Archive

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Med. Pr. 2000;(14)

The system of combined exposure evaluation in environmental toxicology

System oceny narażenia złożonego w toksykologii środowiskowej

T. Dutkiewicz

Abstract

Following the studies of indicators of exposure and hazards posed by toxic substances in workplace,indoor and outdoor environments, calculation of the uptake dose, application of criteria for evaluating admissible and excessive doses and also the methods of aggregation of indicators, the system of integrated exposure evaluation is presented.
The indicators of exposure were calculated as quotients of the uptake dose or carcinogenic risk and allowable criteria values based on reference dose (RfD), reference concentrations (RfC)values, or allowable limits of carcinogenic risk.
The magnitude of exposure to a given substance was measured as the product of the exceeded limit value.
The aggregation (addition) of single indicators to create thesynthetic measure in the form of combined indices of exposure for three groups of toxic substances (carcinogenic, non-carcinogenic and irritating) renders it possible to evaluate combined exposure of single persons, or the whole population.
The indicators of exposure may also serve to characterize environments (occupational, indoor and outdoor), as well as to evaluate sources of exposure.
The field investigations were devoted to the evaluation of exposure in three differentiated groups of persons exposed to various environmental hazards. The results of these investigations confirmed the usefulness of the system in the evaluation of combined exposure.

Key words

combined exposure evaluation, exposure indicators ,synthetic measures, environmental toxicology