These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Ecological risks to fossorial vertebrates from volatile organic compounds in soil.
    Author: Carlsen TM.
    Journal: Risk Anal; 1996 Apr; 16(2):211-9. PubMed ID: 8638040.
    Abstract:
    The past several years has seen an increased awareness of the need to conduct ecological risk assessments (ERAs) for hazardous waste sites. One technique used in ERAs involves estimating contaminant exposure to individual animals of selected species, which is then compared to a reference dose derived from the literature. Exposure estimates are conducted on those species which are representative of the different trophic levels found at the site. In many terrestrial systems, fossorial (burrowing) vertebrates are found in both lower and upper trophic levels. As part of the ERA conducted for Site 300, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's high-explosive test facility, contaminant exposures were estimated for fossorial and nonfossorial vertebrates spanning two trophic levels. The results of the evaluation revealed that a significant pathway by which fossorial vertebrates could be exposed to trichloroethylene in soil was through the inhalation of contaminated subsurface burrow air. This was the first time that the importance of this ecological exposure pathway has been recognized. The results of this analysis suggest that further research into the ecological significance of subsurface burrow air contaminated with volatile organic compounds is warranted.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]