Ecological Risk Assessments
Ecological risk assessment is the appraisal of potential adverse effects of exposure to contaminants on flora and fauna (plants and animals). For instance, do PCB levels in soil pose a risk to plants and animals that inhabit a corrective action site?
Ecological specialists at LANL have developed a tool to answer more complex questions like these. We use data collected in our surveys of habitat, species, and virtually all other areas of applied ecology, to model impacts on the ecology at LANL. We work with other organizations at the Laboratory to address ecological risk and to incorporate ecological planning in all activities.
EcoRisk Database
The ECORISK Database contains ecological screening levels (ESLs) for avian, mammalian, earthworm, and plant exposure models for radionuclides and chemicals including inorganic chemicals, dioxins/furans, high explosives, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and other semivolatile organic compounds, polychlorinated biphenyls, pesticides, and volatile organic compounds. The ESLs are media- and receptor-specific values that may be used to screen environmental data. Air (pore gas), soil, sediment, and water ESLs are calculated for receptors in various functional feeding guilds (carnivores, herbivores, insectivores, etc.). The ECORISK Database provides detailed documentation for the type of data collected and used to derive the ESLs including toxicity reference values (TRVs), bioconcentration factors, transfer factors, and exposure parameters. The database can be searched by chemical or receptor and generates on-screen and printable reports for all ESLs, TRVs, and exposure parameters. The ESL calculations are described in the Laboratory’s screening methodology document (“Screening-Level Ecological Risk Assessment Methods, Revision 2,” LA-UR-04-8246).
- Ecorisk Database (Release 3.0): LA-UR-11-5650
- Cover Letter, Database, Linked Files & TRV Methods (zip)
- Cover Letter & Database (zip)
- Cover Letter, Linked Files & TRV Methods (zip)
- Ecorisk Database (Release 2.5): LA-UR-10-6898
- Database, Cover Letter & Linked Files (zip)
- Database & Cover Letter (zip)
- Linked Files & Cover Letter (zip)
