Environmental Health Risk Assessment in the Federal Government: A Visual Overview and a Renewed Call for Coordination

In the United States (U.S.), chemical evaluations and assessments are conducted by seven federal agencies responding to distinct statutory requirements and focusing on different exposure scenarios. While risk assessment is a fundamental concept in public health practice and policy, there is no clear, central, and concise summary of these processes. The novel infographic presented here depicts more than 30 different evaluation and assessment processes conducted by federal agencies for chemicals found in the environment, workplace, consumer products, hazardous waste sites, food, and/or cosmetics. The majority of these assessments are statutorily required. Most serve as sources of authoritative information to provide public health guidance or recommendations. Less than half directly result in risk management actions or regulations. Understanding these roles and processes can facilitate engagement from the broader community, including by highlighting priority areas for research to inform public health policy. This infographic also illustrates the opportunity and need for further intra- and interagency collaboration and coordination - including a particular focus on aggregate risk assessment, given that the population regularly experiences exposures from multiple sources crossing agency domains.