Science and Decisions: Advancing Risk Assessment
2009

Consensus

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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.

Publication information

422 pages · 7 x 10 · paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-12046-2
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-12047-0
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17226/12209

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National Research Council. 2009. Science and Decisions: Advancing Risk Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

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Front Matter i-xviii
Summary 1-14
1 Introduction 15-25
2 Evolution and Use of Risk Assessment in the Environmental Protection Agency: Current Practice and Future Prospects 26-64
3 The Design of Risk Assessments 65-92
4 Uncertainty and Variability: The Recurring and Recalcitrant Elements of Risk Assessment 93-126
5 Toward a Unified Approach to Dose-Response Assessment 127-187
6 Selection and Use of Defaults 188-212
7 Implementing Cumulative Risk Assessment 213-239
8 Improving the Utility of Risk Assessment 240-257
9 Toward Improved Risk-Based Decision-Making 258-272
Appendix A: Biographic Information on the Committee on Improving Risk Analysis Approaches Used by the Environmental Protection Agency 273-280
Appendix B: Statement of Task of the Committee on Improving Risk Analysis Approaches Used by the Environmental Protection Agency 281-282
Appendix C: Timeline of Selected Environmental Protection Agency Risk-Assessment Activities 283-298
Appendix D: Environmental Protection Agency Response to Recommendations from Selected NRC Reports: Policy, Activity, and Practice 299-366
Appendix E: Environmental Protection Agency Program and Region Responses to Questions from the Committee 367-398
Appendix F: Case Studies of the Framework for Risk-Based Decision-Making 399-404

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Science and Decisions: Advancing Risk Assessment (2009)

Chapter: 6 Selection and Use of Defaults

Publication information

Suggested citation

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Science and Decisions: Advancing Risk Assessment (2009)

Chapter: 6 Selection and Use of Defaults