Studies from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Describe New Findings in Risk Management (A Framework That Considers the Impacts of Time, Cost, and Uncertainty In the Determination of the Cost Effectiveness of Toxicity-testing …): Risk Management

2021 SEP 30 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Researchers detail new data in Risk Management. According to news reporting out of Durham, North Carolina, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “Regulatory agencies are required to evaluate the impacts of thousands of chemicals. Toxicological tests currently used in such evaluations are time-consuming and resource intensive; however, advances in toxicology and related fields are providing new testing methodologies that reduce the cost and time required for testing.”

Financial support for this research came from United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “The selection of a preferred methodology is challenging because the new methodologies vary in duration and cost, and the data they generate vary in the level of uncertainty. This article presents a framework for performing cost-effectiveness analyses (CEAs) of toxicity tests that account for cost, duration, and uncertainty. This is achieved by using an output metric-the cost per correct regulatory decision-that reflects the three elements. The framework is demonstrated in two example CEAs, one for a simple decision of risk acceptability and a second, more complex decision, involving the selection of regulatory actions. Each example CEA evaluates five hypothetical toxicity-testing methodologies which differ with respect to cost, time, and uncertainty. The results of the examples indicate that either a fivefold reduction in cost or duration can be a larger driver of the selection of an optimal toxicity-testing methodology than a fivefold reduction in uncertainty. Uncertainty becomes of similar importance to cost and duration when decisionmakers are required to make more complex decisions that require the determination of small differences in risk predictions.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “The framework presented in this article may provide a useful basis for the identification of cost-effective methods for toxicity testing of large numbers of chemicals.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: A Framework That Considers the Impacts of Time, Cost, and Uncertainty In the Determination of the Cost Effectiveness of Toxicity-testing Methodologies. Risk Analysis, 2021. Risk Analysis can be contacted at: Wiley, 111 River St, Hoboken 07030-5774, NJ, USA. (Wiley-Blackwell - http://www.wiley.com/; Risk Analysis - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1539-6924)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Paul S. Price, USA. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ctr Computat Toxicol & Exposure, Durham, NC 27709, United States. Additional authors for this research include Annette Guiseppi-Elie, Norman L. Adkins, Russell S. Thomas, Bryan J. Hubbell, Shintaro Hagiwara, Greg M. Paoli, Daniel Krewski and Maureen R. Gwinn.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.13810. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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