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Assessing Human Health Risk
Risk assessment is a process designed to answer questions about how toxic a chemical is, what exposure results from its various uses, what is the likelihood that use will cause harm, and how to characterize that risk. Risk assessment plays a critical role in the California Department of Pesticide Regulation's (DPR) evaluation of the potential human health hazards associated with pesticide exposure. DPR's comprehensive approach assesses potential dietary (food and drinking water), workplace, residential, and ambient air exposures
Risk assessment is often the driving force behind new regulations and other use restrictions. DPR's Medical Toxicology Branch manages the risk assessment process, with exposure assessments developed by Worker Health and Safety Branch, environmental fate reviews by Environmental Monitoring Branch, and supporting information from other branches. DPR initiates risk assessments for a number of reasons, focusing on pesticides that pose the greatest potential risk. For example, the identification of possible adverse health effects during review of toxicology data may trigger a risk assessment. Similarly, DPR may initiate a risk assessment when use of a pesticide can result in ambient air exposures of concern. Once the risk has been fully characterized, regulators develop a strategy for responding to that risk. This is called risk management, and is separate from risk assessment.
General information about the risk assessment process
- Fact sheet (PDF, 217 kb)
- "Assessing Pesticide Risks" (PDF, 73 kb) ( Chapter 5, of Guide to Pesticide Regulation in California)
- "Monitoring and Evaluating Pesticide Exposure" (PDF, 51 kb) (Chapter 6, of Guide to Pesticide Regulation in California)
- Risk Assessment for the Layperson, (a general overview, not specific to pesticides, published by Cal/EPA's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment) (Opens in new window)
- A Review of the California Environmental Protection Agency's Risk Assessment Practices, Policies, and Guidelines, report of Cal/EPA's Risk Assessment Advisory Committee (1997)
Setting priorities and initiating risk assessments
- Process for Human Health Risk Assessment Prioritization and Initiation (July 2004) (PDF, 160 kb)
- Priorities for risk assessment
- Final Notice on Active Ingredients Prioritized For Risk Assessment Initiation (PDF, 197 kb) - September 2007 letter regarding updating of ranked list of active ingredients prioritized for risk assessment
- Prioritization and Status of Active Ingredients for Risk Characterization: Report #50 (March 21, 2008) (PDF, 116 kb) - This includes priority of all active ingredients that have not gone through risk assessment.
- Risk assessments in progress - See last pages of most recent Prioritization and Status (PDF, 116 kb) report
- Notices regarding status of pesticides in risk assessment (scroll through Notices to Registrants to locate those related to prioritization of active ingredients and initiation of risk assessments)
Risk assessment components and documents
- Risk assessment practices
- Environmental fate reviews (describes the processes by which specific pesticides move and are transformed in the environment)
- Toxicology data summaries (brief technical summaries of DPR reviews of toxicology data on chronic health effects, listed by pesticide active ingredient)
- Exposure assessment documents
- Risk characterization documents
- U.S. EPA reregistration status documents (risk assessments)
For content questions, contact:
Gary Patterson, Supervising Toxicologist
1001 I Street, PO Box 4015
Sacramento, California 95814-4015
Phone: (916) 445-4233
E-mail: gpatterson@cdpr.ca.gov