“A new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council says that changes EPA has proposed and implemented into its Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) process are “substantial improvements.”  While acknowledging the progress made to date, the report offers further guidance and recommendations to improve the overall scientific and technical performance of the program, which is used to assess the hazards posed by environmental contaminants. In 2011, a Research Council committee reviewed EPA’s IRIS assessment for formaldehyde and found deficiencies both in the particular assessment as well as more broadly in EPA’s general assessment methods.  EPA was directed by Congress to implement the report’s general recommendations on the IRIS process, and the Research Council was then tasked with assessing the changes made and recommending additional modifications. In response to the recommendations in the formaldehyde report, EPA developed a new document structure, added a standard preamble to all assessments that describes the IRIS process, drafted a handbook that provides a more detailed description of this process and its underlying principles, formed chemical assessment support teams to oversee the process and ensure consistency, and increased opportunities for stakeholder input. The Research Council committee that wrote the new report found the improved documentation better organizes and streamlines IRIS assessments, and the preamble is useful although it doesn’t fulfill the need for a description in each assessment that indicates how the general principles are applied.  The report recommends that the handbook be peer-reviewed, that IRIS assessments clearly identify the members of all teams involved, and that outside experts be engaged when needed.  It adds that EPA should provide technical assistance to stakeholders who might not have the resources to provide input into the IRIS process.”