These fact sheets summarize health-related information for environmental contaminants resulting from industrial practices and other releases (including catastrophic). The objective is to provide scientific context for risk analyses to guide health protection measures. Geared toward an audience familiar with basic risk concepts, they were originally developed for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Richland and Chicago Operations Offices as an information resource for the long-term environmental management of contaminated sites. The initial set was expanded to address evolving homeland security concerns, and the current suite of 51 radiological and chemical fact sheets also serves as a scientific information resource for the public.
Forty-three contaminant-specific sheets (29 radionuclides and 14 chemicals) address: key properties, origin, and use; general environmental levels; distribution in the body; primary health effects; and standard values for estimating risk. Six companion radiological fact sheets provide context for: ionizing radiation; radioactive properties; natural decay series (uranium, radium, thorium); transuranic series; radiological dispersal device; and health-based radionuclide concentrations in drinking water and air (the latter two focus on homeland security context). Two fact sheets address chemical mixtures, to frame cumulative risk assessments and the evaluation of interactions.
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