Senior Risk Assessor Brian Mulhearn will present at this year’s Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) North America meeting at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Florida. SETAC is hosting the conference November 6-10, 2016. Brian will present during the Fate, Toxicology, or Risk Assessment of Materials of Interest to the Military session on Wednesday, November 9th.
Mulhearn will highlight the long history of investigations at the former Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant at McGregor, Texas, and the effects of perchlorate on ecosystems near the installation and adjacent properties. He will discuss EnSafe’s collaboration with the U.S. Navy and Texas Tech University to study native surface water and species and the differences in thresholds at which adverse effects to amphibians might occur. Previous research had used synthetic lab water and a species having little in common with those found in the region or at the installation.
“The EnSafe–TTU study made a big difference because the literature threshold value for surface water was 0.06 mg/L, and based on the study using native surface water and native species as well as a recent follow-up study, the actual threshold was much higher, eliminating the need for remedial actions that would have otherwise been guided by the literature and could have cost 10 to 100 times what the study cost,” stated Mulhearn. “This is important information for other sites relying on the literature threshold values for surface water, where local conditions might influence the toxicity of perchlorate.”
The annual SETAC conference highlights emerging research, regulatory developments, and the latest methodologies in toxicology and chemistry. Don’t miss this informative event and chance to network with and representatives from academia, business, and government from around the world. Register online at https://orlando.setac.org/register/.