Consensus
Every community across the United States faces impacts on their health and well-being from a wide range of sources including pollution of air, water, and soil and extreme events such as wildfires and other natural or human-caused disasters. Impacts may be heightened by factors such as unaffordable housing, limited or no access to healthcare, poverty, and unemployment. Cumulative impact assessment (CIA) is a tool to help environmental and other relevant decision-makers consider multiple factors in evaluating priorities and potential changes in policies or regulations, with a focus on improving health and well-being.
In response to a request from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this report provides recommendations on the state of the science of CIA and on fostering its application at the community, state, regional, tribal, and national levels. On the basis of input gathered in a number of public meetings, the report recommends EPA expand its CIA framework in important conceptual ways, including to encompass multiple dimensions of health and well-being. Further, the factors that undermine health and well-being (stressors) should be distinguished from those that promote health and well-being (resources).
State of the Science and the Future of Cumulative Impact Assessment lays out an expanded, five-step process for cumulative impact assessment that is driven by ongoing meaningful engagement and includes a final step of monitoring and evaluation of decisions implemented. This report's authoring committee applied its recommended five-step process to eight case studies across different contexts and scales - including the region in Louisiana known as "cancer alley"; a tribal population in Colorado; the train derailment and chemical fire in East Palestine, Ohio; the Los Angeles, California wildfires; and the replacement of lead service lines across the nation - concluding that the recommendations can increase the effectiveness of actions to improve health and well-being.
276 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-99446-2
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-60061-8
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/29182
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. State of the Science and the Future of Cumulative Impact Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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The diversion of water into the Los Angeles Aqueduct led to the desiccation of Owens Lake, located in California's Owens Valley. The dry lakebed became one of the nation's largest sources of fine airborne particulate matter (PM10), which can cause or worsen a variety of health problems such as asthma, bronchitis, and respiratory infections.
Owens Lake Scientific Advisory Panel: Off-Lake Sources of Airborne Dust in Owens Valley, California states that off-lake sources now cause a majority of air quality exceedances. This report examines the origin of these off-lake dust sources and how they might change over time. The report discusses possible dust control measures that could be applied to off-lake sources, as well as the applicability of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Exceptional Events Rule.
Owens Lake Scientific Advisory Panel: Off-Lake Sources of Airborne Dust in Owens Valley, California states that if dust control measures are determined to be necessary for off-lake sources, implementation will require a systems-level landscape approach that considers cultural resources. Establishing and maintaining native vegetation is the most stable and sustainable dust control measure across all emitting off-lake surfaces. However, many areas around Owens Lake are extremely dynamic settings and require different approaches over space, and possible re-treatment over time, unless self-sustaining controls are implemented.
164 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-72637-9
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-72638-7
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/27958
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Off-Lake Sources of Airborne Dust in Owens Valley, California. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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The United States generated approximately 292 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) annually, most of which (about 68 percent) were not recycled or composted. Recycling programs face a multitude of challenges today that complicate their stability, efficacy, and economic efficiency. However, a well-designed and supported MSW recycling programs hold many economic and environmental benefits. This report, produced at the request of Congress, reviews available information on MSW recycling programs in municipal, county, state, and tribal governments and provides advice on potential policy options for more effective implementation.
Municipal Solid Waste Recycling in the United States explores the contemporary issues facing MSW recycling programs and lays out recommendations and policy options to chart a path forward. Using diverse case studies and publicly available data, this report includes an analysis of economic and programmatic costs of recycling programs and assessment of material-specific recycling approaches. Recommendations include policy options to support effective, economically viable, and environmentally sound recycling practices.
226 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-72701-4
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-72702-2
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/27978
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Municipal Solid Waste Recycling in the United States: Analysis of Current and Alternative Approaches. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Workshop_series
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine assembled the ad hoc Committee on State-of-the-Science and the Future of Cumulative Impact Assessment to convene state-of-the-science workshops and develop a consensus report to advise the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on further developing the scientific foundation underlying the practice of cumulative impact assessment. This proceedings provides a summary of a workshop series that the committee convened as part of its information-gathering activities. The series included a community-engaged workshop in New Orleans, Louisiana; a virtual Town Hall with members of the community and Tribal liaison group from across the United States; and a Tribal engagement event in Aurora, Colorado. This proceedings has been prepared by the workshop rapporteurs as a summary of what occurred during the workshops.
76 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-09923-4
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-09925-0
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/29094
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. State of the Science and the Future of Cumulative Impact Assessment: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Ethylene oxide is primarily produced in Texas and Louisiana with sites in Texas accounting for nearly half of all emitted ethylene oxide in the United States. Because ethylene oxide is emitted in Texas and has been determined by other agencies to be a carcinogen, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) undertook a carcinogenic dose-response assessment for use in TCEQ's remediation and air permitting programs. The TCEQ assessed the carcinogenic hazards of ethylene oxide and derived a chronic inhalation unit risk factor (URF) in its 2020 Ethylene Oxide Carcinogenic Dose-Response Assessment Development Support Document (TCEQ DSD).
As requested by TCEQ, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine assembled an ad hoc committee to review the methods, results, and conclusions of the TCEQ DSD. The committee considered whether the conclusions are clearly presented, scientifically supported, and based on the best available scientific information. The report finds that the lack of application of systematic review methods, the exclusion of critical epidemiological data, the limitations in the modeling approach and use of unpublished validation data all contribute to a lack of confidence in TCEQ's risk assessment of ethylene oxide.
74 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-73165-8
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-73166-6
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/28592
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Review of Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's Ethylene Oxide Development Support Document. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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In 2022, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) was directed by the U.S. Congress to conduct an assessment of the current state of knowledge concerning linkages between biodiversity and climate change in the United States, called the Biodiversity and Climate Change Assessment (BCCA). Recognizing that biodiversity and climate change span national and other jurisdictional borders, the USGS expanded the assessment to include all of North America, working in collaboration with Canada and Mexico.
At the request of USGS, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine conducted an independent peer review of the first order draft of the BCCA chapters, beginning concurrent with the public comment period that took place in fall 2024. The review evaluates whether the draft chapters adequately and transparently assess the relevant scientific literature and evidence, address the most pressing issues of biodiversity and climate change, and communicate findings in policy-relevant language accessible to a broad audience.
74 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-72355-8
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-72356-6
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/27796
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Biodiversity and Climate Change Assessment: Review of Draft Chapters. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Our planet is facing many complex environmental challenges, including the loss of biodiversity and rapidly changing climate conditions, driven by intensifying human-nature interactions worldwide. Dramatic advances in the biological sciences over recent years are made possible by new tools to study life at many scales, from identifying mutations in a single gene to monitoring changes in plants, animals, and microbes over an entire continent. These tools have the potential to usher in a new era of continental-scale biology (CSB) in which researchers can combine data from various realms across organizational, spatial, and temporal scales, addressing questions on biological processes and patterns that cannot be answered by observations at either small or large scales alone.
This report, prepared at the request of the National Science Foundation, sets out a vision for the development of CSB and identifies the research areas that could most benefit from multi-scale approaches. Advancing the use of CSB to address a wide range of biological and societal challenges will require the development of integrated conceptual frameworks and theories to guide research, deployment of emerging technologies, and development of a skilled workforce to synthesize the vast amounts of data from various sources.
176 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-71135-5
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-71136-3
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/27285
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. A Vision for Continental-Scale Biology: Research Across Multiple Scales. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Workshop_in_brief
Communities often face overlapping stressors like pollution, climate change, and social inequities that combine to create more significant health risks and environmental challenges than any single factor alone. Cumulative impact assessments can help scientists and communities understand the impacts of multiple environmental stressors by accounting for the totality of exposures and their cumulative effects over the life course, providing a scientific basis to help guide more equitable and effective decision-making to improve public health, well-being, and environmental resilience.
To understand best practices for cumulative impact assessments and inform future activities, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine assembled an ad hoc committee to convene state of the science workshops and develop a consensus report to advise the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on further developing the scientific foundation underlying the practice of cumulative impact assessment. The committee held its first public workshop, State of the Science and the Future of Cumulative Impact Assessment: Workshop 1, on October 15, 2024, to gather information for developing their eventual consensus report. The workshop brought together participants from academic and private research organizations, non-governmental organizations, and government agencies in an online forum to discuss fundamental concepts and methods pertinent to cumulative impact assessment. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussion of the workshop.
11 pages
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ISBN Ebook: 0-309-73497-5
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/29058
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. State of the Science and the Future of Cumulative Impact Assessment: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Decades of research have shown that disadvantaged communities exist at the intersection of high levels of hazard exposure and poverty. Geospatial environmental justice (EJ) tools, such as the White House Council on Environmental Quality-developed Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST), are designed to integrate different kinds of health, social, environmental, and economic data to identify disadvantaged communities and to aid policy and investment decisions that address the pervasive, persistent, and largely unaddressed problems associated with environmental disparities in the United States.
Constructing Valid Geospatial Tools for Environmental Justice evaluates several EJ tools, including CEJST, and provides a conceptual framework and data strategy recommendations for developing the composite indicators that are the heart of geospatial EJ tools. An EJ tool that is transparent, legitimate, and has the trust of its users and the communities it represents is based on a structured iterative process that includes: a clear statement of tool objectives and definitions for the concepts being measured; the selection and integration of data and indicators; and assessment of robustness of the selected data and integration processes. Decisions regarding the tool should be iteratively informed by meaningful community engagement, validation to ensure tool results reflect real-world experiences, and careful and thorough documentation of all decision and data processes.
302 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-71200-9
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-71201-7
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/27317
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Constructing Valid Geospatial Tools for Environmental Justice. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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A scientific workforce with cutting-edge skills is critical for the ability of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to carry out its mission to protect human health by identifying environmental hazards, evaluating risks to public health and ecosystems, and formulating effective methods for pollution control and prevention. To aid in the selection and hiring of premier scientists and engineers, in 2006, EPA first sought the ability to directly recruit world-renowned scientists and engineers from academia, private industry, and other government agencies under Title 42, Section 209, of the U.S. Code. Title 42 authorizes federal agencies to appoint highly qualified scientists and engineers outside of standard civil service positions. Congress reauthorizes the EPA Title 42 authority in 5-year increments.
To guide decisions about the future of the program, Congress asked the National Academies to review past and current EPA use of Title 42 hiring authority and how the program might be improved. The report finds that EPA has used its limited Title 42 authority effectively since 2006 and that Title 42 authority has enabled the hiring of effective scientific leadership and improved the scientific capability and capacity to support the Agency mission. Furthermore, the report finds that Title 42 can help the agency in addressing future environmental complexities. In continuing to enhance its scientific workforce and maintain a position at the forefront of evolving scientific knowledge, EPA would benefit from Congressional approval for permanent Title 42 authority.
90 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-71446-X
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-71706-X
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/27440
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Enhancing EPA Science Capability for a Complex Future: Recommendations for Use of Title 42 Special Hiring Authority. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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To consider how an Earth system science approach can inform research on climate intervention, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a virtual workshop on June 20-22, 2023 titled Climate Intervention in an Earth Systems Science Framework. Individuals with a wide range of physical, ecological, and social sciences expertise explored climate interventions within the context of convergent research and the capacities of the National Science Foundation (NSF). The workshop drew on the National Academies report Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation, which called upon NSF to pursue an Earth systems science initiative that emphasizes research on interconnections and feedback between natural and social processes; focuses on real-world problems; enhances the participation of social, engineering, and data scientists; and strengthens efforts to include diverse perspectives in research.
12 pages
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ISBN Ebook: 0-309-71694-2
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/27476
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Climate Intervention in an Earth Systems Science Framework: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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The predominant way of making steel in the United Sates is by using an electric arc furnace (EAF) to melt scrap steel, which results in the formation of a rock-like material called slag. Among its various applications, EAF slag is used in a loose or unencapsulated form as ground cover material for residential landscaping. However, the slag generated from the EAF process can contain toxic metals, which can be hazardous to human and environmental health.
This report, conducted at the request of the U.S. EPA, discusses the relative hazard of key EAF slag constituents, the extent to which they may be released into the environment, and important aspects in assessing human exposures and risk. Due to uncertainties in the current evidence stream, the report was unable to make an overall characterization of risk related to unencapsulated EAF slag use in the United States and cautions against making generalizations from conclusions in published risk assessments. The report also identifies research needs to better understand factors considered to have the potential to contribute to the highest risks from the use of unencapsulated EAF slag, such as human exposure to dust particles that may be released over time from applied slag.
164 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-70011-6
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-70012-4
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/26881
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Health Risk Considerations for the Use of Unencapsulated Steel Slag. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Formaldehyde is widely present in the environment and is one of the highest production chemicals by volume, used in manufactured goods including wood products, permanent press fabrics, and household products. It is also formed by combustion sources and is present in smoke from cigarettes and other tobacco products, and in emissions from gas stoves and open fireplaces. In carrying out its mission to protect human health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identifies and characterizes the health hazards of chemicals found in the environment through its Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Program, which has reviewed the human health hazards resulting from formaldehyde exposure in several assessments.
This report is a continuation of guidance from the National Academies on draft IRIS assessments of formaldehyde and other aspects of the IRIS program. This report reviews the 2022 Draft Assessment with regard to its adequacy and transparency in evaluating the scientific literature, use of appropriate methods to synthesize the current state-of-the science, and presentations of conclusions that are supported by the scientific evidence. The report concludes that the 2022 Draft Assessment follows the advice of prior National Academies reports and that its findings on hazard and quantitative risk are supported by the evidence identified. However, revisions are needed to ensure that users can find and follow the methods used in each step of the assessment for each health outcome.
173 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-70655-6
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-70656-4
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/27153
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Review of EPA's 2022 Draft Formaldehyde Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Workshop_in_brief
The convergence of artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, and biomedical big data holds promise to transform understanding of human health and disease. Driven by the increasing availability and ability to generate, collect, and analyze environmental and biomedical data along with advanced computing power, AI and machine learning (ML) applications are rapidly developing in research and health. To explore opportunities for leveraging emerging developments in AI and ML to advance multimodal data integration, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine hosted a workshop titled Advances in Multimodal Artificial Intelligence to Enhance Environmental and Biomedical Data Integration on June 14-15, 2023. The workshop focused on recent developments in AI and other data-driven approaches to integrate biomedical and environmental health data; the exploration of promising applications in human health and disease; and the ethical, social, and policy implications and challenges of health data collection and integration. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions of the workshop.
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ISBN Ebook: 0-309-70812-5
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/27202
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Advances in Multimodal Artificial Intelligence to Enhance Environmental and Biomedical Data Integration: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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The rapid proliferation of wearable devices that gather data on physical activity and physiology has become commonplace across various sectors of society. Concurrently, the development of advanced wearables and sensors capable of detecting a multitude of compounds presents new opportunities for monitoring environmental exposure risks. Wearable technologies are additionally showing promise in disease prediction, detection, and management, thereby offering potential advancements in the interdisciplinary fields of both environmental health and biomedicine.
To gain insight into this burgeoning field, on June 1 and 2, 2023, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine organized a 2-day virtual workshop titled Developing Wearable Technologies to Advance Understanding of Precision Environmental Health. Experts from government, industry, and academia convened to discuss emerging applications and the latest advances in wearable technologies. The workshop aimed to explore the potential of wearables in capturing, monitoring, and predicting environmental exposures and risks to inform precision environmental health.
12 pages
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ISBN Ebook: 0-309-70743-9
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/27178
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Developing Wearable Technologies to Advance Understanding of Precision Environmental Health: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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As part of its core mission, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is tasked with assessing the hazards and risks to human health from exposure to pollutants. While some pollutants are well studied, there are little or no data on the potential health effects for many thousands of chemicals that can make their way into the environment, such as PFAS. EPA still relies on laboratory mammalian studies as the foundation of most human health risk assessments, which are limited by high costs, long timelines, and other concerns. New approach methods (NAMs) in toxicology, for example new in vivo and in vitro strategies and computational systems biology, offer opportunities to inform timely decision-making when no data are available from laboratory mammalian toxicity tests or epidemiological studies. NAMs may also help inform efforts to protect susceptible and vulnerable populations by characterizing subtle health perturbations, better encompassing genetic diversity, and accounting for nonchemical stressors.
While the promise and need for NAMs is clear, many barriers to their use remain. This report aims to bridge the gap between the potential of NAMs and their practical application in human health risk assessment. Building Confidence in New Evidence Streams for Human Health Risk Assessment draws lessons learned from laboratory mammalian toxicity tests to help inform approaches for building scientific confidence in NAMs and for incorporating such data into risk assessment and decision-making. Overall, the report recommendations aim to ensure a seamless handoff from the evaluation of NAM-based testing strategies in the laboratory to the incorporation of NAM data into modern, systematic-review-based risk assessments.
180 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-70077-9
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-70078-7
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/26906
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Building Confidence in New Evidence Streams for Human Health Risk Assessment: Lessons Learned from Laboratory Mammalian Toxicity Tests. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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The National Academies Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice, Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, and Board on Children Youth and Families convened a workshop in August 2022 to explore the impact of specific environmental exposures in utero, infancy, early childhood, and adolescence. Experts in epidemiology, toxicology, dose response methodology, and exposure science explored gaps in knowledge around vulnerabilities to environmental hazards as well as opportunities to inform public policy moving forward. This Proceedings of the workshop summarizes important discussions held during the virtual event and outlines recommendations for ways the Environmental Protection Agency can incorporate new research methods into its risk assessments.
104 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-69802-2
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-69803-0
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/26848
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Children's Environmental Health: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Sunscreens and a variety of other products contain chemical ultraviolet (UV) filters that absorb or block the sun's radiation and thereby help mitigate harms to human skin from the sun. The 2022 NASEM report Review of Fate, Exposure, and Effects of Sunscreens in Aquatic Environments and Implications for Sunscreen Usage and Human Health called on the EPA to conduct an ecological risk assessment of UV filters to characterize the possible risks to aquatic ecosystems and the species that live in them. However, the 2022 report also identified a number of knowledge gaps and research barriers that may limit understanding of those ecological risks.
To share progress and identify opportunities to further address gaps and barriers, NASEM hosted a workshop in Washington, D.C., on January 23-24, 2023, entitled Workshop to Advance Research on Understanding Environmental Effects of UV Filters in Sunscreens. Through a series of prepared talks, panel discussions, and structured breakout discussions, participants examined the 2022 report and its management context; explored data needs and analytical challenges relevant to the development of accurate toxicity metrics for UV filters; and suggested opportunities to improve and standardize toxicity testing for these chemicals. These proceedings has been prepared by the workshop rapporteur as a factual summary of what occurred at the workshop.
52 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-69585-6
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-69586-4
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/26775
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Advancing Research on Understanding Environmental Effects of UV Filters from Sunscreens: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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