Drinking water standards and risk assessment

Journal Article · Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1988 · Regul. Toxicol. Pharmacol.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/0273-2300(88)90016-5· OSTI ID:5991720

Cotruvo, J A

The role and use of risk assessment methods in the establishment of drinking water standards are described with emphasis on recent applications. The process essentially includes an attempt to quantify human exposure from all routes including drinking water, animal toxicology, and human epidemiology, when available, to arrive at drinking water concentrations at which exposure would result in ''no known or anticipated adverse effects on health, with a margin of safety.'' The process itself is straightforward; however, the application to decision making for substances that are considered to be potentially nonthreshold acting in their toxicity (e.g., carcinogenic) requires many policy choices beyond the scientific data and is subject to considerable controversy.

• Research Organization: Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5991720
• Journal Information: Regul. Toxicol. Pharmacol.; (United States), Vol. 8:3
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
DRINKING WATER
STANDARDS
CARCINOGENS
CONTAMINATION
DECISION MAKING
LEGISLATION
RISK ASSESSMENT
WATER POLLUTION
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
WATER
520600* - Environment
Aquatic- Regulations - (-1989)
290300 - Energy Planning & Policy- Environment
Health
& Safety