Some issues in risk assessment for agricultural chemicals

Risk assessment is now a significant feature of most environmental risk management programs, in both industry and government. The purpose of this paper is to describe the elements of risk assessment, their strengths and limitations, and their relationship to other activities, including research and risk management. Risk assessment issues to be examined are those especially important to the agricultural community, including problems of high-risk subpopulations, exposure through unauthorized pathways (e.g., those resulting from groundwater contamination or pesticide misuse), and inadequacies in toxicity and residue data bases.