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Marsh Distingusihed Lecture Series - March 2002

Paul Price

Director of the LifeLine Group
"Assessing Cumulative and Aggregate Risks under the Food Quality Protection Act"
Friday, March 15, 2002
Marsh Conference Room

Abstract: The passage of the Food Quality and Protection Act radically changed how pesticides are regulated. The EPA and registrants are now required to demonstrate that total (aggregate) exposure to a pesticide would not cause harm and that the cumulative exposure to multiple pesticides would not cause harm. Making these findings requires the use of simulation models. Historically, the only model available was proprietary. Use of this model raises significant policy issues on transparency and openness. However, three models that are more open are now under development. The use of multiple models now raises the issue of how to deal with model uncertainty in the regulatory process. This talk will present an overview of the technical concepts in such models and policy implications. Finally, a brief demonstration of one of the models will be provided.

Paul Price is the director of The LifeLine Group, a non-profit corporation created to develop open tools for the assessment of risks from chemical exposure. He has worked for the EPA and industry and is the author of more than 20 publications on exposure and risk.