Procedures for health risk assessment in Europe

This report compares cancer classification systems, health risk assessment approaches, and procedures used for establishing occupational exposure limi ts (OELs), in various European countries and scientific organizations. The objectives were to highlight and compare key aspects of these processes and to identify the basis for differences in cancer classifications and OELs b etween various scientific organizations and countries. Differences in cance r classification exist in part due to differences in the ultimate purpose o f classification and to the relative importance of different types of data (i.e., animal vs human data, mechanistic data, and data from benign vs mali gnant tumors). In general, the groups surveyed tend to agree on classificat ion of chemicals with good evidence of carcinogenicity in humans, and agree less on classification of chemicals with positive evidence in animals and inadequate or limited evidence in humans. Most entities surveyed distinguis h between genotoxic and nongenotoxic chemicals when conducting risk assessm ents. Although the risk assessment approach used for nongenotoxic chemicals is fairly similar among groups, risk assessment approaches for genotoxic c arcinogens vary widely. In addition to risk assessment approaches, other fa ctors which can affect OELs include selection of the critical effect, use o f health-based vs technology-based exposure limits, and consideration of te chnological feasibility and socioeconomic factors. (C) 2001 Academic Press.