	

	Office of Water

4301T	         SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 EPA - 822-F-09-001

May 2009

	Revised National Recommended Water Quality Criteria for the Protection
of Human Health: Final Criteria for Acrolein and Phenol

EPA has published final national recommended water quality criteria for
the protection of human health for acrolein and phenol. These updated
criteria are based on EPA’s 2000 Methodology for Deriving Ambient
Water Quality Criteria for the Protection of Human Health (2000 Human
Health Methodology) and supersede current recommended criteria for these
chemicals.  

What are human health water quality criteria?

Human health water quality criteria are numeric values that protect
human health from the harmful effects of pollutants in surface water. 
Under section 304(a) of the Clean Water Act, water quality criteria are
based solely on data and scientific judgments about the relationship
between pollutant concentrations and environmental and human health
effects; economic or social impacts do not influence criteria
recommendations.

EPA’s national recommended water quality criteria provide guidance to
states and authorized tribes in adopting water quality criteria that
meet the requirements of the CWA.  The criteria are not regulations
themselves and do not impose legally binding requirements on EPA,
states, territories, authorized tribes or the public.  

How did EPA update the water quality criteria?

EPA revised the human health water quality criteria based on the
Agency’s 2000 Human Health Methodology.  This methodology incorporates
significant scientific advances made in the last two decades,
particularly in the areas of cancer and noncancer risk assessments,
exposure assessments, and methodologies to estimate bioaccumulation in
fish.  

The updated water quality criteria integrate new reference doses for
acrolein and phenol.  These values have already been published in the
Agency’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS).  The criteria were
published in draft format in the Federal Register [see Revision of
National Recommended Water Quality Criteria for Acrolein and Phenol (73
FR 53246; September 15, 2008)].  Scientific views on the criteria
revisions were accepted for 45 days.  No scientific views were submitted
to EPA by the public.

What are the updated human health water quality criteria?

The following tables present the updated final criteria values and the
reference doses used to derive the respective criteria values:  

Final Updated EPA-Recommended National Criteria Values

Acrolein	Updated Final Criterion



	IRIS RfD	0.0005 mg/(kg-d)  (published 6/03)
(http://www.epa.gov/ncea/iris/subst/0364.htm)

Water + Organisms	6 ug/l

Organisms Only	9 ug/l



Phenol	Updated Final Criterion



	IRIS RfD	0.30 mg/(kg-d) (published 9/02)

(http://www.epa.gov/ncea/iris/subst/0088.htm)

Water + Organisms	10,000 ug/l

Organisms Only	860,000 ug/l

Where can I find more information on the final updated human health
water quality criteria?

For more information, contact Heidi L. Bethel, Health and Ecological
Criteria Division (4304T), U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20460; (202) 566-2054 or send an e-mail to   HYPERLINK
"mailto:bethel.heidi@epa.gov"  bethel.heidi@epa.gov .

You can find the updated national recommended water quality criteria and
a link to the associated Federal Register notice online at
www.epa.gov/waterscience/criteria/humanhealth/.  

EPA has also established an official public docket for this action under
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2008-0553.

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