Step 1.3 Reviewing and Evaluating Environmental Data

Were environmental samples collected at the contaminant sources as well as at places where people might come in contact with chemical?

Do samples represent typical site conditions or areas of high chemical concentrations (so-called hot spots)?

Were enough samples taken from an area to show how much of a chemical is there or, if the area has been cleaned up, whether the chemical was there?

If the chemical is known to be present naturally in the area, such as the minerals calcium or arsenic, was sampling sufficient to determine whether levels are unusually high?

Quality assurance/quality control reports provide information about the samples collected and laboratory procedures. These reports help health assessors decide how the data should be used.