PROCEDURES TO ASSESS THE HAZARD OF A SUPERFUND SITE

There are more than 20,000 uncontrolled hazardous waste sites in the
United States in urgent need of ranking and remediation. This research
program is designed to develop a comprehensive biological and chemical
testing protocol which can be used to isolate and characterize the toxic
contaminants of a Superfund site. Included in this program are seven individual research projects. Two
groups of model compounds and model mixtures representative of an "jolly"
waste and a wood preserving waste will be used in each of the first five
projects. The first project evaluates extraction and isolation procedures
for soil, solid waste, plants, air and water. Project 2 evaluates a
battery of induction (enzymes and physo mRNA's) and cell culture assays
designed to detect polyhalogenated aromatic hydrocarbons. The third
project will investigate a series of developmental toxicity tests
including the Hydra and post implantation embryo culture assay, and a
whole animal feeding study. Project 4 evaluates microbial bioassays to
detect mutagenic chemicals, and a fifth project extends testing to
include a cytogenetic analysis of laboratory rats and small mammals
trapped in the field. in addition the mechanisms of carcinogenicity of
polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins will be investigated using the 32 P-
postlabeling assay for DNA adducts. In the seventh project, preliminary mutagenic and cytogenetic data will
be obtained for ten waste and matched control sites and an intensive
biological and chemical characterization will be conducted at three
sites. The data obtained from this testing will be integrated with the
data from the model compounds and mixtures. The integrated data base and
the environmental characteristics of a site can then be applied to a
statistical model developed for this study to provide a more accurate
procedure to obtain a hazard ranking score. This data could then be
applied to a statistical model developed for this study to provide a more
accurate procedure to obtain a hazard ranking score. This data could then
be used to prioritize areas for remediation or to develop criteria for
the remedial activities.