Science and decisions : advancing risk assessment / Committee on Improving Risk Analysis Approaches Used by the U.S. EPA, Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, Division on Earth and Life Studies, National Research Council of the National Academies.

Complemented by Risk assessment in the federal government / Committee on the Institutional Means for Assessment of Risks to Public Health, Commission on Life Sciences, National Research Council. 1983.

Includes bibliographical references.

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.

This project was supported by Contract EP-C-06-056 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project.

Online resource; title from PDF title page (viewed November 17, 2017).

Evolution and use of risk in the environmental protection agency: current practice and future prospects -- The design of risk assessments -- Uncertainty and variability: the recurring and recalcitrant elements of risk assessment -- Toward a unified approach to dose-response assessment -- Selection and use of defaults -- Implementing cumulative risk assessment -- Improving the utility of risk assessment -- Toward improved risk-based decision-making.

English.

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