Environmental Health Risk Assessment in the Federal Government: A Visual Overview and a Renewed Call for Coordination

In
the United States (U.S.), chemical evaluations and assessments
are conducted by seven federal agencies responding to distinct statutory
requirements and focusing on different exposure scenarios. While risk
assessment is a fundamental concept in public health practice and
policy, there is no clear, central, and concise summary of these processes.
The novel infographic presented here depicts more than 30 different
evaluation and assessment processes conducted by federal agencies
for chemicals found in the environment, workplace, consumer products,
hazardous waste sites, food, and/or cosmetics. The majority of these
assessments are statutorily required. Most serve as sources of authoritative
information to provide public health guidance or recommendations.
Less than half directly result in risk management actions or regulations.
Understanding these roles and processes can facilitate engagement
from the broader community, including by highlighting priority areas
for research to inform public health policy. This infographic also
illustrates the opportunity and need for further intra- and interagency
collaboration and coordination – including a particular focus
on aggregate risk assessment, given that the population regularly
experiences exposures from multiple sources crossing agency domains.