1997 News Archives

Below is a listing of RiskWorld's 1997 news articles. For RiskWorld's most recent news coverage, see the homepage.  Contact: Amy Charlene Reed,  senior editor,  reed@tec-com.com.

Risk Panel To Consider New Methylmercury Reference Dose The non-profit risk assessment corporation Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment will convene an expert panel of risk assessors on January 12 and 13, 1998, to consider a site-specific reference dose for ingestion of methylmercury, a form of organic mercury, in fish. The meeting's agenda will also include a general discussion of methods to calculate data-derived uncertainty factors. (Posted December 2, 1997.)

Superfund Awakes in State Supreme Courts Superfund, often referred to as a sleeping giant, is waking up in state courts with rulings that the insurance industry is on the hook for a large share of the nation's environmental cleanup, reports RiskWorld guest writer Donald Sutherland. While much of the publicity on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's largest project to clean up hazardous waste is focused on the inaction of Congress to reauthorize Superfund legislation, many states are passing laws favoring policyholders of comprehensive general liability insurance (CGL) to be compensated for their cleanup and litigation costs. Step by step, state by state the Superfund giant has awakened in 40% of the state supreme courts with pro-policyholder decisions affecting over half of the sites in the nation. (Posted December 1, 1997.)

OSHA Proposes Tuberculosis Standard To Protect Workers, Save Money Protecting workers in public settings from the new drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis and saving medical treatment and lost production costs of $89 million to $116 million are the goals of a recently proposed Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard. The proposal would require employers to develop a written exposure control plan and identify and isolate individuals with suspected or confirmed infectious TB or transfer them to facilities with isolation capabilities. (Posted November 1, 1997.)

TERA Focuses on Acetaldehyde and Phenol Assessments In its most recent review of risk assessments on potentially harmful chemicals, TERA (Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment), a non-profit risk assessment corporation based in Cincinnati, Ohio, focused on assessments of phenol and acetaldehyde. (Posted October 24, 1997.)

Risk Commission Completes Work, Issues Final Papers The final papers of the Presidential/Congressional Commission on Risk Assessment and Risk Management, which was mandated as part of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, are available on line in RiskWorld. The Commission, which disbanded on August 31, 1997, was charged with making "a full investigation of the policy implications and appropriate uses of risk assessment and risk management in regulatory programs under various Federal laws to prevent cancer and other chronic human health effects which may result from exposure to hazardous substances." The Commission's two major reports, which were released early in 1997, also are available on line in RiskWorld. (Posted October 9, 1997.)

U.S. Senate Committee Hears Testimony on Regulatory Reform Bill Two risk experts testified in favor of the bipartisan Regulatory Improvement Act of 1997 (bill S.981) at the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs hearing on September 12, 1997. The bill, which is sponsored by U.S. Senator Carl Levin, D-MI, and U.S. Senator Fred Thompson, R-TN, would require risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis of major new regulations. "Of all the proposed legislation I’ve seen regarding regulatory reform, this bill is by far the best," said Paul Portney, president of the research organization Resources for the Future in Washington, D.C., in an interview with RiskWorld. In addition to Portney, Director John Graham of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis in Boston, Massachusetts, also spoked in support of the bill. Story posted September 16, 1997.

Risk Science and Law Panel Weighs Regulatory Reform Bill RiskWorld guest writer Wayne Roth-Nelson presents the various viewpoints of a panel of experts from the Risk Science and Law Specialty Group of the Society for Risk Analysis on the bipartisan Regulatory Improvement Act of 1997 (S. 981), which would require risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis of major new regulations. (Posted September 16, 1997.)

TERA Peer Review Meeting To Evaluate Acetaldehyde and Phenol The chemicals acetaldehyde and phenol are the focal points of the next quarterly, independent peer review meeting sponsored by Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA), a non-profit organization "dedicated to the best use of toxicity data for the development of risk values." The meeting will be held on September 30, 1997, at the University of Cincinnati's College of Medicine in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Posted August 22, 1997.)

SRA Dose Response Group Offers Student Award Students whose papers or posters have been accepted for the 1997 Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) Annual Meeting are eligible to apply for the first annual Student Award for Meritorious Research in Dose Response Assessment sponsored by the society’s Dose Response Specialty Group. The award, which will not be available to students receiving SRA travel grants, will defray the student’s registration fee and partial expense of attending the meeting on December 7-10, 1997, in Washington, D.C. (Posted August 8, 1997.)

EPA Issues Final Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter and Ozone After much public debate, the new air quality standards for ozone (smog) and particulate matter (soot) that were announced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in November 1996 were signed by EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner on July 16, 1997. (Posted July 21, 1997.)

Risk Commission To Hold Symposium on Defining a Public Health Approach to Environmental Protection The Presidential/Congressional Commission on Risk Assessment and Risk Management, which issued Volume 1 and Volume 2 of its final report early this year, will hold a public symposium on August 8, 1997, on defining a public health approach to environmental protection. (Posted July 21, 1997.)

Regulatory Reform Bill Requires Risk Assessment, Cost-Benefit Analysis A bipartisan regulatory reform bill unveiled today would require risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis of major new regulations, would create a process for the review of existing rules, and would establish executive oversight of the rulemaking process. (Posted June 27, 1997.)

EPA Lists Conditions for Accepting Probabilistic Risk Analyses The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, recognizing that "probabilistic analysis techniques . . . can be viable statistical tools for analyzing variability and uncertainty in risk assessments," has established a policy that lists eight conditions under which risk assessments using probabilistic analysis techniques can be submitted to the agency for review. (Posted June 25, 1997.)

Conference on Probabilistic Methods Used in Risk Assessment Generates Global Interest The fourth international Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management Conference (PSAM 4) already is drawing global interest more than a year in advance, organizers say. The meeting, which many consider to be the premier international gathering of experts in risk and reliability assessment and management, is scheduled for September 13-18, 1998, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City, with abstracts of submitted papers due by September 15, 1997. (Posted June 11, 1997.)

Biotechnology Risk Assessment Resources Available On Line A rich offering of biotechnology risk assessment and management resources is on line at the Internet site of the Biosafety Information Network and Advisory Services, (BINAS), which is part of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. Resources include the full texts of reports, newsletters, books, and scientific papers; a database of current biotechnology regulations in countries around the world (which is best accessed from BINAS' site map), a listing of news groups focusing on biotechnology and risk issues; and a directory of biosafety experts. (Posted May 16, 1997.)

Biotechnology Risk Assessment Discussion Group Established The Biological Risk Assessment Discussion Group (BIOASSESS), which is less than a year old, is "intended to facilitate exchange of views and information on key issues in biological risk assessment and international regulatory developments," according to its mission statement. Recent postings from subscribers in various countries included legislative updates, workshop and symposium announcements, and advance notice of upcoming projects related to biological risk assessment. (Posted May 16, 1997.)

WSJ Reports Debate Over Microscopic Particle Pollution Study. The Wall Street Journal reports that a 25-year Harvard University study on microscopic particle pollution in the atmosphere has sparked a two-tiered debate: one on the proposed controls of the pollution and another on whether the data should be made available for independent analyses. (Posted April 8, 1997.)

Harvard’s John Graham Releases Results of Cost-Benefit Analysis of Air Bag Safety One of the nation’s leading risk assessors in automobile safety issues may once again have a profound impact on vehicle drivers and passengers across the United States. Director John Graham of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, whose earlier research was a factor that led to a law requiring air bags in new vehicles, testified this month that his most recent cost-benefit analysis of vehicle air bags found serious problems with passenger-side air bags. (Posted March 25, 1997.)

Risk Commission Names Indoor Pollution as Top Risk Finding indoor air pollution as one of the greatest risks to human health, the Presidential/Congressional Commission on Risk Assessment and Risk Management calls for Congress and the White House administration to craft legislation addressing the issue in Volume 2 of its final report. (Posted March 27, 1997.)

Panel on International Toxicity Estimates for Risk To Discuss Three Chemicals in March Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the science and practice of risk assessment, will focus on assessments for cadmium, perchlorate, and dichloromethane (methylene chloride) at its next peer review meeting. (Posted February 26, 1997.)

Discussion Group Targets Ecotoxicology and Risk Assessment Issues A new on-line discussion group called ECOTOXICOLOGY-L, which began operating five months ago, is one of the few such groups to specifically target risk assessment issues. ECOTOXICOLOGY-L "provides an open forum for the discussion of issues pertaining to ecotoxicology and risk assessment and encourages the dissemination and presentation of ideas focusing on environmental protection and restoration of damaged ecosystems," said the discussion group’s manager, Stuart R. Lynde, who is a graduate student at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. (Posted January 29, 1997.)

Interface Between Risk, Law Is Focus of New Group A group of scientists and lawyers interested in the interface between risk assessment and laws, regulations, and courtroom proceedings have organized the Risk Science and Law Specialty Group of the Society for Risk Analysis. The group’s goal is to "provide leadership in collaborative scientific and legal research and in identifying and illuminating issues that arise from risk-related legislative acts, regulatory rules, and judicial proceedings," according to its preliminary draft mission statement. (Posted January 28, 1997.)

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