Volume
5
Issue
1
DOI
https://doi.org/10.34068/JSCWR.05.05
Abstract
The U.S. EPA Toxic Release Inventory has been available since 1987 as a record of industrial releases of toxic chemicals following the 1986 Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. Combining this release data with estimates of relative toxicity of these chemicals to aquatic systems increases the value of the database by providing a common basis for comparison. The Tool for Reduction and Assessment of Chemicals and Other Environmental Impacts is a database of characterization factors to assess environmental impacts. It was used to develop relative ecotoxicity impacts and interpreted using Life Cycle Assessment concepts. The visualization software Tableau was used to generate representations of the preliminary results in this communication. The major potential sources of aquatic toxicity have been identified for South Carolina by industry type and by year over the period 1987–2016. The possibility of toxicity from releases of zinc compounds from power generation and pulp and paper mills far exceeds all other sources. Zinc compounds dominated the potential ecotoxicity over the full time period 1987–2016.
Recommended Citation
Langlois, Theodore; Carbajales-Dale, Michael; and Carraway, Elizabeth
(2018)
"Visualizing Relative Potential for Aquatic Ecosystem Toxicity Using the EPA Toxics Release Inventory and Life Cycle Assessment Methods,"
Journal of South Carolina Water Resources: Vol. 5
:
Iss.
1
, Article 2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.34068/JSCWR.05.05
Available at:
https://open.clemson.edu/jscwr/vol5/iss1/2
