Biomarkers in Risk Assessment: Validity and Vlidation - Environmental Health Criteria 222

The aim of risk assessments is to provide society with estimates of the likelihood of illnesses and injury as a consequence of exposure to various hazards. Risk assessments are needed when social policy decisions are in dispute, when the health consequences of alternative policies in question are not subject to direct measurement (at least in a timely fashion), and when the scientific analysis of a hazard is not complete (Hattis & Silver, 1993).