The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), through its Public Health Service agencies (e.g., Slides 12 - 15) and program offices, has a mission to promote improvements in health and health services. Some of its health programs and offices are (or were) the Office of Public Health and Science, the U.S. Surgeon General, the National Center for Health Statistics, the National Center for Health Services Research and Health Care Technology Assessment, the National Toxicology Program (NTP), and the Office on Smoking and Health. The missions of these OASH programs routinely affect or result in health risk assessments (RA).

The RA methods used by the OASH programs include questionnaires, clinical trials, qualified medical testimonials, national probability surveys of human health, behavioral characteristics, and other health-related topics. In particular, toxicology research and testing activities within the NTP include cellular and genetic toxicology; reproductive and developmental toxicology; carcinogenesis; toxicology characterization; and chemical pathology.

Examples of RA activities performed by the OASH programs include: lead exposure; Medicare coverage; passive smoking; ethylene dibromide; and liver transplant (U.S. DHHS, 1986).