Risk assessment in Navy deployment toxicology

The risk assessment process is a critical function for deployment toxicolog y research. It is essential to the decision making process related to estab lishing risk reduction procedures and for formulating appropriate exposure levels to protect naval personnel from potentially hazardous chemicals in t he military that could result in a reduction in readiness operations. These decisions must be based on quality data from well-planned laboratory anima l studies that guide the judgements, which result in effective risk charact erization and risk management. The process of risk assessment in, deploymen t toxicology essentially uses the same principles as civilian risk assessme nt, but adds activities essential to the military mission, including intend ed and unintended exposure to chemicals and chemical mixtures. Risk assessm ent and Navy deployment toxicology data are integrated into a systematic an d well-planned approach to the organization of scientific information. The purpose of this paper is to outline the analytical framework used to develo p strategies to protect the health of deployed Navy forces.