Risk Analysis, Uncertainty Factors, and the Susceptibilities of Children

Abstract

This article examines the use of uncertainty factors (UFs) by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) when developing health guidance values known as minimal risk levels (MRLs) in environmental risk analysis as it applies to children. Improvements in the chemical-specific databases often reveal new information and thereby reduce uncertainty or alternatively raise new concerns. As a result, MRLs can and will change. Children, in particular, are not “small adults” and in some instances demonstrate greater risks of exposure to environmental toxicants and greater susceptibility for adverse health effects once exposed. Recent experience with risk analysis for three toxicants (organic mercury, dioxin, and manganese) is recounted to demonstrate how ATSDR has revised MRLs as the emerging science generates greater knowledge and awareness of children's special vulnerabilities to toxic substances in the environment.