title: Enhancing the credibility of decisions based on scientific conclusions: transparency is imperative.
abstract: Transparency and documentation of the decision process are at the core of a credible risk assessment and, in addition, are essential in the presentation of a weight of evidence (WoE)-based approach. Lack of confidence in the risk assessment process (as the basis for a risk management decision), beginning with evaluation of raw data and continuing through the risk decision process, is largely because of issues surrounding transparency. There is a critical need to implement greater transparency throughout the risk assessment process, and although doing so will not guarantee the correctness of the risk assessment or that all risk assessors come up with the same conclusions, it will provide essential information on how a particular conclusion or decision was made, thereby increasing confidence in the conclusions. Recognizing this issue, the International Life Sciences Institute Health and Environmental Sciences Institute convened a multisector committee tasked with discussing this issue and examining existing guidance and recommendations related to transparency in risk assessment. The committee concluded that transparency is inextricably linked to credibility: credibility of the data, credibility of the risk assessment process, and credibility of the resulting decision making. To increase this credibility, existing guidance concerning criteria elements of transparency related to the risk assessment process must be more widely disseminated and applied, and raw data for studies used in human health and environmental risk assessment must be more widely available. Finally, the decision-making process in risk management must be better documented and a guidance framework established for both the process itself and its communication to the public.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pesticide Regulation, California Environmental Protection Agency, Sacramento, California 95812, USA.
authors.forename: Jay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schreider
authors.forename: Craig
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Barrow
authors.forename: Norman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Birchfield
authors.forename: Kerry
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dearfield
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Devlin
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Henry
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.forename: Seema
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schappelle
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Solomon
authors.forename: Douglas L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Weed
authors.forename: Michelle R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Embry
mesh_terms: D003657:Decision Making; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D012308:Risk Management