Actual Health Risks Research Articles

The occurrence and transport of radon in the natural environment

Radon—a colorless, odorless, tasteless, radioactive gas known to accumulate in homes.Within the last two years, those words have appeared in probably every newspaper in the country, informing the public that they may have an increased risk of lung cancer due to exposure to radon. Although the actual health risks of the slightly elevated concentrations found in the vast majority of homes is a matter of current scientific study, there are clearly some areas of the country where indoor levels and individual exposures can approach those found in underground mines. In these cases, the risks are not in doubt, but questions concerning the occurrence and transport of radon abound.

The superfund remedial action decision process: a review of fifty records of decision.

Although the Superfund remedial action decision process is a complex process involving a variety of technical, political, and public health issues, the primary goal of remedial action is the protection of public health. We performed an in-depth analysis of 50 post-SARA Records of Decision in order to characterize the role of risk assessment in the decision-making process and determine whether decisions are being made in an effective and environmentally protective manner. Our findings indicate that the majority of decisions to remediate Superfund sites are based on the existence of contamination per se and not on actual public health risk. Although hypothetical risk is an essential consideration, this gray area is not well-defined in the current decision-making process. The lack of assessment of the degree of risk reduction associated with the remedial alternatives evaluated and the lack of support indicating the effectiveness of the remedial alternatives selected also constitute major weaknesses in the majority of decisions. These inadequacies undermine rationales regarding the protectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the remedial alternatives selected. The fact that objectives beyond addressing public health risk are often unclear in the decision-making process also weakens rationales for cost-effectiveness.

Biological markers of solvent exposure.

The important limitation of many epidemiologic studies is the relative inaccuracy of the assessment of the magnitude of exposure. For some solvents, the concentration in biological media is an indication of the internal exposure and is an indirect indication of the health risk, at least for acute effects. For long-term effects, e.g., carcinogenicity, biological monitoring data can also be used as showed with the individual occupational data on the level of trichloroacetic acid (TCA) in urine. Occupational epidemiology can improve the methods for the assessment of the actual total exposure and health risk in environmental epidemiology by providing higher dose cohort data.

Screening models in occupational health practice for assessment of individual exposure and health risk by means of biological monitoring in exposure to solvents.

In routine occupational health surveillance, both the occupational hygienist and the occupational physician usually assess (individual) exposure and health risks from group data (e.g. mean, median). It is well known that the actual individual exposure and health risk may differ considerably from the mean.