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Commentary
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| Risk Assessment: The Perspective and Experience of U.S. Environmentalists Ellen K. Silbergeld Environmental Defense Fund, Washington DC 20009 USA Abstract
Risk assessment is a set of decision rules widely used in the United States for identifying and quantifying the risks of chemicals and other events for adverse effects to human health, usually cancer. Scientific criticism has been directed toward the default assumptions and test methods used in risk assessment by regulatory agencies. This paper evaluates the contribution of risk assessment as an instrument of public policy toward the timely and efficient resolution of controversial issues in environmental and occupational health. Experience with risk assessment during the past decade does not support its utility in this regard. Alternatives to risk assessment in its current formulation are discussed. Key words: aryl hydrocarbon receptor, carcinogen identification, Environmental Protection Agency, risk assessment, 2, 3, 7, 8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin. Environ Health Perspect 101:100- 104(1993) http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1993/101-2/silbergeld.html
Address correspondence to E. K. Silbergeld, Environmental Defense Fund, 1875 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 USA.This paper is based on a presentation at the International Symposium on Risk Assessment in London, October 1992. The research in this paper was supported in part by grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Charles E. Dana Foundation. I thank Karen Florini, David Roe, and Robert Yuhnke of EDF, Frederica Perera of Columbia University, and Kevin Tonat of Johns Hopkins University for continuing opportunities to discuss issues related to risk assessment and public policy.
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