Anatomical and Physiological Perspectives on Human Exposure to Chemicals

Abstract

Human exposure to chemicals is virtually an inevitable part of life in this day and age. Such exposures may occur via different human contact sites and target organs, and also under a variety of exposure scenarios. The contact sites represent the physical areas of initial chemical contacting with the human body, and the target organs are the internal body organs that tend to transport, process, and/or store the absorbed chemicals; an exposure scenario is a description of the activity that brings a human receptor into contact with a chemical material, product, or medium. To evaluate potential receptor impacts upon chemical contacting, chemical exposure investigations—typically consisting of the planned and managed sequence of activities carried out to determine the nature and distribution of hazards associated with potential chemical exposure problems—can be systematically designed and effectively used to address human exposure and response to the chemical toxicants so-encountered.