Exposure assessment

Exposure assessment is a branch of environmental science and occupational hygiene that focuses on the processes that take place at the interface between the environment containing the contaminant(s) of interest and the organism(s) being considered. These are the final steps in the path to release an environmental contaminant, through transport to its effect in a biological system. It tries to measure how much of a contaminant can be absorbed by an exposed target organism, in what form, at what rate and how much of the absorbed amount is actually available to produce a biological effect. Although the same general concepts apply to other organisms, the overwhelming majority of applications of exposure assessment are concerned with human health, making it an important tool in public health.

Exposure assessment is the process of estimating or measuring the magnitude, frequency and duration of exposure to an agent, along with the number and characteristics of the population exposed. Ideally, it describes the sources, pathways, routes, and the uncertainties in the assessment.

Exposure analysis is the science that describes how an individual or population comes in contact with a contaminant, including quantification of the amount of contact across space and time. 'Exposure assessment' and 'exposure analysis' are often used as synonyms in many practical contexts. Risk is a function of exposure and hazard. For example, even for an extremely toxic (high hazard) substance, the risk of an adverse outcome is unlikely if exposures are near zero. Conversely, a moderately toxic substance may present substantial risk if an individual or a population is highly exposed.

Quantitative measures of exposure are used: in risk assessment, together with inputs from toxicology, to determine risk from substances released to the environment, to establish protective standards, in epidemiology, to distinguish between exposed and control groups, and to protect workers from occupational hazards.

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