Question

The EPA evaluates all food pesticides with a four-part risk assessment to ensure that they can be used with "a reasonable certainty of no harm".

Describe, in detail, each of the 4 parts of this assessment.

Answer 1

-- The food pesticide risk assessment contain different types of techniques.For characterizing the risk there are 4 steps.

1) HAZARD IDENTIFICATION:-

-- The IDEM after the selection of area to study, samples the affected place or environment, check the samples and know the chemicals which are very risky.

-- The national screening equipment like EPA Toxic Release Inventory check the areas having high risk hazard.Sometime the complaints from the people leads the agency to do a risk assessment.In the first part of investigation they will collect potential sources and samples of the suspected risks.They will run this samples to check the range of chemicals, not only just the suspected risk chemicals.In that if any chemicals need more study then the agency will start a further risk study.

2) EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT:-

-- For the identified hazardous chemicals assessments are done.IDEM starts measuring the environment which is impacted for determining the potential human exposure.This section of testing need many years of the sampling.After that the quality is assured and the data is processed .For getting the meteorological data some other additional considerations are needed.The studies said that the chemicals are entering in our body through absorption, inhalation and through ingestion.The variety of exposure of the chemicals can affect the body in different ways.

3) DOSE RESPONSE ASSESSMENT:-

-- The correct dose response factor is selected for chemicals being studied.Many of the scientists has done the research to find persons risk for every exposure path.while selecting a dose response factor to give for a risk assessment research, the scientist conducting the study will be using the dose response factor that correctly fits the studies parameters.

4) RISK CHARACTERIZATION:-

-- An exposure level has been determined by the assessment and an correct dose response factor, the increased study area risk can be found.But the calculation of risk does not show the correct chance of developing diseases.The overall health will be protected by the health protective assumptions made at the time of risk calculation and however end up increasing the estimated number of calculated diseases.

--The final step of the risk assessment will be to communicate the final result to our public.