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  2. Risk Assessment
  3. Ecological Risk Assessment

Ecological Risk Models and Tools

RISK Tools
  • Human Health
  • Ecological

EPA has developed help for assessing and managing environmental risks, including guidance documents and tools ( the models and databases), used in our own risk assessments. In some cases, these resources are broad enough to be relevant across all statutes that EPA administers while in other cases, they are more applicable to specific EPA programs.

The lists below are separated by human health and ecological risk assessment and then by databases, models and other tools. See additional information about these tools below.

On this page:

  • Models & Databases
  • Tools

Models & Databases

Tools Keywords Location in EPA EcoBox

U.S. EPA. National Lake Fish Tissue Study

Chemical; Data Source; Food Chains and Food Webs; General - Bioaccumulation/Bioconcentration Tools; Other (e.g., Guidance, Methods); Water/Sediments

Stressors - Chemical

Exposure Pathways - Water and Sediment

U.S EPA. (1992). National Study of Chemical Residues in Fish Volume II

Aquatic Receptors; Chemical; Data Source; Food Chains and Food Webs; General - Bioaccumulation/Bioconcentration Tools; Water/Sediments

Stressors - Chemical; Exposure Pathways - Water and Sediment; Exposure Pathways - Food Chains; Effects - Aquatic

U.S. EPA. (1985). Aquatic Fate Process Data for Organic Priority Pollutants

Data Source; Fate and Transport

Stressors - Chemical

U.S. EPA. (1993). Wildlife Exposure Factors Handbook Volume I and II

Data Source; EPA; General - Exposure Factors; General - Phases of ERA; Other (e.g., Guidance, Methods)

Phases of ERA - Tools

Exposure Factors

U.S. EPA. (2005). Guidance for Developing Ecological Soil Screening Levels

Data Source; EPA; Other (e.g., Guidance, Methods); Terrestrial Receptors

Effects - Terestrial

U.S. EPA. (2005). Methods/Indicators for Determining When Metals are the Cause of Biological Impairments of Rivers And Streams: Species Sensitivity Distributions and Chronic Exposure-Response Relationships from Laboratory Data

Aquatic Receptors; Chemical; Data Source; Other (e.g., Guidance, Methods)

Stressors - Chemical

Effects - Aquatic

U.S. EPA. (2012). CADDIS Volume 5: Causal Databases

Data Source; EPA; General - Phases of ERA

Phases of ERA - Tools

U.S. EPA. Aquatic Life Benchmarks and Ecological Risk Assessments for Registered Pesticides

Aquatic Receptors; Data Source; General - Pesticide Tools

Effects - Aquatic

U.S. EPA. CADDIS Volume 5: CADLink

Data Source; General - Phases of ERA

Phases of ERA - Tools

U.S. EPA. Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNET) Data

Air; Data Source; Fate and Transport; General

Stressors - Chemical; Exposure Pathways - Air

U.S. EPA. Compilation of Air Pollutant Emissions Factors (AP-42)

Air; Data Source

Exposure Pathways - Air

U.S. EPA. Database of Sources of Environmental Releases of Dioxin-Like Compounds in the United States

Chemical; Data Source; Fate and Transport; General

Stressors - Chemical; Stressors - Chemical

U.S. EPA. ECOTOXicology Knowledgebase (ECOTOX)

Aquatic Receptors; Data Source; Terrestrial Receptors

Effects - Aquatic

Effects - Terestrial

U.S. EPA. EnviroAtlas

Data Source; General - Mapping/Geographic Tools; Habitat or Ecosystem-Level; Other (e.g., Guidance, Methods)

Receptors - Endangered Species

U.S. EPA. Envirofacts

Data Source; General Tools

Effects - Effects in ERA

U.S. EPA. Freshwater Biological Traits Database

Animals; Biota; Data Source; General - Exposure Factors

Exposure Factors

Receptors - Biota

U.S. EPA. Great Lakes Fish Monitoring and Surveillance Program (GLFMSP)

Aquatic; Data Source; Food Chains and Food Webs; General; General - Bioaccumulation/Bioconcentration Tools; Water/Sediments

Exposure Pathways - Water and Sediment; Exposure Pathways - Food Chains

U.S. EPA. Kow (based) Aquatic BioAccumulation Model (KABAM)

Aquatic; Data Source; Food Chains and Food Webs; General - Bioaccumulation/Bioconcentration Tools; General - Exposure Factors; General - Pesticide Tools; Model; Water/Sediments

Exposure Factors

Exposure Pathways - Water and Sediment

Exposure Pathways - Food Chains

U.S. EPA. National Aquatic Resource Surveys

Data Source; Habitat or Ecosystem-Level; Other (e.g., Guidance, Methods); Water/Sediments

Receptors - Endangered Species; Exposure Pathways - Water and Sediment

U.S. EPA. National Recommended Water Quality Criteria – Aquatic Life Criteria Table

Aquatic Receptors; Data Source

Effects - Aquatic

U.S. EPA. National Study of Chemical Residues in Lake Fish Tissue

Aquatic Receptors; Chemical; Data Source; Food Chains and Food Webs; General; General - Bioaccumulation/Bioconcentration Tools; Water/Sediments

Stressors - Stressors in ERA; Stressors - Chemical; Exposure Pathways - Water and Sediment; Exposure Pathways - Food Chains; Effects - Aquatic

U.S. EPA. Nitrogen and Phosphorus Pollution Data Downloads

Chemical; Data Source

Stressors - Chemical

U.S. EPA. Nutrient Indicators Dataset (NID)

Chemical; Data Source

Stressors - Chemical

U.S. EPA. ReachScan

Aquatic; Data Source; General - Bioaccumulation/Bioconcentration Tools; Model; Water/Sediments

Exposure Pathways - Water and Sediment

U.S. EPA. Recovery Potential Screening (RPS) Training and User Support

Data Source; EPA; Habitat or Ecosystem-Level; Other (e.g., Guidance, Methods)

Receptors - Endangered Species

U.S. EPA. Report on the Environment (ROE): Ecological Condition

Data Source; General; Habitat or Ecosystem-Level; Other (e.g., Guidance, Methods)

Receptors - Endangered Species

U.S. EPA. Species Sensitivity Distributions (SSDs)

Aquatic Receptors; Chemical; Data Source; Model; Terrestrial Receptors

Stressors - Chemical; Effects - Aquatic; Effects - Terrestrial

U.S. EPA. Standards for Water Body Health

Aquatic Receptors; Data Source

Effects - Aquatic

U.S. EPA. Technical Air Pollution Resources

Air; Chemical; Data Source; EPA; Model; Other (e.g., Guidance, Methods)

Stressors - Chemical; Exposure Pathways - Air

U.S. EPA. Terrestrial Residue EXposure (T-REX) model

Data Source; Food Chains and Food Webs; General - Exposure Factors; General - Pesticide Tools; Model; Soil; Terrestrial

Exposure Factors; Exposure Pathways - Soil; Exposure Pathways - Food Chains

U.S. EPA. TerrPlant

Data Source; Food Chains and Food Webs; General - Exposure Factors; General - Pesticide Tools; Model; Soil; Terrestrial

Exposure Factors; Exposure Pathways - Soil; Exposure Pathways - Food Chains

U.S. EPA. Wadeable Streams Assessment (WSA)

Data Source; General; Habitat or Ecosystem-Level; Other (e.g., Guidance, Methods); Physical; Water/Sediments

Receptors - Endangered Species; Stressors - Stressors in ERA; Stressors - Physical; Exposure Pathways - Water and Sediment

U.S. EPA. Watershed Assessment, Tracking & Environmental Results System (WATERS)

Data Source; Habitat or Ecosystem-Level

Receptors - Endangered Species

U.S. EPA. WebFIRE

Chemical; Data Source

Stressors - Chemical

Water Quality Data (WQX)

Data Source; General; Water/Sediments

Stressors - Stressors in ERA; Exposure Pathways - Water and Sediment

Tools

Tool Keywords Year
Assessment and Total Maximum Daily Load Tracking and Implementation System (ATTAINS) Water Quality Assessments 2014
EcoBox Ecological Exposure 2017
Ecological Risk Assessment Center (ERASC) Superfund Ecological Risk Assessments 2014
Ecological Stressor Identification Stressor Identification 2000
​EnviroAtlas Wellbeing 2017
Flowthru Data Reader (for the Turner Design Model) Real-Time Dye Tracing 2004
Global Change Explorer (GCX) Projection Data, Adaptation 2019
HexSim Modeling Simulator 2020
Provisional Peer-Reviewed Toxicity Values Toxicity Values, Superfund 2020
Regional Removal Management Levels for Chemicals (RMLs) Regional 2015

Simulating Metacommunities of Riverine Fishes (SMRF) Model

Modeling Simulator 2021
EPA’s Ecosystem Services Tool Selection Portal Guidance, Decision Making 2023

Additional Information

These pages to include dynamic lists of various risk assessment resources pulled from the EPA ExpoBox (human health exposure assessments) and EPA EcoBox (ecological risk assessment) web sites. These are the most current set of resources, updated biannually, and also include link(s) to the relevant ExpoBox and EcoBox supporting pages which provide additional details about using these resources.

Learn more about these applications from the basic information on ExpoBox and the basic information on EcoBox web sites.

Risk Assessment

  • About Risk Assessment
  • Human Health Risk Assessment
    • Conducting a Human Health Risk Assessment
    • Human Health Risk Models and Tools
  • Ecological Risk Assessment
    • Conducting an Ecological Risk Assessment
    • Ecological Risk Models and Tools
  • Risk Assessment Guidance
  • Risk Tools and Databases
    • Regional Screening Levels (RSLs)
    • Regional Removal Management Levels for Chemicals (RMLs)
  • Superfund Risk Assessment
    • Superfund Human Health Risk Topics
      • Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund (RAGS): Part A
      • Supplement to RAGS Part A: Community Involvement in Superfund Risk Assessments (1999)
      • Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund (RAGS) Volume III: Part A
      • Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund (RAGS): Part B
      • Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund (RAGS) Part C
      • Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund (RAGS): Part D
      • Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund (RAGS): Part E
      • Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund (RAGS): Part F
    • Superfund Ecological Risk Topics
      • Ecological Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund
      • Ecological Soil Screening Level (Eco-SSL) Guidance and Documents
    • Additional Superfund Risk Topics
      • Regional Screening Levels (RSLs)
      • Regional Removal Management Levels for Chemicals (RMLs)
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Last updated on June 2, 2025
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