Benchmark dosedoseThe amount of a substance available for interactions with metabolic processes or biologically significant receptors after crossing the outer boundary of an organism. The POTENTIAL DOSE is the amount ingested, inhaled, or applied to the skin. The APPLIED DOSE is the amount presented to an absorption barrier and available for absorption (although not necessarily having yet crossed the outer boundary of the organism). The ABSORBED DOSE is the amount crossing a specific absorption barrier (e.g. the exchange boundaries of the skin, lung, and digestive tract) through uptake processes. INTERNAL DOSE is a more general term denoting the amount absorbed without respect to specific absorption barriers or exchange boundaries. The amount of the chemical available for interaction by any particular organ or cell is termed the DELIVERED or BIOLOGICALLY EFFECTIVE DOSE for that organ or cell.doseThe amount of a substance available for interactions with metabolic processes or biologically significant receptors after crossing the outer boundary of an organism. The POTENTIAL DOSE is the amount ingested, inhaled, or applied to the skin. The APPLIED DOSE is the amount presented to an absorption barrier and available for absorption (although not necessarily having yet crossed the outer boundary of the organism). The ABSORBED DOSE is the amount crossing a specific absorption barrier (e.g. the exchange boundaries of the skin, lung, and digestive tract) through uptake processes. INTERNAL DOSE is a more general term denoting the amount absorbed without respect to specific absorption barriers or exchange boundaries. The amount of the chemical available for interaction by any particular organ or cell is termed the DELIVERED or BIOLOGICALLY EFFECTIVE DOSE for that organ or cell. (BMDBMDAn exposure due to a dose of a substance associated with a specified low incidence of risk, generally in the range of 1% to 10%, of a health effect; or the dose associated with a specified measure or change of a biological effect.) methods are used by the U.S. EPA and throughout the world for dose-responseresponseThe biological result of an exposure or dose. Biological responses can be quantified in several ways. Some examples of the type of response data that can be used in a BMD dose-response analysis are dichotomous data (quantal data), nested data, continuous data, and categorical data. analyses to support chemical risk assessments and regulatory actions. The primary BMD tools developed by the U.S. EPA for this purpose are the Benchmark Dose Software (BMDS) and Categorical Regression (CatReg) software.

BMDS is consistent with the EPA Risk Assessment Forum's Benchmark Dose Technical Guidance Document (U.S. EPA, 2012) and the technical guidance for choosing the appropriate stage of a Multistage model for cancer modeling.