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Cumulative Risk Assessment Methods and Tools
Quick Resources
Cumulative risk is the risk of a common toxic effect associated with concurrent exposure by all relevant pathways and routes of exposure to a group of chemicals that share a common mechanism of toxicity.
Guidance Documents
- Guidance
on Cumulative Risk Assessment of Pesticide Chemicals That Have a Common
Mechanism of Toxicity (PDF) (90 pp, 490 KB, About PDF).
This January 2002 guidance describes the methods EPA is using in conducting
cumulative assessments. It takes into account the knowledge and methods
available now for assessing cumulative risk, and provides flexibility
for completing risk assessments with various amounts and types of data.
EPA expects methods and knowledge to continue to evolve in this area,
and will update specific procedures with peer-reviewed supplementary
technical documentation as needed. If extensive changes to this guidance
become necessary, EPA will issue a revised version.
- Revised
Draft Plain English Guide to Cumulative Risk Assessment (PDF) (Status
of Cumulative Risk Assessment for Organophosphate Pesticides) (98 pp, 929 KB, About PDF), and Appendix (PDF) (37 pp, 370 KB, About PDF).
This document summarizes the basic principles that underlie EPA's approach
to pesticide cumulative risk assessment, and provides an explanation
of the Preliminary Organophosphate Risk Assessment, released December
3, 2001.
- Grouping Pesticides by Common Mechanism of Toxicity; see Cumulative Risk Assessment: Developing the Methods. This page serves as a guide to the Agency's process of developing the cumulative assessment methods, including guidance documents and peer review processes.
Exposure Assessment Models
Three models are in common use in EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs. These are: (1) DEEM (Dietary Exposure Evaluation Model)/Calendex, (2) Lifeline, and (3) CARES (Cumulative and Aggregate Risk Evaluation System). Each of these models uses food and drinking water consumption data from USDA's Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals (CSFII 1994-96, 1998) and user-entered residue data to estimate dietary exposure using probabilistic techniques. Each of these three models also has the capability of performing residential exposure assessments and appropriately aggregating exposures across multiple pathways and routes.
- Deem/Calendex - Dietary Exposure Evaluation Model
- Lifeline - Assessing exposure, risk and benefits to elements of people's diets and living environment
- CARES - Cumulative and Aggregate Risk Evaluation System