Risk Assessment Flashcards
what is risk assessment
systematic scientific characterization of potential adverse health effects resulting from human exposure to hazardous agents or situations
what is risk
the probability of an adverse outcome under specified conditions
what is risk management
process by which policy actions are chosen to control hazards
who decides policy decisions and actions
potilics
what are the 3 main components of risk determination/ judgement
research, risk assessment, risk management
what are 4 main things that happen in risk assessment
- hazard identification
- dose response assessment
- exposure assessment
- risk characterization
what are 4 objectives for risk assessment
- protect human and ecological health
- balance risks and benefits
- set target levels of risk (food contaminants, water pollutants)
- set priorities for program activities (manufacturers, agencies)
what are the 4 four types of testing done to assess toxicity
- structure/ activity relationships
- in vitro and short term tests (cell culture, isolated tissue)
- in vivo animal bioassays
- epidemiological studies
what is a con for in vivo animal bioassays
expensive and long term
what is a pro for structure/ activity relationships
inexpensive
what is QSAR
quantitative structure activity relationships
what do QSARs do (GENERAL)
identify potential toxicities
what kind of things do they look at with QSAR
structure, solubility, stability, pH sensitivity, electrophilicity, volatility and reactivity
what is an example of a structural property that QSAR would flag
amine group on aromatic
so why would QSAR flag an amine group on aromatic
because experience shows that chemicals like this have been previously linked to cancer and DNA mutation in general
why might QSAR have mixed results
- difficult to predict activity across diff chemical classes
- difficult to predict multiple toxic outcomes based on limited testing (so many diff types of diseases)
what is a good way to increase QSAR accuracy
incorporate expert evaluation into the screening process
what is Ames test
bacterial to see ability to cause mutation
what is the best way to find evidence for toxicity in humans
epidemiological studies
what do epidemiological studies show
association between exposure and disease
what are the 3 kinds of epidemiological studies
cohort, case-control, cross-sectional
what is the initial classification in cohort studies (who is in it and how many)
exposure vs non exposure (large population)
what is the initial classification in case-control studies (who is in it and how many)
disease vs non disease (small group)
what is the initial classification in cross-sectional studies (who is in it and how many)
either exposure vs non exposure or disease vs non disease, often large populations
what is the time sequence in cohort studies
prospective (follow them for some time, check back for decades)
what is the time sequence classification in case control studies
retrospective (starting with people who already have disease, ask about the past)
what is the time sequence in cross sectional studies
present time
what is the comparison in cohort studies
exposed that develop the disease vs non exposed that develop disease
what is the comparison in case control studies
people with disease that were exposed vs. non-diseased people that were exposed
what is the comparison in cross sectional studies
people with disease that were exposed vs. non-diseased people that were exposed
OR
exposed that develop the disease vs non exposed that develop disease
what is the advantages in cohort studies
lack of bias in exposure(people choose what they do), powerful statistics that can support causation
what is the advantages in case control studies
inexpensive, small n, no attrition, good for rare diseases
which epidemiological study can support causation
cohort
what is the advantages in cross sectional studies
quick results, can determine prevalence (proportion of population with a disease/condition), can do studies with info gathered for other purposes
what is the disadvantages in cohort studies
long follow up, attrition, costly, large populations, poor for rare diseases (not big enough sizes to catch rare diseases)