Setting Pesticide Reference Doses: A Retrospective Analysis Examining Key Data and Choices |
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| Authors: | Elizabeth Holman George Gray |
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| Institution: | 1. Office of Pesticide Programs, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, USA;2. Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Center for Risk Science and Public Health, George Washington University, School of Public Health and Health Services, Washington, DC, USA;3. Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Center for Risk Science and Public Health, George Washington University, School of Public Health and Health Services, Washington, DC, USA |
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| Abstract: | Toxicity tests are widely used to set “acceptable” levels of chemical exposure. Different organizations have identified a base set of tests specifying a mix of endpoints, durations, and species to be tested. A specific test and endpoint is chosen as the basis for calculation of human health risk values like reference doses (RfDs). This study empirically evaluates the data and choices made in setting acute and chronic RfDs for 352 conventional pesticides. The results suggest that for Acute, Acute-Female Specific, and Chronic RfDs one test is used far more than others. Ninety-six percent of the 116 Acute Female-Specific RfDs relied on a developmental toxicity test and 78% of Chronic RfDs used the chronic bioassay. Tests in rats were used far more often than other species in all RfD calculations. For all types of RfDs a total uncertainty factor of 100 was most common although values as low as 1 and as high as 3000 were seen. These results provide insights not only into the science policy frameworks used, but also into ways toxicity testing and risk assessment may be streamlined and made more efficient. |
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| Keywords: | risk assessment reference dose science policy pesticides |
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