IRIS Process

IRIS Process Diagram—2009 Update (PDF) (1 pg, 68 K)

Notice

[07/11] EPA announced further improvements to the current IRIS process. July 12, 2011 Press Release.

[05/09] EPA released an update to the IRIS Process. May 21, 2009 Press Release.

The IRIS process consists of the development of a draft Toxicological Review for a chemical; internal and external scientific reviews of the draft document; EPA responses to review comments; and development and posting of an IRIS Summary and final Toxicological Review to EPA's web site. EPA announced revisions to the IRIS process in May 2009 and further revisions in 2011.

2012 Updates

On June 5, 2012, EPA released an IRIS Progress Report to Congress. This report, delivered to Congress on April 20, 2012, provides Congress, stakeholders, and the public with an update on the IRIS Program and EPA’s progress toward implementing the recommendations from the National Research Council (NRC), received in April 2011, for improving the development of IRIS assessments.

IRIS 2012 Progress Report to Congress

IRIS Progress Report to Congress – June 2012 (PDF) (29 pp, 1.34MB, about PDF)
Fact Sheet: Path Forward for IRIS - 2012 (PDF) (2 pp, 54.8 KB, about PDF)
IRIS Blog post by Becki Clark (Acting Center Director) May 2012

2011 Updates

In July 2011, EPA announced a plan to further strengthen and streamline its IRIS Program, in response to the April 2011 recommendations by the National Academy of Sciences. The most recent improvements include: reducing volume and redundancy of assessments; fuller discussion of methods and concise statements of criteria used in studies for hazard evaluation; clearer articulation of the rationale and criteria for screening studies; implementing uniform approaches for choosing studies and evaluating their findings; and describing the determinants of weight that were used in synthesizing the evidence. In addition, EPA is working to set up a dedicated advisory committee that will exclusively focus on the quality, transparency and scientific rigor of IRIS assessments. EPA will also create a peer consultation step early in the development of major IRIS assessments. Continually improving the IRIS program is an ongoing priority for the Agency, and these efforts work towards this goal.

IRIS 2011 Progress Report

IRIS Progress Report – July 2011 (PDF) (14 pp, 445 KB, about PDF)

2009 IRIS Process for Development of IRIS Assessments

In 2009 EPA announced revisions to the IRIS process per the Memo from Administrator Lisa Jackson from May 21, 2009 (PDF) (7 pp, 482 KB, about PDF). Highlights of the new IRIS development process included a streamlined review schedule, ensuring that the majority of assessments would be posted on IRIS within two years of the start date. This resulted in more human health assessments being available to EPA's programs and regions and to other users of the IRIS database. All written comments from other federal agencies and White House offices are made public, improving the transparency of the process.

For specific details: IRIS Assessment Development Process – May 2009 (PDF) (4 pp, 130 KB, about PDF).

2008 IRIS Process for Development of IRIS Assessments

The 2008 IRIS process consists of development of a draft Toxicological Review for the chemical, internal and external scientific reviews of the draft document, EPA responses to review comments, and development and posting on the IRIS web site of an IRIS Summary and final Toxicological Review. EPA is announcing revisions to the IRIS process. New steps in the process include increased participation by other federal agencies and the public in the development of the Toxicological Review and opportunities for other federal agencies to conduct research to fill data gaps.

For specific details: 2008 IRIS Process, available as reference

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