Guidance & Tools

EPA has developed help for assessing and managing environmental risks, including guidance and tools which are the models and databases used in risk assessments. In some cases, these resources are broad enough to be relevant across all statutes that EPA administers while in other cases, they are more applicable to specific EPA programs.

Below are links to various risk assessment resources used by EPA scientists to assess risks to environmental hazards listed by:

Guidance (this includes guidelines, guidance, handbooks, framework, and general "how-to" documents)
Tools (this includes models and databases)

Guidance

Major EPA-Wide risk assessment guidelines	Carcinogen Risk Assessment (2005) Chemical Mixtures Risk Assessment (1986) Developmental Toxicity Risk Assessment (2000) Ecological Risk Assessment (1998) Exposure Assessment (1992) Mutagenicity Risk Assessment (1986) Neurotoxicity Risk Assessment (1998) Reproductive Toxicity Risk Assessment (1996) Supplemental Guidance for Assessing Susceptibility from Early-Life Exposure to Carcinogens (2005)
Other EPA-wide policies, principles & risk assessment guidance	Alpha2u-Globulin: Association with Chemically Induced Renal Toxicity and Neoplasia in the Male Rat (1991) A Review of the Reference Dose and Reference Concentration Processes (2002) Assessment of Thyroid Follicular Cell Tumors (1998) Assessment Factors for Evaluating the Quality of Scientific and Technical Information (2003) Cumulative Health Risk Assessment of Multiple Chemicals, Exposures, and Effects: A Resource Document (2008) Cumulative Risk Planning & Scoping Guidance (1997) Exposure Factors Handbook (1997) Framework for Application of the Toxicity Equivalence Methodology for Polychlorinated Dioxins, Furans, and Biphenyls in Ecological Risk Assessment (2008) Framework for Cumulative Risk Assessment (2003) Framework for Developing Suspended and Bedded Sediment (SABS) Water Quality Criteria (2006) Framework for the Economic Assessment of Ecological Benefits (2002) Framework for Metals Risk Assessment (2007) Generic Ecological Assessment Endpoints (GEAE) for Ecological Risk Assessment (2003) Handbook for Non-Cancer Health Effects Valuation (2000) Interim Genomics Policy (2002) Interim Position on Environmental Endocrine Disruption (1997) Nanotechnology White Paper (2007) PCBs: Cancer Dose-Response Assessment (1996) Peer Review Handbook - 3rd Edition (2006) Probablistic Analysis in Risk Assessment (1997) Principles for Monte Carlo Analysis Provisional Guidance for Quantitative Risk Assessment of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (1993) Risk Characterization Handbook (2000) Stressor Identification Guidance Document (2000) Test Method Collections (2008)
Air and radiation	Estimating Radiogenic Cancer Risks (PDF) (68 pp, 272KB) (1994)
Children's health	A Framework for Assessing Health Risk of Environmental Exposures to Children (2006) Child-Specific Exposure Factors Handbook (2008) Guidance on Selecting Age Groups for Monitoring and Assessing Childhood Exposures to Environmental Contaminants (2005) Policy on Evaluating Risk to Children (1995) Supplemental Guidance for Assessing Susceptibility from Early-Life Exposure to Carcinogens (2005)
Prevention, pesticides and toxic substances	Guidance on Cumulative Risk Assessment of Pesticides with a Common Mechanism of Action (PDF) (90 pp, 491KB) (2002) Harmonized Test Guidelines (various dates) Overview of the Ecological Risk Assessment Process in the Office of Pesticide Programs (PDF) (92 pp, 628k) (2004) Pesticides: Human Health Issues Pesticides: Ecological Risk Assessments Pesticide: Science Policy Issues & Guidance Documents FQPA 10-Fold Safety Factor Dietary Exposure and Risk Assessment Threshold of Regulation Drinking Water Exposure Residential Exposure Aggregrate Exposure and Risk Assessment Cumulative Risk Assessment for Pesticides with a Common Mechanism of Toxicity Chollinesterase Inhibition End Point Use and Usage Information Process for Assessing Pesticide Risks to Endangered Species
Solid waste and emergency response	Key OSWER Policy Guidance Documents (various dates)
Water	Guidance for Assessing Chemical Contaminant Data for Use In Fish Advisories - Volume 2: Risk Assessment and Fish Consumption Limits - Third Edition (2000) Watershed Ecological Risk Assessment

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Models

EPA-wide risk assessment models	BASINS 4.0 Climate Assessment Tool (CAT) Benchmark Dose System (BMDS) Causal Analysis/Diagnosis Decision Information System (CADDIS) CATREG Software for Categorical Regression Analysis Council for Regulatory Environmental Monitoring (CREM) EMSOFT: Exposure Model for Soil-Organic Fate and Transport Example Exposure Scenarios Tool Flowthru Data Reader (for the Turner Design Model) Metal Finishing Facility Risk Screening Tool (MFFRST) MPN Software Program OnSite -- Online tools for Site Assessment Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic (PBPK) Models Tracer-Test Planning using the Efficient Hydrologic Tracer-Test Design (EHTD) Program
Air and radiation	Criteria Pollutant and Air Toxic Pollutant Risk Assessment Models 3/CMAQ - Air Quality Modeling System Radiation Risk Assessment /Risk Assessment Radiation Risk Assessment Software: CAP88 and CAP88 PC TRIM Model
Human Health	Dietary Exposure Potential Model Exposure Related Dose Estimating Model (ERDEM) for Assessing Human Exposure and Dose EPA Positive Matrix Factorization 1.1 (EPA PMF 1.1)
Prevention, pesticides and toxic substances	Probabilistic Exposure and Risk Model for FUMigants (PERFUM) TRI Risk Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI)
Solid waste and emergency response	Center for Exposure Assessment Modeling (CEAM) Ecosystems Research Environmental Simulation and Modeling Ecotox Thresholds Integrated Exposure Uptake Biokinetic Model for Lead in Children (IEUBK) Johnson and Ettinger (1991) Model for Subsurface Vapor Intrusion into Buildings

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Databases & Assessments

EPA-wide risk assessment related databases	Biomarkers Database Consolidated Human Activity Database (CHAD) Contaminated Sediments Science Priorities Database of Sources of Environmental Releases of Dioxin-like Compounds in the United States Distributed Structure-Searchable Toxicity (DSSTox) Database Network Ecotox Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) EMAP-West Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment (MAIA) Regional Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (REMAP) Environmental Science (Databases and Software) Forum on Environmental Measurements (FEM) Human Exposure Database System (HEDS) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Older Adult Physiological Parameters Database (Beta) Radionuclide Carcinogenicity Slope Factors Report on the Environment (ROE) Database Science Inventory Database Scientific and Ethical Approaches for Observational Exposure Studies Report Wildlife Exposure Factors Handbook Window to Readily-Available Analytical Products (WRAP)
Air and radiation	National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) Radon in Air
Children's health	Consolidated Human Activity Database (CHAD) & CHAD-Explorer Toxicity and Exposure Assessment for Children's Health (TEACH)
Prevention, pesticides and toxic substances	OPP Assessing Pesticide Cumulative Risk Pesticide Fate Database Pesticide Reregistration Status
Water	National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) STORET (data STOrage and RETrieval system) Water Quality Assessment Database (ADB) Water Quality National Assessment Database (NAD) Watershed Assessment, Tracking and Environmental Results (WATERS) Water Resources Database (WRDB)

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