Biomaterial Database

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's examination of its risk assessment principles and practices: a brief perspective from the regulated community. 2005

Ralph G Stahl, and Annette Guiseppi-Elie, and Timothy S Bingman

DuPont Company, Corporate Remediation Group, Barley Mill Plaza, Building 27, Route 141 and Lancaster Pike, Wilmington, Delaware 19805, USA. ralph.g.stahl-jr@usa.dupont.com

In March 2004, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) published a review of its risk assessment principles and practices. In examining this review, we find a broad, but not particularly deep, review by the authors and areas where the U.S. EPA should strive to further improve the risk assessment process. Recommended areas of improvement include the use of less conservative default assumptions, calculating risk based on populations instead of individuals, and fostering research on multiple stressors and their impacts on estimating risks to ecological receptors.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D004781	Environmental Exposure	The exposure to potentially harmful chemical, physical, or biological agents in the environment or to environmental factors that may include ionizing radiation, pathogenic organisms, or toxic chemicals.	Exposure, Environmental,Environmental Exposures,Exposures, Environmental
D004785	Environmental Pollutants	Substances or energies, for example heat or light, which when introduced into the air, water, or land threaten life or health of individuals or ECOSYSTEMS.	Environmental Pollutant,Pollutant,Pollutants,Pollutants, Environmental,Pollutant, Environmental
D005069	Evaluation Studies as Topic	Works about studies that determine the effectiveness or value of processes, personnel, and equipment, or the material on conducting such studies.	Critique,Evaluation Indexes,Evaluation Methodology,Evaluation Report,Evaluation Research,Methodology, Evaluation,Pre-Post Tests,Qualitative Evaluation,Quantitative Evaluation,Theoretical Effectiveness,Use-Effectiveness,Critiques,Effectiveness, Theoretical,Evaluation Methodologies,Evaluation Reports,Evaluation, Qualitative,Evaluation, Quantitative,Evaluations, Qualitative,Evaluations, Quantitative,Indexes, Evaluation,Methodologies, Evaluation,Pre Post Tests,Pre-Post Test,Qualitative Evaluations,Quantitative Evaluations,Report, Evaluation,Reports, Evaluation,Research, Evaluation,Test, Pre-Post,Tests, Pre-Post,Use Effectiveness
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D014481	United States	A country in NORTH AMERICA between CANADA and MEXICO.
D014484	United States Environmental Protection Agency	An agency in the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. It was created as an independent regulatory agency responsible for the implementation of federal laws designed to protect the environment. Its mission is to protect human health and the ENVIRONMENT.	Environmental Protection Agency (U.S.),Environmental Protection Agency,Environmental Protection Agency, United States,USEPA
D017408	Guidelines as Topic	Works about a systematic statement of policy rules or principles. Guidelines may be developed by government agencies at any level, institutions, professional societies, governing boards, or by convening expert panels. For guidelines in the field of health care and clinical medicine, PRACTICE GUIDELINES AS TOPIC is available.	Guidelines as Topics
D018570	Risk Assessment	The qualitative or quantitative estimation of the likelihood of adverse effects that may result from exposure to specified health hazards or from the absence of beneficial influences. (Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 1988)	Assessment, Risk,Benefit-Risk Assessment,Risk Analysis,Risk-Benefit Assessment,Health Risk Assessment,Risks and Benefits,Analysis, Risk,Assessment, Benefit-Risk,Assessment, Health Risk,Assessment, Risk-Benefit,Benefit Risk Assessment,Benefit-Risk Assessments,Benefits and Risks,Health Risk Assessments,Risk Analyses,Risk Assessment, Health,Risk Assessments,Risk Benefit Assessment,Risk-Benefit Assessments
D035501	Uncertainty	The condition in which reasonable knowledge regarding risks, benefits, or the future is not available.