The Concept of Data Utility in Health Risk Assessment: A Multi-Disciplinary Perspective

ABSTRACT

Human and ecological health risk assessments and the decisions that stem from them require the acquisition and analysis of data. In agencies that are responsible for health risk decision-making, data (and/or opinions/judgments) are obtained from sources such as scientific literature, analytical and process measurements, expert elicitation, inspection findings, and public and private research institutions. Although the particulars of conducting health risk assessments of given disciplines may be dramatically different, a common concern is the subjective nature of judging data utility. Often risk assessors are limited to available data that may not be completely appropriate to address the question being asked. Data utility refers to the ability of available data to support a risk-based decision for a particular risk assessment. This article familiarizes the audience with the concept of data utility and is intended to raise the awareness of data collectors (e.g., researchers), risk assessors, and risk managers to data utility issues in health risk assessments so data collection and use will be improved. In order to emphasize the cross-cutting nature of data utility, the discussion has not been organized into a classical partitioning of risk assessment concerns as being either human health- or ecological health-oriented, as per the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund Program.

Key Words:

• data utility
• human health risk assessment
• microbial risk assessment
• ecological risk assessment
• risk management

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors greatly appreciate the contributions to this article by Marianne Miliotis and Wesley Long, Food and Drug Administration (FDA). We thank the presenters from the “Data Collection and Utilization in Risk Assessment and Management Decisions” workshop held in 2004: Peg Coleman, Syracuse Research Corporation; Martin Cole, National Center for Food Safety and Technology, Illinois Institute of Technology; John Luchansky, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center; Yuhuan Chen, National Food Processors Association; Richard Whiting, FDA, Center for Food Safety and Nutrition; Perry Chumley, Food Safety and Quality Assurance, U.S. Army Veterinary Command; and, Mary Bartholomew, FDA, Center for Veterinary Medicine. We also thank the presenters at the symposium “The Status of Data Utility in Health Risk Assessment and Decision Making: A Multi-disciplinary Review” in 2005: Chuanfa Guo, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service; Lawrence Tannenbaum, U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, Environmental Health Risk Assessment; Robert Buchanan, FDA; Jeffrey Swartout, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Center for Environmental Assessment; and, John Kearns, Plexus Scientific. In addition, we thank the other members of the Data Utility Work Group for their continued involvement: Sharon Edelson-Mammel, Andy Hwang, and Michael McElvaine. A special thank you goes to Michael McElvaine, Andy Hwang, Roberta Wagner, and Sherri Dennis for critical review of this article. The article was improved by the comments of two anonymous referees.

This manuscript is a product of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright restrictions.

Notes

¹ Superfund refers to the U.S. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Law. The law requires USEPA to rank the most hazardous of the U.S. uncontrolled hazardous waste sites, constituting the National Priorities List [NPL]; some Department of Defense land is on the NPL list, and therefore environmental risk assessments are performed.