CERCLA Priority List of Hazardous Substances
What is the CERCLA List?
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) section 104 (i), as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA), requires ATSDR and the EPA to prepare a list, in order of priority, of substances that are most commonly found at facilities on the National Priorities List (NPL) and which are determined to pose the most significant potential threat to human health due to their known or suspected toxicity and potential for human exposure at these NPL sites. CERCLA also requires this list to be revised periodically to reflect additional information on hazardous substances.
This CERCLA priority list is revised and published
on a 2-year basis, with a yearly informal review and revision. Each
substance on the CERCLA Priority List of Hazardous Substances is
a candidate to become the subject of a toxicological profile prepared
by ATSDR and subsequently a candidate for the identification of
priority data needs. This priority list is based on an algorithm
that utilizes the following three components: frequency of occurrence
at NPL sites, toxicity, and potential for human exposure to the
substances found at NPL sites. This algorithm utilizes data from
ATSDR's HazDat database, which contains information from ATSDR's
public health assessments and health consultations.
Thus, it is possible for substances with low toxicity but high NPL frequency of occurrence and exposure to be on this priority list. The objective of this priority list is to rank substances across all NPL hazardous waste sites to provide guidance in selecting which substances will be the subject of toxicological profiles prepared by ATSDR.
There is a Support Document to the CERCLA Priority List of Hazardous Substances that describes in detail how the list is developed. This support document also contains an appendix showing the breakdown of the total scores for each substance on the priority list. To view this support document, click here.
Contact Information
Further information can be obtained by contacting the ATSDR Information Center at:
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Division of Toxicology and Environmental Medicine
1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop F-32
Atlanta, GA 30333
Phone: 1-800-CDC-INFO • 888-232-6348 (TTY)
Email: cdcinfo@cdc.gov
Contact Us:
- Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
4770 Buford Hwy NE
Atlanta, GA 30341 -
(800) 232-4636
TTY: (888) 232-6348
24 Hours/Every Day - cdcinfo@cdc.gov
