Assessing the risk assessment paradigm.

Risk assessment provides an essential framework for organizing, evaluating and characterizing scientific information on the nature and magnitude of hazards from specific chemicals. Such characterization of risk is needed for risk communication and for risk reduction and management. Each element of the risk assessment paradigm--hazard identification, dose-response, exposure analysis and risk characterization--is the target of important efforts to improve methodologies and the biological plausibility and clinical significance of our conclusions.