ABSTRACT
Research on this topic requires careful consideration of the chemical composition as well as the response endpoint. Chemical mixtures might constitute any number of components, but not all components contribute directly to the biological activity. Some components may function as true inerts and their presence/absence does not affect overall insecticidal or repellent activity. The impact of each individual chemical can be quantied, but it requires careful consideration of the method of application and the number of target sites that are involved in the biological response. It can be particularly challenging in complex mixtures involving multiple active components to quantify the intensity of the interaction in a biological system when there are mixed exposures and multiple target sites.1 In particular, assessment of chemical dose-response relationships can be further expanded to include constraints on mathematical models. For the sake of simplicity, examination of the interaction potential for binary mixtures is discussed in this chapter. These approaches to the analysis of mixtures are increasingly common in the pharmacological and toxicological sciences. There is a need for standardized and simplied practices to ensure the quantication of valuable and meaningful interaction parameters for research.
