The

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon pro ...

's National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL) is a national laboratory that conducts

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

to find improved methods, measurements, and models to assess and predict exposures of humans and

ecosystems An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

pollutants A pollutant or novel entity is a substance or energy introduced into the environment that has undesired effects, or adversely affects the usefulness of a resource. These can be both naturally forming (i.e. minerals or extracted compounds like o ...

and other conditions in

air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

, and

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...

. It is one of three national laboratories that conduct research for EPA's Office of Research and Development. NERL is also responsible for testing and establishing new Federal Reference Methods (FRM) and Federal Equivalent Methods (FEM). NERL is headquartered in Research Triangle Park, NC, and has locations in North Carolina, Ohio, Georgia and Nevada.

NERL's Niches

The NERL focuses its efforts on the following areas: * Analytical/Monitoring Methods Development * Indicators/Indices of Exposure * Exposure/Dose Process Characterization * Decision Support Tools * Predictive Modeling * Source Apportionment/Environmental Forensics

Publication Topics

NERL published papers in the following areas NERL Publications Page * Air **Exposure **Measurement and Emissions **Modeling **Multipollutant *Climate and Energy **Energy **Modeling *Ecosystems **Ecological Risk Assessment **Ecosystems and Climate Change *Human Health Risk Assessment

External links

EPA's National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL)
at the

website.

Notes

References

National Exposure Research Laboratory
Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer website ink accessed on August 31, 2007
National Exposure Research Laboratory
West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation ink accessed on August 31, 2007 Laboratories in the United States United States Environmental Protection Agency {{US-gov-stub