Ecological Soil Screening Level
The Ecological Soil Screening Level (Eco-SSL) derivation process represents the collaborative effort of a multi-stakeholder workgroup consisting of federal, state, consulting, industry and academic participants led by the U.S. EPA, Office of Emergency and Remedial Response. It is emphasized that the Eco-SSLs are soil screening numbers, and as such are not appropriate for use as cleanup levels. Screening ecotoxicity values are derived to avoid underestimating risk. Requiring a cleanup based solely on Eco-SSL values would not be technically defensible.
The Eco-SSL web site provides an overview of the contaminant. Separate discussion are provided for each receptor group including a comprehensive list of literature evaluated under the effort, and a summary of data used in deriving Eco-SSL values. For each chemical, Eco-SSL documents are provided in a PDF format. For some documents HTML versions are available with linkages to the toxicity data records within the U.S. EPA’s ECOTOX database.
Interim Eco-SSL Documents
See the Interim Ecological Soil Screening Level Documents page to view/download available documents for metal and organic contaminants.
Guidance Documents and SOPs
See the Guidance for Developing Ecological Soil Screening Levels page to view/download the guidance document, all standard operating procedures, and other attachments.
Literature Identification
Potentially applicable publications were identified through comprehensive searches of the open literature (see Attachment 3-1 for plants and soil invertebrates, and Attachment 4-2 for mammals and birds). Literature citations and full articles were skimmed for potential applicability and acceptability to the Eco-SSL effort (see Attachment 3-1 and Attachment 3-2 for plants and soil invertebrates, and Attachment 4-3 for mammals and birds).
Publications identified as "Acceptable" met all minimum criteria and received a sufficient score during the data evaluation process, but may not have been used to derive the final Eco-SSL due to other data selection requirements (see Attachment 3-2 for plants and soil invertebrates and Attachment 4-3 for mammals and birds). Publications identified as "Not Acceptable" either did not meet all the acceptance criteria, fell into exclusion categories, or did not receive a sufficient score in the evaluation process. See Literature Rejection Category Keywords for definition of codes describing the basis for rejecting a paper.
| Substance | Plant / Invertebrate | Avian / Mammal |
|---|---|---|
| Antimony | ||
| Acceptable Papers | ||
| Not Acceptable Papers | ||
| Arsenic | ||
| Acceptable Papers | ||
| Not Acceptable Papers | ||
| Barium | ||
| Acceptable Papers | ||
| Not Acceptable Papers | ||
| Beryllium | ||
| Acceptable Papers | ||
| Not Acceptable Papers | ||
| Cadmium | ||
| Acceptable Papers | ||
| Not Acceptable Papers | ||
| Chromium | ||
| Acceptable Papers | ||
| Not Acceptable Papers | ||
| Cobalt | ||
| Acceptable Papers | ||
| Not Acceptable Papers | ||
| Copper | ||
| Acceptable Papers | ||
| Not Acceptable Papers | ||
| DDT and metabolites | ||
| Acceptable Papers | ||
| Not Acceptable Papers | ||
| Dieldrin | ||
| Acceptable Papers | ||
| Not Acceptable Papers | ||
| Lead | ||
| Acceptable Papers | ||
| Not Acceptable Papers | ||
| Manganese | ||
| Acceptable Papers | ||
| Not Acceptable Papers | ||
| Nickel | ||
| Acceptable Papers | ||
| Not Acceptable Papers | ||
| Pentachlorophenol | ||
| Acceptable Papers | ||
| Not Acceptable Papers | ||
| RDX | ||
| Acceptable Papers | ||
| Not Acceptable Papers | ||
| Selenium | ||
| Acceptable Papers | ||
| Not Acceptable Papers | ||
| Silver | ||
| Acceptable Papers | ||
| Not Acceptable Papers | ||
| TNT | ||
| Acceptable Papers | ||
| Not Acceptable Papers | ||
| Total PAHs | ||
| Acceptable Papers | ||
| Not Acceptable Papers | ||
| Vanadium | ||
| Acceptable Papers | ||
| Not Acceptable Papers | ||
| Zinc | ||
| Acceptable Papers | ||
| Not Acceptable Papers | ||
Tools
U.S. EPA's Guidelines for Ecological Risk Assessment
Site useful in obtaining pH and organic matter for specific soil types:
USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service Soil Survey
Frequent Questions
When will the Eco-SSL Chemical Specific documents be finalized?
The Eco-SSL Chemical Specific documents are interim in case this publication results in the submission of a significant number of new studies that were missed in the original literature searches. If this happens, EPA would review the tests and recalculate the final Eco-SSL.
When will the remaining Interim Eco-SSLs and Documentation be completed?
EPA is currently working on the 'pending' documents, but does not have a specific schedule for future release of documents.