Risk Assessment | Toxi Lec - Midterms

• Risk Assessment - is the systemic scientific characterization of potential adverse health effects resulting from human exposure to hazardous agents or situations
• Risk Assessment - is an evaluation tool to check potential adverse impacts of chemical exposures.
• Risk Assessment - is an estimate of the likelihood of adverse effects that may result from exposure to a certain health hazard.
• Risks - are associated with negative outcomes.
• Risk - is anything that threatens the ability of a person or organization to accomplish its mission.
• Threat - a statistical chance or probability that a negative event will occur.
• Risk - constitutes a hazard.
• R = (F)(E) where:

  R - Risk

  F - Frequency

  E - Effect
• Risk - is defined as the probability of an adverse outcome.
• Risk - is an undesirable consequence of a particular activity in relation to the likelihood that it may occur.
• Hazard - internationally known as the probability of an adverse outcome.
• Hazard - is the capability of a substance to cause an adverse effect.
• Risk for Lung Cancer: 2nd-hand Smoking

  Hazard for Lung Cancer: Cigarette Smoking
• Step 1: Research

  Step 2: Risk Assessment
• 4 Key Steps of Risk Assessment

  • Hazard Identification
  • Dose-response Assessment
  • Exposure Assessment
  • Risk Characterization
• Hazard Identification - answers the question "What health problems are caused by the pollutant?"
• Dose-response Assessment - answers the question "What are the health problems at different exposures?"
• Risk Characterization - answers the questions "What is the extra risk of health problems in the exposed population?"
• Exposure Assessment - answers the questions:

  • How much of the pollutant do people inhale during a specific time period?
  • How many people are exposed?
• Hazard Identification - is the characterization of innate adverse toxic effects of agents.
• Dose-response Assessment - is the characterization of the relation between doses and incidences of adverse effects in exposed populations.
• Exposure Assessment - is the measurement or estimation of the intensity, frequency, and duration of human exposures to agents.
• Risk Characterization - is the estimation of the incidence of health effects under the various conditions of human exposure.
• Balance Risks and Benefits

  • Drugs
  • Pesticides
• Set Target Levels of Risk

  • Food contaminants
  • Water pollutants
• Set Priorities for Program Activities

  Regulatory Agencies:

  • FDA
  • DOH
  • WHO

  Manufacturers:

  • Food Manufacturers
  • Drug Manufacturers

  Environmental/consumer Organizations
• Hazard Identification - a process that determines whether exposure to a chemical can increase the incidence of a particular adverse health effect and determines the likelihood of occurrence in humans.
• In hazard identification, information is gathered and analyzed in a weight-of-evidence approach.
• Checking human epidemiology, in-vitro testing, and animal bioassays is an example of Hazard Identification.
• Determining if an agent can cause cancer, neurotoxicity, and birth defect is an example of Hazard Identification.
• Gravity - the force caused by the attraction of all other masses to the mass of the earth.
• Motion - the change in position of objects or substances.
• Mechanical - the energy of the components of a mechanical system, i.e., rotation, vibration, or motion within an otherwise stationary piece of equipment or machinery.
• Electrical - the presence and flow of an electric change.
• Pressure - energy applied by a liquid or gas that has been compressed or is under a vacuum.
• Hazard - a condition or action that has the potential for an unplanned release of, or unwanted contact with, an energy source that may result in harm or injury to people, property, or the environment.
• Temperature - the measurement of differences in the thermal energy of objects or the environment, which the human body senses as ither heat or cold.
• Chemical - the energy present in chemicals that inherently, or through reaction, has the potential to create a physical or health hazard to people, equipment, or the environment.
• Biological - living organisms that can present a hazard.
• Radiation - the energy emitted from radioactive elements or sources and naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM).