Relevance of risk assessment to exposed communities.

Abstract

Current environmental policy tends to evaluate potential, theoretical exposure to health risks by evaluating one chemical or hazard at a time. Risk assessment techniques used by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other government agencies do not evaluate the cumulative impact of exposure to environmental contaminants. This problem is of particular significance to low-income and minority populations who tend to live in neighborhoods and work in locations that involve exposure to pollutants in air, water, and workplace activity. Certain areas within the border typify this lifestyle. The problem is further complicated by the fact that EPA operates separate programs for different "media." Exposure patterns in the border suggest the need for a cross-media pollution prevention approach. Minority recruitment into health research, a coordination of research approaches and dollars, and new resources for effective monitoring of minority communities could provide a basic assessment of the risks and their sources. Further research into the cumulative impacts of prevalent subsets of chemicals is also needed. Recent efforts in the Great Lakes may provide a model for this type of regional, cross-border effort.