EJScreen Indicators Overview – Toxic Releases to Air

What is the toxic releases to air indicator?

The “toxic releases to air indicator” measures the average annual chemical concentrations in air weighted by the toxicity of each chemical. EJScreen presents these weighted concentrations using percentile rank, ranging from 0 (lowest) to 100 (highest) with higher scores representing higher weighted concentrations.

Why are these specific toxic releases important?

• A “release” of a toxic chemical in this context means that it is emitted by a regulated facility into the air. Facilities that report to the EPA Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Program are typically larger in size and involved in manufacturing, metal mining, electric power generation, chemical manufacturing, and hazardous waste treatment.
• In general, chemicals covered by the TRI Program are those that cause cancer or other chronic human health effects, cause significant adverse acute human health effects, are reactive, ignitable, or can cause significant adverse environmental effects.
• Reporting to the TRI is required by law to inform the public about environmental releases and other toxic chemical waste management activities in communities. The TRI also gives EPA, state, and Tribal officials data and information to help assess the need for future regulations.

How does EJScreen create the toxic releases to air indicator?

• EJScreen quantifies the relative potential human health impacts of certain toxic chemicals on the list established under Section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) based on the quantities released to air by facilities.
• Source data are derived from the EPA Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) model, which primarily relies on data submitted by regulated facilities to the EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Program and can be accessed through the RSEI Geographic Microdata Modeled toxicity-weighted concentrations produced by RSEI are then aggregated to census block groups.
• For technical details on the calculations and source data, visit the EJScreen Technical Documentation.

Moving Forward – What You Can Do

• Visit the EPA’s TRI Data in Action page which provides resources for seeing how people are using TRI data and what you can do next to further explore data and other information related to toxic chemical releases and pollution prevention activities and opportunities.
• Use the EPA’s TRI Toxics Tracker to map and learn about nearby facilities releasing toxic chemicals and other ways to access TRI data to find out about specific facilities, chemicals, and geographic areas.
• Learn more about TRI and estimating potential risk from chemical releases and visit EPA’s Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) and Air Toxics Screening Assessment (AirToxScreen) webpages to learn more about which chemicals may be of concern to you and to better understand potential health impacts involving toxic chemical releases to air.
• Search for facilities in your community to assess their compliance with the Clean Air Act and other environmental regulations on EPA’s Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) website.