ABSTRACT
The first three chapters of this book introduced the conceptual basis for assessing toxic chemical risk. Risk depends on a combination of chemical toxicity and exposure (Chapter 1). Exposure can occur when toxic chemicals released into the environment undergo partitioning and advective transport that bring them into contact with biological receptors (Chapter 2). The dose-effect relationship (Chapter 3) provides a basis for understanding and managing toxic chemical risk. We turn now from the conceptual to the practical: How can the dose-effect relationship be used to assess and manage toxic chemical risk? In this chapter we look at epidemiological studies as one approach to identifying chemicals that cause disease in human populations.
