National Academies Press: OpenBook

Science and Decisions: Advancing Risk Assessment (2009)

Chapter: Appendix B: Statement of Task of the Committee on Improving Risk Analysis Approaches Used by the Environmental Protection Agency

« Previous: Appendix A: Biographic Information on the Committee on Improving Risk Analysis Approaches Used by the Environmental Protection Agency
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Statement of Task of the Committee on Improving Risk Analysis Approaches Used by the Environmental Protection Agency." National Research Council. 2009. Science and Decisions: Advancing Risk Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12209.
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Page 281
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Statement of Task of the Committee on Improving Risk Analysis Approaches Used by the Environmental Protection Agency." National Research Council. 2009. Science and Decisions: Advancing Risk Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12209.
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Page 282

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Appendix B Statement of Task of the Committee on Improving Risk Analysis Approaches Used by the Environmental Protection Agency An NRC committee will develop scientific and technical recommendations for improv- ing the risk analysis approaches used by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Taking into consideration past evaluations and ongoing studies by the NRC and others, the committee will conduct a scientific and technical review of EPA’s current risk analysis concepts and practices. The committee will consider analyses applied to contaminants in all environmental media (water, air, food, soil) and all routes of exposure (ingestion, inhalation, and dermal absorption). The committee will focus primarily on human health risk analysis and will comment on the broad implications of its findings and recommenda- tions to ecological risk analysis. In making recommendations, the committee will indicate practical improvements that can be made in the near term (2-5 years) and improvements that would be made over a longer term (10-20 years). The committee will address topics such as the following: • Increased role for probabilistic analysis in risk analysis, including the potential expanded role for expert elicitation. • Scientific bases for and alternatives to default assumption choices made in areas of uncertainty. • Quantitative characterization of uncertainty resulting from all steps in the risk analysis. • Approaches for assessing cumulative risk resulting from multiple exposures to con- taminant mixtures, involving multiple sources, pathways, routes. • Variability in receptor populations, especially sensitive subpopulations and critical life stages. • Biologically relevant modes of action for estimating dose-response relationships, and quantitative implications of different modes. • Improvements in environmental transport and fate models, exposure models, physi- ologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models, and dose-response models. 281

282 SCIENCE AND DECISIONS: ADVANCING RISK ASSESSMENT • How the concepts and practices of ecological risk analysis can help inform and improve the concepts and practices of human health risk analysis, and vice versa. • Scientific basis for derivation of uncertainty factors. • Use of value-of-information analyses and other techniques to identify priorities and approaches for research to obtain relevant data to increase the utility of risk analyses.

Next: Appendix C: Timeline of Selected Environmental Protection Agency Risk-Assessment Activities »
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Risk assessment has become a dominant public policy tool for making choices, based on limited resources, to protect public health and the environment. It has been instrumental to the mission of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as other federal agencies in evaluating public health concerns, informing regulatory and technological decisions, prioritizing research needs and funding, and in developing approaches for cost-benefit analysis.

However, risk assessment is at a crossroads. Despite advances in the field, risk assessment faces a number of significant challenges including lengthy delays in making complex decisions; lack of data leading to significant uncertainty in risk assessments; and many chemicals in the marketplace that have not been evaluated and emerging agents requiring assessment.

Science and Decisions makes practical scientific and technical recommendations to address these challenges. This book is a complement to the widely used 1983 National Academies book, Risk Assessment in the Federal Government (also known as the Red Book). The earlier book established a framework for the concepts and conduct of risk assessment that has been adopted by numerous expert committees, regulatory agencies, and public health institutions. The new book embeds these concepts within a broader framework for risk-based decision-making. Together, these are essential references for those working in the regulatory and public health fields.

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