The significance of information frameworks in integrated risk assessment and management

We present an analysis of frameworks for information on integrated risk assessment and management, focusing on issues related to environmental and health risks of chemicals and their regulation at the EU level. By frameworks we understand the conceptual and procedural constructs within which information is assimilated, processed and given meaning. We examine different aspects of integrated risk information and how these are handled in different frameworks. We mainly address integration in relation to policy, specifically in risk evaluation and risk–benefit considerations, in interaction of assessment and management, and in policy level uncertainties. We show how the policy level influences the frameworks and hence the level and use of integrated assessments, and how they interact with new information and scientific frameworks in EU chemicals control such as the REACH legislation. We conclude that by paying better attention to the nature of the framework it is possible to focus on the most crucial aspects of integration. In this way it is possible to develop appropriate flexible assessments that focus on key complexities and issues without getting entrenched in details of minor significance for the policy problem at hand.