Environmental Risk & Toxicology
ICF International specializes in identifying and quantifying the
effects of chemicals and pathogens on human health and the environment. We
provide high-end technical services and in-depth analyses to help clients review,
evaluate, and develop health-protective, cost-effective solutions
to a wide range of issues. Our toxicology, exposure, and risk assessment
work addresses the full spectrum of potentially hazardous and toxic substances,
including:
- Environmental pollutants—metals, pesticides, and volatile organic
compounds
- Hazardous agents—chemicals, microbes, and radionuclides
- Foodborne substances—additives, food contact substances, microbial
contaminants, and pharmaceutical residues
ICF's multidisciplinary team applies state-of-the-art principles and the
most recent scientific findings to ensure clients receive scientifically
defensible evaluations at an outstanding value, tailored to the specific
needs of each client. With ICF, each client has access to:
- Top-notch scientists and technical specialists who approach problem solving
in an accurate, realistic manner
- Knowledgeable staff with unique capabilities in hazard assessment, dose-response
assessment, exposure assessment, multi-media fate and transport modeling,
risk model development, fault tree and other probabilistic and uncertainty
analyses
- Experienced managers who understand budget, schedule, and resource considerations
ICF Environmental Risk & Toxicology Services
- Hazard and safety assessment
- Mammalian toxicology and ecotoxicology study review
- Quantitative dose-response assessment and modeling
- Physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling
- Exposure assessment
- Multi-media fate and transport modeling
- Risk assessment for chemicals and pathogens
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Selected Environmental Risk & Toxicology Clients
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
- Conservation of Clean Air and Water in Europe
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- CEFIC–European Chemical Industry Council
- Several major Brussels-based consortia of large chemical companies
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Selected Environmental Risk & Toxicology Projects
Exposure and Risk Assessment Support for
Review of National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for Lead
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
ICF conducted a quantitative health risk assessment in support of revisions
to the current NAAQS for lead. The effort involved the analysis of complex
environmental monitoring data and fate and transport model results, estimation
of exposure concentrations, and the use of biokinetic models to estimate
infants and children blood lead responses to specific exposure scenarios.
The results of ICF's risk assessment were used to inform and support EPA's
final NAAQS rule for lead.
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2008 Children's Environmental Health Research Report
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
ICF prepared a topical summary of EPA's children's health research portfolio,
its broader impact on the state of the science, and its potential for improving
the health of the nation's children. ICF wrote a series of case studies that
highlighted findings of specific child vulnerabilities by lifestage. The
case summaries were compiled into a report entitled A Decade of Children's
Environmental Health Research: Highlights from EPA's Science to Achieve Results
Program (December 2007), showcasing the value of the Office of Research
and Development's research on children's health issues.
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Dioxins Risk Assessment
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
ICF is supporting EPA's National Center for Environmental Assessment in
analyzing human health risks associated with exposure to 2,3,7,8-TCDD to
develop a response to comments from the National Academy of Sciences on EPA's
2003 reassessment of health risks from dioxins and related compounds. This
support includes reviewing and analyzing available epidemiologic and animal
bioassay data, performing dose-response modeling, refining and applying PBPK
models, and developing an oral cancer slope factor and reference dose (RfD)
for 2,3,7,8-TCDD.
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Science Summary Reports
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
ICF developed science summary reports that interpret and communicate environmental
research results. Specific tasks included critically interpreting and summarizing
research results, evaluating progress based on performance goals presented
in EPA's research plans, conducting literature searches, and identifying
data gaps or future research needs. ICF evaluated different environmental
topics, including children's health, biomarkers of children's pesticide exposure,
technology for a sustainable environment, bioremediation of contaminated
groundwater, remediation of contaminated sediments, pollution prevention
technologies for a sustainable environment, mercury fate and transport in
watersheds, and regional impacts of global climate change.
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Mercury Deposition Modeling for the Virginia Mercury Study
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
ICF conducted air quality modeling to assess atmospheric mercury deposition
to water bodies in the Commonwealth as part of the Virginia Mercury Study.
The modeling analysis was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of emission
reductions expected as part of EPA's Clean Air Interstate Rule and Clean
Air Mercury Rule in 2015, and to assess whether additional control measures
will be needed in Virginia to meet applicable water quality criteria.
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REACH Support
Conservation of Clean Air and Water in Europe, CEFIC, and Several Major Brussels-based
Consortia of Large Chemical Companies
ICF helps companies comply with REACH (Registration,
Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals), the European Commission's
new regulatory system for chemicals and their safe use. The law, which affects
more than 30,000 chemical substances, impacts companies that manufacture,
import, or use these chemicals within the European Union (EU). ICF and Penman
Consulting have teamed to provide project management and/or technical services
to major REACH consortia, including the Lower Olefins and Aromatics REACH
Consortium, comprised of the largest global chemical companies. This work
includes providing scientific, technical, analytical, data management, technical
writing, and other services to support various classification and labeling,
REACH compliance, and other activities related to REACH registration.
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