Environmental digest

Legislation

Slowly, slowly for mercury talks

Global talks towards an international treaty on mercury made faltering progress at the latest round of negotiations in Nairobi, Kenya. Delegates agreed a framework for mercury storage and the management of mercury waste, but other key issues remained unresolved. NGOs accused governments of putting obstacles in the way of building a strong treaty.

One option that was dropped would have allowed countries to take a voluntary approach to the phase-out of products containing mercury. The options remaining on the table all call for some kind of mandatory ban. A three-tiered approach is being suggested based on product lists. One list would contain products for which mercury-free substitutes are available and an immediate ban applies. The other two would cover products with no substitutes and which would be exempted from the ban.

Delegates also agreed to stop mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining. This is the largest use of mercury, accounting for an estimated 1300 tonnes annually, mostly in Africa. But it is undecided whether the ban would apply only to countries involved in small-scale mining and whether mercury could be imported for use in mining. There are also possible difficulties in implementation.

Little progress was made on measures to control mercury emitted to the air by power and industrial plants, and proposed prohibitions on the dumping of mercury waste in developing countries. Sections of the draft relating to the phase-out of mercury mining also remained at an impasse.

This was the third of six planned rounds of negotiations on the treaty, which is scheduled for adoption in 2013.¹ The next meeting will take place at the end of February.

UNEP: http://www.unep.org; Zero Mercury Campaign: http://www.zeromercury.org

Commission stokes up water efficiency debate

The European Commission is releasing a steady trickle of data and studies ahead of its water protection blueprint due later this year.

One recent report outlines a range of policy measures to reduce the energy consumption of buildings. Options include voluntary or mandatory labelling for products such as toilets, and minimum water efficiency requirements. The Commission is also considering voluntary or mandatory water performance ratings and audits for buildings, as well as certification schemes for water reuse.

Horizontal measures such as water metering and higher prices are also envisaged. The Water Framework Directive requires water pricing policies, but Member States have made sluggish progress in this area and several have recently been warned over their partial implementation of the law's cost recovery principle. The Commission has promised to present firm recommendations by March.

A European innovation partnership on water efficiency is also planned for launch in 2013. But this initiative risks not getting off the ground unless it is given a commercial focus, a stakeholder conference heard in Brussels.

A further report notes that implementation of the 1991 directive on urban wastewater treatment is still proving extremely challenging. Lack of political support and funding are the two biggest difficulties, a Commission spokesman said. A ‘not in my backyard’ mentality persists among municipalities when it comes to water treatment facilities, he said. A previous report found big discrepancies in the level of compliance between Member States.² The water protection blueprint will not introduce new reporting obligations here but instead will change the system to make reporting easier. The Commission also wants to help countries share information and best practice.

European Commission: urban wastewater, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-urbanwaste/index_en.html, water efficiency consultation: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/consultations/water_efficiency.htm; European Water Association: http://www.ewaonline.de

A clear view for US national parks

The EPA is to review and act on more than 40 state pollution reduction plans that will improve visibility in national parks and wilderness areas at risk from damaging air pollution.

Haze-forming pollution, including nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and particles, reduces visibility and poses health risks including increased asthma symptoms and premature death. Natural areas affected include the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Mount Rainier, and the Shenandoah Valley. Under a 1999 rule states were required to submit regional haze plans by December 2007. The National Parks Conservation Association and other environmental groups took legal action against the Agency in August 2011 to make it follow up on these plans.

Regional haze plans focus on reducing harmful pollution from large, older stationary sources, including power plants, cement plants and large industrial boilers. In many cases, these controls have already been or are in the process of being installed to meet other state and federal requirements, including the recently issued Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, which is expected to cut millions of tons of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides in 27 states by 2014.³ In addition, the EPA intends to propose and finalize a rule by spring 2012 relating to power plants.

EPA: http://www.epa.gov/visibility/actions.html

EU counts the cost of non-compliance

Poor implementation of current environmental targets is costing Europe €50bn per year, according to the European Commission. This estimate – in a consultancy report – includes health-related costs and litigation costs in cases of legal infringement. EU Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik has made legal implementation a priority.

The report is an attempt to quantify the benefits of full compliance with EU environmental laws and policies. It focuses on six areas within the remit of the Commission's environment department: waste, biodiversity, water, air, chemicals and noise. Non-compliance costs increase significantly (€200–300bn a year) as the gap between future targets (for 2015 or 2020) and the current implementation level becomes wider.

The studies reviewed suggest that, for most sectors, the cost of not implementing legislation is higher than the full compliance cost. However, there are large uncertainties in some areas, the authors point out, due to a lack of data on the implementation gap.

Elsewhere, talks on the environmental conditions for Iceland's accession to the EU are likely to start in the first half of 2012, according to an official from the Icelandic negotiation team. The dossier is part of Iceland's application to join the EU.

European Commission: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/enveco/economics_policy/

Environmental quality

PM10 levels refuse to budge

The EU's daily limit value for coarse particulate (PM10) concentrations was exceeded at 30% of air pollution monitoring stations in 2009, according to a new report released by the European Environment Agency (EEA). The breaches occurred in both western and eastern Europe, including major cities in Poland, Italy, Sweden and Latvia. The European Commission has launched a swathe of infringement actions against Member States failing to comply with this limit.

Air quality in Europe improved between 1990 and 2009, as emissions of most pollutants have fallen, the EEA says. But there is still room for improvement, as many EU countries are expected to exceed the emissions ceilings in 2010 for at least one pollutant.⁴ In addition, concentration levels of ground-level ozone and particulate matter have remained stable over recent years despite efforts to improve air quality. These are the most problematic pollutants for health, potentially causing or aggravating cardiovascular and lung diseases and leading to premature death.

Between 18% and 40% of the urban population is exposed to PM levels higher than the daily threshold. An even greater proportion (80–90%) is exposed to levels exceeding the stringent WHO annual threshold of 20 micrograms per cubic metre. WHO data reported in September show PM10 levels in European cities range between 29 and 42 μg m⁻³. This compares with a world average of 71μg m⁻³.

The data recorded for PM2.5 concentrations remains limited due to the still relatively small number of stations in service throughout Europe. The EEA report shows that 7% of urban traffic stations breached the annual limit value in 2009. Concentrations at non-traffic urban sites were higher than those recorded at traffic sites. For ozone, between 16% and 50% of the urban population was exposed to levels exceeding the EU's eight-hour limit value.

A subsequent report focuses on the costs of industrial air pollution, which it estimates at between €102 and €169 billion in 2009. Half of the total damage cost (between €51 and €85 billion) was caused by just 191 facilities.

Meanwhile, a separate EEA study notes that ammonia and nitrous oxides (NO_x) emissions are likely to increase once Europe's coal and gas-fired power plants are fitted with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. This is because of what the Agency calls CCS's “energy penalty” its energy needs are believed to be 15–25% higher than conventional installations and burning extra coal would lead to increased emissions. Sulphur dioxide emissions would fall, however, as this pollutant has to be removed after the fuel combustion process. PM10 emissions are also projected to fall slightly.

In the UK, a Parliamentary committee has criticised policy failures which it claims are putting tens of thousands at risk. Latest figures suggest that air pollution contributed to the premature deaths of 200 000 people in 2008, hitting urban poor communities the hardest. Treating victims of Britain's dirty air for lung and heart diseases costs as much as £20bn every year. The Environmental Audit Committee said the government had “failed to get to grips” with the issue since its earlier report in 2010 and was shifting responsibility to local authorities instead.

Shortly before the recent elections, Spain's socialist government approved a national air quality improvement plan. The plan contains 90 measures to tackle the country's persistently excessive levels of NO_x and fine particles, with specific emphasis on road traffic emissions. Madrid was among cities at the bottom of an air quality ranking published last year⁵ and several Spanish cities are under investigation for allegedly falsifying their figures.⁶ As yet, it is not clear whether the new government – elected in late November – will honour the plan.

EEA: “Air Quality in Europe 2011”, http://www.eea.europa.eu; Environmental Audit Committee: http://www.parliament.uk/eacom; Spanish Ministry of Environment: http://www.marm.es

Nuclear fall predicted as climate warnings grow

The Fukushima disaster could lead to a 15% fall in world nuclear power generation by 2035, while over the same period power demand could rise by 3.1% a year, according to the International Energy Agency's 2011 World Energy Outlook. It is the latest of a series of dour predictions on the future of nuclear energy and came amid warnings that global climate indicators continue to move in the wrong direction.

The IEA's “Low Nuclear Case” assesses possible implications for global energy balances of a much smaller role for nuclear power. Under this scenario the total amount of nuclear power capacity falls from 393 gigawatt (GW) at the start of 2011 to 339 GW in 2035, compared with an increase to 638 GW in the New Policies Scenario, a drop of around 15%.

The Low Nuclear Case is not a forecast but “is intended to illustrate what a pessimistic view of the prospects for the nuclear power industry might entail,” the report says. “The share of nuclear power in total generation drops from 13% today to just 7% in 2035, with implications for energy security, fuel-mix diversity, spending on energy imports and energy-related CO₂ emissions.”

“The prospects for nuclear power are now much more uncertain than before the Fukushima nuclear accident”, the report says, which had “greatly increased the uncertainty about the future role of nuclear power in meeting the world's energy needs.” Following the Japanese crisis, many countries put their nuclear power plans on hold or under review, and some, including Germany and Switzerland, opted out of the technology entirely. The latest country to opt for this route is Belgium, where long-running negotiations towards a new government have agreed a proposal to phase out nuclear power completely by 2025.

The ramifications of this are beginning to be felt, with electricity firms Vattenfall and Eon planning legal action over the German government's decision for early closure of their nuclear plants. RWE has already launched its own legal challenge.

Figures released by the World Meteorological Organization show the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new high in 2010 and the rate of increase has accelerated. Between 1990 and 2010, there was a 29% increase in radiative forcing – the warming effect on our climate system – from greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide accounted for 80% of this increase. A separate study by the US Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Centre (CDIAC) estimates that global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions rose by 5.9% in 2010 – a record amount – to 9.1 billion tonnes. And a study by consultancy PwC notes that global emissions are increasing faster than economic growth, reversing a slow, but gradual, reduction in carbon emissions intensity seen since 2000.

In its World Energy Outlook, the IEA warns against cutting subsidies for renewables and of the dangers of carbon lock-in as countries continue to build infrastructure based around fossil fuels. The Agency will publish a renewables market report tracking recent policy trends next summer. A separate report on renewable energy policies urges world governments to adopt “dynamic” policies which evolve as technologies mature rather than a technology-neutral approach.

International Energy Agency: http://www.iea.org; World Meteorological Organization: http://www.wmo.int; CDIAC: http://cdiac.ornl.gov; PwC: “Counting the Cost of Carbon: PwC Low Carbon Economy Index 2011”, http://www.ukmediacentre.pwc.com

HFCs critical to climate action

Keeping a global, 21st century temperature rise under 2 degrees Celsius will require urgent action on the hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) increasingly being used in products such as air conditioners, refrigerators, firefighting equipment and insulation foams. In a report released in the run-up to the global climate talks in Durban, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) projects that by 2050 HFCs could be responsible for emissions equivalent to 8.8 Gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon dioxide – comparable to total current annual emissions from transport.

Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director, said: “The more than 20 year-old international effort to save the ozone layer ranks among the most successful examples of cooperation and collaboration among nations. The original chemicals, known as CFCs, were phased-out globally in 2010 and countries are freezing and then phasing-out the replacements, HCFCs”.

HFCs present the next challenge, Mr Steiner added. While these ‘replacements for the replacement’ cause near zero damage to the ozone layer, they are powerful greenhouse gases in their own right. Alternatives exist alongside technological solutions according to the UNEP study, and while the absolute benefits from switching need to be verified there is enough compelling evidence to begin moving away from the most powerful HFCs today.

Mr Steiner was attempting to inject a sense of urgency into the debate after recent international talks on a phase out under the Montreal Protocol failed to make headway.⁷ “Cooperative action” between the Montrol Protocol and the UN's Framework Convention on climate change may be the key to fast action on HFCs', he said.

The EU is working on new measures to reduce emissions of f-gases, including HFCs⁸ and Germany has called for a more concerted approach on deploying f-gas alternatives.⁹

UNEP: “HFCs: A Critical Link in Protecting Climate and the Ozone Layer”, http://www.unep.org

EPA launches fracking study

The EPA has unveiled its final research plan on hydraulic fracturing.

The study was first announced in March 2010, in response to a request from Congress.¹⁰ Since then, the Agency has consulted with a wide range of stakeholders and has had the study reviewed by its Science Advisory Board (SAB).

The final study plan looks at the full cycle of water in hydraulic fracturing, from the acquisition of the water, through the mixing of chemicals and actual fracturing, to the post-fracturing stage, including the management of flowback and produced or used water as well as its ultimate treatment and disposal. The initial research results and study findings will be released in 2012, with the final report due in 2014.

Last year, the EPA announced its selection of locations for five retrospective and two prospective case studies.¹¹ It is also working on standards for wastewater discharges produced by natural gas extraction from underground coalbed and shale formations.¹² Hydraulic fracturing is also under discussion in Europe, where it is seen as highly controversial.¹³

EPA: http://www.epa.gov

Chemical hazards

Europe agrees new biocides regime

National officials have reached an agreement with the European Parliament over new EU approval rules for biocides. The deal allows different procedures for authorising biocidal products on the market and sets ‘cut-off’ criteria banning a number of dangerous chemicals.¹⁴

In a statement, the Polish presidency said “the compromise package is well balanced and consistent with the framework of the Treaty and the EU's environmental policy objectives”. The deal will now go to the Council of Ministers (representing EU governments) and the European Parliament's full assembly for approval.

Under the deal, biocides containing substances that are persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) or very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB), or carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic (CMR) would be banned except under three conditions. One of these is that it does not result in a “disproportionate negative impact” to society. Substances with endocrine-disrupting properties would also be banned, with the European Commission being given until December 2013 to determine suitable criteria.

Three authorisation procedures are specified. Products with “similar conditions of use” across the EU will be eligible for the new EU approval procedure. The EU executive will have to draw up guidance on what this formulation means, with implementation in stages from September 2013 through to 2020. A simplified procedure would also be introduced for low-risk biocides meeting certain criteria. The third procedure applies to authorisation at national level, which will continue to be the main procedure in the coming years.

Rules on mutual recognition are also laid out. Governments refusing to recognise a product authorised elsewhere in the EU will have to justify their decision based on reasons stipulated in the regulation. Treated articles containing biocides would have to be clearly labelled, especially in cases where the substance is likely to come in contact with users or be released into the environment. All nanomaterials contained in the biocide should also be named.

Also, the EU's Court of the Justice has overturned a ban on the sale of food-contact materials containing the biocide triclosan. In a recent judgment, it said triclosan's removal from a list of approved additives was unjustified. The Commission removed triclosan from the list under a 1990 directive after chemicals firm Ciba withdrew an application for its authorisation in 2009. The case was brought by US company Microban, which sells triclosan-impregnated products.

European Parliament: http://www.europarl.eu; European Court: triclosan, http://curia.europa.eu/ (case ref: T-262/10)

Pesticides compliance up

Only 1.4% of EU food samples exceeded the maximum residue levels (MRLs) set for pesticides in 2009, down from 4.4% in 2006, according to the latest figures from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). However, pesticide residues were still found in 38.6% of food samples, only a slight fall from previous levels. The worst example was a batch of Turkish raisins, tested in the Netherlands, which contained 26 different pesticides.

EFSA also attributes much of the decrease to MRLs being harmonised in September 2008. The European Commission has since lowered some MRLs because of concerns that existing levels are too high to be safe. National tests conducted annually and using different criteria found 2.6% of samples exceeded MRLs in 2009, down from 3.5% in 2008.

Environmental group PAN Europe criticised EFSA for delaying implementation of sections of the 2005 pesticide residues directive and national regulators for failing to take into account mixture effects. The fact that more than a quarter of samples contained multiple pesticides was “worrying” given the increasing concerns over the health and environmental effects of chemical mixtures, it added.

EFSA stressed that the presence of pesticide residues in food is not necessarily harmful, and the exceedance of MRLs does not always imply a safety concern.

EFSA: http://www.efsa.europa.eu

Danes to evaluate EDC criteria

Denmark has proposed criteria for defining endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) as part of the ongoing discussions within the EU. The Danish Environment Minister now plans to test these criteria against the 22 EDCs listed on the “SIN list” maintained by ChemSec, a Swedish NGO.¹⁵

The ministry's scientists will examine the 22 substances suspected by environmental organisations of being endocrine disruptors. If the results are positive, Denmark will fight for these substances to be phased out in the EU. Denmark is a forerunner when it comes to fighting endocrine disruptors and the ‘cocktail effect’ of chemicals and has committed to making these key issues during its six-month presidency of the EU in the first half year of 2012.¹⁶ Europe is under increasing pressure to tighten up its risk management regime for EDCs.¹⁷

Meanwhile, green group PAN Europe has renewed pressure on the EU to phase out the soil fumigant metam. The pesticide was added to the SIN list in May but is still being used by 15 EU states, the NGO says.

ChemSec: http://www.chemsec.org; PAN-Europe: http://www.pan-europe.info

Clock ticking for EU detergents

The EU ban on phosphates in domestic laundry detergents will be extended to dishwasher detergents from 2015 under an agreement fleshed out between European regulators. MEPs and national negotiators struck the deal late last year and the European Parliament was due to approve the measure in mid-December.

The ban will be introduced two years later than MEPs had originally proposed, however in return Member States agreed to change the way the phosphate limit is defined. Traces of phosphates up to 0.5 grams per dose will be allowed, rather than the limit of 0.5% by weight the Commission had proposed.¹⁸ The change would allow manufacturers to produce more concentrated detergents. There are no plans to also extend the ban to industrial and institutional detergents at this stage, as some had wanted.

Rapporteur Bill Newton Dunn MEP, who is steering the legislation through the Parliament, described the deal as a “triumph”, saying it will help prevent eutrophication by cutting phosphorus levels in wastewater, a particular problem in the Baltic region.

European Parliament: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/en/

Public & occupational health

Wood stove fix can reduce childhood pneumonia

The addition of chimneys to cooking stoves – a minor innovation – can lower exposure to indoor wood smoke and reduce the rate of severe pneumonia by 30% in children less than 18 months of age, US researchers say.

The study – published in a recent issue of The Lancet – showed that rates of severe childhood pneumonia were reduced significantly in households provided with a wood stove connected to a chimney, compared with homes where open, indoor wood cooking fires were used. The lead researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, report that carbon monoxide exposure levels were reduced 50% on average in the homes equipped with chimneys.

The NIH Randomized Exposure Study of Pollution Indoors and Respiratory Effects (RESPIRE) trial included a total of 534 households in rural Guatemala with a pregnant woman or young infant. The study participants were randomly assigned to receive a locally developed cookstove with a chimney or to continue cooking using traditional open wood fires. The reduction in severe pneumonia would likely result in reduced childhood mortality, according to the researchers.

“We found as large a benefit for severe pneumonia as more well-known public health interventions, such as vaccinations and nutrition supplements,” said Berkeley's Dr Kirk Smith, lead researcher for the study. “Future investments into viable, large-scale stove and fuel interventions to reduce child exposure to household air pollution are certainly worth making.”

Exposure to smoke from cooking stoves is a major global public health problem that affects nearly half of the world's population and contributes to approximately 2 million deaths per year.

NIEHS: http://www.niehs.nih.gov

Natural filter can limit arsenic contamination

Many people in Bangladesh and other parts of Asia have been poisoned by drinking groundwater laced with arsenic – not introduced by humans, but leached naturally from sediments, and now being tapped by shallow drinking wells. In recent years, to avoid the problem, deeper wells have been sunk 500 feet or more to purer waters, but fears have remained that when deep water is pumped out, contaminated water might filter down to replace it. Now, a study has shown that deep sediments can grab the arsenic and take it out of circulation.

Researchers from Columbia University's Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, injected arsenic-rich water into a deep aquifer in Bangladesh, then monitored arsenic levels over nine days. They found that arsenic fell by 70% after 24 h, and continued to decline over the monitoring period. They attributed this to the arsenic sticking to the surfaces of deep sediment particles through an adsorption process.

Lead researcher Kathleen Radloff said that the study could be applied to areas where geochemical conditions are similar. “In situations where water demands are increasing, monitoring of water supplies needs to increase also, not only in Bangladesh, but also in the US,” she said.

Elevated arsenic is common in shallow drinking wells across much of South and Southeast Asia, but the problem has been most apparent in Bangladesh. The World Health Organization has called it the largest mass poisoning in history.

Columbia University: http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu

Research activities

Probing the future of the Arctic

British researchers are launching a major new study into future changes in the climate of the Arctic Ocean and their possible impact on the climate of the United Kingdom and globally.

The Arctic is the fastest-warming region of the planet. The summer sea ice melt-back has reached record lows in recent years. In three or four decades, global warming is predicted to make the Arctic Ocean virtually free of ice over the summer, which will change how winds, oceans and currents interact. No-one knows how the ocean will change, nor the potentially far-reaching implications for the climate experienced by regions far removed from the area, including the United Kingdom. An ice-free Arctic will also have huge significance for shipping and prospecting for natural resources.

The study, bearing the acronym TEA-COSI (The Environment of the Arctic: Climate, Ocean and Sea Ice), aims for a better understanding of how the Arctic ocean and sea ice system works today, and to make better predictions of how the Arctic climate will change. It also aims to understand the consequences of the seasonal removal of the sea ice cover. Without ice, winds are expected to make the ocean currents flow faster.

The three-year project represents the most complex and comprehensive investigation to date into the import of heat, the export of fresh water, and their likely future changes in the Arctic Ocean. A wide range of data sources – including robotic sensors fixed to ice floes, measurements made by scientists aboard a powerful icebreaker, satellite measurements, and instruments moored to the sea bed – will be used by the research team which is led by Dr Sheldon Bacon of the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton.

“We will use our measurements and models to fill a large gap in our knowledge”, said Dr Bacon. “Our results will eventually feed into improving predictions, not just of conditions in the Arctic, but of how changes there might influence UK, European and global climate. With better predictions, we can make better plans for the future.”

The project is supported by a £2.4 million grant from the UK's Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

National Oceanography Centre: http://noc.ac.uk

Anglo-Saxon sceptics

Climate sceptics receive greater coverage in the US and UK than in other countries, according to a study by academics at Oxford University. The findings suggest climate scepticism is primarily an Anglo-Saxon phenomenon.

James Painter and colleagues analysed news and other editorial content in newspapers in Brazil, China, France, India, the UK and US during two three-month periods in 2007 and 2009/10. More than 80% of the coverage given to sceptics was in the two English-speaking nations. The researchers attributed the results to the fact that there were more politicians with such views in these countries and also powerful lobbies and receptive media outlets. The Global Warming Policy Foundation, for example, has been very successful at getting its views across.

One sceptic who is not riding high is Danish researcher Bjørn Lomborg, author of The Skeptical Environmentalist. The Danish government has announced it is to scrap funding for his climate-sceptic thinktank, the Copenhagen Consensus Centre (CCC) as part of budget cuts. The institute had received around €1.2m per annum from the environment ministry over recent years. A ministry spokesperson said “the CCC was the creation of the previous climate-sceptic government”.

Oxford University: http://http://www.ox.ac.uk; Bjørn Lomborg: http://http://www.lomborg.com

SAB seeks new blood

The EPA is seeking scientific experts to sit on a new committee under its Science Advisory Board (SAB). The Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee will review chemical assessments and provide advice to the Agency on questions regarding the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Program. The exact number of committee members has yet to be determined.

“The EPA plans to request advice from the Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee on a variety of issues”, said Paul Anastas, Assistant Administrator for the EPA's Office of Research and Development, “including how we implement recommendations from the National Academy of Sciences related to the development of IRIS assessments.”

IRIS is an online database of high-quality science-based human health assessments used to inform the Agency's decisions on protecting public health and the environment. In July 2011, EPA announced plans to improve IRIS as part of an ongoing effort initiated in 2009 to strengthen the IRIS program.¹⁹

SAB: http://www.epa.gov/sab and IRIS: http://www.epa.gov/iris/

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