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.