Government human risk assessment

Health IfEa (1999) Risk assessment approaches used by UK government for evaluating Human Health Effects of Chemicals. Risk Assessment, Toxicology Steering Committee (RATSC)... 

The Interdepartmental Group on Health Risks from Chemicals (IGHRC) in the United Kingdom has published a document entitled Uncertainty Factors Their Use in Human Health Risk Assessment by UK Government (IGHRC 2003). The document intended to lay out the principles used in the United Kingdom. 

Chapter 5 of the document reviews the UFs used by UK Government departments, agencies, and their advisory committees in human health risk assessment. Default values for UFs are provided in Table 3 in the UK document with the factors separated into four classes (1) animal-to-human factor, (2) human variability factor, (3) quality or quantity of data factor, and (4) severity of effect factor. The following chemical sectors are addressed food additives and contaminants, pesticides and biocides, air pollutants, drinking water contaminants, soil contaminants, consumer products and cosmetics, veterinary products, human medicines, medical devices, and industrial chemicals. 

IGHRC. 2003. The Interdepartmental Group on Health Risks from Chemicals. Uncertainty factors Their use in human health risk assessment by UK Government. Leicester Institute for Environment and Health, University of Leicester, http //www.silsoe.cranfield.ac.uk/ieh/pdf/cr9.pdf... 

Most industrially developed nations have government agencies that assess risk to human health and the environment resulting from the manufacture and use of chemical substances. Industry, consultants, academics, and the research community also undertake such assessments. For example, in the U.S., the Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances (OPPTS) devotes considerable resources to risk analyses in its review of commercial substances that are or will be released to the environment. Canada has a similar system, and so do most nations in the European Union and Japan. As the number of potentially hazardous substances introduced into commerce grows, maximizing the efficiency of these assessments becomes increasingly important. 

USEPA (1989b). Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund. Human Health Evaluation Manual (Part A). Office of Emergency and Remedial Response, Vol. 1. Washington, DC US Government Printing Office. 

Australian Government, 2004c. Human health risk assessment of dioxins in Australia, Technical Report No. 12, National Dioxin Programme, Department of the Environment and Heritage, May 2004. 

This title contains information on toxicology, occupational health, and environmental information with a focus on emergency situations of exposure and hazard control. It also addresses ergonomics and human health risk assessment. It contains bibliographic, full text, and numeric information. Consists of eleven files of information from various government sources - US EPA, OSTIA, DOT, Coast Guard, NIOSH, and others. Updated quarterly. Produced by Micromedex, Inc. 

Many fundamental concepts of human health risk assessment from chemical and biological hazards have been described in Risk Assessment in the Federal Government Managing the Process (NRC, 1983). The basic paradigm developed in that report is shown in Figure 6-1, and it captures the two key components—risk assessment and risk management—that apply equally well to building protection situations. 

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