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FY16-19 IRAC Work Group
Approaches to Dietary Exposure Assessment:
Opportunities for Enhancement of Interagency Collaboration

The purpose of the Work Group was to identify dietary exposure assessment approaches and analytical tools used by U.S. federal agencies and to identify potential opportunities for increased collaboration among agencies.

The Work Group goals were to:

  1. Clarify the various decision-making contexts for which dietary exposure assessments are conducted and used.
  2. Identify and summarize the different data sets or data sources and how various government agencies use the data to conduct dietary assessments.
  3. Identify and summarize the approaches and procedures used for dietary exposure assessment in various agencies.
  4. Identify and summarize the capabilities of currently available dietary assessment software packages
  5. Identify potential opportunities for increased collaboration or sharing among agencies to advance dietary exposure assessment capabilities.

The Work Group met four times during 2016 to learn about agency approaches to dietary exposure assessment. At each meeting, one or two agencies presented information on data sources and approaches used in assessments to estimate dietary exposures to chemicals.

The Work Group found that dietary exposure assessment approaches vary among agencies based on a variety of factors, including the purpose for the assessment, agency regulatory requirements, the specific foods in question (e.g., raw agricultural commodities vs. processed products; meat/poultry vs. other foods), and available data. Current dietary exposure assessment methodologies used by federal agencies are targeted to specific agency needs and requirements and can be modified to some extent based on available data; using current approaches, agency dietary exposure assessments are systematic, transparent, reproducible, and flexible, and can be conducted quickly to support decision-making. Based on current methodology, exposure assessments can be conducted for specific populations, including vulnerable populations such as children and older adults, if such data are needed.

The Work Group determined that the best opportunity for cross-agency engagement to further enhance dietary exposure assessment approaches and procedures is through IRAC, via seminars or workshops. Dietary exposure assessment topics for future IRAC focus include age groups, recipe sources, and treatment of values below the limit of detection.

Work Group