A risk assessment for selected lead-induced health effects: an example of a general methodology

The research described here is part of a larger risk assessment project to aid the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in its review of the primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard for lead. The methodology can be applied to many situations in which a policy decision about a toxic substance is required in the face of incomplete data. Numerical results are presented for three potentially adverse lead-induced effects of interest to EPA: elevated erythrocyte protoporphyrin (EP), hemoglobin (Hb) decrement, and intelligence quotient (IQ) decrement.