U.S. Environmental Protection Agency science and policy trends for metals in aquatic environments

摘要

The Office of Water within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has and is making significant changes in the approaches it takes to assessing metals in the aquatic environment. Over the last 15 years the Office has progressed from total metals to dissolved metals and is now moving to more effectively address bioavailability of metals through use of the biotic ligand model. At the same time, the Agency is preparing a metals strategy and discussing how to appropriately account for the persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic nature of metals, which will impact many programs. There are also a number of changes in regulatory approaches that have impacted how metals contamination of aquatic systems is addressed.