Development of Risk-Based Cleanup Levels for Children and Homegrown Produce Ingestion for Petroleum Release Sites Governed by ASTM's RBCA Methodology. H. A. Hattemer-Frey, SaF·Risk, 1100 Sanders Road, Knoxville, TN 37923; V. Lau, Dames & Moore Group, 221 Main Street, Suite 600, San Francisco, CA 94105; and J. U. Bell, SaF·Risk, 411 Bath Club Boulevard South, North Redington Beach, FL 33708
ASTM’s (1995) Risk-Based Corrective Action methodology provides guidance for determining the need for remediation of petroleum release sites and for ensuring the risk-based cleanup levels selected are protective of human health and the environment. ASTM Risk-Based Screening Levels (RBSLs) are compared to maximum media concentrations to determine if more detailed study or corrective action is required. RBSLs are derived using standard, non-site-specific, default EPA reasonable maximum exposure (RME) assumptions and methodologies. Implementation of the RBCA process involved the identification of potential current and future receptors and prediction of the major pathways of human exposure. Residential exposures are typically evaluated whenever individuals currently live on or near a site or future use of the site is commiserate with residential development. Given that future use of many sites may be residential, two potentially significant receptors and exposure routes are not accounted for. There is no soil RBSL to account for ingestion of homegrown produce, and children are not represented. Due to their higher intake-to-body weight rate ratio, risks are often higher for children than adults. This paper calculates RBSLs for children and ingestion of homegrown produce and compares these RBSLs to those commonly used to evaluate the need for remediation at petroleum release sites. Results show that current RBSLs may not be protective of human health for children and adult residents in cases where they are the primary receptors of concern.