The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the updated New Approach Methods (NAM) Work Plan (Updated Work Plan). The document includes an overview of the NAM program and a summary of new approaches, including chemical-specific and water quality-specific methods. It also highlights the progress made under the previous work plan and outlines future work and priorities for the next five years of NAM research. This is a 25 page document that will be helpful to anyone looking to learn more about EPA’s research on improved ways of preventing or reducing chemical exposures.
Introduction
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the updated New Approach Methods (NAM) Work Plan (Updated Work Plan). The document includes an overview of the NAM program and a summary of new approaches, including chemical-specific and water quality-specific methods. It also highlights the progress made under the previous work plan and outlines future work and priorities for the next five years of NAM research. This is a 25 page document that will be helpful to anyone looking to learn more about EPA’s research on improved ways of preventing or reducing chemical exposures.
Introduction
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the updated New Approach Methods (NAM) Work Plan (Updated Work Plan). The document includes an overview of the NAM program and a summary of new approaches, including chemical-specific and water quality-specific methods. It also highlights the progress made under the previous work plan and outlines future work and priorities for the next five years of NAM research. This is a 25 page document that will be helpful to anyone looking to learn more about EPA’s research on improved ways of preventing or reducing chemical exposures.
Background
Chemical pollution is a serious issue that many face in the United States. According to the EPA, Americans are exposed to an average of 1,360 chemicals on a daily basis. While these chemicals may not be considered hazardous enough to warrant government regulation, they can still cause serious health effects and environmental damage. The agency’s mission is to protect public health and the environment by reducing or eliminating these exposures through prevention, mitigation, and cleanup efforts.
One way the EPA does this is through its New Approach Methods (NAM) program. This program assesses chemical exposure risks based on risk assessment models called physio-ecological models (PEMs). This program has been around for more than 25 years now and has made great strides in helping reduce exposure to chemical pollution. It was recently updated with a new work plan which provides a comprehensive outline of what will happen over the next five years in terms of research priorities across all NAM activities.
The document includes an overview of each activity categorized into three tiers: Tier 1: Current approaches and method development; Tier 2: PEMs under development or completed; Tier 3: Future directions for NAM research. It also includes information about how each activity contributes to overall goals of reducing chemical
New Approach Methods (NAM) Program Overview
The New Approach Methods (NAM) Program was launched in 2010 to develop new approaches to reduce the exposure of people, wildlife and the environment to chemicals. These methods will be used to innovate and replace chemical-specific methods that are no longer able to effectively reduce or prevent exposure.
The NAM Program is broken up into three general areas: Populations, Chemical Substances, and Water Quality. In 2013, EPA began replacing a number of chemical-specific methods with improved water quality-specific methods. All told, EPA has now replaced over 2,500 chemical-specific methods with improved water quality-specific methods.
A summary of all of the changes made as part of the NAM program are outlined in the document. The document also includes information about future work plans for the next five years and explains how these goals will be achieved by using updated water quality-specific methods in place of chemical-specific ones.
Chemical-Specific New Approach Methods (NAMs)
The EPA is continuing to explore new approaches to chemical exposure prevention. They have recently released new work plans for these types of methods, which are designed to prevent exposures at the source and help communities limit their exposure risks.
These methods are chemical-specific and focus on reducing or preventing exposures from one specific chemical. Chemical-specific NAMs include qualitative and quantitative methods such as https://toxminds.com/adopting-new-approach-methodologies-nam-in-the-next-generation-risk-assessment-ngra/air sampling, water sampling, particulate matter sampling, bioassays, and human health modeling.
Chemical-specific NAMs were first introduced in 2015 with the release of the Disinfection Byproducts Monitoring Program (DBMP) Methods. These methods focus on eliminating disinfection byproducts from drinking water supplies. In 2016, there was a focus on improving air monitoring for low molecular weight organic compounds (LMWOCs).
This year, the EPA will continue to pursue development of LMWOC NAMs using more sensitive detection equipment in conjunction with improved analytical methods such as gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC/MS).
Water Quality-Specific New Approach Methods (NAMs)
The NAM program, which was initiated by the EPA in 2003, has been successful in providing a framework for research, development and implementation of new approaches to preventing or reducing chemical exposures. The work plan includes both chemical-specific and water quality-specific methods.
Water Quality-Specific New Approach Methods (NAMs) are focused on preventing and reducing exposure to chemicals found in aquatic ecosystems. These include:
New Source Identification Methods for Chemical Pollution in Surface Waters (NSIMSSP)
This method allows for early identification of new sources of contamination that are likely to cause acute or chronic toxic effects. NSIMSSP provides a step-by-step process for identifying one or more potential impacts on surface waters before they occur. It is currently used by the EPA and other agencies to identify the most critical points of new source pollution at uncontrolled point sources such as abandoned mines and industrial sites with no monitoring or treatment capabilities.
Future Work and Priorities for the Next Five Years of NAM Research
Under the New Approach Methods (NAM) program, EPA is researching new ways to prevent or reduce chemical exposures. In their updated work plan, they outline future research and priorities for the next five years of NAM research.
The document includes an overview of the NAM program and a summary of new approaches, including chemical-specific and water quality-specific methods. It also highlights the progress made under the previous work plan and outlines future work and priorities for the next five years of NAM research. The EPA will focus on developing new methods that can be implemented by industry as well as environmental agencies.
It’s important to note that this plan was just released by EPA so it’s not yet clear what specific methodologies they’ll be researching in the future. However, you can expect them to continue focusing on high priority areas such as wastewater treatment, groundwater monitoring, drinking water treatment, industrial chemicals monitoring and disposal, emerging contaminants monitoring and assessment capabilities, pesticide risk assessment tools and analytical chemistry applications for protecting public health.
Conclusion
The EPA has published a new plan outlining its five-year research priorities for the New Approach Methods (NAM) program. These priorities will guide the agency as it moves forward with research and implementation of potential new NAMs. The proposed plan focuses on strengthening the EPA’s capacity to implement NAMs in order to improve water and chemical quality.
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