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Dietary Reference Intakes for Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride, and Sulfate (2005) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix K: Options for Dealing with Uncertainties
Pages 564-568

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From page 564...
... The most significant inference uncertainties arise in risk assessments whenever attempts are made to answer the following questions (NRC, 1994) : • What set or sets of hazard and dose-response data (for a given substance)
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From page 565...
... These types of long-standing assumptions, which are necessary to complete a risk assessment, are recognized by risk assessors as attempts to deal with uncertainties (NRC, 1994)
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From page 566...
... The NRC committee recommended that regulatory agencies in the United States identify the needed inference options in risk assessment and specify, through written risk assessment guidelines, the specific options that will be used for all assessments. Agencies in the United States have identified the specific models to be used to fill gaps in data and knowledge; these have come to be called default options (EPA, 1986)
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From page 567...
... TABLE K-1 Approaches for Dealing with Uncertainties in a Risk Assessment Program Program Model Advantages Disadvantages Case-by-case judgments by Flexibility; high potential Potential for inconsistent experts to maximize use of most treatment of different relevant scientific issues; difficulty in information bearing on achieving consensus; specific issues need to agree on defaults Written guidelines Consistent treatment of Possible difficulty in specifying defaults for different issues; justifying departure or data and model maximization of achieving consensus uncertainties (with transparency of process; among scientists that allowance for departures resolution of scientific departures are justified in specific cases) disagreements possible in specific cases; danger by resorting to defaults that uncertainties will be overlooked Presentation of full array Maximization of use of Highly complex of estimates from all scientific information; characterization of risk, scientifically plausible reasonably reliable with no easy way to models by assessors portrayal of true state of discriminate among scientific understanding estimates; size of required effort may not be commensurate with utility of the outcome
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From page 568...
... 1986. Proposed guidelines for car cinogen risk assessment; Notice.
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Key Terms

  • relevant scientific
  • true state
  • risk characterization
  • allow risk
  • dietary reference

  • reference intakes
  • inference options
  • sensitive set
  • basic knowledge
  • based answers

  • predetermined risk
  • uncertainties arise
  • uncertainties inherent
  • support alternatives
  • significant inference

  • definitive empirical
  • various approaches
  • provide explicit
  • estimates based
  • inference uncertainties

  • default assumptions
  • scientifically plausible
  • assessments whenever
  • fill knowledge
  • faithfully reflect

  • information bearing
  • model uncertainties
  • empirically based
  • human population
  • assessing nutrient


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