Exposure Assessment In Occupational And Environmental Epidemiology

Set against a background of growing public, media and political concern about occupational and environmental health issues, and a scientific need to better understand and explain the effects of pollutants on human health, this book is a unique resource. Contributions from an expert panel of international practitioners provide a comprehensive reference on the state of the art methods and applications in the field of occupational and environmental pollution and the adverse health effects, particularly the exposure assessment in epidemiological studies. Risks associated with occupational and environmental exposure are generally small, but the exposed population, and hence the population attributable risk, may be large. To detect small risk, the exposure assessment needs to be very refined. Exposure assessment is the study of the distribution and determinants of potentially hazardous agents, and includes the estimation of intensity, duration and frequency of exposure, the variation in these indices and their determinants. The aim of this book is to develop an understanding and knowledge of exposure assessment methods and their application to substantive issues in occupational and environmental epidemiology. The emphasis is on methodological principles and good practice. It is focused on exposure assessment in both occupational and environmental epidemiology since there are many similarities but also some interesting differences. The book outlines the basic principles of exposure assessment, and examines the current status and research questions in the exposure assessment of occupational and environmental epidemiological studies of allergens, particulate matter, chlorination disinfection by-products, agricultural pesticides and radiofrequencies. The book will be of interest to all concerned with exposure assessment and epidemiology. It will be a valuable source for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in exposure assessment, occupational hygiene, environmental science, epidemiology, toxicology, biostatistics, occupational and environmental health, health risk assessment and related disciplines and a useful resource of reference for policy makers and regulators.

Preceded by Exposure assessment in occupational and environmental epidemiology / edited by Mark J. Nieuwenhuijsen. 1st ed. 2003.

In this book, Thomas J. Smith and David Kriebel assert that important advances in the quantification of environmental risks can only come through a true synthesis of the fields of environmental epidemiology and exposure assessment. They have built a common biologic model of exposure, physiologic response, and disease, a synthesis of the various existing models which serves to both simplify and improve the application of environmental epidemiology and exposure assessment to current and future environmental chemical risks.

Many individuals and groups need a usable treatment of the methodology required to assess the human health risks caused by toxicant exposure. This need is shared by industrial hygienists, environmental, occupational and public health professionals, toxicologists, epidemiologists, labor unions, attorneys, regulatory officials, and manufacturers and users of chemicals. The reader needs only a basic knowledge of biology adn algebra in order to utilize the methodology presented. In addition, a basic knowledge of toxicology, epidemiology, and statistics is derisrable for a full understanding of some aspects of risk assessment. Sophisticated computer programs are not required. All the computations can be carried out with a pocked calculator.

Environmental epidemiology is the study of disease and environmental determinants of disease in humans, for example air pollution, water contamination, pesticides and telephone masts. This book describes the methods of environmental epidemiology and provides practical guidance on how to conduct studies on environmental problems and health effects.

Over the last three decades, significant progress has been made not only in the technology of measuring air contaminants but also in the statistical descriptions of exposure distributions and exposure assessment strategies. Occupational Exposures for Air Contaminants addresses the various aspects of occupational exposure assessment for air contamin

What agents should be measured? How should measurement be performed and what averaging time should be used for the measurement? What sampling strategy should be employed to characterize exposures across individuals, locations, and time? What durations of exposure should be characterized? What statistical descriptors should be used to relate exposure to effect? Exposure Assessment for Epidemiology and Hazard Control examines various approaches to answering these and other important questions. Other topics discussed include the measurement of current exposures (e.g., vapors, gases, aerosols, and complex mixtures); the application of toxicological relationships, including biological markers and sample models; an epidemiological evaluation of exposure-effect relationships, including new methods for effect evaluation and models for population exposure estimates; and strategies for exposure assessment, such as biological sampling interpretation through toxicokinetic processes. This important new volume contains essential information for industrial hygienists, epidemiologists, occupational health physicians, toxicologists, and immunologists.

Determining the health risks to humans of exposure to toxic substances in the environment is made difficult by problems such as measuring the degree to which people have been exposed and determining causationâ€"whether observed health effects are due to exposure to a suspected toxicant. Building on the well-received first volume, Environmental Epidemiology: Hazardous Wastes and Public Health, this second volume continues the examination of ways to address these difficulties. It describes effective epidemiological methods for analyzing data and focuses on errors that may occur in the course of analyses. The book also investigates the utility of the gray literature in helping to identify the often elusive causative agent behind reported health effects. Although gray literature studies are often based on a study group that is quite small, use inadequate measures of exposure, and are not published, many of the reports from about 20 states that were examined by the committee were judged to be publishable with some additional work. The committee makes recommendations to improve the utility of the gray literature by enhancing quality and availability.