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BACKGROUND: The National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences recently published the report Exposure Science in the 21st Century: A Vision and a Strategy. The expert committee [...]

BACKGROUND: The market of nanotechnology-based consumer products is rapidly expanding, and the lack of scientific evidence describing the accompanying exposure and health risks stalls the discussion regarding its guidance and [...]

BACKGROUND: Air pollution has been a topic of intense concern and study for hundreds of years. During the second half of the 20th century, the United States implemented regulations and [...]

BACKGROUND: Interactions between acute exposures to environmental chemical contaminants and psychological stress may be important in situations where they are likely to co-occur, ranging in intensity from daily urban living [...]

OBJECTIVE: The National Children's Study is a long-term epidemiologic study of 100,000 children from 105 locations across the United States. It will require information on a large number of environmental [...]

Two articles in the March 2014 issue of EHP were of particular interest to exposure scientists and phthalate researchers. The news article by Nicole (2014) emphasized the importance of the [...]

The field of exposure science began with qualitative observations and quantitative measurements of air contaminants to aid our understanding of exposure-disease relationships. In fact, some of the earliest writings that [...]

http://dx,diu,irg/10.1289/ehp.1104719R We welcome the remarks of van Tongeren and Cherrie regarding our recent editorial (Lioy and Rappaport 2011) and see no particular differences in our positions. As originally conceived, the [...]

During much of the twentieth century, Jersey City, New Jersey was the leading center of chromate production in the United States. Chromate production produced huge volumes of chromium ore-processing residue containing many parts per million of hexavalent chromium. Starting in the 1990s, we undertook a series of studies to identify exposed populations, sources and pathways of exposure and the effectiveness of remediation activities in Jersey City. These studies revealed the effectiveness and success of the remediation activities. The sequence of studies presented here, builds on the lessons learned from each preceding study and illustrates how these studies advanced the field of exposure science in important ways, including the use of household dust as a measure of exposure to contaminants originating in the outdoor environment; development of effective and reproducible dust sampling; use of household dust to track temporal changes in exposure; understanding of the spatial relationship between sources of passive outdoor particulate emissions and residential exposure; use of focused biomonitoring to assess exposure under conditions of large inter-individual variability; and utility of linking environmental monitoring and biomonitoring. For chromium, the studies have demonstrated the use of Cr+6-specific analytical methods for measuring low concentrations of Cr+6 in household dust and understanding of the occurrence of Cr+6 in the background residential environment. We strongly recommend that environmental and public health agencies evaluate sites for their potential for off-site exposure and apply these tools in cases with significant potential as appropriate. This approach is especially important when contamination is widespread and/or a large population is potentially exposed. In such cases, these tools should be used to identify, characterize and then reduce the exposure to the off-site as well as on-site population. Importantly, these tools can be used in a demonstrable and quantifiable manner to provide both clarity and closure to concerned stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment of the health risks resulting from exposure to ambient polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) is limited by a lack of environmental exposure data among the general population. This study characterized personal exposure and ambient concentrations of PAH in the Village of Waterfront South (WFS), an urban community with many mixed sources of air toxics in Camden, New Jersey, and CopeWood/Davis Streets (CDS), an urban reference area located ∼1 mile east of WFS. A total of 54 and 53 participants were recruited from non-smoking households in WFS and CDS, respectively. In all, 24-h personal and ambient air samples were collected simultaneously in both areas on weekdays and weekends during summer and winter. The ambient PAH concentrations in WFS were either significantly higher than or comparable to those in CDS, indicating the significant impact of local sources on PAH pollution in WFS. Analysis of diagnostic ratios and correlation suggested that diesel truck traffic, municipal waste combustion and industrial combustion were the major sources in WFS. In such an area, ambient air pollution contributed significantly to personal PAH exposure, explaining 44-96% of variability in personal concentrations. This study provides valuable data for examining the impact of local ambient PAH pollution on personal exposure and therefore potential health risks associated with environmental PAH pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on results of the Minnesota Children's Pesticide Exposure Study between May and September 2001. Measurement of urinary metabolite levels and the variability of napthalene or carbaryl, atrazine, malathion and chlorpyrifos, chlorpyrifos-methyl or triclopyr; Consideration of sociodemographic factors; Higher levels of children's metabolite than those of adults.