Scientifically-based decision-making

The requirement to use ecological risk assessment under the new contaminated land regulations will encourage practical and scientifically-based decision-making regarding the need for and scope of remedial action. This is to be welcomed since it will ensure that remediation will occur on the basis of risk, rather than hazard. 

CCME 2002, available from http //www.ec.gc.ca/ceqg-rcqe/English/Pdf/GAAG Fluoride e.pdf). This may need to be followed up by the verification of unusual and potentially critical data through repeated testing. It is also essential that evidence-based decision making when deriving EQSs is fully recorded, transparent, and as consistent as possible from case to case. The draft EQS should then be subject to scientific expert peer review followed by public consultation. ... 

Currently, there are a limited number of chemicals classified as male reproductive toxicants. As scientific, public, and regulatory interest in this field increases, the result will most certainly be an increased knowledge base of the type and number of chemicals that can adversely affect the male reproductive tract. Once a chemical is considered a potential reproductive toxicant, there are measures in place to protect humans from occupational and environmental exposure. For example, when the results from a risk assessment indicate that the potential exists for adverse reproductive effects in humans, a regulatory agency such as the US EPA may impose restrictions on the availability or uses of certain compounds. Reproductive toxicity testing is fundamental to this type of risk-based decision-making, and will hopefully lead to the development of safer chemicals and drugs. 

Bayesian networks for multivariate reasoning about cause and effect within R D with a flow bottleneck model (Fig. 11.6) to help combine scientific and economic aspects of decision making. This model can, where research process decisions affect potential candidate value, further incorporate simple estimation of how the candidate value varies based on the target product profile. Factors such as ease of dosing in this profile can then be causally linked to the relevant predictors within the research process (e.g., bioavailability), to model the value of the predictive methods that might be used and to perform sensitivity analysis of how R D process choices affect the expected added... 

One can identify two major categories of uncertainty in EIA data (scientific) uncertainty inherited in input data (e.g., incomplete or irrelevant baseline information, project characteristics, the misidentification of sources of impacts, as well as secondary, and cumulative impacts) and in impact prediction based on these data (lack of scientific evidence on the nature of affected objects and impacts, the misidentification of source-pathway-receptor relationships, model errors, misuse of proxy data from the analogous contexts) and decision (societal) uncertainty resulting from, e.g., inadequate scoping of impacts, imperfection of impact evaluation (e.g., insufficient provisions for public participation), human factor in formal decision-making (e.g., subjectivity, bias, any kind of pressure on a decision-maker), lack of strategic plans and policies and possible implications of nearby developments (Demidova, 2002). 

Mankind is already exposed to many carcinogens whose presence in the environment cannot be easily controlled. In view of the nature of cancer, the long latent period of its development, and the irreversibility of chemical carcinogenesis, it would be highly improper to expose the general population to an increased risk if the benefits were small, questionable, or restricted to limited segments of the population. Such benefit-risk considerations not only must be based on scientific facts but also must be ethical, with as broad a population base as possible used in the decision-making process. 

It teaches employees how to improve the way they do business, scientifically and fundamentally, and how to maintain their new performance level. It gives you discipline, structure, and a foundation for solid decision making based on simple statistics. It also maximizes your return on investment and your Return on Talent—your... 

For several years, the widespread application of PK/PD concepts in all phases of drug development has repeatedly been promoted by industry, academia, and regulatory authorities [11-16]. Rigorous implementation of PK/PD concepts in drug product development provides a rationale, scientifically based framework for efficient decision-making regarding the selection of potential drag candidates, for... 

---