Our scientists evaluate exposures to chemical and physical hazards from current or previous industrial sites, including volatile and persistent organic chemicals, particulate matter, asbestos, radionuclides, and noise. We have assessed exposures to such hazards from incinerators, petroleum and natural gas facilities, pulp and paper waste mills, wood treatment sites, manufacturing facilities, and other sources. When appropriate, we apply state-of-the-art modelling approaches to estimate indoor and outdoor air concentrations, and to assess how substances will move within soil, sediment, and water. 

Project Example: Human Health Risk Assessment and Environmental Fate and Transport Analysis at Superfund Site

Project Overview: Cardno ChemRisk was asked to perform analyses to characterize potential exposures to residents nearby a waste disposal superfund site.

Our Approach: Cardno ChemRisk reviewed and analyzed the historical fate and transport of persistent contaminants in sediment and water around the site. Our team utilized ArcGIS, historical documentation, site data and engineering principles to prepare a geospatial mass balance of contaminants present at the site, along with calculation of the mass of contaminants originally disposed of at the site. These estimates were used to understand the mass of contaminants potentially released to nearby sediments and water available for uptake by biota. The team performed a human health risk assessment to characterize exposures to residents who consumed biota caught near the site. The team also apportioned the contribution of site releases versus contributions of contaminants attributable to other historical non-site related releases to contaminant concentrations in sediment, biota, and water.

Our Value: Our analyses demonstrated that the contaminants remained in place at the disposal site and that widespread non-site related emissions in the heavily industrialized region contributed significantly to detection and elevation in concentration for chemicals of potential interest in area biota, water, and sediment.