Abstracts (PDF file, 1.8MB) - Society for Risk Analysis

SRA 2013 Annual Meeting Abstracts
W3-A.3 Fiorino, D ; American University;
dfiorino@american.edu
Policy Learning, Chemicals, and Risk: Can Policy
Innovation Keep Up with Technology Change?
The context for safe management of chemicals has changed
dramatically in the last four decades, since the passage of the
Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976. For example, the
development of nanotechnologies and synthetic biology have
dramatically changed the regulatory contexts, as have other
technology changes. The focus of this presentation is on the
need for new models of regulation or complements to
regulation for responding to these changes in technologies. The
rapid changes in the regulatory context mean that the old
model of regulation increasingly is poorly-suited to chemical
risk management issues. This presentation suggests "policy
innovations" that offer ways of managing this new chemicals
challenges effectively. Among them are collaborative
governance models, new regulatory frameworks, combinations
of regulatory and voluntary programs, and third-party codes
and certifications. Each of these are linked conceptually by
their focus on flexibility, adaptive management, and policy
learning. This presentation builds upon the presenter's previous
work on oversight of nanotechnology issues and on the need for
new models of environmental regulation.
T1-K.1 Fitzpatrick, JW*; Schoeny, R; Gallagher, K; Ohanian,
EV; U.S Environmental Protection Agency;
fitzpatrick.julie@epa.gov
EPA’s Framework for Human Health Risk Assessment to
Inform Decision Making
The Framework for Human Health Risk Assessment to Inform
Decision Making was developed by a technical panel of the
EPA’s Risk Assessment Forum to be responsive to the decision
making needs of the agency. Most importantly, it addresses the
recommendations presented in NRC’s Science and Decisions
(2009) relative to the design of risk assessments, including
planning, scoping, and problem formulation. This Framework
will be instrumental in facilitating the implementation of
existing and future EPA guidance for conducting human health
risk assessments and in improving the utility of risk assessment
in informed risk management decision-making process. In
accordance with longstanding agency policy, it also emphasizes
the importance of scientific review and public, stakeholder and
community involvement. This presentation will discuss details
of the Framework and associated implementation plans by the
agency.
W2-J.1 Fitzpatrick, BG*; Angelis, E; Polidan, EJ; Tempest
Technologies; fitzpatrick@tempest-tech.com
Estimating The Risk of Rabies Entry into The State of
Hawaii
Considered one of the oldest documented infectious diseases,
rabies remains a dangerous zoonotic disease threat today
exhibiting a global geographic spread, a broad spectrum of
mammalian reservoirs and vectors, and possesses the highest
case fatality rate of any disease-causing agent. Transmitted via
the saliva of an infected mammal, the rabies virus aggressively
attacks the central nervous system and if left untreated is
almost always fatal. Health care costs associated with the
detection, prevention and control of rabies in the U.S. are
estimated to exceed $300M annually. Distinguishing itself from
all other U.S. states, Hawaii maintains a rabies-free status and
has never reported an indigenous rabies case (animal or
human). The state has upheld this status due to a quarantine
law enacted in 1912 that requires a post-arrival confinement
period of 120 days for imported dogs and cats. Beginning in
1996, the state has conducted a series of risk assessments to
identify new alternatives and modifications to the 120-day
confinement law, with current law maintaining the 120-day
quarantine and providing a very rigorous 5-day quarantine. In
this paper, we examine some additional quarantines of interest
to the state, including 30-, 60- and 90-day confinements. The
procedure we employ uses scenario trees that structure the
individual risk components involved in bringing an animal into
Hawaii. Using data from a number of rabies epidemiology
studies, we estimate parameters for a Bayesian model for risk
probabilities, and we present a number of comparisons of
rabies introduction likelihoods.
M4-A.1 Fitzpatrick, S*; Carrington, C; US Food and Drug
Administration; Clark.Carrington@fda.hhs.gov
Dietary exposure to inorganic arsenic from food in
general and rice in particular.
Given its widely appreciated toxic properties, arsenic in food
has always been an important topic in food safety. It has also
long been known that the organic species of arsenic in seafood
is far less toxic than inorganic arsenic in food or water.
However, modern chemical analytical methodology has led to
the realization that there are many different forms of arsenic in
food that a different toxicological properties. At the very least,
there are three major categories of arsenic; inorganic arsenic
species that are the most toxic, methylated arsenic species that
are moderately toxic, and arsenic complexes that are practically
nontoxic. While arsenic complexes are the predominant form in
fish, and inorganic arsenic is the predominant form in drinking
water, arsenic in most foods are comprised of a combination of
inorganic and methylated species. Recent survey work
conducted by the USFDA as well as other agencies indicates
that while most foods have some inorganic arsenic at a
relatively constant level, most of the variation in total arsenic
concentrations is attributable to the presence of methylated
arsenic species in highly varying amounts. In addition to
considering the chemical form of arsenic in food, dietary
exposure assessments must be tailored to the temporal
component of the toxicological evaluation and to the individuals
or populations that consume a particular food. Thus, while per
capita averages of lifetime intake may serve well as
characterizations of public health for some health endpoints
(e.g. lifetime cancer risk), risk estimates intended to inform
individual consumers are better served by the use of exposure
estimates that are based on frequency of consumption.
Although drinking water and smoking can also be dominant
sources of exposure for some people, the major source of
exposure to inorganic arsenic in the United States in the diet.
In particular, rice can be the principle source of exposure in
individuals and populations who are frequent consumers.
December 8-11, 2013 - Baltimore, MD