ASSESSING CHEMICAL EXPOSURE

Preview This section provides a brief overview of some methods to measure and assess exposures to chemicals using air monitoring techniques and biological monitoring techniques. 

My father is a chemist, my mother was a homemaker. My parents instilled in us the feeling that learning was the most exciting thing that could happen to you and it never ends. 

What lessons can be learned from this incident  

We have learned methods to minimize exposures to chemicals during laboratory operations. But how can we know whether our methods are effective to prevent or minimize exposures This is especially important for your safety if the chemicals being used are very toxic. Remember that the greater the toxicity the greater the hazard, and the greater the protection that is needed. Perhaps the hood in Incident 6.3.1.1 would have been sufficient for a much less toxic compound, but for a very toxic compound having a very low occupational exposure limit, it was not adequate. 

There are few circumstances where constant monitoring of an environment is required or recommended. 

---

To conclude, a combination of both modeling and measuring procedures should be the most appropriate and wise recommendation for assessing chemical exposure in environmental scenarios. 

Huckins, J.N. Prest, H.F. Petty, J.D. Lebo, J.A. Hodgins, M.M. Clark, R.C. Alvarez, D.A. Gala, W.R. Steen, A. Gale, R.W Ingersoll, C.G. 2004, Overview and comparison of lipid-containing semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) and oysters (Crassostrea gigas) for assessing chemical exposure. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 23 1617-1628. 

Kavlock R, Dix D (2010) Computational toxicology as implemented by the U.S. EPA providing high throughput decision support tools for screening and assessing chemical exposure, hazard and risk. J Toxicol Environ Health B Crit Rev 13(2 ) 197-217... 

Boeniger, M.F., L.K. Lowry and J. Rosenberg (1993). Interpretation of Urine Results Used to Assess Chemical Exposure with Emphasis of Creatinine Adjustments A Review, Am. Ind. Hyg. Assoc. J., 54, 615-627. 

Another approach to evaluating exposure uses chemical, biochemical, or physiological evidence (e.g., biomarkers) of a previous exposure. This approach has been used primarily for assessing chemical exposures and is particularly useful when a residue or biomarker is diagnostic of exposure to a particular chemical. These types of measurements are most useful for exposure characterization when they can be quantitatively linked to the amount of stressor originally contacted by the organism. Pharmacokinetic models are sometimes used to provide this linkage. 

Biological monitoring (aka biomonitoring) is another method for assessing chemical exposure. " This is not a new technique it has been around for a long time but in recent years it has become an important tool for assessing exposure to environmental chemicals. This approach involves measuring parent chemicals, their metabolites, adducts, or other biomarkers of exposure in human specimens such as blood, serum, plasma, urine, or other human tissues or fluids. 

---