Success Stories

ORAU Assisted EPA with IRIS Chemical Assessments

Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) managed the external review process of Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) chemical assessments to facilitate objective, quality reports.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) maintains IRIS, which is an electronic database containing information on human health effects that may result from exposure to various environmental substances. IRIS currently provides health information on more than 500 chemical substances.

Once human health assessments and IRIS summaries are produced by the NCEA and have gone through internal reviews, they must be peer reviewed by external experts. It is important that outside experts evaluate the content accuracy and interpretation of the findings presented in these documents because they serve as critical tools for protecting public health. IRIS provides users with consistent information on specific chemical substances to aid them in decision-making and regulatory activities.

ORAU managed external peer reviews of IRIS documents with a focus on scientific objectivity, integrity, quality and transparency. ORAU has provided assistance to EPA's IRIS since 2003, including:

• Technical reviews of human health chemical risk assessments
• Reviews of supporting documents
• A workshop to address research needs