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.

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.

Risk assessment has become a dominant public policy tool for making choices, based on limited resources, to protect public health and the environment. It has been instrumental to the mission of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as other federal agencies in evaluating public health concerns, informing regulatory and technological decisions, prioritizing research needs and funding, and in developing approaches for cost-benefit analysis. However, risk assessment is at a crossroads. Despite advances in the field, risk assessment faces a number of significant challenges including lengthy delays in making complex decisions; lack of data leading to significant uncertainty in risk assessments; and many chemicals in the marketplace that have not been evaluated and emerging agents requiring assessment. Science and Decisions makes practical scientific and technical recommendations to address these challenges. This book is a complement to the widely used 1983 National Academies book, Risk Assessment in the Federal Government (also known as the Red Book). The earlier book established a framework for the concepts and conduct of risk assessment that has been adopted by numerous expert committees, regulatory agencies, and public health institutions. The new book embeds these concepts within a broader framework for risk-based decision-making. Together, these are essential references for those working in the regulatory and public health fields.

The new field of toxicogenomics presents a potentially powerful set of tools to better understand the health effects of exposures to toxicants in the environment. At the request of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Research Council assembled a committee to identify the benefits of toxicogenomics, the challenges to achieving them, and potential approaches to overcoming such challenges. The report concludes that realizing the potential of toxicogenomics to improve public health decisions will require a concerted effort to generate data, make use of existing data, and study data in new waysâ€"an effort requiring funding, interagency coordination, and data management strategies.

In fact, with the control and containment of most infectious conditions and diseases of the past millennium having been achieved in most developed countries, and with the resultant increase in life expectancies, much more attention seems to have shifted to degenerative health problems. Many of the degenerative health conditions have been linked to thousands of chemicals regularly encountered in human living and occupational/work environments. It is important, therefore, that human health risk assessments are undertaken on a consistent basis - in order to determine the potential impacts of the target chemicals on public health.

This book provides a concise, yet comprehensive overview of the many facets relating to human health risk assessments in relation to chemical exposure problems. It presents some very important tools and methodologies that can be used to address chemical exposure and public health risk management problems in a consistent, efficient, and cost-effective manner. On the whole, the book represents a collection and synthesis of the principal elements of the risk assessment process that may be used to more effectively address issues pertaining to human exposures to chemicals found in modern societies. This also includes an elaboration of pertinent risk assessment concepts and techniques/methodologies for performing human health risk assessments. Written for both the novice and the experienced, the subject matter of this book is an attempt at offering a simplified and systematic presentation of public health risk assessment methods and application tools – all these facilitated by a layout that will carefully navigate the user through the major processes involved. A number of illustrative example problems are interspersed throughout the book, in order to help present the book in an easy-to-follow, pragmatic manner.