Health effects, driving force

In addition to its importance as an OH source and hence a driving force behind the chemistry at sunrise, there is concern about the formation of relatively high levels indoors, including inside automobiles, and the accompanying potential for health effects (see Chapter 15.B.2). 

As increasing numbers of people experience the ill effects of medication use and realize that this is not an inevitable consequence of our health care system, the public outcry for answers will intensify. Medication safety has been the driving force for many health care advances, such as the 1937 Elixir Sulfanilamide scandal (FD C Act), the European thalidomide tragedy (1962 Kefauver Drug Amendments), and the incidence of adverse drug events in nursing homes (1974 Consultant Pharmacists Law). ... 

To pose a risk, a constituent must be present in the environment at a concentration high enough to cause a toxic effect if exposure occurs. Complete pathways must exist, and exposure to a constituent at that concentration must occur. Without the potential for exposure to a constituent, there is no risk therefore, the driving force behind any remediation would not be the protection of human health. If no complete exposure pathways exist now or are not anticipated to exist in the foreseeable future at a site, the RBCA process technically can be terminated at this point as there is no risk. One example of this concept is the lack of exposure to impacted subsurface soil beneath a building that houses an operating business. However, it is often difficult to determine the future use of a site, and it may be necessary to evaluate potential risks associated with hypothetical future exposure. A key to the Tier 1 evaluation is the development of a conceptual site model that evaluates the possible exposure pathways for the site under current and hypothetical future conditions. 

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