In recent months several major misconceptions about human exposure research have circulated in the media and political arenas. Even Jocelyn Kaiser's article ‘EPA kills Florida pesticide study’ Science, Vol 308, Issue 5720, 340, 15 April 2005 on the Project called CHEERS (Children's Health Environmental Exposure Research Study) was mistakenly placed under the heading of ‘toxicology’. As active scientists in the field of human Exposure Science, we feel the need to offer a more accurate perspective on Exposure Science. An Exposure is defined as the event when a person comes into contact with a toxic material. Coming into contact with a toxic material is a highly dynamic process that varies from person to person (depending on behavior, location, and life style) and from one toxic substance to another. The determination of the degree of toxicity is the domain of toxicology, and occurs almost exclusively in the laboratory. The goal of Exposure Science is to identify and characterize ‘real world’ contacts with and uptake in the body of toxic materials that can cause acute or chronic health effects. The results of exposure studies are vital for reducing or preventing future exposures. Almost everybody is exposed to some degree to air or water pollution (outdoors and indoors), food contaminants, and many components or additives found in consumer products. Occasionally, high exposures will also occur. The essence of environmental health, consumer safety, and occupational health policies and regulations is therefore to reduce and limit such exposures to acceptable levels. Accountable and (cost-) effective policies thus require a thorough understanding of the exposure profiles in the population. For this reason, agencies like EPA and CDC, equivalent agencies abroad, and international bodies like the World Health Organization invest in human exposure research.
Exposure Science is predominantly observational (in contrast to the highly experimental nature of toxicology), performed in the field within normal living and working situations. The knowledge obtained can then be used in computer models for generalization to other populations including people deemed to be at higher risk. The conclusions drawn from these studies allow the evaluation of public health and environmental policy options for effective reduction or prevention of exposure.
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