What are the Key Steps in Carcinogenic Risk Assessment?
The process typically involves four main steps: Hazard Identification, Exposure Assessment, Dose-Response Assessment, and Risk Characterization.
Hazard Identification: This step involves determining whether a substance is a potential carcinogen based on available scientific evidence. Exposure Assessment: This step evaluates the extent and frequency of human exposure to the substance in question, considering various routes such as inhalation, ingestion, or dermal contact. Dose-Response Assessment: This involves characterizing the relationship between the dose of a substance and the incidence of cancer, often using mathematical modeling to extrapolate data from high-dose animal studies to low-dose human exposures. Risk Characterization: This step integrates data from the previous steps to estimate the likelihood of cancer occurring in a given population exposed to the carcinogen, often expressed as an excess lifetime cancer risk.
