US EPAS IRIS PILOT PROGRAM - ESTABLISHING IRIS AS A CENTRALIZED, PEER-REVIEWED DATA-BASE WITH AGENCY CONSENSUS

The US EPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) contains Agency consensus scientific positions and quantitative values on cancer and noncancer health effects that may result from lifetime oral or inhalat ion exposure to specific chemical substances in the environment. Combi ned with specific exposure assessment information, the summary health information in IRIS may be used as a source in evaluating potential pu blic health risks from environmental contaminants. IRIS is available t o the public via EPA's Internet server at http://www.epa. gov/iris. Or iginally developed for internal EPA use, IRIS usage has broadened sinc e being made publicly available in 1988 to include the private and pub lic sectors nationally and internationally. Up to 1995, IRIS summaries were generated from within various EPA Offices and Regions and review ed by Agency Workgroups, one for cancer and one for noncancer endpoint s, before entry onto IRIS. In response to the increasing usage and rec ognition of IRIS and suggestions for improvement, an IRIS Pilot progra m was initiated in 1995, The purpose of the Pilot was S-fold: To impro ve efficiency in getting information on to IRIS; to improve documentat ion for the positions reported in IRIS summaries, including applying n ew methodologies and guidance; and to improve opportunity for public i nput including external peer review. A new infrastructure was put in p lace, consisting of a cross-Agency team of 'Chemical Managers', a Pilo t Program Manager, and a set of Agency 'Consensus Reviewers'. Cancer a nd noncancer assessments were prepared in an integrated fashion for Pi lot chemical substances, documented in 'Toxicological Reviews' and der ivative IRIS summaries. Public input was emphasized via an initial dat a call and rigorous external peer review. A final step was Agency-wide consensus review by senior staff scientists representing EPA's Office s and Regions. EPA's experience with the Pilot is forming the basis fo r designing operational aspects of the long-term IRIS program. (C) 199 8 Published by Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.