Science and Decisions

Science and Decisions

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2009-03-24

Total Pages: 422

ISBN-13: 0309120462

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Risk assessment has become a dominant public policy tool for making choices, based on limited resources, to protect public health and the environment. It has been instrumental to the mission of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as other federal agencies in evaluating public health concerns, informing regulatory and technological decisions, prioritizing research needs and funding, and in developing approaches for cost-benefit analysis. However, risk assessment is at a crossroads. Despite advances in the field, risk assessment faces a number of significant challenges including lengthy delays in making complex decisions; lack of data leading to significant uncertainty in risk assessments; and many chemicals in the marketplace that have not been evaluated and emerging agents requiring assessment. Science and Decisions makes practical scientific and technical recommendations to address these challenges. This book is a complement to the widely used 1983 National Academies book, Risk Assessment in the Federal Government (also known as the Red Book). The earlier book established a framework for the concepts and conduct of risk assessment that has been adopted by numerous expert committees, regulatory agencies, and public health institutions. The new book embeds these concepts within a broader framework for risk-based decision-making. Together, these are essential references for those working in the regulatory and public health fields.


Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk

Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk

Author: Suzanne H. Reuben

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 2010-10

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 1437934218

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Though overall cancer incidence and mortality have continued to decline in recent years, cancer continues to devastate the lives of far too many Americans. In 2009 alone, 1.5 million American men, women, and children were diagnosed with cancer, and 562,000 died from the disease. There is a growing body of evidence linking environmental exposures to cancer. The Pres. Cancer Panel dedicated its 2008¿2009 activities to examining the impact of environmental factors on cancer risk. The Panel considered industrial, occupational, and agricultural exposures as well as exposures related to medical practice, military activities, modern lifestyles, and natural sources. This report presents the Panel¿s recommend. to mitigate or eliminate these barriers. Illus.


Environmental Risk Assessment

Environmental Risk Assessment

Author: Ted Simon

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2014-02-05

Total Pages: 408

ISBN-13: 1466598301

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The purpose of risk assessment is to support science-based decisions about how to solve complex societal problems. The problems we face in the twenty-first century have many social, political, and technical complexities. Environmental risk assessment in particular is of increasing importance as a means of seeking to address the potential effects of


Lethal Laws

Lethal Laws

Author: Alix Fano

Publisher: Zed Books

Published: 1997-05

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9781856494984

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For the last 150 years, chemicals have been tested on animals for the alleged purpose of protecting the public from their dangerous effects. Lethal Laws reveals that using animals as human surrogates is not only unethical, it is bad science. Alix Fano provides a meticulous analysis of the technical and scientific problems that have plagued animal tests for decades, but which have not been forcefully challenged until now. She shows how animal testing has been used as an alibi to allow the continued use of thousands of toxic chemicals. In a field dominated by male voices, this is a pioneering work by a woman that effectively demonstrates the causal link between animal testing and environmental degradation, and the subsequent deterioration of human health.


Biosolids Applied to Land

Biosolids Applied to Land

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2002-11-01

Total Pages: 366

ISBN-13: 0309084865

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The 1993 regulation (Part 503 Rule) governing the land application of biosolids was established to protect public health and the environment from reasonably anticipated adverse effects. Included in the regulation are chemical pollutant limits, operational standards designed to reduce pathogens and the attraction of disease vectors, and management practices. This report from the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology evaluates the technical methods and approaches used by EPA to establish those standards and practices, focusing specifically on human health protection. The report examines improvements in risk-assessment practices and advances in the scientific database since promulgation of the regulation, and makes recommendations for addressing public health concerns, uncertainties, and data gaps about the technical basis of the biosolids standards.


Human and Ecological Risk Assessment

Human and Ecological Risk Assessment

Author: Dennis J. Paustenbach

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2017-05-22

Total Pages: 1476

ISBN-13: 1119441331

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Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: Theory and Practice assembles the expertise of more than fifty authorities from fifteen different fields, forming a comprehensive reference and textbook on risk assessment. Containing two dozen case studies of environmental or human health risk assessments, the text not only presents the theoretical underpinnings of the discipline, but also serves as a complete handbook and "how-to" guide for individuals conducting or interpreting risk assessments. In addition, more than 4,000 published papers and books in the field are cited. Editor Dennis Paustenbach has assembled chapters that present the most current methods for conducting hazard identification, dose-response and exposure assessment, and risk characterization components for risk assessments of any chemical hazard to humans or wildlife (fish, birds, and terrestrials). Topics addressed include hazards posed by: Air emissions Radiological hazards Contaminated soil and foods Agricultural hazards Occupational hazards Consumer products and water Hazardous waste sites Contaminated air and water The bringing together of so many of the world's authorities on these topics, plus the comprehensive nature of the text, promises to make Human and Ecological Risk Assessment the text against which others will be measured in the coming years.