External links to relevant risk assessment software

Visual Sample Plan (VSP)

This well-supported shareware provides ways of deciding where to take samples in a potentially contaminated area and how many samples to take.  Designed to address spatial considerations of land contamination but also has modules for sampling potentially contaminated buildings.  This program can be applied under a variety of scenarios and  DQO (data quality objectives). 

Spatial Analysis and Decision Assistance (SADA)

This shareware was developed by the University of Tennessee's Institute of Environmental Monitoring.  According to its developers, SADA "incorporates tools from environmental assessment fields into an effective problem solving environment. These tools include integrated modules for visualization, geospatial analysis, statistical analysis, human health risk assessment, ecological risk assessment, cost/benefit analysis, sampling design, and decision analysis. The capabilities of SADA can be used independently or collectively to address site specific concerns when characterizing a contaminated site, assessing risk, determining the location of future samples, and when designing remedial action."

Water Quality Models for Movement of Pollutants and Precipitation from the EPA Office of Water Site

• BASINS A watershed management tool that uses geographical information system (GIS), national watershed data, and environmental assessment and modeling tools together.
• SWMM Storm Water Management Model, Windows (SWMM) simulates the movement of precipitation and pollutants from a ground surface through pipe and channel networks, storage treatment units, and receiving waters.
• QUAL2K River and Stream Water Quality Model, QUAL2K is a complex model that simulates major components of nutrient dynamics, algal production, benthic and carbonaceous demand, atmospheric reaeration and consequences to oxygen state and dynamics. It can be used to estimate total maximum daily loads.

U.S. EPA Center for Exposure Assessment Modeling

The U.S. EPA CEAM has produced a numnber of programs for modeling exposure. Most involve fate and transport but some, e.g., FGETS and MMSOILS, aid in estimating realized dose. The DOS-based programs are listed below. (See Rates, Constants, and Kinetics Formulations in Surface Water Quality Modeling, EPA/600/3-85/040 above in Data Bases as a potential source of constants for these models.) [Links to these files are listed as "microcomputer (DOS)" and "microcomputer (Windows)"]

• CORMIX Cornell Mixing Zone Expert System (CORMIX) is applied to the analysis of toxicants and more conventional pollutants discharged into different water bodies with emphasis on the initial mixing zone.
• EXAMS Exposure Analysis Modeling System (EXAMS) models the fate, transport, and exposure concentrations of synthetic organic compounds.
• FGETS Food and Gill Exchange of Toxic Substances (FGETS) simulates changes in fish body concentrations of nonionic, nonmetabolized organic toxicants with exposure from both or either gill or food.
• FEMWATER Three-dimensional Finite Element Model of Water Flow Through Saturated-unsaturated Media (3DFEMWATER) and Three-dimensional Lagrangian-Eulerian Element model of Waster Transport Through Saturated-unsaturated Media (3DLEWASTE) are two programs that can be used together to model water low and toxicant transport through a 3-dimensional porous media under a variety of conditions.
• HSCTM2D The Hydrodynamic, Sediment, and Contaminant Transport Model (HSCTM2D) is a model that simulates flow (2-dimensional) in surface water (river or estuarine) and associated sediment and toxicant transport.
• HSPF The Hydrological Simulation Program (FORTRAN) (HSPF) simulates watershed hydrology and water quality of conventional and toxic pollutants. It allows the integration of land runoff with in-stream processes.
• MINTEQA2 This geochemical equilibrium speciation model for dilute systems calculates chemical speciation and mass distribution including consideration of dissolved and solid phases.
  • A windows version of the EPA MINTEQ program can be found on The Swedish Royal Institute of Technology's Department of Land and Water Resources Engineering Website (CLICK HERE). This program does geochemical equilibrium speciation calculations for dilute systems. It calculates chemical speciation and mass distribution including consideration of dissolved and solid phases. For additional software available from The Swedish Royal Institute of Technology, CLICK HERE.
• MMSOILS The Multimedia Contaminant Fate, Transport and Exposure Model (MMSOILS) estimates human exposure and health risk associated with toxicants from hazardous waste sites. Used as a screening tool, it considers transport in groundwater, surface water, soil erosion, the atmosphere and ingestion in food. Pathways include soil ingestion, air inhalation, dermal contact, imbibing in water, fish ingestion, plant ingestion, and animal ingestion.
• MULTIMED The Multimedia Exposure Assessment Model (MULTIMED) is used for exposure assessment for toxicants leaching from a waste disposal site.
• MULTIMDP This program is a modified version of MULTIMED that models daughter product movement to a downgradient drinking water well.
• PRZM2/3 The Pesticide Root Zone Models - 2 and 3 (PRZM2/3) combine two programs to simulate the fate of pesticides in the root zone and underlying unsaturated soil zone. Parent and daughter products can be modeled.
• PLUMES This model may be used to predict dilution below a discharge for marine and some freshwater bodies.
• PATRIOT The Pesticide Assessment Tool for Relating Investigations of Transport (PATRIOT) will allow analysis of groundwater vulnerability to pesticide contamination.
• QUAL2K River & Stream Water Quality Model (QUAL2K) allows the modeling of conventional pollutants and can be used as a water quality management tool. It now includes an uncertainty analysis component (UNCAS).
• SWMM This Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) analyses urban runoff problems associated with single or multiple events. Analysis relative to historic rainfall can be done with SWMM.
• SMPTOX The Simplified Method Program - Variable Complexity Stream Toxics Models (SMPTOX3) calculates water (dissolved and solid phase) and sediment (bed and suspended solids) toxicant concentrations resulting from point sources to streams and rivers.
• WASP This water Quality Analysis Program (WASP) models the fate and transport of pollutants in surface waters. Can be 1, 2, or 3 dimensional models and can predict dynamics of dissolved oxygen, nutrients, metals, bacteria, and organic compounds.
• HSSM The Hydrocarbon Spill Screening Model (HSSM) predicts subsurface flow of lighter-than-water liquids (e.g., petroleum fuel) and associated contamination of aquifers.
• WATERSHEDSS This Water, Soil and Hydro-Environmental Decision Support System (WATERSHEDSS) is a decison support and educational shareware program.

U.S. EPA Ecotox Thresholds Software This shareware is designed to calculate Ecotoxicological Threshold (ET) for a subset of chemicals. (ETs are Amedia-specific contaminant concentrations above which there is sufficient concern regarding adverse ecological effects to warrant further investigation. They are used in initial screening.) It contains information for chemicals commonly found in soils, surface waters, and sediments and estimates ETs for these media. 

U.S. EPA Effects Shareware

A set of straightforward U.S. EPA shareware programs and associated documentation are available directly from the EPA. They include methods for estimating EC/LC50's, NOEC's and LOEC's from lethal and sublethal, acute and chronic effects data. Their application is explained in detail in the following publications:

• U.S. EPA. 1985. Methods for measuring the acute toxicity of effluents to freshwater and marine organisms, EPA/600/4-85/0113, PB85-205383, March 1985. NTIS (Probit, Moving Average and Trimmed Spearman-Karber Methods).
• U.S. EPA. 1988. U.S.EPA. 1988. Short-term methods for estimating the chronic toxicity of effluents and receiving waters to marine and estuarine organisms, EPA-600/4-87/028, PB89-220503, May1988. NTIS (Probit Method and Dunnett's Test)
• U.S. EPA. 1989. Short-term methods for estimating the chronic toxicity of effluents and surface waters to freshwater organisms, Second Edition, EPA/600/4-89/001, PB89-207013, March 1989. NTIS. (Dunnett's Test)
• U.S. EPA. 1989. Short-term methods for estimating the chronic toxicity of effluents and surface waters to freshwater organisms, PB90-145764, September 1989. Supplement. NTIS. (ICp Regression Method)
• Newman, M.C. 1995. Quantitative Methods in Aquatic Ecotoxicology. CRC/Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, FL. (All Methods)

SmartRISK

SmartRISK is a complete multi-chemical, multi-pathway human health risk assessment modeling package for Microsoft( Windows(. SmartRISK eliminates the time consuming process of developing exposure models in spreadsheets for calculating risks. SmartRISK also provides flexible tools for managing and documenting risk assessment information such as exposure factors and references.

ECOSAR

ECOSAR (Ecological Structure Activity Relationships) is a personal computer software program that is used to estimate the toxicity of chemicals used in industry and discharged into water. The program predicts the toxicity of industrial chemicals to aquatic organisms such as fish, invertebrates, and algae by using Structure Activity Relationships (SARs). The program estimates a chemical's acute (short-term) toxicity and, when available, chronic (long-term or delayed) toxicity.