Chemical Exposure And Toxic Responses

Providing material for practitioners and students alike, Chemical Exposure and Toxic Responses is a clear and straightforward presentation of industrial toxicology. Exposure to toxic chemicals is of major concern to health professionals. In recent years, the scope and importance of hazardous materials toxicology has expanded and now impacts financial institutions, government, private corporations, and many other organizations as well. Chemical Exposure and Toxic Responses presents the myriad health implications of hazardous chemicals in a single source. This book is organized so that readers can proceed from a general perspective on the problem of chemical exposure and toxic responses to an understanding of toxicology and a method of inquiry. Written for anyone who needs practical toxicological information, the book compactly and efficiently presents the scientific basis of toxicology as it applies to the workplace. It covers the diverse chemical hazards encountered in the work environment and provides a practical understanding of these hazards for those charged with protecting the health and well being of people at work. Chemical Exposure and Toxic Responses consists of three parts: Part I establishes the general principles of industrial toxicology; Part II addresses specific effects of toxic agents on specific physiological organs and systems; and Part III is devoted to the evaluation of hazards in the workplace.

The National Human Monitoring Program (NHMP) identifies concentrations of specific chemicals in human tissues, including toxicologic testing and risk assessment determinations. This volume evaluates the current activities of the NHMP; identifies important scientific, technical, and programmatic issues; and makes recommendations regarding the design of the program and use of its products.

The public depends on competent risk assessment from the federal government and the scientific community to grapple with the threat of pollution. When risk reports turn out to be overblownâ€"or when risks are overlookedâ€"public skepticism abounds. This comprehensive and readable book explores how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can improve its risk assessment practices, with a focus on implementation of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. With a wealth of detailed information, pertinent examples, and revealing analysis, the volume explores the "default option" and other basic concepts. It offers two views of EPA operations: The first examines how EPA currently assesses exposure to hazardous air pollutants, evaluates the toxicity of a substance, and characterizes the risk to the public. The second, more holistic, view explores how EPA can improve in several critical areas of risk assessment by focusing on cross-cutting themes and incorporating more scientific judgment. This comprehensive volume will be important to the EPA and other agencies, risk managers, environmental advocates, scientists, faculty, students, and concerned individuals.

Diseases of the kidney, bladder, and prostate exact an enormous human and economic toll on the population of the United States. This book examines prevention of these diseases through the development of reliable markers of susceptibility, exposure, and effect and the promise that new technologies in molecular biology and sophisticated understanding of metabolic pathways, along with classical approaches to the study of nephrotoxicants and carcinogens, can be developed and prevention of the diseases achieved. The specific recommendations included in this book complement those made in the previous three volumes on biomarkers, Biologic Markers in Reproductive Toxicology (1989), Biologic Markers in Pulmonary Toxicology (1989), and Biologic Markers in Immunotoxicology (1991).

In the last decade and a half, great progress has been made in the development of concepts and models for mixture toxicity, both in human and environmental toxicology. However, due to their different protection goals, developments have often progressed in parallel but with little integration. Arguably the first book to clearly link ecotoxicology and classic human toxicology, Mixture Toxicity: Linking Approaches from Ecological and Human Toxicology incorporates extensive reviews of exposure to toxicants, toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics, toxicity of mixtures, and risk assessment. The book examines developments in both fields, compares and contrasts their current state of the art, and identifies where one field can learn from the other. Each chapter provides an essential overview of the state of the art in both human and ecotoxicological mixture risk assessment, focusing on the work published in the last fifteen years. The coverage progresses from exposure to risk assessment, at each step identifying the special complications typically raised by mixtures. Based on in-depth discussions among specialists representing different disciplines and approaches, the chapters each address: Exposure — how to quantify the amounts of chemicals that may enter the living organism Kinetics, dynamics, and metabolism — how the chemicals enter an organism, travel within the organism, how they are metabolized and reach the target site, and explain development of toxicity with time Toxicity — what are the chemicals’ detrimental effects on the organism Test design and complex mixture characterization — how chemicals interact, how to measure effects of mixtures, and how to identify responsible chemicals Risk assessment — how to assess for risks in humans and the environment An unusual combination of different points of view on exposure to and risk assessment of chemical mixtures, this book summarizes current knowledge on combined effects of toxicant mixtures, information that is generally only available in a very fragmented form as individual journal papers. It identifies possible crosslinks and includes recommendations for mutual developments that can improve the state of knowledge on mixture toxicity and ultimately lead to better and more integrated risk assessment.

and for those interested in toxic effects of chemicals on humans, Human Variability in Response to Chemical Exposures: Measures, Modeling, & Risk Assessment recognizes & addresses the increasing awareness that individual biological differences be reflected when assessing human health risks associated with exposure to chemicals. Eight original manuscripts, commissioned by the ILSI Risk Science Institute, address the evidence for variability in human response to chemicals associated with reproductive & developmental effects, effects on the nervous system & lungs, & cancer. Their reports convey both the current state of scientific understanding of response variability & the genetic basis for such observations. This book recognizes that understanding of variability in response is critical in accounting for interindividual variability in susceptibility and, hence, risk, if the regulatory community & others are expected to characterize human health risks associated with exposure to chemicals. Models for incorporating measures of response variability in the risk assessment process are critically reviewed & illustrated with published data. This authoritative work indicates that, in the case of certain chemicals & in the context of certain specific toxic effects, we have considerable ability to predictively & quantitatively characterize human variability, but, in the majority of cases, our ability to do so is limited. If we improve both quantity & quality of information available on response variability & increase our understanding of target tissue dosimetry, we should be better able to account for variability in human susceptibility to the toxic effects of chemicals.

and for those interested in toxic effects of chemicals on humans, Human Variability in Response to Chemical Exposures: Measures, Modeling, and Risk Assessment recognizes and addresses the increasing awareness that individual biological differences be reflected when assessing human health risks associated with exposure to chemicals. Eight original manuscripts, commissioned by the ILSI Risk Science Institute, address the evidence for variability in human response to chemicals associated with reproductive and developmental effects, effects on the nervous system and lungs, and cancer. Their reports convey both the current state of scientific understanding of response variability and the genetic basis for such observations. This book recognizes that understanding of variability in response is critical in accounting for interindividual variability in susceptibility and, hence, risk, if the regulatory community and others are expected to characterize human health risks associated with exposure to chemicals. Models for incorporating measures of response variability in the risk assessment process are critically reviewed and illustrated with published data. This authoritative work indicates that, in the case of certain chemicals and in the context of certain specific toxic effects, we have considerable ability to predictively and quantitatively characterize human variability, but, in the majority of cases, our ability to do so is limited. If we improve both quantity and quality of information available on response variability and increase our understanding of target tissue dosimetry, we should be better able to account for variability in human susceptibility to the toxic effects of chemicals.