Acronyms
| ACC | American Chemistry Council |
| ACGIH | American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists |
| ACS | American Chemical Society |
| ADEM | Alabama Department of Environmental Management |
| AQS | Air Quality System |
| ASOS | Automated Surface Observing Stations |
| atm | standard atmospheric pressure |
| ATSDR | Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry |
| BEI | Biological Exposure Indices |
| CAA | Clean Air Act |
| California EPA | California Environmental Protection Agency |
| CAS | Chemical Abstracts Service |
| CDC | United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
| CEMS | Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems |
| CFR | Code of Federal Regulations |
| CO2 | carbon dioxide |
| CRDS | Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy or Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy |
| ECH | ethylene chlorohydrin |
| EJ | environmental justice |
| ERG | Eastern Research Group |
| EtO | ethylene oxide |
| FDA | United States Food and Drug Administration |
| FIFRA | Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act |
| FTIR | Fourier-transfer infrared spectrometry |
| GSH | glutathione |
| HAP | hazardous air pollutant |
| HEMA | short-term urinary mercapturic acid metabolite of EtO |
| HEV | hemoglobin EtO adducts, specifically 2-hydroxyethylvaline |
| HHS | United States Department of Health and Human Services |
| HON | hazardous organic NESHAP |
| IARC | International Agency for Research on Cancer |
| inHg | inches of mercury [1 inHg = 0.0334 atmospheres] |
| IRIS | Integrated Risk Information System |
| ITRC | Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council |
| LJ | identification of analyte is acceptable; reported value is an estimate |
| LK | analyte identified; reported value may be biased high |
| MACT | maximum achievable control technology |
| MEG | (mono)ethylene glycol, also known as EG or ethylene glycol |
| MI EGLE | Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy |
| µg/m3 | microgram per cubic meter |
| MON | miscellaneous organic chemical |
| NAICS | North American Industry Classification System |
| NATA | National Air Toxics Assessment |
| NATTS | National Air Toxics Trends Stations |
| NEI | National Emissions Inventory |
| NEJAC | National Environmental Justice Advisory Council |
| NESHAP | National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants |
| NHANES | National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey |
| NIOSH | National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health |
| NWE | New World Encyclopedia |
| OEL | occupational exposure limits |
| OSHA | Occupational Safety and Health Administration |
| PHMSA | United States Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration |
| ppb | parts per billion |
| PPE | personal protective equipment |
| ppm | parts per million |
| ppmv | parts per million by volume |
| ppt | parts per trillion |
| psig | pounds per square inch of pressure |
| RTR | risk and technology review |
| SCDHEC | South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control |
| TAD | Technical Assistance Document |
| TCEQ | Texas Environmental Commission on Environmental Quality |
| TO | Toxic Organics |
| TRI | Toxics Release Inventory |
| UDHHS | Utah Department of Health and Human Services |
| USEPA | United States Environmental Protection Agency |
| VOC | volatile organic compound |
Glossary
Accuracy
Accuracy of an analytical measurement is how closely the result corresponds to the true value. This normally requires the use of standards to carefully calibrate the analytical methods (ITRC 2017a).
Adduct
In this case, chemical reaction product of EtO with a biological molecule such as a DNA base or protein (Bolt, Peter, and Fost 1988).
Ambient
That portion of the atmosphere, external to buildings, to which the general public has access (40 CFR 50.1(e) 1971).
Analytical Background
Interference or instrument signal or noise that could impede accurate analytical measurement.
Anthropogenic
Activity resulting from human activities (ITRC 2017a).
Background
Natural or baseline air quality at a site that can be characterized by upwind, historical, or sometimes crosswind air quality (modified from ITRC 2017a).
Biogenic Emissions
Biogenic emission sources are emissions that come from natural sources and need to be accounted for in photochemical grid models because most types are widespread and ubiquitous contributors to background air chemistry (USEPA 2022c).
Fugitive Emissions
Emissions that could not reasonably pass through a stack, chimney, vent, or functionally equivalent opening (40 CFR 70.2 1992).
Inhalation Unit Risk (Estimate)
The upper-bound excess lifetime cancer risk estimated to result from continuous exposure to an agent at a concentration of 1 µg/m³ in air. The interpretation of inhalation unit risk would be as follows: If unit risk = 2 × 10⁻⁶ per µg/m³, two excess cancer cases (upper-bound estimate) are expected to develop per 1,000,000 people if exposed daily for a lifetime to 1 µg of the chemical per m³ of air (USEPA 2023l, o).
Method Detection Limit
The minimum measured concentration of a substance that can be reported with 99% confidence that the measured concentration is distinguishable from method blank results (USEPA 2016c).
Method TO-15 and TO-15A
USEPA Methods TO-15 and TO-15A define performance criteria for sampling, measurements, and analysis of volatile compounds in air contained in canisters and are primarily used to monitor airborne pollutants in urban and industrial environments (Whitaker et al. 2019).
Moisture
Liquid diffused or condensed in relatively small quantity (Merriam-Webster 2023).
Nondetect
Nondetects are reported as the sample quantitation limit, defined as three times the standard deviation of seven replicate spiked samples handled as environmental samples, corrected for sample dilution and other sample-specific adjustments (USEPA 2022k).
Precision
Precision is the reproducibility of multiple measurements, usually described by a standard deviation, standard error, or confidence interval (ITRC 2017a).
Renewable Feedstocks
Renewable feedstocks entail the elimination of nonrenewable carbon resources such as coal, oil, and natural gas as feedstocks for organic chemistry, otherwise known as defossilization (Stahl 2023).
Repeatability
The degree of agreement between independent test results produced by the same analyst using the same test method and equipment on random aliquots of the same sample within a short time period (USEPA 2002).
Robustness
The ability of a sampling or measurement event to be repeated in varied conditions over a period of time.
Selectivity
The extent to which the method can be used to determine particular analytes in mixtures or matrices without interferences from other components of similar behavior (IUPAC 2001).
Sensitivity
Sensitivity is the smallest amount of a substance in a sample that can be measured accurately (ITRC 2017a)
