AMI has recently completed the development of the health risk assessment model ACEHWCF (Assessment of Chemical Exposure for Hazardous Waste Combustion Facilities). The ACEHWCF model fully implements the recent guidelines from the U.S. EPA ( Human Health Risk Assessment Protocol for Hazardous Waste Combustion Facilities ). Similar to the AMI-developed and widely used ACE2588 model, ACEHWCF is a multi-source, multi-pathway, multi-pollutant and multi-receptor model that allows a comprehensive and accurate assessment of potential health risks (both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic) from either a single facility or several facilities in a cumulative/regional analysis.

The ACEHWCF model has the following features:

	interface with regulatory dispersion models, such as ISCST3, ISC3-PRIME and AERMOD,
	handle several pollutants, receptors and sources without incurring large amount of disk storage space,
	evaluate both  inhalation and non-inhalation risks using the multipathway exposure algorithms recommended by the U.S. EPA,
	evaluate indirect (or non-inhalation) risks from dermal absorption, ingestion of soil, drinking water and food,
	food ingestion includes consumption of vegetables, beef, pork, milk, eggs, poultry, fish and mother's milk,
	evaluate risks from food sources located either onsite (homegrown) or offsite.

For each receptor location, the ACEHWCF model can:

	compute potential risks for EPA-recommended exposure scenarios (adult resident, child resident, subsistence fisher, subsistence fisher child, subsistence farmer and subsistence farmer child),
	quantify  noncancer health effects (both acute and chronic) through hazard quotients or indices,
	compute hazard quotients  for affected target organs,
	tabulate predicted cancer risks and noncancer hazard quotients both by pollutants and by emission sources,
	interface with an user-friendly, menu-driven preprocessor PreACEHW  to assist the model user in setting the input file with a minimal amount of time and effort.

ACEHWCF incorporates many capabilities of the AMI-developed ACE2588 model that has widely been used, since 1991, in health risk assessment for hundreds of facilities in California and elsewhere. Usage of the ACEHWCF model should significantly save time and cost in preparing the risk assessments and expedite their review and approval by regulatory agencies.

Download the ACEHWCF technical paper presented at the A&WMA Hazardous Waste Combustors Specialty Conference, 28-30 March 2001, Kansas City.

Download the technical paper on a ISCST3/ISC-PRIME/AERMOD comparative study presented at the A&WMA Conference on Guideline on Air Quality Models: A New Beginning, 4-6 April 2001, Newport, RI.

Download the ACEHWCF sample output for the U.S. EPA Region VI Mercury Exposure Test Case.