Science, and risk assessment

Science and risk assessment, with all their flaws, take time, cost money, and leave some participants unsatisfied. The precautionary principle, which originated among German Greens in the 1970s, is offered as an alternative. It has no definitive definition. At least twenty can be found in treaties, laws, journal articles and books, and Cass Sunstein has placed them on a scale from weak... 

Extrapolation for major crops is almost impracticable. Developing countries should therefore, take steps to generate residue trial data for the elaboration of MRLs where Codex MRLs are not available for commodities of economic importance to their countries. Collaborative regional efforts could play a pivotal role in meeting this objective. Under the framewoik of the WTO s SPS Agreement, Codex recommendations relating to food safety should be based on sound science and risk assessment. 

Szarfman A, Talarico L, Levine JG. Analysis and risk assessment of hematological data from clinical trials toxicology of the hematopoietic system. In Sipes IG, McQueen CA, Gandolfi AJ, editors. Comprehensive toxicology. Vol. 4. New York Elsevier Science, 1997, p. 363-79. 

The sustainable management of sediments, in addition to water, soil and sludge environmental matrices, in relation to surfactant regulations, is also an important and relevant issue. The US EPA has recently shown concern regarding the levels of surfactants in sediments and has thus released a Draft Contaminated Sediment Science Plan. In this draft, recommendations for the development of analytical methods and evaluations of the toxicity and risk assessment of Emerging endocrine disrupters like APEOs and their metabolites in sediment samples are outlined. 

Sadler, R., and Connell, D. 2002. In Environmental Protection and Risk Assessment of Organic Contaminants, R. Kookana, R. Sadler, N. Sethunathan, and R. Naidu (Eds.). Science Publisher, Enfield, NH, p. 27. 

Golet E.M., A.C. Alder, and W. Giger (2002a). Environmental exposure and risk assessment of flouroquinolone antibacterial agents in wastewater and river water of the Glatt Valley watershed, Switzerland. Environmental Science and Technology 37 3645-3651. 

Simeonov, L.l. and Hassanien, M.A. (eds) (2009). Exposure and Risk Assessment of Chemical Pollution - Contemporary Methodology, Springer Science + Business Media BV. 

The U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in the series Drinking Water and Health and other writings has described the theory and practice of toxicology and risk assessment and related them to drinking water. These will be used liberally in the following discussions. 

Strengthening Science at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2000) Scientific Frontiers in Developmental Toxicology and Risk Assessment (2000)... 

USEPA (2000). General Principles for Performing Aggregate Exposure and Risk Assessments, Report No. 6040, Office of Pesticide Programs and Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances, (http //www.epa.gov/pesticides/trac/science/) Washington, DC, November 21. 

Jamil K. 2001. Bioindicators and biomarkers of environmental pollution and risk assessment. Plymouth (UK) Science Publishers, 204 p. 

NRC (2000a) Scientific frontiers in developmental toxicology and risk assessment. Report of the Committee on Developmental Toxicology, Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, Commission on Life Sciences, National Research Council. Washington, DC, National Academy Press, pp 1-327. 

The process of risk assessment was first formalized (NRC, 1983) by the United States National Academy of Sciences through its National Research Council in 1983. The three stages of risk analysis are defined as risk assessment, risk management and risk communication (Figure 10). The important principle is the functional and organizational separation of exposure and risk assessment from risk management to avoid any non-science-driven influences on the assessment procedures. However, many interactive elements are essential for a systematic risk assessment and management process. 

We must recognize, however, that our abilities may be limited by a lack of other types of data and by the limitations of the rapidly evolving science of risk assessment. In an effort to minimize these limitations, the Office of Solid Waste is investigating the best available risk assessment techniques. These include estimation of the movement of pollutants through soil, air, and water prediction of adverse human health and environmental effects on the basis of available toxicity data and prediction of the effects of simultaneous exposures to numerous toxic substances. OSW is, in addition, actively compiling data relative to the cost, applicability, and effectiveness of currently available waste treatment, storage, and disposal technologies. 

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