Regulatory risk assessments: Is there a need to reduce uncertainty and enhance robustness?

A critical evaluation of several recent regulatory risk assessments has been undertaken. These relate to propyl paraben (as a food additive, cosmetic ingredient or pharmaceutical excipient), cobalt (in terms of a safety-based limit for pharmaceuticals) and the cancer Threshold of Toxicological Concern as applied to food contaminants and pharmaceutical impurities. In all cases, a number of concerns can be raised regarding the reliability of the current assessments, some examples being absence of data audits, use of single-dose and/or non-good laboratory practice studies to determine safety metrics, use of a biased data set and questionable methodology and lack of consistency with precedents and regulatory guidance. Drawing on these findings, a set of recommendations is provided to reduce uncertainty and improve the quality and robustness of future regulatory risk assessments.