Multiple chemical sensitivity mixture effect

The enormous cost of multiple-species, multiple-dose, lifetime evaluations of chronic effects has already made the task of carrying out hazard assessments of all chemicals in commercial use impossible. At the same time, quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) studies are not yet predictive enough to indicate which chemicals should be so tested and which chemicals need not be tested. In exposure assessment, continued development of analytical methods will permit ever more sensitive and selective determinations of toxicants in food and the environment, as well as the effects of chemical mixtures and the potential for interactions that affect the ultimate expression of toxicity. Developments in QSARs, in short-term tests based on the expected mechanism of toxic action and simplification of chronic testing procedures, will all be necessary if the chemicals to which the public and the environment are exposed are to be assessed adequately for their potential to cause harm. 

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