RISK CHARACTERIZATION - A BRIDGE TO INFORMED DECISION-MAKING

Regulatory decisions should be made in the most expert and informed wa y since they are precipitated by real and perceived threats to human h ealth, under the glare of public scrutiny. In 1994, the National Resea rch Council (NRC) reported that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agen cy's (USEPA's) overall approach to assessing risks is fundamentally so und, but the Agency must more clearly establish the scientific and pol icy basis for risk estimates and better communicate the associated unc ertainties. On March 21, 1995, USEPA issued a risk characterization po licy and guidance. In this policy, an effective risk characterization must fully and clearly characterize risks and disclose the scientific analysis, uncertainties, assumptions, and science policy that underlie decisions throughout the risk assessment process. A number of regulat ory reform bills which required risk characterization as part of all F ederal risk assessments were introduced by the 104th Congress. The pur pose of this workshop was to familiarize Society of Toxicology members with: (1) key elements to be considered in risk characterization and (2) new advances in risk characterization addressed by Federal and Sta te agencies, industry, academia, NRC, and Presidential/Congressional C ommission on Risk Assessment and Risk Management. Furthermore, the mai n objective was to engage the audience in discussing the proper role o f science in risk assessment-risk management interface to make informe d decisions in the face of scientific uncertainty. (C) 1997 Society of Toxicology.