In the United States, numerous federal laws have been enacted to protect public health by regulating exposure to potentially toxic materials. This type of regulatory process typically entails some health risk assessment (RA) for the material at issue, and an evaluation of the risk assessment’s outcome. The contributions of toxicology and epidemiology to RA were discussed briefly in previous slides. At least five federal health agencies are directly or indirectly involved in this type of RA (Office of Science and Technology Policy,1986). These are the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC); the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH); and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Some of the federal laws known to have a greater impact are: Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act (regulated by FDA – concerning food, drugs, medical devices, cosmetics, food and color additives, etc.); Food Quality Protection Act (FDA, EPA – food, food residues); Federal Hazardous Substance Act (CPSC – toxic household products); Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSC – hazardous consumer products); Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA, NIOSH – workplace toxic chemicals); Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (EPA – pesticides); Clean Air Act (EPA – air pollutants); Clean Water Act (EPA – water pollutants); Safe Drinking Water Act (EPA – contaminants in drinking water); and Toxic Substance Control Act (EPA – toxic chemicals not covered by other laws).