Integrated Risk Information System

Technical Report · Sat Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1991

OSTI ID:5380000

The Resource Conservation of Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) established a regulatory program for cradle-to-grave'' management of hazardous wastes; the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) established a Federal program to assess and respond to unpermitted or uncontrolled releases of hazardous substances into the environment. The overall performance measure of these two regulatory programs is protection of human health and the environment. In order to assess the threats to human health posed by RCRA hazardous wastes and CERCLA hazardous substances, a quantitative measure of the adverse impact of hazardous constituents on persons exposed and potentially exposed is required. The quantitative assessment of threats to human health is called risk assessment.'' and risk assessment is an integral part of both the RCRA and CERCLA regulatory programs. To facilitate the quantification of risks under the RCRA, CERCLA, and other regulatory programs, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS). Its purpose is to provide an authoritative source of risk information for chemicals of environmental and public health concern. IRIS is an one-line database of risk summaries for over 370 chemicals. It provides information on the relationship between chemical exposure and estimated human health effects. This information is based on EPA reviews of available studies. The risk values provided in IRIS are reviewed and agreed upon by scientists throughout EPA. As such, these values represent an agency-wide scientific consensus. IRIS was designed to provide information for performing EPA human health risk assessments. Such risk assessments are divided into four steps: (1) hazard identification, (2) dose-response assessment, (3) exposure assessment, and (4) risk characterization. IRIS's risk values are used during the hazard identification and dose-response assessment steps. 2 tabs.

• Research Organization: USDOE Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety, and Health, Washington, DC (United States). RCRA/CERCLA Div.
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• OSTI ID: 5380000
• Report Number(s): DOE/EH-0194; ON: DE91018503
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560300* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
990300 -- Information Handling
CARCINOGENS
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
DATA BASE MANAGEMENT
DOCUMENT TYPES
ELEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
HUMAN FACTORS
INFORMATION DISSEMINATION
INFORMATION RETRIEVAL
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
INORGANIC COMPOUNDS
LAWS
LIABILITIES
MANAGEMENT
MANUALS
MATERIALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION LAWS
PUBLIC HEALTH
REGULATIONS
RESOURCE CONSERVATION
RESOURCE RECOVERY ACTS
RISK ASSESSMENT
SUPERFUND
TOXIC MATERIALS
TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT
TOXICITY
US EPA
US ORGANIZATIONS