EPA publishes IRIS handbook and final IRIS assessment of perfluorobutanoic acid, related salts
The IRIS Handbook does not supersede existing EPA guidelines and does not serve as direction for other EPA programs.
In December, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced two important documents from its Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Program: The Office of Research and Development (ORD) Staff Handbook for Developing IRIS Assessments (IRIS Handbook) and the final IRIS Toxicological Review of Perfluorobutanoic Acid and Related Salts. These publications demonstrate EPA’s commitment to transparency and rigorous science for use in decision making.
The IRIS Handbook transparently provides procedures for staff developing IRIS assessments, including how to apply systematic review approaches. Systematic review uses prespecified scientific methods to identify, select, assess, and synthesize the findings of similar, but separate, studies. In IRIS assessments, such studies are used to identify human health hazards associated with exposure to chemicals found in the environment and derive toxicity values for health effects resulting from exposure.