February 2012 - A Busy Month for IRIS Assessment Reports

February 2012 saw the final release of three significant final Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessments. These included tetrachloroethene (PCE); 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), the most toxic form of the dioxin family; and tetrahydrofuran (THF). In this first-time risk assessment of THF, EPA declined to set a cancer potency estimate for the substance. In addition, EPA released only the non-cancer portion of its final TCDD assessment.

IRIS is EPA's human health assessment program that evaluates risk information of affects that may result from exposure to environmental contaminants. Through the IRIS Program, EPA provides the science-based human health assessments to support the Agency's regulatory activities and for use in risk assessments conducted by the regulated community. Since its beginning in the mid-1980s, the program has been faulted for its slow turnaround, a criticism they appear to be addressing.