Aggregate Exposure and Beyond: The Methodological and Informational Challenges We Face Under the FQPA. K. M. Thompson, Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, 718 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115
The 1996 Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) established new requirements for integrated aggregate (multi-pathway) and cumulative (multi-substance for substances with common mechanisms of toxicity) risk assessment to support pesticide risk management. To meet these demands, exposure assessors are developing models that project long-term exposure (for which little data are available) by adding or integrating over short-term exposures (for which some data are available). Exposure assessors and toxicologists must work together to ensure that exposure assessments focus on the appropriate dose metrics for the risk assessment and a forum for this interaction is needed. Given the large uncertainties inherent in risk assessments and the opportunities that exist to collect better information, risk managers should focus on developing incentives for stakeholders to collect information that will aid in decision making. Value-of-information analytical techniques offer to support risk managers in their efforts to characterize and communicate uncertainties about risks, synthesize the available information, make timely decisions, and prioritize areas for research.
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