Ambient Air Quality Standards
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Policy Assessment for the Review of the Lead National Ambient Air Quality Standards This page is intentionally blank. EPA-452/R-14-001 May 2014 Policy Assessment for the Review of the Lead National Ambient Air Quality Standards U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards Health and Environmental Impacts Division Research Triangle Park, North Carolina DISCLAIMER This document has been reviewed by the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and approved for publication. This OAQPS Policy Assessment contains conclusions of the staff of the OAQPS and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Agency. Mention of trade names or commercial products is not intended to constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This Policy Assessment is the product of the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards. It has been developed as part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ongoing review of the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for lead (Pb). The Pb NAAQS review team has been led by Dr. Deirdre Murphy. For the chapter on the health effects evidence and exposure/risk information, the principal authors include Dr. Deirdre Murphy and Dr. Zach Pekar, and Dr. Murphy served as the principal author for the chapter on the primary Pb standard. For the chapters on welfare effects evidence and exposure/risk information and the secondary Pb standard, the principal author is Ms. Ginger Tennant. The principal author on the section discussing ambient air monitoring is Mr. Kevin Cavender. Contributors of emissions information and air quality analyses are Mr. Marc Houyoux, Mr. Josh Drukenbrod, Dr. Halil Cakir and Mr. Mark Schmidt. Staff from other EPA offices, including the Office of Research and Development and the Office of General Counsel, also provided valuable comments and contributions. This page is intentionally blank TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. v EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................... ES-1 1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................1-1 1.1 PURPOSE....................................................................................................................1-1 1.2 BACKGROUND .........................................................................................................1-3 1.2.1 Legislative Requirements .....................................................................................1-3 1.2.2 History of Lead NAAQS Reviews .......................................................................1-5 1.2.3 Current Lead NAAQS Review.............................................................................1-7 1.2.4 Related Lead Control Programs ...........................................................................1-9 1.3 SCOPE OF CURRENT REVIEW: FATE AND MULTIMEDIA PATHWAYS OF AMBIENT AIR LEAD........................................................................................1-14 1.3.1 Environmental Distribution and Exposure Pathways.........................................1-14 1.3.1.1 Human Exposure Pathways .......................................................................1-16 1.3.1.2 Ecosystem Exposure Pathways .................................................................1-18 1.3.2 Considerations Related to Historically Emitted Lead ........................................1-18 1.4 GENERAL ORGANIZATION OF THE DOCUMENT ...........................................1-20 1.5 REFERENCES ..........................................................................................................1-21 2 AMBIENT AIR LEAD........................................................................................................2-1 2.1 SOURCES AND EMISSIONS TO AMBIENT AIR ..................................................2-1 2.1.1 Temporal Trends on a National Scale ..................................................................2-2 2.1.2 Sources and Emissions on National Scale - 2008 ................................................2-3 2.1.2.1 Stationary Sources .......................................................................................2-5 2.1.2.2 Mobile Sources............................................................................................2-6 2.1.2.3 Natural Sources and Long-range Transport ................................................2-7 2.1.2.4 Previously Deposited Lead..........................................................................2-7 2.1.3 Sources and Emissions on Local Scale ................................................................2-9 2.2 AMBIENT AIR QUALITY.......................................................................................2-12 2.2.1 Air Monitoring ...................................................................................................2-12 2.2.1.1 Lead NAAQS Surveillance Network ........................................................2-12 2.2.1.2 Other Lead Monitoring Networks.............................................................2-16 2.2.1.3 NAAQS Surveillance Monitoring Considerations ....................................2-19 2.2.1.3.1 Sampling Considerations ....................................................................2-19 2.2.1.3.2 Analysis Considerations .....................................................................2-21 2.2.1.3.3 Network Design Considerations .........................................................2-21 2.2.2 Ambient Concentrations .....................................................................................2-24 2.2.2.1 Temporal Trends .......................................................................................2-24 2.2.2.2 Current Concentrations .............................................................................2-26 2.3 AMBIENT AIR LEAD IN OTHER MEDIA ............................................................2-32 2.3.1 Atmospheric Deposition .....................................................................................2-32 i 2.3.2 Terrestrial Media................................................................................................2-34 2.3.2.1 Indoor Household Dust .............................................................................2-34 2.3.2.2 Outdoor Dust in Areas of Human Activity ...............................................2-35 2.3.2.3 Soil ............................................................................................................2-36 2.3.2.4 Biota ..........................................................................................................2-38 2.3.3 Aquatic Media....................................................................................................2-39 2.3.3.1 Surface Waters ..........................................................................................2-39 2.3.3.2 Sediments ..................................................................................................2-40 2.3.3.3 Biota..........................................................................................................2-42 2.4 REFERENCES ..........................................................................................................2-42 3 HEALTH EFFECTS AND EXPOSURE/RISK INFORMATION .................................3-1 3.1 INTERNAL DISPOSITION AND BIOMARKERS OF EXPOSURE AND DOSE ..3-1 3.2 NATURE OF EFFECTS............................................................................................3-15 3.3 PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS AND AT-RISK POPULATIONS ................3-29 3.4 EXPOSURE AND RISK ...........................................................................................3-38 3.4.1 Conceptual Model for Air-Related Lead Exposure and Risk ............................3-39 3.4.2 Case Studies .......................................................................................................3-42 3.4.3 Analysis Approach .............................................................................................3-43 3.4.3.1 Estimating Exposure .................................................................................3-46 3.4.3.2 Air Quality Scenarios Included in 2007 Assessment ................................3-49 3.4.3.3 Methods for Deriving Risk Estimates .......................................................3-51 3.4.3.3.1 Full Risk Model in 2007 REA ..............................................................3-52 3.4.3.3.2 Air Quality Scenarios Reflecting the Current Standard ........................3-55 3.4.4 Challenges in Characterizing Air-related Exposure and Risk ............................3-56 3.4.5 Risk Estimates ....................................................................................................3-58 3.4.6 Treatment of Variability .....................................................................................3-63 3.4.7 Characterizing Uncertainty ................................................................................3-64 3.4.8 Updated Interpretation of Risk Estimates ..........................................................3-67 3.5 REFERENCES ..........................................................................................................3-68