US EPA

Risk assessment methodologies provide a mechanism for incorporating scientific evidence and Judgments Into the risk management decision process. isk characterization framework has been developed to provide a systematic approach for analysis and presentation of risk characterization study results. his framework was used a s a tool to review published studies that provide quantitative risk estimates associated with exposure to indoor air pollutants. omparisons of both the methods and the resulting risk estimates are presented. ritical assumptions concerning risk estimates and exposure estimates for each study are recorded on the framework. Fourteen risk characterization studies were reviewed include three studies for radon, six for environmental tobacco smoke, three for volatile organics, one for formaldehyde only, and one for asbestos. The quality and rigor of analysis varied greatly among the studies reviewed. ome of the studies clearly state that they are intended to be sensitivity analyses, preliminary analyses or screening studies, others are reported as sensitivity analysis, and others are detailed risk assessments. tudies which are technically rigorous in some risk components (e.g., dose-response relationships) are often less rigorous in other components (e.g. exposure assessment). his report is second in a series of EPA/Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office Monographs.

U.S. EPA. INDOOR AIR ASSESSMENT - A REVIEW OF INDOOR AIR QUALITY RISK CHARACTERIZATION. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/8-90/044 (NTIS PB92109107), 1991.