Presentation and Interpretation of Results 



Examples of formats for presenting the results of risk assessments to 

 risk managers or technical audiences are provided below. These for- 

 mats are adaptable to any level of summary analysis (e.g., subpopula- 

 tion vs.total exposed population, individual fishery species vs. average 

 across species). Approaches to presentation of supporting documen- 

 tation on assumptions and uncertainties are also described. Interpreta- 

 tion of the results is largely a function of risk management. As such, 

 guidance on interpretation of risk estimates to support decisionmaking 

 is beyond the scope of this manual. Nevertheless, a brief discussion of 

 risk comparisons (e.g., estimated risks for various fish species; es- 

 timated risk vs. acceptable risk defined by policy) is provided to alert 

 the reader to the interface between risk assessment and risk manage- 

 ment. Supplementary information, such as comparisons of con- 

 taminant concentrations with FDA action levels, is addressed in the 

 final section below. 



The results of risk assessment may be summarized in both tabular and 

 graphic format. All final estimates of risk should be rounded to one 

 significant digit (or an order of magnitude if appropriate). The EPA 

 classification of the qualitative weight of evidence for carcinogenicity 

 should be shown in brackets adjacent to final risk estimates for car- 

 cinogens (U.S. EPA 1986a). To guide the reader's interpretation of the 

 information presented, supporting text should describe assumptions, 

 uncertainties, and any caveats about the results. All individual and 

 population-level risk estimates should be interpreted as plausible- 

 upper-limit values for the stated assumptions and exposure conditions. 



An example format for summarizing an exposure analysis is shown in 

 Table 6. The table format allows storage of quantitative information in 

 a computer spreadsheet. Columns of notes containing references to 

 sources of information can easily be added to the spreadsheet to 

 further document the exposure analysis. 



Presentation Format 



Summary Tables 



67 



