Recommending Health-Based Exposure Limits in the National and International Arena: A Personal View

Abstract

Risk is the measured or estimated probability of injury, disease, or death inherent in our daily activities (Johanssen 1990). Thus, the health risk of chemicals is the measured or estimated probability of injury, health or death inherent in the use of chemicals. Estimation of the health risk associated with the use of chemicals requires an identification of the potential health effects (toxicity or hazard identification) as well as a determination of the amount of a chemical to which humans are exposed (exposure assessment). Careful assessment of these ingredients of health risk allows scientists to define the conditions under which the risk is sufficiently high to cause concern, as well as the conditions where the risk would be sufficiently low as to be of no health concern (Johanssen 1990).