Scientific Review of the Proposed Risk Assessment Bulletin from the Office of Management and Budget

Scientific Review of the Proposed Risk Assessment Bulletin from the Office of Management and Budget PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309104777
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 302

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Book Description
Risk assessments are often used by the federal government to estimate the risk the public may face from such things as exposure to a chemical or the potential failure of an engineered structure, and they underlie many regulatory decisions. Last January, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a draft bulletin for all federal agencies, which included a new definition of risk assessment and proposed standards aimed at improving federal risk assessments. This National Research Council report, written at the request of OMB, evaluates the draft bulletin and supports its overall goals of improving the quality of risk assessments. However, the report concludes that the draft bulletin is "fundamentally flawed" from a scientific and technical standpoint and should be withdrawn. Problems include an overly broad definition of risk assessment in conflict with long-established concepts and practices, and an overly narrow definition of adverse health effects-one that considers only clinically apparent effects to be adverse, ignoring other biological changes that could lead to health effects. The report also criticizes the draft bulletin for focusing mainly on human health risk assessments while neglecting assessments of technology and engineered structures.

Scientific Review of the Proposed Risk Assessment Bulletin from the Office of Management and Budget

Scientific Review of the Proposed Risk Assessment Bulletin from the Office of Management and Budget PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309104777
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 302

Get Book Here

Book Description
Risk assessments are often used by the federal government to estimate the risk the public may face from such things as exposure to a chemical or the potential failure of an engineered structure, and they underlie many regulatory decisions. Last January, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a draft bulletin for all federal agencies, which included a new definition of risk assessment and proposed standards aimed at improving federal risk assessments. This National Research Council report, written at the request of OMB, evaluates the draft bulletin and supports its overall goals of improving the quality of risk assessments. However, the report concludes that the draft bulletin is "fundamentally flawed" from a scientific and technical standpoint and should be withdrawn. Problems include an overly broad definition of risk assessment in conflict with long-established concepts and practices, and an overly narrow definition of adverse health effects-one that considers only clinically apparent effects to be adverse, ignoring other biological changes that could lead to health effects. The report also criticizes the draft bulletin for focusing mainly on human health risk assessments while neglecting assessments of technology and engineered structures.

Scientific Review of the Proposed Risk Assessment Bulletin from the Office of Management and Budget

Scientific Review of the Proposed Risk Assessment Bulletin from the Office of Management and Budget PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309178886
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 302

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Book Description
Risk assessments are often used by the federal government to estimate the risk the public may face from such things as exposure to a chemical or the potential failure of an engineered structure, and they underlie many regulatory decisions. Last January, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a draft bulletin for all federal agencies, which included a new definition of risk assessment and proposed standards aimed at improving federal risk assessments. This National Research Council report, written at the request of OMB, evaluates the draft bulletin and supports its overall goals of improving the quality of risk assessments. However, the report concludes that the draft bulletin is "fundamentally flawed" from a scientific and technical standpoint and should be withdrawn. Problems include an overly broad definition of risk assessment in conflict with long-established concepts and practices, and an overly narrow definition of adverse health effects-one that considers only clinically apparent effects to be adverse, ignoring other biological changes that could lead to health effects. The report also criticizes the draft bulletin for focusing mainly on human health risk assessments while neglecting assessments of technology and engineered structures.

Department of Homeland Security Bioterrorism Risk Assessment

Department of Homeland Security Bioterrorism Risk Assessment PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309120284
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description
The mission of Department of Homeland Security Bioterrorism Risk Assessment: A Call for Change, the book published in December 2008, is to independently and scientifically review the methodology that led to the 2006 Department of Homeland Security report, Bioterrorism Risk Assessment (BTRA) and provide a foundation for future updates. This book identifies a number of fundamental concerns with the BTRA of 2006, ranging from mathematical and statistical mistakes that have corrupted results, to unnecessarily complicated probability models and models with fidelity far exceeding existing data, to more basic questions about how terrorist behavior should be modeled. Rather than merely criticizing what was done in the BTRA of 2006, this new NRC book consults outside experts and collects a number of proposed alternatives that could improve DHS's ability to assess potential terrorist behavior as a key element of risk-informed decision making, and it explains these alternatives in the specific context of the BTRA and the bioterrorism threat.

Federal Administrative Procedure Sourcebook

Federal Administrative Procedure Sourcebook PDF Author: William F. Funk
Publisher: American Bar Association
ISBN: 9781590319697
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 1204

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Book Description
This book provides explanations of the key procedural laws and presidential directives that apply across-the-board to federal agencies. It contains all the significant statutes, Executive Orders, memoranda, and other materials relating to the major aspects of administrative law and regulatory practice. In addition to the primary sources, this volume includes pertinent legislative history, bibliographies of related sources, and the editors' insightful commentary on each of the source documents.

Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals

Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309162661
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 463

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Book Description
This book is the ninth volume in the series Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals, and reviews AEGLs for bromine, ethylene oxide, furan, hydrogen sulfide, propylene oxide, and xylenes.

Exposure Science in the 21st Century

Exposure Science in the 21st Century PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309264685
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
From the use of personal products to our consumption of food, water, and air, people are exposed to a wide array of agents each day-many with the potential to affect health. Exposure Science in the 21st Century: A Vision and A Strategy investigates the contact of humans or other organisms with those agents (that is, chemical, physical, and biologic stressors) and their fate in living systems. The concept of exposure science has been instrumental in helping us understand how stressors affect human and ecosystem health, and in efforts to prevent or reduce contact with harmful stressors. In this way exposure science has played an integral role in many areas of environmental health, and can help meet growing needs in environmental regulation, urban and ecosystem planning, and disaster management. Exposure Science in the 21st Century: A Vision and A Strategy explains that there are increasing demands for exposure science information, for example to meet needs for data on the thousands of chemicals introduced into the market each year, and to better understand the health effects of prolonged low-level exposure to stressors. Recent advances in tools and technologies-including sensor systems, analytic methods, molecular technologies, computational tools, and bioinformatics-have provided the potential for more accurate and comprehensive exposure science data than ever before. This report also provides a roadmap to take advantage of the technologic innovations and strategic collaborations to move exposure science into the future.

Combined Exposures to Hydrogen Cyanide and Carbon Monoxide in Army Operations

Combined Exposures to Hydrogen Cyanide and Carbon Monoxide in Army Operations PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309113660
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 42

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Book Description
In response to a request from the U.S. Army, a committee convened by the National Research Council (NRC) conducted the first in a sequence of studies evaluating the combined health effects of low-level exposure to two chemicals Army personnel are likely to be exposed to in firing tank weapons. The Army sought information on whether the two chemicals, hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide, result in similar health impacts and should be assessed together when establishing exposure limits. Based on a review of the scientific literature, the report finds that the biochemical health impacts of the chemicals are similar and that the Army's proposed approach to setting exposure limits is appropriate. Because previous research has focused on high exposures, this initial NRC report recommends that futher neurological studies at low concentrations of exposure to the chemicals be conducted.

Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals

Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309449154
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
Extremely hazardous substances can be released accidentally as a result of chemical spills, industrial explosions, fires, or accidents involving railroad cars and trucks transporting EHSs. Workers and residents in communities surrounding industrial facilities where these substances are manufactured, used, or stored and in communities along the nation's railways and highways are potentially at risk of being exposed to airborne EHSs during accidental releases or intentional releases by terrorists. Pursuant to the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified approximately 400 EHSs on the basis of acute lethality data in rodents. Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals, Volume 20 reviews and updates the technical support document on acute exposure guideline levels (AEGLs) for selected chloroformates. This update focuses on establishing AEGL-3 values for n-propyl chloroformate and isopropyl chloroformate, but will also consider whether any new data are available that would affect the proposed values for the other 10 chloroformates. AEGLs represent threshold exposure limits (exposure levels below which adverse health effects are not likely to occur) for the general public and are applicable to emergency exposures ranging from 10 minutes (min) to 8 h. Three levels - AEGL-1, AEGL-2, and AEGL-3 - are developed for each of five exposure periods (10 min, 30 min, 1 h, 4 h, and 8 h) and are distinguished by varying degrees of severity of toxic effects. This report will inform planning, response, and prevention in the community, the workplace, transportation, the military, and the remediation of Superfund sites.

A Research Strategy for Environmental, Health, and Safety Aspects of Engineered Nanomaterials

A Research Strategy for Environmental, Health, and Safety Aspects of Engineered Nanomaterials PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309253314
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description
The nanotechnology sector, which generated about $225 billion in product sales in 2009, is predicted to expand rapidly over the next decade with the development of new technologies that have new capabilities. The increasing production and use of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) may lead to greater exposures of workers, consumers, and the environment, and the unique scale-specific and novel properties of the materials raise questions about their potential effects on human health and the environment. Over the last decade, government agencies, academic institutions, industry, and others have conducted many assessments of the environmental, health, and safety (EHS) aspects of nanotechnology. The results of those efforts have helped to direct research on the EHS aspects of ENMs. However, despite the progress in assessing research needs and despite the research that has been funded and conducted, developers, regulators, and consumers of nanotechnology-enabled products remain uncertain about the types and quantities of nanomaterials in commerce or in development, their possible applications, and their associated risks. A Research Strategy for Environmental, Health, and Safety Aspects of Engineered Nanomaterials presents a strategic approach for developing the science and research infrastructure needed to address uncertainties regarding the potential EHS risks of ENMs. The report summarizes the current state of the science and high-priority data gaps on the potential EHS risks posed by ENMs and describes the fundamental tools and approaches needed to pursue an EHS risk research strategy. The report also presents a proposed research agenda, short-term and long-term research priorities, and estimates of needed resources and concludes by focusing on implementation of the research strategy and evaluation of its progress, elements that the committee considered integral to its charge.

Managing Health Effects of Beryllium Exposure

Managing Health Effects of Beryllium Exposure PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309178010
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 186

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Book Description
Beryllium is a lightweight metal that is used for its exceptional strength and high heat-absorbing capability. Beryllium and its alloys can be found in many important technologies in the defense and aeronautics industries, such as nuclear devices, satellite systems, radar systems, and aircraft bushings and bearings. Pulmonary disease associated with exposure to beryllium has been recognized and studied since the early 1940s, and an occupational guideline for limiting exposure to beryllium has been in place since 1949. Over the last few decades, much has been learned about chronic beryllium disease and factors that contribute to its occurrence in exposed people. Despite reduced workplace exposure, chronic beryllium disease continues to occur. Those developments have led to debates about the adequacy of the long-standing occupational exposure limit for protecting worker health. This book, requested by the U.S. Air Force to help to determine the steps necessary to protect its workforce from the effects of beryllium used in military aerospace applications, reviews the scientific literature on beryllium and outlines an exposure and disease management program for its protecting workers.