RIVRISK - A MODEL TO ASSESS POTENTIAL HUMAN HEALTH AND ECOLOGICAL RISKS FROM CHEMICAL AND THERMAL RELEASES INTO RIVERS

RIVRISK, an interactive Windows(TM)-based model, predicts ambient chem ical concentrations, human health and ecological risks, and water temp eratures due to chemical and thermal releases into rivers. RIVRISK sim ulates chemicals that enter rivers from pipes, through submerged diffu sers, from groundwater seepage, and atmospheric plume deposition. Huma n health risks are calculated for up to 16 pathways via exposure route s of dermal contact, ingestion, and inhalation. Ecological risks are e valuated for aquatic organisms by comparing the river water concentrat ion to a water quality criterion for freshwater organisms. Monte Carlo analyses of ambient concentrations and temperatures can also be perfo rmed based on uniform distributions or user-defined histograms of vari ed parameters. To illustrate the various features of the model, RIVRIS K was applied to a case study based on the Glen Lyn Power Plant locate d along the New River in Virginia.