Probabilistic risk assessment of residential exposure to electric arc furnace steel slag using Bayesian model of relative bioavailability and PBPK modeling of manganese

Abstract

Electric arc furnace (EAF) slag is a coproduct of steel production used primarily for construction purposes. Some applications of EAF slag result in residential exposures by incidental ingestion and inhalation of airborne dust. To evaluate potential health risks, an EAF slag characterization program was conducted to measure concentrations of metals and leaching potential (including oral bioaccessibility) in 38 EAF slag samples. Arsenic, hexavalent chromium, iron, vanadium, and manganese (Mn) were identified as constituents of interest (COIs). Using a probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) approach, estimated distributions of dose for COIs were assessed, and increased cancer risks and noncancer hazard quotients (HQs) at the 50th and 95th percentiles were calculated. For the residents near slag‐covered roads, cancer risk and noncancer HQs were <1E − 6 and 1, respectively. For residential driveway or landscape exposure, at the 95th percentile, cancer risks were 1E − 6 and 7E − 07 based on oral exposure to arsenic and hexavalent chromium, respectively. HQs ranged from 0.07 to 2 with the upper bound due to ingestion of Mn among children. To expand the analysis, a previously published physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model was used to estimate Mn levels in the globus pallidus for both exposure scenarios and further evaluate the potential for Mn neurotoxicity. The PBPK model estimated slightly increased Mn in the globus pallidus at the 95th percentile of exposure, but concentrations did not exceed no‐observed‐adverse‐effect levels for neurological effects. Overall, the assessment found that the application of EAF slag in residential areas is unlikely to pose a health hazard or increased cancer risk.