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Recently, intense attention has been given to children's health issues, particularly in the use of consumer products. Because of this attention, researchers have been planning and initiating studies specifically aimed at developing both toxicology data and exposure data directed to improve our understanding of industrial and consumer product chemical impacts on children's health. To ensure that this research is focused on the highest priority chemicals, we present a methodology for determining and prioritizing the higher hazard chemicals and scenarios for which children could be disproportionately or highly exposed. This tiered approach includes a screening step for initial chemical selection, a hazard assessment based on no- or lowest-observed-adverse-effect levels, and a margin of exposure (MOE) calculation. The initial chemical screen focuses on the chemical presence in specific media that are special to children, such as foods children regularly eat and drink, residential or school air, products children use, and soil and dust in and around residences. Data from the literature or from models serve as the initial exposure estimate. This methodology would allow us to focus on those chemicals to which children are most exposed that are also associated with, potentially, the highest risk. Use of the MOE calculation allows for comparison among chemicals, prioritization of chemicals for evaluation and testing, and identification of significant data gaps.

Understanding initial oil spill responder's exposures is essential for planning purposes and a safe operation; however, there is little relevant information in the literature. Potential oil components of concern include hydrogen sulfide and benzene. This paper uses three dispersion models to evaluate and discuss these potential responder health exposures. Key parameters addressed include the effects of the thickness of the spill and the component concentration in the crude oil. Determination of the amount of time needed for site concentrations to fall below the relevant health guidelines is an important outcome. Model results are compared with available exposure data in the literature. Implications for response planning are discussed.

The study of soil flushing and pump and treat methodologies as remediation tools at a CERCLA site in New Jersey were investigated in laboratory studies at Rutgers University. Results indicate that, at this site, pump and treat methods may be viable for contaminant reduction in groundwater soils. Removal of the targeted compounds was swift and residual contamination of the groundwater solids was not evident. Heterogeneity between the soil cores which were extruded from roughly the same site suggest a conservative estimate when predicting time to cleanup. Further tests showed, however, that the use of soil flushing for contaminated surface soils is much less effective. The magnitude of contamination, most likely in the form of NAPLs, precludes the remediation process. Furthermore, pump and treat technology to remediate surface soil contamination could adversely affect the groundwater remediation efforts.