Can the NATA assessment results be used to evaluate exposures at specific points of interest, (e.g., near schools, day care centers, or hospitals)?
NATA is not designed to predict actual risks at a specific location. NATA can be used to identify and prioritize air toxics, emission source types and locations which are of greatest potential concern in terms of contributing to population risk. It is a screening assessment which uses general information about sources along with other information about a facility (how tall the emissions stacks are for example), to develop estimates of risks which are averaged over a census tract. It does not incorporate finely detailed information about emission sources, or other information that would be necessary to estimate risks at a specific location. If a particular area is projected to experience low risks, and we are reasonably confident that the information on the significant emission sources is accurate, then we are fairly confident that risks actually are low, and there is no need to develop a more detailed assessment for that area. Conversely, if NATA estimated risks in a particular area ar
