Assignment
This This assignment is based on the case of trichloroethylene exposure in Woburn, MA. The case is the subject of a book by Jonathan Harr called A Civil Action, and a movie of the same name.
The assignment is a simplified version of Problem 7-5, Page 247 ff, in the book Should We Risk It? Post any generic questions you have here, and post your assignment to your individual assignment folder.
Two of the wells in the town of Woburn were contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE), an industrial solvent that I know some of you are familiar with in other contexts. Several of the children exposed to the water developed leukemia and sued the companies that operated facilities where the chemical was used. In this assignment, we will use Monte Carlo analysis to characterize the risk to the exposed children.
The three principal routes of exposure are:
• Water ingestion
• Inhalation of ambient air
• Inhalation of TCE that evaporates from shower water
Use the data in the table below to respond to the following..
1. Calculate the average daily dose (ADD) and risk for each route of exposure based on average values.
2. Do a run with Crystal Ball. Based on the results of the run, state the upper and lower 95% confidence limits for each of the risks. Determine the parameters that have the greatest influence on the results. Make sure you define the assumption for each uncertain parameter based on the data in the table prior to running Crystal Ball. .
3. Write a brief essay (no more than a page) explaining your results to a lay person.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.