Terra Mentis Environmental Consulting
Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment Expertise
Exposure Assessment, Chemical & Toxicological Parameters
Selected Risk Assessment Projects
When dealing with a wide range of COC it is important to understand the physical and chemical properties of the substances involved. Our experience in this area is strong. We have prepared simple environmental fate and transport models for a number of site and these models have required the use of accurate physical parameters. We have researched the physical and chemical properties of metals for the mining industry, petroleum products associate with gasoline stations and the refining industry, chlorinated solvents and their ability to move through soil, water and air, and other compounds like dioxins and PCB that have the ability to bioaccumulate in the environment. Terra Mentis has also modeled the accumulation and transportation of these hydrophobic compounds in the environment to determine, for example, the amount of dioxin that might accumulate in mothers milk from the dioxin received from the fish in her diet.
In many cases EPA provides the physical parameter for a compound on a web site. For toxicological dose-response information for compounds found at a waste site, it is important to obtain the most recent and best scientifically derived value because it provides the regulator and the public with information on the type of health problem(s) caused by the compound(s) of concern.
These data also indicates the precautions that should be taken to protect workers and the public, and the approach that is needed for clean-up. We have extensive experience in this area as described, which includes the following steps:
- Search appropriate databases for Reference Dose and Cancer Slope Factor
- Evaluate non-default general toxicity factors
- Evaluate non-default toxicity parameters developed in the risk assessment
- Route-to-route extrapolations
Our experts have used models for chemical vapor intrusion from groundwater to indoor air, especially where the groundwater is shallow.