaluate the effectiveness of each 

pavement type and the rain gardens in 

removing pollutants from stormwater. 

They also will measure how each type of 

permeable pavement helps water filter 

back into the ground. 

Responding to the Need for Improved 

Microbial Source Tracking (MST) 

Assays 

In 2010, EPA completed initial assessments 

of molecular assays for identifying 

different sources of fecal contamination in 

source waters (i.e., human, bovine, avian). 

Findings demonstrate that some assays 

are more robust than others in detecting 

species-specific indicators of pollution. 

Also, there are within-species factors 

(e.g., diet) that affect a particular assay’s 

ability to uniquely identify sources of fecal 

contamination. Efforts are ongoing to 

more fully develop and assess MST assays 

in terms of specificity and sensitivity. 

National Aquatic Resource Surveys 

Technical Support

EPA scientists and engineers provided 

technical support on a monitoring design, 

condition indicators, and field manuals 

for the first assessment of the biological 

condition of the nation’s wetlands 

conducted by the Agency’s Office of 

Water. 

These efforts were key for the 

development of the National Wetland 

Condition Assessment, the first 

comprehensive, statistically valid scientific 

assessment of the condition of the 

nation’s wetlands. The assessment’s 

design creates a link between EPA and the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through the 

national assessments of wetland condition 

and the changes in that condition through 

time. 

Safe and Sustainable Water Resources

Safe and Sustainable Water Resources

2010 Accomplishments – In Brief, Cont’d.
25

How can we meet today’s needs without 

compromising those of future generations? 

More specifically, how can people protect 

our shared environment in a way that 

fosters human- health and well-being, 

is socially just and promotes economic 

prosperity?

Providing the science to answer the 

questions posed above is at the heart of 

EPA’s sustainable and healthy communities 

research. Agency researchers and their 

partners from across a wide spectrum of 

investigative fields are working together 

to form a deeper understanding of the 

balance between the three pillars of 

sustainability—environment, society, and 

economy. Their transdisciplinary work will 

provide the decision tools and data that 

communities need to make proactive, 

strategic decisions aimed at a prosperous, 

more environmentally sustainable future. 

This section highlights some of the many 

accomplishments that EPA scientists and 

researchers made in 2010 to advance 

sustainable and healthy communities, 

including: embarking on a major new 

initiative to incorporate sustainability 

into all EPA programs, historic efforts to 

advance environmental justice through 

science and collaboration, the publication 

of a book featuring the link between 

ecosystem sustainability and international 

stability, and more. 

Sustainable and Healthy Communities

EPA Progress Report 2010

Office of Research and Development
As part of the activities to commemorate 

EPA’s 40th anniversary, Administrator Lisa 

P. Jackson announced on November 30, 

2010, that the National Academies, at the 

request of the Agency, has launched a 

study to strengthen the scientific basis for 

incorporating sustainability concepts into 

EPA’s decision making. 

The National Academies have convened 

the leading scientific experts in the Nation 

to build upon 25 years of sustainability 

science and provide an operational 

framework for sustainability that can be 

incorporated into the work of EPA.

The National Academies’ National 

Resource Council (NRC) study will build 

on existing work that EPA’s Office of 

Research and Development has conducted 

by strengthening the analytic and scientific 

basis for sustainability as it applies 

to human health and environmental 

protection within the Agency’s decisionmaking process. 

The study and report, which are to be 

completed by September 2011, will cover 

such questions as:

• What should be the operational 

framework for sustainability for EPA?

• How can the EPA decision-making 

process, rooted in the risk assessment/

risk management paradigm, be 

integrated into this new sustainability 

framework?

• What scientific and analytical tools are 

needed to support the framework?

• What set of strategic metrics and 

indicators should EPA build to 

determine if sustainable approaches are 

or are not being employed successfully?

• Which assessment techniques and 

accounting protocols should the 

Agency adopt to inform ongoing 

efforts to improve Agency sustainability 

practices and procedures?

Innovative thinking and sustainable 

approaches will be the best tools to 

confront new environmental challenges as 

they arise. The announcement of the study 

and the report it will generate, known as 

The Green Book, mark EPA’s commitment 

to innovative thinking, methods, and 

approaches that will give the Agency the 

ability to tackle current and emerging 

environmental challenges, and prepare 

the Nation to address, and perhaps even 

prevent, those challenges that cannot be 

foreseen. 

Sustainable and Healthy Communities

Sustainability for the Next 40 Years—and Beyond

National Academies study to explore incorporating sustainability into EPA decisions.

 26
27

In September 2010, EPA Administrator Lisa 

P. Jackson and White House Council on 

Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley 

reconvened the Interagency Working 

Group on Environmental Justice (EJIWG) 

in a meeting held at the White House. 

The meeting demonstrated the Obama 

administration’s dedication to ensuring 

that all Americans have strong federal 

protection from environmental and health 

hazards. 

This historic gathering marked a 

recommitment to advancing the mandate 

of Executive Order 12898, “Federal 

Actions to Address Environmental Justice 

in Minority Populations and Low-Income 

Populations,” which states that each 

agency, with the law as its guide, should 

make environmental justice a part of its 

mission.

In addition to Jackson, attendees at the 

meeting included Attorney General Eric 

Holder, Department of Justice; Secretary 

Ken Salazar, Department of the Interior; 

Secretary Shaun Donovan, Department 

of Housing and Urban Development; 

Secretary Ray LaHood, Department of 

Transportation; Administrator Martha 

Johnson, General Services Administration; 

Carol Browner, Senior Advisor to the 

President on Energy and Climate Change; 

John Holdren, Director of the White House 

Office of Science and Technology Policy; 

Melody Barnes, Director of the White 

House Office of Domestic Policy; and 

representatives from the following federal 

agencies: Labor, Health and Human 

Services, Energy, Education, Homeland 

Security, Commerce, Army, Agriculture, 

and Defense, among others. 

The role of the EJIWG is to guide, support 

and enhance federal environmental 

justice and community-based activities. By 

coordinating the expertise and resources 

of federal government agencies, the 

EJIWG works to identify projects where 

federal collaboration can support the 

development of healthy and sustainable 

communities. The EJIWG also will seek 

opportunities to provide green jobs and 

training in communities in need and 

promote a clean energy economy. 

Scientific understanding of environmental 

exposures and effects is essential for 

supporting EJIWG’s mission.

EPA, together with its partners 

and collaborators, began to lay 

the groundwork to advance that 

understanding back in March, 2010 when 

its Office of Research and Development 

co-sponsored a scientific symposium 

that featured presentations from several 

leading researchers in the human health 

and health disparities fields, as well as 

community activists from across the 

country. 

Specific science recommendations 

developed by symposium participants 

included: 

1. Develop and institute a new research 

approach/scientific framework that 

reflects a more holistic view of the 

environment and health, and produces 

results that can inform policies to 

address environmental justice concerns 

and environmental health disparities. 

2. Incorporate community perspectives 

in the development of EPA’s science/

research agendas, as well as in data 

collection and the performance of 

exposure/risk assessments and risk 

management decisions. 

3. Increase funding for community-based 

participatory and transdisciplinary 

Sustainable and Healthy Communities

EPA Hosts Historic Meeting, Sponsors Symposium to

Advance Environmental Justice

Agency joins federal partners to advance a healthy environment and economy for all. 
28

Environmental problems do not respect 

national boundaries.

Pollutants released into the air in one 

country can cause acid rain to fall in 

another. Contamination of a river as it 

flows through one nation can lead to 

fish kills or human disease in the next 

nation downstream. Gases emitted in one 

country can contribute to climate change 

worldwide. An act of ecoterrorism that 

poisons food in one nation could lead to 

outbreaks of disease or food shortages in 

numerous nations in the global food chain.

Thus, the environment is crucial to 

human welfare not only locally but 

also internationally, and threats to 

the environment are threats to good 

relationships among nations.

EPA researchers played a key role in the 

publication of a 2010 book about the 

connections between healthy ecosystems 

and international stability. Achieving 

Environmental Security: Ecosystem 

Services and Human Welfare presents 

the proceedings of a major international 

workshop on ecosystem services held at 

The Pell Center for International Relations 

and Public Policy at Salve Regina University 

in Newport, Rhode Island, in 2009. 

The workshop was sponsored and led 

by EPA scientists working with the 

United Nations Environment Programme 

research, with a specific focus 

on research that will benefit 

disadvantaged, underserved, and 

environmentally overburdened 

communities. 

4. Advance the practice of risk assessment 

and management: incorporate social 

and other kinds of vulnerabilities, 

address cumulative impacts and 

multiple stressors, encourage the use of 

qualitative data, incorporate community 

knowledge and perspectives and 

account for groups that are not 

represented by national data. 

EPA’s science symposium and the historic 

meeting of the Interagency Working Group 

on Environmental Justice in 2010 marked 

the beginning of what are now ongoing 

efforts to advance environmental justice 

and support those efforts through the 

best available science. Those efforts will 

continue well into the future. 

Sustainable and Healthy Communities

Sustainable Ecosystems Support Peace and Security

EPA researchers play a key role in an international workshop and new book on the link between

environment and worldwide human welfare.

EPA Hosts Historic Meeting, Sponsors Symposium to

Advance Environmental Justice, Cont’d.
29

(UNEP) and the North Atlantic Treaty 

Organization’s (NATO) Science for Peace 

and Security Programme. 

For the international workshop, 

experts from five continents and 20 

nations came together to share their 

observations and research in a wide 

variety of fields, including agriculture, 

architecture, environmental linkages to 

poverty, humanitarian aid, environmental 

management, natural disasters, remote 

sensing, computer modeling and public 

policy as they relate to ecosystem services 

and human health. The topics covered 

ranged from climate change to sustainable 

building design to the importance of 

natural landscapes to the potential impact 

of ecoterrorism on the food supply.

NATO has long supported scientific 

programs that promote world peace 

and security. Its many projects in this 

area include efforts to protect fragile 

ecosystems, counter man-made pollution 

and ecoterrorism, and assess the risks 

from natural disasters.

From EPA’s perspective, one of the 

principal benefits of the workshop and 

new book is that they draw attention 

to the value of ecosystem services. EPA 

wants the public to understand that these 

types of services can be as important—

and valuable—as the kind of resources to 

which it is easier to attach dollar signs.

EPA is the first federal agency to devote a 

national research program to developing 

a deeper scientific understanding on how 

ecosystem services support human wellbeing.

Sustainable and Healthy Communities

Sustainable Ecosystems Support Peace and Security, Cont’d.
30

Progress Report: Land Research 

Program Science Applications 

Through Partnerships

In 2010, EPA released Land Research 

Program Science Applications Through 

Partnerships: A Progress Report 2005-2009. 

The report presents examples of research 

conducted by EPA scientists between 

2005 and 2009 that have contributed 

to addressing complex environmental 

cleanup issues at hazardous waste sites.

The report highlights six research 

areas that EPA scientists and engineers 

have contributed to: (1) groundwater 

contamination; (2) contaminated 

sediments; (3) site characterization; 

(4) landfills; (5) underground storage 

tanks; and (6) materials management.

 

The report illustrates EPA’s research 

outcomes that have led to improved 

remediation and mitigation of pollution 

at hazardous waste sites and reduced the 

cost of cleanup, including:

 • Saving more than $100 million to 

remediate contaminated groundwater 

as a result of partnering with site 

managers across the country to use 

improved technologies. 

• Assisting states with contaminated 

sediment assessment and remediation 

problems by applying new 

methodologies. The methods have 

been included in state guidance for 

hazardous waste cleanup. 

• Applying statistical methods for site 

characterization in state guidance 

documents. 

• Transferring an alternative cover 

technology for landfills to states, 

counties and federal agencies to 

provide a cost-effective alternative 

to traditional landfill covers. The 

technology transfer is estimated to 

have saved more than $200 million. 

• Providing new methods and models to 

states to better assess and remediate 

leaking gasoline and gasoline additives 

from underground storage tanks. 

• Supporting EPA’s Regions and Office of 

Solid Waste and Emergency Response 

(OSWER) with technical reports and 

guidance on material management 

issues.

For a copy of the report, go to: www.epa.

gov/landscience/partnerships/index.htm.

EPA Hosts Major Conference on 

Children’s Environmental Health, 

Announces Support for the Next 

Generation of Children’s Centers

On October 19 and 20, 2010, EPA 

hosted Protecting Children’s Health for a 

Lifetime: Environmental Health Research 

Meets Clinical Practice and Public Policy. 

The objective of the Washington, DC, 

conference was to bring grantees, federal 

and professional organizations together to 

explore the relationship between research, 

clinical applications and policy implications 

in the field of children’s environmental 

health. 

The meeting launched the next phase 

of the joint EPA/National Institute of 

Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) 

Centers for Children’s Environmental 

Sustainable and Healthy Communities

2010 Accomplishments – In Brief

Sustainable and Healthy Communities
31

Health and Disease Prevention Centers 

(Children’s Centers) program, including 12 

new research grants over the next 5 years 

for a combined total of nearly $60 million. 

EPA and NIEHS are funding six new grants 

for large multidisciplinary research (5-year) 

Centers and six new grants for (3-year) 

“Formative Centers.” 

The meeting brought together Children’s 

Centers researchers and the North 

American network of the Pediatric 

Environmental Health Specialty Units 

(PEHSU) to present research findings and 

identify common areas of interest and 

potential collaborative opportunities. 

An important outcome of the meeting 

was the focus on promoting better 

communication within the scientific 

community and with the general public. 

Presenters included Children’s Centers 

researchers, PEHSU directors, Ruth Etzel 

of the World Health Organization, Ken 

Cook, President of the Environmental 

Working Group, and keynote speaker 

Annie Murphy Paul, author of the book 

Origins: How the Nine Months Before Birth 

Shape the Rest of Our Lives. 

Developing a National Atlas of 

Sustainable Ecosystem Services 

Understanding and quantifying the many 

ways in which ecosystems support and 

benefit people is a major challenge. 

Without this understanding, communities 

may collectively make decisions about land 

use and development that inadvertently 

diminish or destroy some of these vital 

“ecosystem services.”

EPA scientists, in collaboration with the 

National Geographic Society, the U.S. 

Geological Survey, the Natural Resources 

Conservation Service, NatureServe, the 

City College of New York and others, are 

developing a National Atlas of Ecosystem 

Services for the contiguous United States. 

A demonstration intranet version of the 

Atlas was completed in 2010.

The Atlas also will allow users to see the 

effects of different land use choices and 

how nearby, remote, and downstream 

communities can be affected by local 

activities. When the full version is 

completed, the Atlas will provide an easyto-use, Web-based mapping application 

that allows users to explore a visual 

representation of the benefits their 

communities reap from nature, and learn 

how these benefits can be conserved and 

enhanced for a sustainable future. 

Developing Community-Based Models

Community groups have a vested interest 

in knowing what environmental pollutants 

they may be exposed to locally, but often 

lack information and tools to help them 

fully understand, prioritize, and address 

those risks. Communities also are faced 

with the challenge of guiding growth 

and land-use decisions in a manner that 

sustains the environment and provides 

quality of life for residents. 

EPA scientists are developing communitybased models and tools to assist 

communities with sustainable land-use 

decisions and identifying and prioritizing 

decisions about environmental pollutant 

exposures and risks. Two communitybased models were developed in 2010, 

including the Community-Focused 

Exposure and Risk Screening Tool 

(C-FERST) and the Regional Vulnerability 

Assessment (ReVA).

C-FERST is a Web-based tool that brings 

together environmental exposure and 

Sustainable and Healthy Communities

2010 Accomplishments – In Brief, Cont’d.

Sustainable and Healthy Communities
32

health-related information. The tool 

includes maps of demographic data, 

environmental concentrations and 

human exposures for identifying “hot 

spots” and communities at risk. During 

its development, EPA scientists are 

listening to residents and local officials in 

communities to make sure the information 

in C-FERST is useful. Primary users of 

C-FERST during 2010 were EPA scientists 

working with partner communities. Next 

steps involve establishing a foundation 

and a design geared to the general public. 

The ReVA tools compile many kinds of 

spatially explicit data and model results 

and apply new analytical techniques, 

allowing the user to step back and 

evaluate the effects of land use decisions 

on local and regional ecosystems. 

EPA Launches a Collaborative

Website for Integrated 

Environmental Modeling

In July 2010, EPA launched a new online 

tool for scientific collaboration and 

knowledge sharing, the Integrated 

Environmental Modeling Hub (iemHUB). 

Built by Purdue University with support 

from the Agency, iemHUB allows 

environmental researchers to analyze 

environmental problems and combine 

environmental models so that a better 

understanding of the environment can 

be developed—everything from keeping 

beaches clean to predicting climate 

effects. 

EPA uses integrated modeling assessments 

to inform decision-making in support of 

its broad mission of protecting human 

health and safeguarding the environment. 

With the website, the Agency is providing 

a state-of-the-art resource to the 

environmental modeling community. 

The iemHUB supports the development 

of integrated models and their use in 

conducting research and informing the 

decision-making process. 

The iemHUB was released by the EPAsupported Community of Practice for 

Integrated Environmental Modeling 

(CIEM). The Community of Practice is 

an informal collaborative organization 

that was established by EPA and other 

scientists to advance the state-of-thescience and technology related to 

integrated modeling.

More information on iemHUB is at www.

iemhub.org.

Sustainable and Healthy Communities

Sustainable and Healthy Communities

2010 Accomplishments – In Brief, Cont’d.
33

Chemical safety is a major priority of EPA 

and its researchers. Moving toward a safer 

and more sustainable environment requires 

producing new and existing chemicals in safer 

ways and that are nontoxic. It means having 

the information and methods needed to make 

better informed, more timely decisions about 

chemicals. The challenges are formidable: 

tens of thousands of chemicals currently are 

in use and hundreds more are introduced 

every year. Many of these chemicals have not 

been evaluated thoroughly for potential risks 

to human health and the environment. Also, 

the consequences of use over a chemical’s 

life cycle (from production to disposal) are 

not thoroughly evaluated. EPA’s research 

on chemical safety is geared to meet this 

challenge. 

Using innovative approaches, EPA scientists 

and their partners are embracing the 

principles of green chemistry—the design 

of chemical products and processes that 

reduce or eliminate the use or generation 

of hazardous substances—to produce safer 

chemicals. They also are integrating a diversity 

of scientific disciplines to develop new 

prediction techniques, pioneering the use of 

innovative technologies for chemical toxicity 

testing and designing tools to advance the 

management of chemical risks.

Chemical safety for sustainability includes 

research in computational toxicology, 

nanotechnology, endocrine disrupting 

chemicals, human health, and pesticides.

This section highlights some of the many 

accomplishments that EPA scientists and 

researchers made in 2010 to advance 

chemical safety for sustainability, including: 

key support to the federal response to the 

tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, major 

accomplishments in the management of 

chemical risk, achievements from EPA’s hightech Computational Toxicology Research 

Program, bringing top scientists together to 

advance the science of perfluoroalkyl acids, 

the release of two case studies exploring 

the broad environmental and human 

health impacts of nanomaterials, advances 

in endocrine disruptors research, the 

understanding of dioxin toxicity, and more.

Chemical Safety for Sustainability

EPA Progress Report 2010

Office of Research and Development
34

On April 20, 2010, the mobile offshore 

drilling unit Deepwater Horizon, located 

some 40 miles off the coast of Louisiana, 

exploded into flames. Eleven crew 

members were killed, 17 were injured, and 

what would prove to be the worst oil spill 

in history had begun.

Overnight, EPA staff scientists and 

engineers became highly sought-after 

experts to inform and help formulate 

the oil spill-related activities of the 

National Response Team, an organization 

comprised of 16 federal departments 

and agencies tasked with responding to 

oil and hazardous substance pollution 

events. EPA provided full support to the 

U.S. Coast Guard, which served as the 

National Incident Commander for the 

federal response, leading and coordinating 

emergency and containment activities. 

The first priority following the release 

of oil into the Gulf of Mexico was 

protecting public health. EPA scientists 

mobilized to monitor air quality and assess 

environmental conditions for potential 

air and water contamination. To provide 

Gulf Coast residents with the latest 

information, Agency scientists frequently 

collected and updated environmental data 

and posted it on the EPA website. 

In addition to setting up emergency 

environmental monitoring operations, 

EPA researchers developed sampling 

approaches and Quality Assurance Plans 

to support data collection and ensure 

the transfer of reliable information for 

assessing environmental exposures and 

effects of the oil spill. Their work provided 

the Agency with support to identify and 

evaluate likely exposure pathways through 

which released and dispersed oil, as well 

as oil dispersant, could reach people and 

“ecological receptors” such as plankton, 

fish, wildlife and coastal vegetation. 

EPA experts provided science to support 

Coast Guard decisions on cleanup and 

mitigation activities. A critical priority was 

to provide information on oil dispersants. 

EPA-led studies provided the first 

comprehensive, standardized toxicology 

tests, including evaluations of potential 

endocrine-disrupting activity, on oil 

dispersants available for use in response to 

the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. 

The tests were conducted to ensure 

that decisions about dispersant use in 

the Gulf of Mexico were grounded on 

the best available science. EPA began its 

own scientific analysis of eight dispersant 

products on the National Contingency Plan 

Product Schedule, a list of dispersants and 

other mitigating substances and devices 

that may be used to remove or control oil 

discharges.

The overall goal of actions taken in 

response to the unprecedented release of 

oil into the Gulf of Mexico was to minimize 

the known threat the released oil posed 

to the environment. Spill management 

strategies, practices, and technologies 

that were implemented include the use of 

sorbents, floating booms, and skimming 

operations to mechanically remove oil 

from the water; burning the oil in place; 

and applying dispersants.

Based on their ongoing work to support 

immediate and near-term remediation 

efforts, EPA researchers have begun 

designing sampling and analysis plans that 

can support long-term assessments of 

the incident, as well as the efficacy of the 

remediation and the recovery of the area.

Chemical Safety for Sustainability

Crisis Science: All Hands on Deck

EPA scientists provide key support to the federal response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. 
35

Chemical Safety for Sustainability

Computational Toxicology Research 

EPA scientists pioneer the use of high-tech computer technologies to advance the science of toxicology.

Tens of thousands of chemicals currently 

are in commerce, and hundreds more 

are introduced every year. With so 

many chemicals, the pace and cost of 

traditional, animal-based toxicity tests 

have meant that only a small fraction of 

chemicals have been adequately assessed 

for potential risk.

EPA’s Computational Toxicology Research 

Program (CompTox) is working to change 

that. Together with their partners, 

CompTox researchers are working to 

revolutionize how chemicals are assessed 

for potential toxicity to humans and the 

environment. The CompTox Research 

Program conducts innovative research 

that integrates advances in molecular 

biology, chemistry, and computer science 

to more effectively and efficiently rank 

chemicals based on potential risks. 

CompTox accomplishments during 2010 

included:

• EPA Screened 1,000 Chemicals Using 

ToxCastTM

EPA’s ToxCastTM program was 

launched in 2007 to develop a costeffective approach for prioritizing 

the thousands of chemicals that 

need toxicity testing. ToxCastTM 

uses advanced science tools to 

help understand how human body 

processes are impacted by exposure 

to chemicals and to determine which 

exposures are most likely to lead 

to adverse health effects. ToxCastTM 

started screening 1,000 chemicals 

from a broad range of sources, 

including drugs donated from 

pharmaceutical companies, “green” 

chemicals and chemicals in cosmetics 

and other consumer products. 

• International Partnership for 

Enhancing Chemical Safety Established

EPA and the European Chemicals 

Agency (ECHA) forged a partnership 

in 2010 that will promote enhanced 

technical cooperation on chemical 

management activities. 

EPA will provide regulatory data 

(excluding confidential business 

information) and research from 

ToxCastTM to ECHA, and in return, 

ECHA will share the approaches 

and chemical data being used 

under the Registration, Evaluation, 

Authorization, and Restriction of 

Chemicals (REACH) law that was 

enacted by the European Union in 

June 2007. 

• EPA and Partners Collaborated to 

Improve Chemical Screening

EPA, the National Institute of 

Environmental Health Sciences 

National Toxicology Program (NTP), 

and the National Institute of Health 

Chemical Genomics Center (NCGC) 

welcomed the U.S. Food and Drug 

Administration (FDA) to the Tox21 

collaboration. Tox21 merges federal 

agency resources (research, funding 

and testing tools) to develop ways 

to more effectively predict how 

chemicals will affect human health and 

the environment. The collaboration 

was established in 2008 to develop 

models that will be able to better 

predict how chemicals will affect 

humans.

• EPA Opened Access to Chemical 

Information

EPA released the online Toxicity 

Reference Database (ToxRefDB), a 

tool that allows scientists and others 

to search and download thousands of 

toxicity testing results on hundreds 

of chemicals. The database includes 

30 years and some $2 billion worth of 

testing results that were previously 

found primarily as paper documents.
36

Chemical Safety for Sustainability

Embracing Change: The Next Generation of Risk Assessment

EPA developed new risk assessment practices to match the pace of scientific innovations.

In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick 

presented the structure of the DNA helix 

in a scientific paper. Just 57 years later, 

scientists are predicting genetic diseases 

and developing treatment for previously 

incurable ailments.

There is no doubt that our basic 

understanding of disease and its causes 

is changing at an astonishing speed. New 

findings in microbiology and genetics are 

announced on an almost daily basis, and 

while this is excellent news in terms of 

human and environmental health, it also 

is important to ensure that a framework is 

in place to interpret these groundbreaking 

discoveries.

EPA is aware of this need and is leading 

a collaborative effort among several 

federal and state agencies to advance 

the science of risk assessment through 

greater incorporation of new knowledge in 

molecular biology. EPA’s Next Generation 

Risk Assessment (NexGen) was launched 

in 2010. 

New NexGen tools will evaluate toxicity 

at a molecular level and are intended to 

support both traditional risk assessment 

and green chemistry approaches.

The NexGen project is part of the larger 

EPA national research effort to develop 

Chemical Safety for Sustainability (CSS), 

the science and methods needed to 

produce safer chemicals using principles 

of green chemistry. CSS aims to increase 

our knowledge about the potential 

health effects of chemicals currently 

manufactured and to develop improved 

sustainable management strategies to deal 

with chemicals that pose risks to humans 

and wildlife.

EPA held a NexGen workshop in November 

2010, at its research campus in Research 

Triangle Park, North Carolina, to elicit 

input from experts on several early-stage 

health effects assessments, or prototypes. 

Expert comments were used to refine the 

prototypes and help identify key points for 

a subsequent workshop held in February 

2011. 

The Agency is developing a better idea of 

how to proceed in the future and how to 

best adapt modern risk assessment to the 

ever-evolving science that is behind it.

The Environmental Protection 

Agency is embarking on an 

exploration of the new science 

and methods that are ripe for 

incorporation into currently 

emerging and future risk 

assessments.

This program—Advancing 

the Next Generation of Risk 

Assessment (NexGen)—is a 

collaborative effort among 

EPA’s Computational 

Toxicology Program, 

the National Institute of 

Environmental Health Sciences 

and National Toxicology 

Program, the Centers 

for Disease Control and 

Prevention and Agency for 

Toxic Substances and Disease 

Registry, the National Human 

Genome Research Institute, 

and the State of California’s 

Environmental Protection 

Agency.
37

Chemical Safety for Sustainability

Nanomaterial Case Studies 

EPA researchers are leading the effort to study the broad implications of nanotechnology. 

EPA is leading scientific efforts to 

understand the potential risks to humans, 

wildlife, and ecosystems from exposure to 

nanomaterials—those having at least one 

dimension between 1 and 100 nanometers 

(nm). They often have novel or unique 

properties that can arise from their small 

size.

Through innovation and discovery, EPA 

scientists and their partners are studying 

the unique properties of nanomaterials, 

determining their potential impacts, 

and developing approaches to evaluate 

any risks. They also are exploring how 

nanomaterials can be used effectively to 

clean up contaminants released into the 

environment.

In 2010, EPA released two case studies 

to be used as part of a larger process 

to identify what is known and, more 

importantly, what is not yet known that 

could be of value in assessing the broad 

implications of certain nanomaterials. 

Nanomaterial case studies EPA released in 

2010 include:

• Nanomaterial Case Studies: Nanoscale 

Titanium Dioxide in Water Treatment 

and in Topical Sunscreen (Final), 

released in November 2010, considers 

two specific applications of nanoscale 

titanium dioxide (nano-TiO2): (1) as 

an agent for removing arsenic from 

drinking water, and (2) as an active 

ingredient in topical sunscreen. 

The intent of these case studies is 

to characterize the current state of 

knowledge on the environmental 

impacts of nano-TiO2 as used in these 

two specific applications, as well as 

areas where information is missing. 

Note that some information gaps 

are specific to nano-TiO2 either as a 

drinking water treatment agent or 

as an ingredient in topical sunscreen. 

Other gaps may pertain more 

broadly to nano-TiO2 irrespective of 

its application, and still other gaps 

may pertain even more widely to 

nanomaterials in general. In this way, 

the case studies are expected to be 

used in developing research strategies 

that will support comprehensive 

environmental assessments of 

nanomaterials.

• In August 2010, EPA released 

the External Review Draft of the 

Nanomaterial Case Study: Nanoscale 

Silver in Disinfectant Spray. This case 

study does not represent a completed 

or even a preliminary assessment 

of nano-silver (nano-Ag); rather, it 

uses a comprehensive environmental 

assessment that starts with the 

product life cycle but encompasses 

fate and transport processes in various 

environmental media, exposure-dose 

characterization, and ecological and 

health effects as well as other direct 

and indirect ramifications of both 

primary and secondary substances or 

stressors associated with a nanoscale 

silver. 

Each chapter in the external draft 

report includes lists of questions that 

reflect information gaps in that portion 

of the document. Some of these 

knowledge gaps or research needs 

are specific to the use of nano-Ag in 

disinfectant spray; others may relate 

more broadly to nano-Ag irrespective 

of its application, while still others may 

apply more widely to nanomaterials 

in general. Readers are encouraged 

to consider the questions listed 

throughout the document and offer 

specific comments on how individual 

questions or research needs might be 

better expressed.
38

Chemical Safety for Sustainability

Providing Answers to Chemical Safety Concerns

EPA brought top scientists together to share information about perfluoroalkyl acids.

EPA brought together leading researchers 

studying perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs)—a 

class of chemicals the Agency has 

identified as potential threats to human 

health and the environment—at the 

3rd Biennial PFAA Days Workshop, held 

June 8-10, 2010, at the Agency’s research 

facilities in Research Triangle Park, North 

Carolina. The workshop provided an 

opportunity to share recent findings and 

to explore potential partnerships.

PFAAs and their derivatives are used 

in hundreds of consumer applications, 

including fabric and carpet coatings 

(offering stain resistance), lubricants, 

fire-fighting foam, denture cleaners and 

personal products such as shampoo. 

In 2009, EPA issued provisional health 

advisories for two of the chemicals—PFOA 

and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS)—in 

drinking water and developed action 

plans to address several other chemicals, 

including the long-chain PFAAs of new 

concern.

EPA has one of the largest groups of 

scientists in the world studying PFAAs, 

providing expertise in many disciplines. 

More than 60 articles in peer-reviewed 

publications have been produced by 

EPA researchers over the past 4 years to 

improve the understanding of the health 

and environmental impacts of these 

chemicals.

EPA research highlights at the workshop 

included determining where PFAAs go in 

the environment after they are released. 

EPA researchers have developed analytical 

methods that enable scientists and water 

quality managers to determine if PFAAs 

are in the environment and at what 

concentration.

EPA scientists are testing consumer 

products in 12 categories to evaluate 

whether companies are reducing PFOA 

content in their products under the 

program. Preliminary observations show 

a significant reduction of PFOAs in milltreated stain-resistant carpeting and some 

carpet treatment products. Other product 

categories are showing mixed trends. An 

interim report will be published in late 

2011.

EPA researchers are identifying biological 

activity on how PFAAs cause reproductive 

and developmental effects in rodents. 

Application of biologic methods is needed 

to understand potential toxic effects. 

Researchers are examining how PFAAs 

may interact with nuclear receptors, 

specific proteins that can alter genetic 

code and are important to the normal 

development of an embryo/fetus and 

maintenance of homeostasis (the body’s 

ability to regulate biological processes) in 

adults.

In addition, EPA researchers are exploring 

whether PFAA exposure plays a role in 

the incidence of obesity and metabolic 

syndrome. The chemicals are being 

studied because of their potential ability 

to influence energy metabolism (how 

biological fuels such as fat and sugar are 

being stored or converted into energy).
39

Chemical Safety for Sustainability

EPA Endocrine Disrupter Research 

EPA scientists investigate chemicals that may interfere with the endocrine system to advance risk assessment 

and support efforts to protect human health and the environment. 

EPA’s endocrine disruptor research 

program was established to address 

the many industrial chemicals and 

pesticides that may interfere with the 

normal functioning of human and wildlife 

endocrine systems. Environmental 

chemicals that disrupt the endocrine 

system have the ability to cause a variety 

of problems with development, behavior, 

and reproduction. 

EPA research addresses exposures 

to pesticides, toxic chemicals, and 

environmental mixtures of chemicals 

that interfere with the function of the 

endocrine system. Major accomplishments 

in 2010 include:

• Development of a Short-Term 

Screening Method for Thyroid 

Toxicants

EPA endocrine studies on thyroid 

toxicants provided scientific support 

to the Agency’s updated policy 

that incorporates faster, less costly 

screening studies into decision 

making. The findings provided support 

to waiving the requirement for 

developmental neurotoxicity studies 

for chemicals with known thyrotoxic 

properties.

• Development of a New Approach for 

Testing Environmental Chemicals for 

Thyroid Hormone Disruption

EPA scientists developed a new 

approach for testing environmental 

chemicals for thyroid hormone 

disruption using thyroid gland explant 

cultures from tadpoles of the African 

clawed frog (Xenopus laevis), an 

aquatic species commonly used in 

research.

• A New Approach for Identifying 

Chemicals That Disrupt Male 

Reproductive Development

EPA scientists developed a new 

approach, using a short-term in 

vivo screening assay, for identifying 

phthalate esters (chemicals commonly 

used to make plastics flexible) 

that disrupt male reproductive 

development. The assay measures 

alterations in fetal rat testis endocrine 

function and gene expression levels 

after five days of treatment. It is 

able to predict the adverse effects 

of the chemicals in long-term, 

multigenerational studies. The new 

approach reduces the use of animals, 

shortens the timeframe for hazard 

identification, and provides data 

that are useful for quantitative risk 

assessments for this class of toxicants.

• Toxicity Testing of Oil Dispersants after 

BP Spill

Following the BP spill in the Gulf 

of Mexico, EPA scientists tested 

the acute toxicity and endocrine 

disrupting activity of eight potential 

oil dispersants. Tests were conducted 

using sensitive aquatic organisms 

found in the Gulf such as mysid 

shrimp (Mysidopsis bahia). Results 

confirmed that the dispersant used 

for cleanup, Corexit 9500a, was no 

more or less toxic that the available 

alternatives. Some of the dispersants 

tested contained endocrine-active 

contaminants; however, results 

showed that none of the eight 

dispersants displayed significant 

endocrine-disrupting activity via 

the androgen or estrogen signaling 

pathway. (For more information on 

EPA research to support emergency 

response efforts in the Gulf of Mexico, 

see Crisis Science: All Hands on Deck, on 

page 34 of this report.)
40
41

Human health risk assessment at EPA is 

focused on advancing the understanding 

of the effects that exposure to pollutants 

have on key biological, chemical and 

physical processes that affect human 

health.

Risk assessments by EPA scientists and 

their partners provide the foundation for 

the Agency’s actions to protect public 

health and the environment. EPA’s human 

health risk assessment efforts generate 

health assessments used to determine 

the potential risk to public health from 

exposures to environmental contaminants.

This section highlights some of the many 

accomplishments that EPA scientists and 

researchers made in 2010 to advance 

human health risk assessment, including: 

ushering in the “next generation” of risk 

assessment science, the release of an 

extensive database that provides both a 

powerful new resource to scientists and 

a new level of transparency to the public, 

final integrated science assessments 

for carbon monoxide and the National 

Ambient Air Quality Standards, and more. 

Human Health Risk Assessment

EPA Progress Report 2010

Office of Research and Development
42

Over its 40-year history, EPA has embraced 

the critical role of providing timely, 

high-quality, and accessible human 

health risk information on environmental 

contaminants, especially about 

contaminants that may endanger the 

American public. Today, a central aspect 

of that role is the Agency’s Integrated Risk 

Information System (IRIS) program.

IRIS is a human health assessment 

program that evaluates risk information 

on health effects that may result from 

exposures to environmental contaminants. 

Through the IRIS program, EPA provides 

the highest quality science-based human 

health assessments to support the 

Agency’s regulatory activities to protect 

the public. 

The IRIS database includes more than 

540 chemical substances and contains 

crucial information on ways human 

health is impacted by exposure to those 

substances in air, water, and land from 

contaminated sites and from products. 

Combined with specific exposure 

information, government and private 

entities use IRIS to help characterize public 

health risks of chemical substances in a 

site-specific situation, thereby supporting 

risk management decisions designed to 

protect public health.

In 2010, EPA continued to implement 

a revamped and greatly improved IRIS 

process to ensure the scientific quality, 

integrity, transparency and timeliness of 

EPA’s effort to manage chemical risks. 

The IRIS development process includes a 

streamlined review schedule, ensuring that 

the majority of assessments are posted on 

IRIS within 2 years of the assessment start 

date. 

Ten final IRIS assessments were released 

in 2010, and significant progress was made 

on a number of draft assessments—

exceeding the average productivity of the 

program over the last 3 years.

The 10 final IRIS assessments released in 

2010 were: 

• Chloroprene

• Cis-1,2-dichloroethlyene 

• Pentachlorophenol

• 1,1,2,2-Tetrachloroethane

• Trans-1,2-dichloroethylene

• Hydrogen cyanide and cyanide salts

• 1,4-Dioxane 

• Ethylene glycol monobutyl ether 

(EGBE)

• Carbon tetrachloride

• Acrylamide 

For more information and to access the 

updated IRIS program, visit: www.epa.

gov/iris/index.html.

Human Health Risk Assessment

A New Era for EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)

The Agency advances the management of chemical risks.
43

EPA took a major step in advancing open 

government and transparency when it 

announced the launch of the Health and 

Environmental Research Online (HERO) 

database in March 2010.

HERO is an open and accessible 

online database built from a wealth of 

scientific literature and information. EPA 

researchers designed the database to 

provide sophisticated search capabilities 

and elegant access, review, and analysis 

of the ever-growing body of scientific 

literature on which they rely. This includes 

peer-reviewed journals and literature, as 

well as technical bulletins, conference 

proceedings, and other sources that can 

provide the latest scientific findings as 

well as insight into emerging directions 

and trends, yet may be lost in less robust 

databases. 

The database includes more than 300,000 

scientific articles. For each reference, 

HERO contains:

• Reference type.

• Citation elements: author’s 

name, title, year of publication, 

source. Depending on the type of 

reference, the citation also may 

include volume, page numbers, 

URL, etc.

• Abstract or brief description.

• Topic areas that describe the 

reference (e.g., carbon monoxide, 

asthma).

• Assessment(s) in which the 

reference was used, if relevant. 

Note that HERO contains 

references considered for use in 

assessment development, not just 

those references actually used.

• For “key” studies: objective, 

quantitative extracted study data.

HERO provides EPA researchers with a 

powerful tool to inform the development 

of risk assessments. The Agency uses risk 

assessments to integrate exposure and 

health or ecological effects information 

into a characterization of the potential 

for health hazards in humans or our 

environment. The process is highly 

interdisciplinary, drawing from such 

diverse fields as biology, toxicology, 

ecology, epidemiology, engineering, 

geology, statistics, and the social sciences 

to create a rational framework for 

evaluating environmental hazards. 

HERO is an “evergreen” database, 

meaning it employs mechanisms to 

continuously incorporate new science 

publications. Added references are sorted, 

classified and made available through 

HERO. These efforts keep EPA scientists 

and others abreast of the rapidly growing 

body of scientific literature, and help them 

to meet their mission of assessing stateof-the-science findings to protect human 

health. 

In addition to supporting Agency 

researchers, HERO provides the public 

with an easy way to search and analyze 

the scientific literature underlying risk 

assessments used to support EPA decisionmaking. The database’s systematic, 

comprehensive search and screening 

techniques are transparent and open, 

and the HERO website incorporates 

opportunities and mechanisms to facilitate 

public and stakeholder participation 

in the identification of key research. 

As such, the release of HERO in 2010 

marked a key milestone in EPA’s open 

government directive to conduct business 

with transparency, participation, and 

collaboration. 

For more information and to participate, 

visit the HERO Web site at: http://cfpub.

epa.gov/ncea/hero/.

Human Health Risk Assessment

HERO Streamlines EPA Science Assessments, Marks Milestone in Transparency

An Agency database provides open access to state-of-the-science information used for science assessments.
44

Human Health Risk Assessment

EPA Human Health Risk Assessments 

2010 Accomplishment – In Brief

EPA released the following final Integrated 

Science Assessments in 2010:

• Integrated Science Assessment (ISA) 

for Carbon Monoxide (CO) 

On January 29, 2010, EPA announced 

the release of the final Integrated 

Science Assessment (ISA) for Carbon 

Monoxide (CO). The report presented 

EPA’s latest evaluation of the scientific 

literature on the potential human health 

and welfare effects associated with 

ambient exposures to CO. 

CO is one of six principal (or criteria) 

pollutants for which EPA must establish 

National Ambient Air Quality Standards 

(NAAQS) to protect public health, 

including for “sensitive” populations 

such as asthmatics, children, and the 

elderly. Periodically, EPA reviews the 

scientific basis for these standards 

by preparing an ISA. The ISA and 

supplementary annexes, in conjunction 

with additional technical and policy 

assessments, provide the scientific 

basis for EPA decisions on the adequacy 

of the current NAAQS and the 

appropriateness of possible alternative 

standards. 

Together with the final ISA for 

Particulate Matter (PM), which was 

released in late 2009, the completed 

CO assessment led to the posting of the 

revised and fully implemented NAAQS 

process. 

• Perspectives on the Application 

of Mechanistic Information in 

Chemical Hazard and Dose-Response 

Assessments

On September 29, 2010, EPA released 

a project summary called, Perspectives 

on the Application of Mechanistic 

Information in Chemical Hazard and 

Dose-Response Assessments. The 

summary lists several EPA articles 

reviewing approaches for applying 

mechanistic information in human 

health risk assessment and exploring 

opportunities for progress in this area.

The report was the result of an EPAinitiated multidisciplinary project to 

critically review methods for applying 

mechanistic information in human 

health risk assessment and to explore 

strategies for progress in this area. 

The project examined approaches 

for interpreting observed effects in 

laboratory animals and their human 

relevance based on hypothesized 

modes of action. In addition, a critical 

aspect of the project was to explore 

issues pertinent to toxicity-pathway 

based risk assessment. 

• Potential for Incorporation of Genetic 

Polymorphism Data in Human Health 

Risk Assessment

On September 19, 2010, EPA released 

a project summary called, Potential for 

Incorporation of Genetic Polymorphism 

Data in Human Health Risk Assessment. 

The summary lists several EPA articles 

that evaluated the potential impact 

of genetic polymorphisms in 10 

metabolizing enzymes on the variability 

in enzyme function across ethnically 

diverse populations.

The work presented focuses on the 

contribution of genetic polymorphisms 

to the variability in host metabolism 

and defense mechanisms by evaluating 

polymorphisms in 10 enzyme systems, 

including three Phase I metabolic 

enzymes (CYP2E1, CYP2D6, PON1), 

four Phase II metabolic enzymes 

(SULTs, UGTs, GSTs, NATs), and three 

detoxification enzymes (ALDH2, EH, 

NQO1). 

• An Exposure Assessment of 

Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers 

(PBDEs)

On May 24, 2010, EPA released the 
45

final report An Exposure Assessment of 

Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs). 

The report provides a comprehensive 

assessment of exposure to this class 

of persistent organic pollutants, often 

used as flame retardants, for people 

living in the United States. Individual 

chapters address: the production, use, 

and lifecycle of PBDEs; environmental 

fate; environmental levels; and human 

exposure. 

• An Approach to Using Toxicogenomic 

Data in U.S. EPA Human Health Risk 

Assessments: A Dibutyl Phthalate Case 

Study

On January 13, 2010, EPA announced 

the availability of a final report titled, 

An Approach to Using Toxicogenomic 

Data in U.S. EPA Human Health Risk 

Assessments: A Dibutyl Phthalate 

Case Study. The report features the 

application of genomic technologies 

(e.g., transcriptomics, genome 

sequence analysis) to study effects of 

environmental chemicals on human 

health and the environment. 

It describes an approach to evaluating 

toxicogenomic data for use in risk 

assessment and a case study of dibutyl 

phthalate (DBP). A multidisciplinary 

team of scientists developed the 

approach for utilizing genomic data in 

risk assessment and performed the DBP 

case study. 

The principles of the approach include 

examining the genomic and toxicity 

data sets together, defining a set of 

questions to direct the evaluation, and 

performing new analyses of genomic 

data when relevant. The report includes 

the development of exploratory 

methods and preliminary results from 

genomic data analyses. In addition, 

recommendations, research needs 

and future directions for applying 

genomic data to risk assessment were 

identified. The approach and case 

study may be used as a template for 

evaluating and analyzing genomic data 

in future chemical assessments as well 

as by researchers performing genomic 

studies for use in risk assessment.

Draft Scientific Report on Dioxin 

Toxicity Released 

EPA released a draft scientific report, EPA’s 

Reanalysis of Key Issues Related to Dioxin 

Toxicity and Response to NAS Comments for 

independent external review and public 

review and comment. 

The public release of the draft scientific 

report marked a significant milestone 

toward the completion of the Agency’s 

dioxin reassessment. It provides EPA’s 

response to the key recommendations 

and comments included in the National 

Academy of Sciences (NAS) 2006 

report. In addition, the report includes 

new analyses on potential human 

effects that may result from exposure 

to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin 

(TCDD).

This comprehensive human health and 

exposure risk assessment on dioxin, 

one of the most toxic environmental 

contaminants, aims to protect the health 

of the American public. 

Health Science Information on 

Formaldehyde and Trichloroethylene 

(TCE) Toxicity

EPA completed a comprehensive 

examination of the health science 

information on formaldehyde and 

trichloroethylene (TCE) toxicity and 

released external review drafts for public 

comment. Formaldehyde is important 

both to public health and to a number 

of upcoming residual risk rulemakings 

under the Clean Air Act. TCE is one of the 

Human Health Risk Assessment

EPA Human Health Risk Assessments 

2010 Accomplishments – In Brief, Cont’d.
46

Human Health Risk Assessment

EPA Human Health Risk Assessments 

2010 Accomplishments – In Brief, Cont’d.

most common pollutants of concern at 

Superfund sites in the United States and 

also can be found in drinking water and air 

emissions.

Innovative Modeling Tools Help EPA 

Scientists Determine Total Chemical 

Exposures

Using sophisticated new computer models 

and methods, EPA scientists developed 

an innovative set of tools to estimate 

total exposures and risks people face 

from chemicals encountered in everyday 

activities, actions as simple as biting into an 

apple or walking across a carpet. 

The development of these new tools 

involved linking two types of models 

the Stochastic Human Exposure and 

Dose Simulation (SHEDS) model and 

physiologically- based pharmacokinetic 

(PBPK) models. The SHEDS model can 

estimate the range of total chemical 

exposures in a population from different 

exposure pathways (such as inhalation) 

over different time periods, given a set of 

demographic characteristics. PBPK models 

predict how chemicals move through and 

concentrate in the human body. 

Combining these models, EPA researchers 

created a first-of-its-kind set of tools that 

scientists can employ to estimate the 

total exposures and resultant doses that 

humans experience from chemicals in their 

environments. 

The tools represent a breakthrough in risk 

management. Now, instead of examining a 

single route of exposure, scientists can look 

at the comprehensive exposure “picture” in 

a given population, which will prove helpful 

as EPA studies the risks posed by chemicals 

such as pyrethroid-based pesticides. These 

models will serve as invaluable tools in 

supporting decisions and actions to protect 

human health and the environment from 

the risk of exposure to harmful chemicals.
47
48

How does the U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency meet its mission to safeguard human health 

and protect the environment? 

It all starts with science. 

EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD)—

the science arm of the Agency—is forging a path 

forward toward a sustainable future. ORD research 

is conducted under the following integrated 

research areas.

Air, Climate, and Energy

American communities face serious health and 

environmental challenges from air pollution and the 

growing effects of climate change, both of which are 

intricately linked with energy options.

Building on 40 years of achievement in air pollution 

research that has led to landmark outcomes—

including healthier communities and longer life 

expectancies—EPA researchers are exploring 

the dynamics of air quality, global climate change 

and energy as a set of complex, yet interrelated 

challenges.

Safe and Sustainable Water Resources

Seeking sustainable solutions to the complex 

problems facing our nation’s drinking water and 

water resources is vital to supporting healthy humans, 

ecosystems and economies.

EPA’s safe and sustainable water resources research 

provides the science and innovative technologies the 

Agency—and the Nation—need to maintain drinking 

water sources and systems, as well as to protect 

the chemical, physical and biological integrity of our 

water. EPA scientists and engineers help provide 

sustainable water infrastructure, deliver safe drinking 

water, manage stormwater, and remove and treat 

wastewater, allowing its sustainable and safe reuse.

Sustainable and Healthy Communities

How can we meet today’s needs without 

compromising those of future generations? More 

specifically, how can people protect our shared 

environment in a way that fosters human health and 

well-being, is socially just, and promotes economic 

prosperity?

Providing the science to answer the questions 

posed above is at the heart of EPA’s sustainable and 

healthy communities research. Agency researchers 

and their partners from across a wide spectrum of 

investigative fields are working together to form a 

deeper understanding of the balance between the 

three pillars of sustainability—environment, society 

and economy. Their transdisciplinary work will 

provide the decision tools and data that communities 

need to make proactive, strategic decisions aimed at a 

prosperous, more environmentally sustainable future.
49

Sustainability: the True North of EPA Research

Providing elegant, innovative solutions that help society meet its own needs while preserving the ability of future generations to meet their 

own—sustainability—is the True North of EPA research. 

EPA’s Integrated Transdisciplinary Research approach transcends traditional scientific boundaries, bringing together researchers and users of 

research in search of sustainable solutions to today’s most pressing environmental and related human health challenges.

Chemical Safety for Sustainability

Chemical safety is a major priority of EPA and 

its research. Moving toward a safer and more 

sustainable environment requires producing new and 

existing chemicals in safer ways. It means having the 

information and methods needed to make better 

informed, more timely decisions about chemicals. 

The challenges are formidable: tens of thousands of 

chemicals currently are in use and hundreds more are 

introduced every year. Many of these chemicals have 

not been thoroughly evaluated for potential risks 

to human health and the environment. In addition, 

the consequences of use over a chemical’s life cycle 

(from production to disposal) are not thoroughly 

evaluated. EPA research on chemical safety is geared 

to meet this challenge. 

Using innovative approaches, EPA scientists and 

their partners are embracing the principles of green 

chemistry to produce safer chemicals. They also 

are integrating a diversity of scientific disciplines to 

develop new prediction techniques, pioneering the 

use of innovative technologies for chemical

toxicity testing and designing tools to advance the 

management of chemical risks. Chemical Safety for 

Sustainability includes research in computational 

toxicology, nanotechnology, endocrine disrupting 

chemicals, human health, and pesticides. 

Human Health Risk Assessment

Human health risk assessment at EPA is focused 

on advancing the understanding of the effects 

that exposure to pollutants have on key biological, 

chemical, and physical processes that affect human 

health.

What EPA scientists and their partners learn provides 

the foundation for the Agency’s actions to protect 

public health and the environment. EPA’s human 

health risk assessment efforts generate health 

assessments that are used to determine the potential 

risk to public health from exposure to environmental 

contaminants.

Homeland Security

Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 

2001, EPA was directed to tap its collective scientific 

and technical expertise to help protect human 

health and the environment from the effects of 

terrorist incidents. EPA was charged with helping 

to decontaminate buildings and large public areas, 

protect our nation’s water supply, and rapidly 

provide reliable information to key decision- makers, 

stakeholders and impacted communities on analytical 

methods and human health risks.

 

EPA’s Homeland Security Research Program supports 

the Agency’s leadership role in remediating chemical, 

biological, or radiological (CBR) contamination from 

weapons of mass destruction. The program also 

conducts research on drinking water and wastewater 

systems as the Agency is the federal sector lead 

for water infrastructure. Many of EPA’s homeland 

security research products and technologies have 

broader environmental and health protection 

applications.
50
51

Following the terrorist attacks of September 

11, 2001, EPA was directed to tap its 

collective scientific and technical expertise 

to help protect human health and the 

environment from the effects of terrorist 

incidents involving chemical, biological, and 

radiological (CBR) contamination. EPA was 

charged with helping to decontaminate 

buildings and large public areas, protect our 

Nation’s water supply, and rapidly provide 

reliable information to key decision- makers, 

stakeholders and impacted communities on 

analytical methods and human health risks. 

EPA’s homeland security research helps 

provide the science and technology that 

directly supports the Agency’s leadership 

role in remediating CBR contamination, 

homeland security attacks, or accidental 

releases. The program also conducts research 

on drinking water and wastewater systems, 

as the Agency is the sector lead for water 

infrastructure. Many of EPA’s homeland 

security research products and technologies 

have broader environmental and health 

protection applications.

This section highlights some of the many 

accomplishments that EPA scientists and 

engineers made during 2010 to advance 

homeland security research, including: 

testing the effectiveness of various 

decontamination technologies during 

the recovery phase after a terrorist event 

involving radiological contamination, 

receiving a prestigious R&D 100 Award for 

threat-detection software developed to help 

protect the Nation’s drinking water supplies, 

developing performance specifications 

for materials to mitigate the spread of 

radioactive contamination following a dirty 

bomb explosion, and more.

Homeland Security

EPA Progress Report 2010

Office of Research and Development
52

In 2010, EPA emergency response 

managers from Regions 3, 4, and 5 led 

an extensive training exercise to prepare 

for responding to and recovering from 

a terrorist attack in an urban setting 

involving the detonation of a “dirty bomb” 

containing radiological materials. 

The Liberty RadEx Exercise (LRE) was 

a National Tier 2 Full‐Scale Exercise 

sponsored by EPA and co-sponsored 

by the Pennsylvania Department of 

Environmental Protection, Bureau 

of Radiation Protection and the City 

of Philadelphia Office of Emergency 

Management. Over 1000 individuals 

participated in LRE representing, 35 

federal, state, and local agencies; nine 

community groups; 14 private businesses; 

two universities; and scientists and 

observers from six foreign countries. 

They were involved in both field drills and 

training exercises held from April 27 to 29 

in and around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Most exercises to date have focused on 

crisis response during the immediate 

aftermath of a terrorist attack. EPA 

researchers supported Region 3 in the 

planning and design of LRE as an exercise 

for developing and practicing the critical 

remediation and recovery actions that 

are needed in the weeks and months 

after the initial lifesaving phase of a 

response covering a large population and 

geographic area.

The scenario in LRE was built around the 

potential aftermath of a suicide attack, 

launched from a van, loaded with 3,000 

pounds of ammonium nitrate mixed with 

diesel fuel and radioactive Cesium-137. EPA 

researchers participated in multiagency 

planning workgroups and provided 

expertise and technical support to help 

define the critical, long-term issues that 

would have to be addressed following 

such an explosion. They ensured that 

the latest research and technology were 

available to all participants in the exercise. 

During LRE, EPA scientists and engineers 

also served as “controllers” or 

“evaluators.” Controllers challenged 

participants by adding complexities known 

as “injects” (such as sudden changes 

in the incident or the discovery of new 

information) to practice simulations and 

exercises. Evaluators determined whether 

all activities were performed successfully 

and in accordance with plans, policies, 

procedures, and agreements. 

The drill also provided a real-world 

opportunity to apply, demonstrate 

clean-up technologies in the field that 

had previously been tested in research 

laboratories. For example, during the drill, 

participants were able to apply strippable 

coatings for radioactively contaminated 

surfaces, in a subway station and a 

decontamination foam at the Philadelphia 

Fire Department Training Academy’s 

building.

EPA researchers and their partners used 

LRE events to further develop and test 

a new tool that integrates contaminant 

plume maps with Geographic Information 

System data. This tool estimates 

the quantities and activity levels of 

contaminated waste and debris, including 

building debris and outdoor materials 

such as asphalt and soil. Officials in 

charge of cleanup decisions applied these 

estimates to evaluate trade-offs between 

decontamination and disposal options.

EPA researchers also learned valuable 

lessons about their role in the response to 

a large incident as part of the overall EPA 

response community, providing technical 

support to the exercise players as they 

would provide technical support to the 

Homeland Security

EPA Leads National Exercise for Response and Recovery from

“Dirty Bomb” Scenario 

Agency scientists provided key support for the Liberty RadEx exercise—a major simulation of testing, 

cleanup, and recovery phases following a deliberate radiation attack.
53

Homeland Security

EPA Researchers and Partners Win R&D 100 Award for CANARY 

Award-winning software helps Nation protect drinking water supplies. 

incident command in a real event.

Lessons learned from LRE help to inform 

how all levels of government, business, 

and community organizations can 

work together to meet the challenges 

associated with long-term cleanup and 

community recovery following a dirty 

bomb attack.

EPA Leads National Exercise for Response and Recovery from

“Dirty Bomb” Scenario, Cont’d.

EPA researchers and their collaborators 

from the Department of Energy were 

recognized with a 2010 “R&D 100 Award” 

from R&D Magazine for CANARY—

software they developed to improve the 

security of drinking water systems. The 

software, in conjunction with a network of 

sensors, can rapidly detect contamination, 

providing critical information to support 

decisions and actions taken to protect 

human health from tainted drinking water. 

R&D 100 Awards are given annually to 

the 100 most technologically significant 

products introduced in the past year. 

CANARY software is being piloted in five 

U.S. cities (Cincinnati, New York, Los 

Angeles, Philadelphia and San Francisco) 

and Singapore using data sets that are 

unique to each system. Based on data 

analysis performed by CANARY, the pilot 

utilities can better detect when they need 

to alert their customers to a hazardous 

level of contamination in their drinking 

water supply. This in turn enables them 

to incorporate new guidelines into their 

emergency response and consequence 

management plans.

CANARY software evaluates standard 

water quality data such as free chlorine, 

pH and total organic carbon over time, 

and uses mathematical and statistical 

techniques to identify the onset of 

anomalous water quality incidents. 

Before using CANARY for the first time, 

historical utility data must be used to 

determine the natural variation of these 

water quality parameters. This allows the 

water utility to adapt CANARY to work 

accurately at multiple locations within the 

water distribution system and helps utility 

operators to understand any expected 

false alarm rates associated with CANARY 

and contamination incident detection.

The CANARY software allows for:

• The use of a standard data format 

for input and output of water 

quality and operations data;

• The ability to select different 

detection algorithms (CANARY 

contains three different 

mathematical approaches for 

analyzing the data);

• The ability to select various 

water utility and location-specific 

configuration options;

• An online operations mode and an 

offline evaluation mode;

• The ability to generate data needed 

to establish performance metrics 

(e.g., false alarm rates).

CANARY assists water utilities in 

understanding the significance of large 

volumes of water quality data. It can 

automatically review incoming data 

regarding anomalous conditions and 
In 2010, EPA published a compendium of 

methods for rapidly detecting selected 

radionuclides in drinking and surface 

water. The methods were developed for 

laboratories that would support EPA’s 

response and recovery actions following 

a radiological or nuclear incident such as 

the detonation of an improvised nuclear 

device or a radiological dispersal device 

(“dirty bomb”).

EPA homeland security researchers 

collaborated with the Agency’s Office 

of Radiation and Indoor Air to develop 

the rapid analytical methods. The new 

methods reduce the sample processing 

time from days or weeks to just 8 to 38 

hours.

Methods were developed for five 

radionuclides that could be used in a 

radiological dispersion incident and are 

difficult to detect in the field using handheld instruments. They are: americium-241, 

plutonium-238 and plutonium-239/240, 

isotopic uranium, radiostrontium 

(strontium-90), and radium-226. 

In addition to expedited analysis, EPA 

researchers developed the new methods 

to provide quantitative results that meet 

measurement quality objectives for the 

intermediate and recovery phases of a 

nuclear or radiological incident. 

Laboratories can now get results back to 

the field more quickly, helping responders 

and decision-makers develop cleanup 

strategies. In addition, after cleanup 

has been completed, the new methods 

provide data that can be used for 

determining when the site is safe again for 

public use. 

The new methods will be added to EPA’s 

“Selected Analytical Methods (SAM) 

for Environmental Remediation and 

Recovery” in the fall of 2011. 

For more information, please visit: http://

www.epa.gov/nhsrc/news/news081910.

html.

Homeland Security

Rapid Detection Methods Help Speed Recovery From Radiological Contamination 

EPA researchers developed new methods to expedite analysis of water samples. 

54

alert the water utility if further action is 

required. Not only can CANARY detect 

anomalous conditions resulting from 

contamination incidents, but it also can 

detect unexpected “normal” events, such 

as a sensor malfunction or a pipe break.

The CANARY software is not intended to 

replace commercially available software 

but to supplement existing software 

and motivate commercial development 

of similar products. It is hoped that 

the release of CANARY also will lead to 

additional research and development in 

this field.

As a free software tool, CANARY is 

available worldwide to drinking water 

utilities striving to provide safe water to 

their customers. To date, more than 600 

users in 15 countries have accessed the 

software. 

EPA Researchers and Partners Win R&D 100 Award for CANARY, Cont’d.
55

Homeland Security

Performance Specifications for Materials for Mitigating Radioactive Contamination

EPA researchers develop performance specifications for coatings and other products that can be applied.

Provisional Advisory Levels for Interim Recovery Actions

EPA researchers advanced the development of health-based advisory levels for high-priority hazardous 

chemicals and warfare agents. 

After a dirty bomb (a radiological dispersal 

device) has been detonated, wind, weather 

and both vehicle and pedestrian traffic can 

increase the spread of contamination. As 

contaminants migrate and bind to nearby 

surfaces, they can become more difficult to 

decontaminate. 

Working in collaboration with the American 

Society for Testing and Materials, 

(ASTM) International Subcommittee E54.03 

on Decontamination, EPA researchers 

developed performance specifications 

(ASTM E2731) for materials available 

to mitigate the spread of radioactive 

contamination following a dirty bomb 

detonation. The materials—“coatings 

and other products”—can be applied to 

exterior surfaces in an urban environment 

to mitigate the spread and binding 

behavior of radiological contamination. 

Adequate preparation and development of 

effective mitigation and decontamination 

technologies will ensure the most 

rapid and effective recovery from a 

radiological event, as well as provide 

a measure of deterrence. Products 

described in the ASTM Standard would 

be principally used by federal, state and 

local government emergency responders 

and response planners, decontamination 

service providers and those interested 

in protecting and recovering from 

radiological terrorism.

During 2010, EPA researchers advanced the 

development of health-based provisional 

advisory levels (PALs) for high-priority 

hazardous chemicals and chemical warfare 

agents in ambient air and drinking water. 

To date, EPA has developed PALs for more 

than 100 priority chemical agents. A total 

of about 1,800 acute, short- and long-term 

values have been derived for potential 

ingestion and inhalation exposures. 

The development and application of PALs 

will facilitate effective risk management 

and risk communication decisions to 

minimize the adverse impact of threat 

agents to the general public. PALs also will 

be used for emergency exposure planning 

at federal, state and local levels.
56
57

EPA supports the Nation’s leading 

scientists and engineers to facilitate 

the pursuit and dissemination of 

high-quality research to build a 

strong scientific foundation for 

Agency actions and decisions. In 

addition, EPA researchers cultivate 

and maintain partnerships with 

research colleagues at colleges and 

universities across the world, at 

sister federal and state agencies, 

and other entities throughout the 

scientific community. 

The Agency’s extramural research 

program funds research grants, 

graduate and undergraduate 

fellowships and large research 

centers through a competitive 

solicitation process and 

independent peer review. These 

programs engage the Nation’s best 

scientists and engineers in targeted 

research that complements EPA’s 

own outstanding intramural 

research programs.

 

EPA is also one of 11 federal 

agencies that participate in the 

Small Business Innovation Research 

(SBIR) program, enacted in 1982 

to strengthen the role of small 

business in federal research and 

development, create jobs, and 

promote technical innovation. 

EPA’s SBIR program awards funds 

to innovative small businesses that 

have novel concepts for products 

and technologies that will help spur 

economic growth while advancing a 

more sustainable future. 

EPA scientists partner directly with 

Agency regional offices to bring 

the collective expertise of Agency 

scientists and engineers to bear 

on high-profile environmental and 

related human health challenges.

This section highlights some of 

the many accomplishments that 

EPA made in 2010, such as building 

partnerships and supporting EPA 

regions and communities, including: 

inspiring the next generation of 

environmental engineers and 

scientists through the 6th Annual 

Student Design Competition for 

Sustainability, the 2010 EPA Tribal 

Science Forum, and a number 

of grants and awards that are 

helping to stimulate a vibrant and 

sustainable economic recovery and 

advance the Nation’s commitment 

to science and technology 

leadership. 

Building 

Partnerships, 

Serving Regions, 

and Supporting 

Communities

EPA Progress Report 2010

Office of Research and Development
58

On April 24 and 25, 2010, 42 teams of 

budding scientists and engineers from 

colleges and graduate schools from across 

the country gathered on the National 

Mall in Washington, DC, at the Sixth 

Annual National Sustainable Design Expo 

to showcase their innovative designs for 

advancing environmental sustainability.

The teams competed for the U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency’s 

coveted P3 Award for sustainability. 

The three “P’s” in P3 stand for People, 

Prosperity and the Planet. Established 

in 2004, the competition is focused on 

supporting innovative designs that benefit 

people, promote prosperity and protect 

the planet while advancing sustainability in 

both the developed and developing world.

The competition has two phases. In phase 

I, student teams and their faculty advisors 

submit research proposals for a chance 

to earn up to $10,000 in seed money to 

research and develop their design projects 

during the academic year.

All phase I grantees are invited to the 

National Mall in Washington, DC, each 

spring to present their projects at the 

National Sustainable Design Expo. Each 

design is reviewed by a panel of judges 

convened by the American Association for 

the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The 

panel’s evaluations are passed on to EPA 

officials, who then award the prestigious 

EPA P3 Award.

The P3 Award brings with it the 

opportunity to receive up to $75,000 in 

additional funding to advance designs 

from the prototype phase to the 

marketplace.

The winning 2010 P3 teams and their 

innovative sustainable designs were:

• Appalachian State University 

Biomass Gasification for Agricultural 

Energy Sources and Soil Enrichment

• Clarkson University 

Farm Waste to Energy: A 

Sustainable Solution for Small-Scale 

Farms

• Clarkson University 

Sustainable Year-Round Food 

Production in Cold Climates

• Clemson University 

SEED: Emergent Container Housing 

Initiative—Solutions for the 

Caribbean

• Cornell University 

Dose Controller for AguaClara Water 

Treatment Plants

• Drexel University 

Alkali-Activated Slag Cement (AASC) 

as a Sustainable Building Material

• Humboldt State University 

Smoothing the Peaks: Smart Outlets 

to Reduce Brownouts on MicroHydroelectric Mini-Grids in Bhutan

Building Partnerships, Serving Regions, and Supporting Communities

When Students Compete for Sustainability, Everybody Wins!

Student engineers and scientists competed for the Best Sustainable Design at the Annual National Sustainable Design Expo.
59

When Students Compete for Sustainability, Everybody Wins! Cont’d.

• North Carolina Agricultural 

and Technical State University 

Enhancing Urban Sustainability 

Through the Application of 

Permaculture Principles

• Roger Williams University 

Development of Alternative Power 

to Drive a Partitioned Aquaculture 

System for Intensive Food Fish 

Production

• Texas A&M University 

Horizontal Hybrid Solar Light Pipe: 

An Integrated System of Daylight 

and Electric Light

• University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign

Virus Removal in Slow-Sand Filters 

for Rural Mayan Communities

• University of North 

Carolina at Chapel Hill 

Evaluation of Chitosan Coagulation 

as a Sustainable Method for Point 

of Use Drinking Water Treatment in 

Developing Countries

• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and 

State University (Virginia Tech) 

A Sustainable Approach to Nitrate 

Reduction Combining a Riparian 

Zone With a Stream Denitrifying 

Biofilm

• Wellesley College, Harvard 

University, Massachusetts 

Institute of Technology, and 

Qinghai Normal University 

A Comprehensive Platform for 

Rural Energy Optimization in the 

Himalayan Region

The announcement of the winning teams 

was not the only highlight of the year for 

EPA’s P3 Award Competition. Micromidas, 

a small business founded by former P3 

winning students that now employs 26 

people, was selected as one of the Top 50 

Water Innovation Leaders by the Artemis 

Project. In addition, 2010 was the first 

full year of educational service for The 

Learning Barge, a floating field station and 

classroom designed by a 2007 P3 team 

from the University of Virginia that created 

seven new green jobs.

Building Partnerships, Serving Regions, and Supporting Communities
60

Building Partnerships, Serving Regions, and Supporting Communities

EPA Co-hosted the 2010 National Tribal Science Forum

Mother Earth: Indigenous Knowledge and Science to Promote Positive Change.

The National EPA-Tribal Science Council 

co-hosted its second National Tribal 

Science Forum in partnership with the 

Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and 

Chippewa Indians. The 2010 National 

Tribal Science Forum took place June 

6-10, 2010, at the Grand Traverse Resort 

and Spa, owned by the tribe and located 

near the tribal complex in Traverse City, 

Michigan. The forum theme was Mother 

Earth: Indigenous Knowledge and Science 

to Promote Positive Change.

More than 225 attendees representing 

more than 60 American Indian tribes 

and Alaska Native villages; tribal colleges 

and universities; tribal organizations; 

intertribal consortia; private and nonprofit 

organizations; federal, state, and local 

governments—as well as representatives 

of EPA and other federal agencies— 

participated in the 5-day event. 

The Forum was structured around the 

concept of the Circle of Life, or Medicine 

Wheel, a powerful symbol that has 

many meanings to the First Nations and 

American Indian tribes across America. 

Four knowledge tracks—Air, Water, Earth, 

and Community Health—aligned to four 

directions of the Circle provided the basic 

concepts around which participants shared 

Western and traditional tribal knowledge. 

Climate change was an overarching theme 

among the knowledge tracks.

The purpose of the Forum was to provide 

platforms to discuss issues of vital interest 

to Indian Country. The Forum:

• Showcased tribal science through 

cutting-edge research and case 

studies.

• Promoted native science and 

highlighted progress being made 

in environmental and health 

programs on tribal lands.

• Highlighted tribal science success 

stories through presentations, 

exhibits and a poster session.

• Provided opportunities for 

technical training in highpriority areas identified by tribal 

governments and Tribal Science 

Council members.

• Facilitated networking and the 

sharing of knowledge among 

native scientists and environmental 

professionals from throughout 

Indian Country.

• Linked scientists and other 

attendees with Native American 

students so they could talk, listen, 

and “hear their environmental 

voices.”

• The range of activities at the Forum 

included scientific presentations, 

intensive professional trainings, 

poster presentations, a local 

field trip, a film screening and 

networking sessions. 
61

EPA has ten regional offices across the 

country, each of which is responsible for 

meeting the Agency’s mission to protect 

human health and the environment in the 

states and territories within its region. To 

support those efforts, Agency scientists 

and engineers form partnerships with their 

colleagues in the states and territories to 

effectively respond to the high-priority, 

near-term research needs of regional 

offices.

Annually, the Agency makes funds 

available to each EPA region to develop 

research topics, and working partnerships 

are established to coordinate all necessary 

interactions between regions and 

scientists and other technical staff across 

the Agency. Such partnerships: (1) provide 

the regions and communities across 

the Nation with near-term research on 

high-priority localized needs; (2) improve 

collaboration between regions and Agency 

laboratories and research centers; (3) build 

the foundation for ongoing and future 

scientific interactions; and (4) develop 

useful tools for state, local and tribal 

governments to address near-term and 

emerging environmental challenges.

Partnerships: Serving the Regions and Tribes 

Bringing science and expertise to meet high-priority local science needs.

Building Partnerships, Serving Regions, and Supporting Communities

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

9

10

2

GUAM

TRUST TERRITORIES

AMERICAN SAMOA

NORTH MARINA ISLANDS

CA

NV

AZ

MN

HI

AK

UT CO

KS

NE

SD

ND

WY

MT

OR

ID

WA

TX

NM

OK AR

LA

MS AL GA

FL

VA

NC

TN

SC

WV

MO

PA

PR

VI

MD

NY

NJ

DE

CT

RI

MA

ME NH

VT

WI

MI

IL

IA

KY

OH

IN

EPA Regions
62

Building Partnerships, Serving Regions, and Supporting Communities

Highlights From 2010 EPA Regional Science Partnerships

Region 1 (New England)

• Agency researchers continued 

to evaluate the unique cultural 

exposure pathways of the 

Penobscot tribe in Maine to assess 

potential public health threats 

of ongoing traditional practices, 

such as gathering medicinal plants, 

fishing, and harvesting wild duck 

and turtle meat. The contaminant 

exposure assessments resulting 

from the study are expected to 

inform tribal, federal, state and 

local decision-makers in restoring 

a healthy, functioning ecosystem 

to further strengthen the 

environmental, economic and social 

integrity of the Penobscot Nation.

• EPA researchers are partnering 

with colleagues from the U.S. 

Geological Survey (USGS), the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

(USFWS), and numerous states and 

municipalities to address the issue 

of pharmaceuticals in low flow 

situations on the Assabet River. 

What is learned from this study has 

the potential to set a precedent for 

future federal discharge permits in 

the state. 

Region 2 (New Jersey, New York, Puerto 

Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and eight 

Tribal Nations)

• New York City Department 

of Health’s recent Health and 

Nutrition Examination Survey 

found that the geometric mean 

of blood mercury concentrations 

in the 1,811 adult New Yorkers 

tested were three-times that of 

the national estimate. In response 

to that alarming finding, Region 2 

and Agency scientists measured 

mercury and PCBs in the 20 most 

commonly consumed fish and 

shellfish products sold in New York 

City’s New Fulton Fish Market, the 

Nation’s largest wholesale fish 

market. 

Results from the collaborative study 

were used to support and inform 

the content of New York City’s “Eat 

Fish, Choose Wisely” public health 

campaign on dietary guidelines for 

the City’s 8 million residents.

Region 3 (Mid-Atlantic)

• Since 2006, EPA scientists have 

provided scientific support 

for enhanced review of 79 

mountaintop valley fill permit 

applications based on the potential 

impacts of total dissolved solids 

on aquatic species. The permit 

decisions supported by the research 

results, including monitoring and 

mitigation technology options, will 

have a major environmental impact 

on the Appalachian region. 

Region 4 (Southeast)

• EPA’s Region 4 partnered to 

sponsor the EPA Regional Science 

Workshop on Using Treated 

Graywater as an Environmental 

Solution in Atlanta on May 18-20, 

2010. 

The workshop brought together 

experts from EPA, the Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention, 

other federal and state agencies, 

academia and the private sector to 

discuss and understand available 

science, and determine what 

additional science is needed to 

inform the Agency’s research 

agenda and, ultimately, policy 

direction related to graywater. 

The workshop resulted in a 

consensus to pursue three primary 

research areas: (1) research 
63

Building Partnerships, Serving Regions, and Supporting Communities

Highlights from 2010 EPA Regional Science Partnerships, Cont’d.

to support the development 

of metrics and tools that are 

needed to undertake urban 

water sustainability assessments; 

(2) research to provide better 

measures/indicators of graywater 

treatment performance, human/

environmental impact and ways 

to cost-effectively achieve safe 

reuse; and (3) research to enable 

sociological, economic and 

regulatory reforms.

Region 6 (South Central)

• EPA researchers provided key 

support during emergency 

response activities after the 

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the 

Gulf of Mexico. 

Region 7 (Midwest) 

• Region 7 and Agency scientists 

collaborated and coordinated 

in the monitoring, assessment 

and mitigation of unknown CO2 

intrusions in homes located north 

of Wichita, Kansas. Region 7 

worked with Agency scientists and 

the local community to help notify 

homeowners of the potential 

critical health effects caused by 

oxygen depletion and is carrying 

out a continuous monitoring effort 

to assist with understanding the 

potential sources and causes of 

CO2 intrusions.

• Region 7 Superfund Remedial 

Project Managers (RPMs) found 

that groundwater samples 

collected at remediation sites 

contained binary mixtures of 

both the chemical oxidants used 

for in situ treatment and the 

contaminants being treated. These 

binary mixtures fouled laboratory 

equipment, had to be diluted to 

the point that data were often 

unusable, and the concentrations 

of the contaminants were not 

representative of site conditions. 

Agency scientists and other staff 

collaborated on a research project 

to test potential permanganate 

neutralization methods. As a 

result of the collaboration, a safe, 

novel preservative (ascorbic acid) 

was identified that effectively 

neutralized oxidants in samples. 

More than 3,000 sites using or 

considering permanganate as 

a remediation technology will 

benefit from this research by 

informing better short- and longterm groundwater remediation. 

The research results will directly 

benefit residential and community 

groundwater supply resource 

protection near hazardous waste 

sites. 

• Historical mining, milling, and 

smelting activities have impacted 

residential properties and 

communities with contamination. 

Multiple collaborative applied 

research projects between 

Agency researchers and Region 

7 are addressing issues, including 

a multistate, one-watershed 

cleanup plan for: a 2,500-squaremile area; a county-wide pointof-use drinking water system 

effectiveness evaluation; a citywide surface and near-surface 

residential soil exposure study; a 

city-wide educational and social 

outcomes study; and a site-wide 

soil stockpile leaching study. 

The results of these activities 

will assist in reducing exposure 

to contaminants and better 

protecting residents and 
64

Building Partnerships, Serving Regions, and Supporting Communities

communities. Both urban and 

rural residents and communities 

will benefit from increased 

effectiveness and efficiencies of 

remedies addressing historical 

mining, milling and smelting 

contamination.

Region 8 (Mountains and Plains)

• In Libby, Montana, Region 8 staff 

members have teamed up with 

Agency researchers to perform 

Libby amphibole-specific human 

health assessments to support 

several site-specific baseline 

assessments for risk. Agency 

technical staff performed analytical 

studies to support in vitro and in 

vivo toxicity studies and laboratory 

in vitro and in vivo studies. A 

Region 8 toxicologist developed 

a dosimetry model for improved 

exposure-response evaluations 

from Libby amphibole- exposed 

populations.

Region 8 and Agency researchers 

are addressing specifically 

children’s risk, collecting exposure 

data that include exposure 

scenarios targeted to children’s 

activities, as well as conducting 

laboratory experiments with young 

rats exposed to Libby amphibole 

material. 

• Region 8 and Agency scientists 

initiated a research project to study 

the green roof on the Agency’s 

Regional Headquarters building. 

The research evaluated green 

roof technology for biological 

performance and its effectiveness 

as a best management practice for 

stormwater control and to mitigate 

the heat island effect in the region. 

In addition to providing air and 

water quality benefits and reducing 

heating and cooling needs, the 

green roof is expected to reduce 

peak flow and runoff volumes from 

rain and snowmelt events to mimic 

a more natural landscape. This will 

minimize harmful impacts from 

concentrated stormwater runoff to 

the nearby South Platte River. 

Green roof data collected will 

be added to the list of best 

management practices to help 

mitigate the environmental 

impacts of stormwater runoff from 

developed and developing areas 

and improving the health of the 

Nation’s impaired waterways.

Region 9 (Pacific Southwest)

• EPA scientists worked with 

partners in Region 9 and the U.S. 

Geologic Survey (USGA) to publish 

a standard operating procedure 

(SOP) (Collection of Pyrethoids 

in Water and Sediment Matrices: 

Development and Validation of a 

Standard Operating Procedure) 

that could be followed to collect 

field samples in order to accurately 

monitor pyrethoid chemicals in the 

water. 

Pyrethroids are the most common 

insecticides used in agricultural 

areas and the urban marketplace. 

Because they are highly toxic to 

aquatic organisms, it is important 

that they be accurately measured 

in the environment. This can be 

a challenge because pyrethroid 

insecticides stick to the surfaces 

of collection containers, leading to 

inaccurate field samples that then 

confound analytical and toxicity 

test results. Working together, 

the research team provided 

standardized sample collection 

protocols for accurate pyrethroid 

Highlights From 2010 EPA Regional Science Partnerships, Cont’d.
65

Building Partnerships, Serving Regions, and Supporting Communities

Highlights From 2010 EPA Regional Science Partnerships, Cont’d.

assessments, and results were 

used to prepare a USGS Scientific 

Investigations Report that included 

the Standard Operating Procedures 

for pyrethroid sampling.

Region 10 (Pacific Northwest)

• Agency researchers are conducting 

a study to evaluate the fate and 

effects of leachate contamination 

in Alaska’s tribal drinking water 

sources, which helps characterize 

pathogens and toxins within 

Alaska’s 200-plus tribal open dumps. 

Alaska’s open dumps contain mixed 

solid and hazardous wastes and are 

underlain by permafrost, which may 

act as a liner or seal. This project will 

help develop and implement best 

management practices that can be 

used to improve the environmental 

conditions.

• Rural residents in Washington 

State’s Yakima Valley, including 

the Yakama Tribe and a large 

population of migrant/seasonal 

farm workers, are using drinking 

water from private wells that 

exceed the Federal Safe Drinking 

Water Maximum Contaminant 

Level for nitrate. Some wells also 

exceed health-based benchmarks 

for pesticides, metals, and bacterial 

contamination. 

Region 10 and Agency scientists 

partnered with colleagues from 

the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, the 

Indian Health Service, and state 

agencies as well as the local health 

district to address the issue. The 

approach they are using includes 

conducting area-wide sampling 

to outline the extent of the 

contamination, identify agricultural 

or other contaminant sources, and 

support mitigation actions. 

Results so far have included the 

development of a unique GIS 

mapping method to target sample 

collection for identifying source 

contributions in agricultural 

settings. The partnership effort 

will further determine measures 

to protect public health and may 

contribute to voluntary changes 

and, if necessary, support for EPA 

enforcement actions. 
66

There are approximately 25 million small 

businesses in the United States today. 

As the leading source of employment 

growth, these firms have generated 60 to 

80 percent of net new jobs over the past 

decade and are responsible for developing 

most of the country’s new technologies.

 

Today, EPA is helping to tap the economic 

engine and creative energy of small 

businesses to help meet environmental 

challenges while they help lead an 

economic recovery.

 

In 2010, EPA awarded 4.855 million to 45 

small businesses to develop innovative, 

sustainable technologies to protect human 

health and the environment. These efforts 

will help improve air quality, protect water, 

work to decrease the effects of climate 

change, and support green jobs.

 

The award-winning businesses, located in 

16 different states, focused on several key 

environmental research areas: increasing 

the efficiency of green building materials 

and systems; manufacturing innovation; 

prevention, monitoring and control using 

nanotechnology; reducing greenhouse 

gases; new treatment technologies 

for drinking water; improving water 

infrastructure; reducing emissions from 

small air pollution sources, vehicles 

and biofuels production facilities; 

new approaches for cleaning up and 

monitoring hazardous waste sites; and 

new tools for homeland security systems.

EPA’s SBIR program was established 

to ensure that new technologies are 

developed to solve priority environmental 

problems. EPA is one of 11 federal agencies 

that participate in the SBIR program, 

enacted in 1982 to strengthen the role of 

small businesses in federal research and 

development, create jobs and promote 

technical innovation in the United States.

In 2010, Ecovative Design, a previous 

EPA-supported SBIR winner, was selected 

as a Technology Pioneer by the World 

Economic Forum (WEF). The award 

recognized the development of a patentpending material platform that uses crop 

wastes as the raw material to produce a 

strong and fast-growing resin that is an 

alternative to expanded polystyrene (EPS) 

used in the multibillion dollar protective 

packaging market. 

Ecovative leveraged more than $6 million 

in venture capital funds as a result of its 

EPA SBIR award, and has created more 

than 20 new green jobs.

Stoking the Nation’s Economic Engine:

EPA’s Small Business Innovation Research Awards

Agency awards spur economic growth while supporting green investments.

Building Partnerships, Serving Regions, and Supporting Communities
67

Building Partnerships, Serving Regions, and Supporting Communities

Recipient Title $ Awarded

AccuStrata, Inc. Development of Intelligent Process Control for Thin Film Solar Panel 

Manufacturing $70,000 

AdvR, Inc. Fiber Based Return Signal CO2

 Sensing System for Sequestration Site 

Monitoring $69,984 

Aerodyne Research Inc. PM 2.5 Emissions Reduction for Two-Stroke Engines $70,000 

Air Quality Design, Inc. Combined Gas and Particle Measurement System $69,676 

AlburtyLab, Inc. A Hydrosol Concentrator for Improved Measurement of Microbial 

Pathogens in Drinking Water $69,972 

AquaBioChip, LLC Inexpensive, Rapid and Comprehensive Virulence and Marker Gene 

(VMG) Analyzer for Waterborne Pathogens $70,000 

Aspen Products Group, Inc. Reduction of Hazardous Air Pollutant Emissions from Commercial 

Kitchens $70,000 

Cbana Labs, Inc. Nanoporous Metal Organic Framework Filters for Removal of Gaseous 

Pollutants $70,000 

Coating Systems 

Laboratories, Inc. Antimicrobial-Coated Granular Filter Media for Drinking Water Treatment $70,000 

Light Curable Coatings Pigmented Solvent-Free Corrosion-Resistant UV Coating System $69,997 

Defiant Technologies, Inc. Handheld Detection System for TCE and PCE $70,000 

Eltron Research Inc. Low-Cost Retrofit Emissions Control in Off-Road Sources $69,999 

Enchem Engineering, Inc. Advanced Mixed Oxidation and Inclusion Technology $70,000 

Excellims Corporation Compact High Resolution Electrospray Ionization Ion Mobility 

Spectrometer for Online Water Monitoring $70,000 

Filtrexx International, LLC

Performance and Design Development for Compost Technology 

Used in Green Infrastructure, Green Building, and Urban Storm Water 

Applications

$68,510 

Fusion Coolant Systems, Inc. Through-Tool Drilling with Supercritical CO2 Metal Working Fluids $70,000 

Instrumental Polymer 

Technologies, LLC 

Silane-Terminated Aliphatic Polycarbonate Dendrimer Solutions for 

Environmentally Green Coatings $70,000 

IntAct Laboratories, LLC Bio-Electrochemical Systems for Ethanol Wastewater Treatment $46,770 
68

Building Partnerships, Serving Regions, and Supporting Communities

Recipient Title $ Awarded

Intelligent Optical 

Systems Inc.

Distributed Optical Fiber Sensor for Long-term Monitoring of 

Groundwater Trichloroethylene Levels $70,000 

IntelliMet, LL Economic Capture of CO2

 with Amines and Ionic Liquids Tethered in the 

Gas Phase $69,479 

Interdisciplinary Design 

Collaborative, LLC Residential Energy Optimization Algorithms $66,890 

Lao K, LLC Mill Trials of a Novel Formaldehyde-Free Soy-Based Wood Adhesive for 

Making Plywood $69,975 

Lynntech Inc. Efficient Distributed Energy Generation System $70,000 

Lynntech Inc. Improved Heterogeneous Catalyst for the Transesterification of 

Triglycerides to Biodiesel $70,000 

Membrane Technology and 

Research Inc. Novel Membrane Process to Utilize Dilute Methane Streams $70,000 

Mobius Technologies, Inc. Development of Micronized Polyurethane as a Comprehensive, 100 

Percent Recycled Resin for Green Building Materials and Systems $69,760 

NEI Corporation 

Self-Healing Corrosion-Control Coatings: An Enabling Technology To 

Restore Aging Water Infrastructure and Permit Alternative Water Use for 

Cooling

$69,996 

Smart Polymers Research 

Corporation Quantum Dot/Aptamer Real-Time Flow Sensor $69,999 

TDA Research Inc. Thermochemical Biofuels Production from Biomass Waste Materials $70,000 

Technology Specialists Development of a Simple, Robust, and Inexpensive Alkalinity Sensor $69,660 

Technova Corporation 

Value-Added Use of Milled Mixed-Color Waste Glass as a Supplementary 

Cementitious Material in Environmentally Friendly and Energy-Efficient 

Concrete Building Construction

$70,000 

Voxtel, Inc. Real-time Detection and Identification of Chemical, Biological, and 

Explosive (CBE) Agents With Low False Alarm Rates $69,996 

Wireless Industrial 

Technologies, Inc. 

Wireless Instrumentation for Control of Greenhouse Gas Emissions 

by the Aluminum Industry; Measurement and Monitoring of Current 

Distribution in Aluminum Reduction Cells

$70,000 
69

Building Partnerships, Serving Regions, and Supporting Communities

Recipient Title $ Awarded

Omega Optics, Inc.

Photonic Crystal Slot Waveguide Spectrometer for Monitoring of 

Volatile Organic Compounds in Groundwater and Hazardous Pollutants 

in Air

$70,000 

Applied Sciences, Inc. Nano-Enhanced Composite Electrodes for Electrostatic Precipitators $224,985 

Bridger Photonics, Inc. Hand-Held Sensor for Remotely Mapping Carbon Dioxide Pollution 

Sources $225,000 

Dr. Ben Curatolo, Inc. d.b.a. 

Light Curable Coatings Chromium-Free Corrosion-Resistant Hybrid UV Coatings $224,998 

Ecovative Design, LLC 

Development and Demonstration of a Low Embodied Energy, 

Construction Material that Replaces Expanded Polystyrene and Other 

Synthetic Materials

$225,000 

Fuss & O’Neill Development and Commercialization of Granular Activated Carbon 

Microbial Fuel Cells for Wastewater Treatment and Power Generation $225,000 

KWJ Engineering, Inc. Reagentless Field-Usable Fixed-Site and Portable Analyzer for 

Trihalomethane (THM) Concentrations in Drinking Water $224,713 

Innova Tech, Inc. Retrofit Air Pollution Control Filter for Restaurant Underfired 

Charbroilers $224,996 

Ion Signature Technology, Inc.

Development of an In Situ Thermal Extraction Detection System (TEDS) 

for Rapid, Accurate, Quantitative Analysis of Environmental Pollutants in 

the Subsurface

$224,786 

Scientific Methods, Inc. Rapid Concentration of Viruses from Water $224,987 

TDA Research Inc. A Portable Microreactor System to Synthesize Hydrogen Peroxide $225,000 

Down to Earth Energy 

(formerly Mountain Creek 

Enterprises) 

Commercialization of Solid Acid and Base Catalysts Derived from Biochar 

Optimized to Produce Biodiesel from Low Cost Oils $225,000 
70

Building Partnerships, Serving Regions, and Supporting Communities

The STAR program engages the Nation’s 

best scientists and engineers in targeted 

research that complements EPA’s own 

outstanding intramural research program 

and those of Agency partners in other 

federal agencies. Grants are awarded 

through a competitive solicitation process 

and independent peer review. Current 

Agency-supported research includes 

work on drinking water, water quality, 

global change, ecosystem assessment and 

restoration, human health risk assessment, 

endocrine disrupting chemicals, pollution 

prevention and new technologies, 

children’s health, socio-economic research, 

and the health effects of particulate 

matter.

In addition, through this same competitive 

process, EPA periodically establishes 

large research centers in specific areas 

of national concern. Currently, centers 

focus on children’s environmental health, 

hazardous substances, particulate matter, 

and estuarine and coastal monitoring.

During 2010, EPA’s grants program 

awarded 103 new grants and processed 

incremental funding to continue to support 

critical ongoing projects. This $97.5 million 

investment in research supports broad 

goals of the Agency across the areas of 

drinking water; air pollution and global 

change; global change impacts on oceans, 

aquatic ecosystems, and air pollution; 

ecosystems; and human health.

Grants awarded for environmental and 

human health research in the areas of Air, 

Climate, and Energy during 2010 include 

the following:

• EPA awarded $32 million for 

four new Clean Air Research 

Centers (CLARC). The centers will 

conduct research addressing the 

problem of multiple pollutants 

and health impacts across life 

states, among susceptible and 

vulnerable populations, and across 

communities (environmental justice 

issues), and will study health effects 

from cardiovascular and pulmonary 

problems to neurological and 

inflammation outcomes.

The four CLARCs are: 

-Emory University and Georgia 

Institute of Technology, Atlanta, 

GA. This center will combine 

novel measurement techniques 

with air pollution models to 

provide an assessment of the 

health risks of air pollution 

mixtures.

-Michigan State University, 

East Lansing, MI. This center 

will focus on the effects of fine 

particulate matter and ozone on 

cardiovascular health by looking 

at important subpopulations at 

risk.

-University of Washington, 

Seattle, WA. This center 

will integrate exposure, 

epidemiological, toxicological, 

clinical, and statistical sciences to 

study the cardiovascular hazards 

of recent and aged roadway 

emissions. 

-Harvard University, Boston, 

MA. This center will investigate 

the effects of short- and longEPA Extramural Research Grants and Fellowships for 2010

EPA funds research grants and graduate fellowships in numerous environmental science and 

engineering disciplines through its Science To Achieve Results (STAR) program.

Grants to Support Air, Climate, and Energy Research 
71

Building Partnerships, Serving Regions, and Supporting Communities

term exposures to individual 

pollutants, pollution sources, 

and multipollutant mixtures on 

the brain, cardiovascular system, 

inflammation, birth weight/

growth, and cardiovascular 

disease. 

• The Multi-Ethnic Study of 

Atherosclerosis and Air Pollution 

(MESA Air) is a $33 million, 10-year 

prospective epidemiology study 

to investigate the link between 

long-term exposure to air pollution 

and cardiovascular disease. This 

unprecedented study continues to 

investigate the impacts that fine 

particles in air pollution has on the 

health of a diverse group of more 

than 6,000 participants. 

• EPA awarded 12 new research 

projects that will advance 

understanding of air pollution 

emission inventories. Results of 

this work are critical for improving 

the ability to accurately model 

pollution in the air that we breathe. 

The new projects provided a 

research portfolio addressing 

scientific needs in four specific 

areas:

1. Transportation - Projects 

investigating emissions from 

mobile sources and roadways will 

provide critical input needed for 

the latest generation of aerosol 

modules in air quality models. 

The research will enable links 

between transportation activity 

and road vehicle emissions, as 

well as emissions from ships, 

which significantly impact air 

pollution in port areas.

2. Animal operations and 

ammonia - Because ammonia 

emissions are one of the areas of 

greatest uncertainty in current 

emission inventories, projects will 

contribute to developing better 

tools for generating ammonia 

emission inventories from cattle, 

swine and chicken operations. 

Additional modeling experiments 

will improve the national 

ammonia emission inventory and 

test the effectiveness of control 

strategies.

3. Technique development - New 

strategies for analyzing data to 

develop emission inventories and 

new measurements will provide 

insight into missing or uncertain 

sources. New laboratory 

and modeling research that 

addresses the comparability of 

measurements from different 

laboratory systems will 

strengthen the comparability of 

data and impact how emissions 

are reported. 

4. Coarse PM - An emission 

inventory for coarse PM, 

including details about the 

biological component of the 

particles, will be developed. This 

area is of particular concern in 

current health studies addressing 

coarse PM and is a high-priority 

scientific need of the Agency 

program offices. 

• Three new projects will 

investigate how global change 

may impact the occurrence of 

allergic airway disease. This 

work will develop techniques for 

better measurements of pollen, 

understanding its production and 

predicting where it may have the 

largest health impact under future 

climate scenarios.

Grants to Support Air, Climate, and Energy Research, Cont’d.
72

Building Partnerships, Serving Regions, and Supporting Communities

• Two awards support research 

on the geologic sequestration of 

carbon dioxide to ensure safe and 

effective storage, mitigate potential 

risks and prevent endangerment of 

existing and potential sources of 

drinking water.

• Eight new projects will investigate 

how strategies to mitigate and 

adapt to a changing climate will 

affect air quality and air quality 

management. These projects focus 

on how changing transportation 

infrastructure, land use, 

development, and climate-focused 

policies will impact the ability to 

meet air quality goals. 

Grants to Support Air, Climate, and Energy Research, Cont’d.

Grants to Support Safe and Sustainable Water Research

EPA awarded ten projects, totaling 

$5,365,382, under the area of advancing 

public health water infrastructure 

sustainability. Broadly, the Request 

for Applications (RFAs) focused on 

improving the effectiveness of the water 

infrastructure, existing and future, for 

protecting public health and maximizing 

sustainability, reliability, and efficiency of 

water infrastructure. 

Awarded projects will: 

• Develop and test new water 

infrastructure system design and 

operation; 

• Inform public health risk 

assessments associated with 

distribution vulnerabilities; 

• Inform quantitative relationships 

between infrastructure conditions 

and public health risks associated 

with continuous, intermittent or 

episodic water quality deterioration 

or contamination; and 

• Quantify the economic and energy 

aspects of strategies, tools, or 

concepts that prevent, mitigate and 

respond to infrastructure decay. 

Seven grants (listed on the following 

page), funded for a total of more than 

$6 million were awarded in FY2010 to 

investigate the potential for the geological 

sequestration of carbon dioxide to affect 

underground sources of drinking water. 

Injecting carbon dioxide into depleted 

oil or gas fields and underground saline 

aquifers is increasingly being considered 

to remove large quantities of greenhouse 

gas from the atmosphere and help address 

climate change. This research is expected 

to lead to improved designs for carbon 

sequestration projects that will protect 

underground drinking water supplies. 
73

Building Partnerships, Serving Regions, and Supporting Communities

Grants to Support Safe and Sustainable Water Research, Cont’d.

Recipient(s) Title Amount Awarded ($)

Innovative and Integrative Approaches for Advancing Public Health

Protection Through Water Infrastructure Sustainability RFA 

Emory University Measures of Distribution System Water Quality and Their 

Relation to Health Outcomes in Atlanta $599,429

North Carolina State University An Integrated Approach to Understanding and Reducing 

Fat, Oil, and Grease (FOG) Deposit Formation for Sustainable 

Sewer Collection Systems

$599,429

Advancing Public Health Protection through Water Infrastructure Sustainability RFA 

Water Research Foundation Evaluation of Lead Service Line Lining and Coating 

Technologies $600,000

Purdue University Development of Mobile Self-Powered Sensors for Potable 

Water Distribution $599,997

The University of Hawaii Rapid Detection of Sewer Pipeline Problems Using Bacterial 

DNA Markers and Q-PCR Technology $299,956

University of Connecticut Enabling Potable Reuse of Wastewater Using Forward 

Osmosis: A Sustainable and Affordable Alternative to Reverse 

Osmosis

$300,000

University of Illinois at Champaign Toxicity of Drinking Water Associated with Alternative 

Distribution System Rehabilitation Strategies $599,113

University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignAssociation of Pathogens with Biofilm in Drinking Water 

Distribution Systems $600,000

University of Wisconsin Evaluation of Sanitary Sewers as a Source of Pathogen 

Contamination of Municipal Water Supply Wells $598,580

University of Alabama Water Infrastructure Sustainability and Health in Alabama’s 

Black Belt $598,739
74

Building Partnerships, Serving Regions, and Supporting Communities

Grants to Support Chemical Safety for Sustainability

Grants to Support Human Health Research

Three grants for a total of $6 million were 

awarded under a collaborative US/UK 

solicitation to assess the human health 

and environmental impacts of exposure to 

manufactured nanomaterials. The research 

produced with the support of the grants 

will help policy-makers better understand 

the potential adverse environmental 

and public health impacts of nanoscale 

materials. 

Recipient(s) Title Amount Awarded ($)

Rice University, Clemson University, 

Edinburgh Napier University, Natural 

History Museum (London), University 

of Birmingham, University of California - 

Davis, University of Exeter 

Consortium for Manufactured 

Nanomaterial Bioavailability & 

Environmental Exposure $2,000,000

University of Medicine and Dentistry of 

New Jersey, Duke University , Imperial 

College 

Risk Assessment for Manufactured 

Nanoparticles Used in Consumer Products 

(RAMNUC)

$1,999,995

University of Kentucky , Carnegie 

Mellon University , Centre for Ecology 

and Hydrology , Cranfield University , 

Duke University , Lancaster University , 

Rothamsted Research 

Transatlantic Initiative for Nanotechnology 

and the Environment

$2,000,000

On October 19-20, 2010, EPA hosted 

the “Protecting Children’s Health for a 

Lifetime: Environmental Health Research 

Meets Clinical Practice and Public Policy” 

Conference in Washington, DC. The 

meeting brought together federal and 

professional organizations to explore 

the interplay between research, clinical 

applications and policy implications in the 

field of children’s environmental health. 

The meeting also marked the launch of the 

next phase of the Children’s Environmental 

Health and Disease Prevention Centers 

program—a partnership among EPA and 

the National Institute of Environmental 

Health Sciences (NIEHS)—with 12 new 

grants for a total of nearly $60 million over 

the next five years. Together, EPA and 

NIEHS are funding six new grants for large 

multidisciplinary research (5-year) Centers 

and six new grants (3-year) for “Formative 

Centers.” 
75

Building Partnerships, Serving Regions, and Supporting Communities

Grants to Support Human Health Research, Cont’d.

Recipient(s) Title Amount Awarded ($)

University of Pittsburgh (Main Campus), 

Harvard School of Public Health, New York 

University, West Harlem Environmental 

Action

Community Stressors and Susceptibility to 

Air Pollution in Urban Asthma $1,250,000

University of Rochester School of Medicine 

and Dentistry

Combined Effects of Metals and Stress on 

Central Nervous System Function $1,250,000

University of Medicine and Dentistry of 

New Jersey

Effects of Stress and Traffic Pollutants on 

Childhood Asthma in an Urban Community $1,249,960

University of Texas School of Public Health, 

National Chiao-Tung University, University 

of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center

Hypertension in Mexican-Americans: 

Assessing Disparities in Air Pollutant Risks $1,250,000

Boston University New Methods for Analysis of Cumulative 

Risk in Urban Populations $749,226

University of Texas School of Public Health, 

University of North Carolina, University of 

Texas Medical Branch - Galveston

Analytical Strategies for Assessing 

Cumulative Effects of Chemical and 

Nonchemical Stressors 

$555,923

Harvard School of Public Health, Channing 

Laboratory

Effects-Based Cumulative Risk Assessment 

in a Low-Income Urban Community Near a 

Superfund 

$749,662

Under the Understanding the Role of 

Nonchemical Stressors and Developing 

Analytic Methods for Cumulative Risk 

Assessments RFAs, EPA awarded a total of 

more than $7 million through seven grants.
76

Building Partnerships, Serving Regions, and Supporting Communities

Grants to Support Healthy and Sustainable Communities Research

EPA-supported Children’s Environmental Health Science 

In partnership with the U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, EPA awarded a number of 

grants to support research on methods 

that could be used to estimate the variety 

of ecosystem services associated with 

agricultural settings. Collectively, the 

supported research aims to develop 

quantitative strategies to reduce the 

negative environmental impacts of 

agriculture while enhancing the ecosystem 

services of the land.

Recipient(s) Title Amount Awarded ($)

Archbold Expeditions Assessing Trade-Offs Among Ecosystem 

Services in a Payment-for-Water Services 

Program on Florida Ranchlands

$498,835

Oregon State University Enhancing Ecosystem Services in a High 

Risk Agroecosystem of the Interior Pacific 

Northwest in the Face of Climate Change 

and Land Use Intensification

$500,000 

EPA and the National Institute of 

Environmental Health Sciences support a 

series of Children’s Environmental Health 

Centers across the country. Researchers at 

one such center, the Columbia Center for 

Children’s Environmental Health, published 

two major findings in 2010: 

• Chlorpyrifos Exposure and 

Urban Residential Environment 

Characteristics as Determinants of 

Early Childhood Neurodevelopment, 

presented in the online edition 

of the American Journal of Public 

Health, found that exposure to the 

pesticide chlorpyrifos—banned 

for use in U.S. households but 

still widely used throughout the 

agricultural industry—is associated 

with developmental delays in early 

childhood. 

• Prenatal Acetaminophen Exposure 

and Risk of Wheeze at Age 5 Years 

in an Urban Low-Income Cohort, 

published in the February 2010 issue 

of the journal Thorax, presents 

findings that children who were 

exposed to acetaminophen 

prenatally were more likely to have 

asthma symptoms at age 5. This 

was the first study to demonstrate 

a direct link between asthma 

and an ability to detoxify foreign 

substances in the body. 
77

Building Partnerships, Serving Regions, and Supporting Communities

EPA and NASA Administrators Extend Environmental and 

Earth Science Partnership

On April 26, 2010, EPA Administrator 

Lisa P. Jackson and National Aeronautics 

and Space Administration (NASA) 

Administrator Charles Bolden joined 

forces at the Howard University Middle 

School of Mathematics and Science to 

stress the importance of science and 

engineering education. The administrators 

chose the Howard University Middle 

School to underscore the importance of 

promoting math and sciences among the 

next generation of leaders. 

At the event, the administrators also 

signed a Memorandum of Agreement 

(MOA) to foster cooperation between 

the two agencies in environmental and 

earth sciences and applications. As two 

science leaders in government, both 

administrators challenged the students 

to continue a pursuit of science and 

excellence. 

The signed MOA promotes renewed 

efforts of collaboration between EPA and 

NASA to improve environmental 

and earth science research; technology; 

environmental management; and the 

application of earth science data, models,

and technology in environmental decisionmaking. Areas of applied research and 

applications expected to benefit from 

this partnership include climate change, 

air quality and water. The re-invigorated 

partnership focuses on science leadership 

to motivate continued exploration, 

innovation, and protection of our home 

planet. 

For more information on EPA’s Earth 

Observations and Advanced Monitoring 

Initiative, visit www.epa.gov/geoss/.
78

Sharing EPA Science

EPA joined 500 science and research organizations at the USA Science & Engineering Festival.

EPA scientists and engineers shared 

their work with students and families 

from across the country at the inaugural 

USA Science & Engineering Festival held 

October 23-24, 2010, on the National Mall 

in Washington, DC. 

The activities associated with the festival 

began with inspirational talks by “Nifty 

Fifty” science ambassadors, including 

EPA’s Dr. Paul Anastas (Assistant 

Administrator for EPA’s Office of Research 

and Development) and Dr. Kevin Teichman 

(Deputy Administrator for Science, Office 

of Research and Development) who visited 

two schools in the Washington, DC, area 

to share their love of science and inspire 

the next generation of innovators. Nifty 

Fifty scientists were carefully chosen from 

hundreds of applicants for their differing 

fields, talents, divergent backgrounds and 

ages, and ability to convey the importance 

of science to students. 

The month-long celebration culminated 

with the 2-day festival expo on the 

National Mall in Washington, DC.

The expo featured more than 1,500 

interactive stations from more than 

500 of the country’s top science and 

engineering organizations, including EPA. 

The EPA exhibit featured activities that 

demonstrated the kinds of research that 

Agency scientists are conducting across 

the country and highlighted what that 

research meant for the protection of public 

health and the environment.

Building Partnerships, Serving Regions, and Supporting Communities
79

2010 EPA Scientific Publications

MARR, D., M. A. MASON, R. B. MOSLEY, X. LIU, Z. GUO, AND 

C. WHITFIELD. “Building air change rate due to natural ventilation 

induced by open windows and door in a residential property.” Presented 

at IAQVEC 2010, Syracuse, NY, August 30, 2010.

BETANCOURT, D. “Characterization of Stachybotrys chartarum microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOC) emissions and mycotoxins 

production on gypsum wallboard.” Presented at International Conference 

on Indoor Air Quality, Ventilation and Energy Conservation in Buildings, 

Syracuse, NY, August 15 - 18, 2010.

MARR, D. “An analysis of the BIFMA M7.1 test method model efficacy 

and uncertainty via emissions measurements.” Presented at IAQVEC 

2010, Syracuse, NY, August 15 - 17, 2010.

MARR, D. “The incorporation of CFD capabilities with RISK, an indoor 

air quality zonal model developed by the U.S. EPA.” Presented at American Physical Society, Long Beach, CA, November 21 - 23, 2010.

MARR, D. “Radon tracer as a multipurpose tool to enhance vapor intrusion assessment and mitigation.” Presented at AWMA Vapor Intrusion 

2010, Chicago, IL, September 29, 2010.

JETTER, J. J. “Solid-fuel cook stoves: Fuel efficiency and emissions 

testing.” Presented at Indoor Air 2011, Austin, TX, June 05, 2011.

MARR, D. “Radon tracer as a multipurpose tool to enhance vapor intrusion assessment and mitigation--poster.” Presented at AWMA Vapor 

Intrusion 2010 Conference, Chicago, IL, September 29, 2010.

Lutes, C. C., R. Uppencamp, H. Hayes, R. B. MOSLEY, AND D. J. 

GREENWELL. “Long-term integrated samplers for indoor air and sub 

slab soil gas at VI sites--slides.” Presented at AWMA Vapor Intrustion 

2010, Chicago, IL, September 29, 2010.

HAYS, M. D. “Analytical activities at the U.S. EPA regarding organic 

particulate matter.” Presented at Analytica 2010, Munich, GERMANY, 

March 23 - 26, 2010.

KINSEY, J. S. “Determination of the fine particle emissions from woodfired hydronic hatrs.” Presented at American Association of Aerosol 

Research, Portland, OR, October 25, 2010.

HAYS, M. D. “Particle size distribution of metal and non-metal elements 

in an urban near-highway environment.” Presented at American Association of Aerosol Science, Portland, OR, October 25 - 29, 2010.

HAGLER, G. “The effect of vegetative and structural barriers on ultrafine particle and carbon monoxide dispersion in near-roadway communities.” Presented at American Association of Aerosol Research, Portland, 

OR, October 25, 2010.

HAGLER, G. “Long-term monitoring of ultrafine and accumulationmode particulate matter during the Las Vegas Near-Road Study.” 

Presented at American Association of Aerosol Research, Portland, OR, 

October 25, 2010.

SHORES, R. C. “EPA’s mobile monitoring of source emissions and 

near-source impact.” Presented at AWMA measurements conference, Los 

Angeles, CA, October 15, 2010.

KHAN, B. “Using thermal-optical analysis to examine the OC-EC split 

that characterizes ambient and source emission aerosols.” Presented at 

2010 AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, December 13 - 17, 2010.

BALDAUF, R. W. “The effect of roadside barriers on near-road air 

quality.” Presented at 2010 CRC Mobile Source Air Toxics Workshop, 

Sacramento, CA, November 30, 2010.

BALDAUF, R. W. “FHWA/EPA near-road study in Las Vegas.” Presented at 2010 CRC Mobile Source Air Toxics Workshop, Sacramento, 

CA, November 30 - December 02, 2010.

HAGLER, G. “Current research in NRMRL on the mitigation of nearroad air pollution by vegetative and structural barriers.” Presented at 

NRMRL and EPA Ecology NPD web site, RTP, NC, February 15, 2010.

KIMBROUGH, E. S. “Las Vegas Part 2, Traffic analysis and study 

design.” Presented at Near-road general stakeholders meeting, Raleigh, 

NC, March 01, 2010.

KIMBROUGH, E. S. “Las Vegas Part 1, Traffic analysis and study 

design.” Presented at Near-road general stakeholders meeting, Raleigh, 

NC, March 01, 2010.

KIMBROUGH, E. S. “The National Near-Road Mobile Source Air 

Toxics Study: Las Vegas” (Poster).” Presented at AWMAConference--

Calgary 2010, Calgary, AB, CANADA, June 22 - 26, 2010.

KIMBROUGH, E. S. “Characterization and variability of the pollutant 

concentrations for the Las Vegas implementation of the National NearRoad Mobile Source Air Toxics Study.” Presented at AWMA Calgary 

2010 conference, Calgary, AB, CANADA, June 22 - 26, 2010.

HAGLER, G. “A field and modeling study to assess the potential mitigation of near-road air pollution by vegetative and structural barriers.” 

Presented at AWMA Calgary 2010, Calgary, AB, CANADA, June 22 

- 26, 2010.

KIMBROUGH, E. S. [Several Presentations about EPA Near-road air 

pollution research] Presented at General Stakeholders Meeting (NearRoad Research), Research Triangle Park, NC, March 01, 2010.

KIMBROUGH, E. S. “EPA/FHWA Near Road Collaboration Project: 

Las Vegas monitoring data--continuous analyzer and integrated PM 

data.” Presented at Federal stakeholders meeting, Research Triangle 

Park, NC, March 01, 2010.

HAGLER, G. “Detroit mobile air monitoring research.” Presented at 

General stakeholders meeting (near-road research), Research Triangle 

Park, NC, March 01, 2010.

HAGLER, G. “EPA/FHWA Near Road Collaboration Project: Ultrafine 

particle monitoring research.” Presented at Federal stakeholders meeting, Research Triangle Park, NC, March 01, 2010.

HAYS, M. D. “Analytical activities at the U.S. EPA regarding organic 

particulate matter.” Presented at Analytica Munich, Munich, GERMANY, March 24 - 26, 2010.

HAGLER, G. “Organic and elemental carbon in central Greenland air 

and snow: Towards a better understanding of sources, source regions 

and radiative forcing.” Presented at State of the Artic, Miami, FL, 

March 16 - 20, 2010.

KIMBROUGH, E. S. “EPA/FHWA Near-Road Study--Characterization 

and variability of pollutant concentrations.” Presented at AAAR 2010, 

San Diego, CA, March 22 - 26, 2010.

KIMBROUGH, E. S. EPA/FHWA “Near Road Study--Las Vegas implementation and experience.” Presented at AAAR 2010, San Diego, NC, 

March 22 - 26, 2010.

HAGLER, G. “How does vegetation affect pollutant transport and 

disperson?” Presented at Role of vegetation in mitigating near road air 

qualtiy, Research Triangle Park, NC, April 27, 2010.

HAGLER, G. “Modeling vegetation near I-40/I-85 in Mebane, NC.: Presented at Role of vegetation in mitigating near road air quality, Research 

Triangle Park, NC, April 27, 2010.

BALDAUF, R. W. “Why are we concerned with near-road air quality?” Presented at Role of vegetation in mitigating near road air quality, 

Research Triangle Park, NC, April 27, 2010.

HAYS, M. D. “Analytical activities at the U.S. EPA related to PM and 

transportation.” Presented at Transportation Technologies and Fuels 

Forum, Ottawa, QC, CANADA, May 10 - 11, 2010.

KIMBROUGH, E. S. “EPA/FHWA Near Road Collaboration Project: 

Las Vegas Monitoring Study--Concentrations of Pollutants in the Near 

Road Environment in Las Vegas, NV.” Presented at TRB Environment 

and Energy Research Conference, Raleigh, NC, June 08, 2010.

HAGLER, G. “Computational fluid dynamics modeling to assess the 

impact of roadside barriers on near-road air quality: slides.” Presented 

at 5th International Symposium for Computational Wind Engineering, 

Chapel Hill, NC, May 24 - 27, 2010.

KINSEY, J. S. “Development of calibration procedures for non-volatile 

particulate matter mass measurement methods.” Presented at 8th Meeting of Primary Contributors to aviation air pollution research, Research 

Triangle Park, NC, May 10 - 19, 2010.

HAGLER, G. “Spatial gradient analysis and effect of near road design.” 

Presented at Transportation Research Board Environment and Energy 

Conference, Raleigh, NC, June 06 - 09, 2010.

KINSEY, J. S. “Determination of the fine particle emissions from 

alternate aviation fuels.” Presented at Transportation Research Board 

Environment and Energy conference, Raleigh, NC, June 06 - 09, 2010.

THOMA, E. D. “Detection and quantification of fugitive emissions from 

Colorado oil and gas production operations using remote monitoring-

-slides.” Presented at 103rd Annual Conference of the Air & Waste 

Management Association, Calgary, AB, CANADA, June 22 - 25, 2010.

BALDAUF, R. W. “Workshop on the role of vegetation in mitigating air 

quality impacts from traffic emissions.” Presented at web material for 

web site local to RTP EPA, Research Triangle Park, NC, June 17, 2010.

MARR, D. “The influence of opening windows and doors on the natural 

ventilation rate of a residential building--slides.” Presented at IAQVEC 

2010, Syacruse, NC, August 15, 2010.

BALDAUF, R. W. “Vegetation Influences on Near-Road Air Quality.” 

Presented at NTAQS 2010, Cambridge, MA, August 25, 2010.

“Promise. That’s what research is. A promise that if we engage in this 

often difficult scientific endeavor, then we will understand the world 

better and be able to make the world a better place.” 

Paul T. Anastas, Ph.D., 

Assistant Administrator

Office of Research and Development, U.S. EPA
80

EPA/600/R-011/067 | August 2011 | www.epa.gov/research

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