ABSTRACT
Hazard identification is defined as the process of determining whether human exposure to an agent could cause an increase in the incidence of a health condition (cancer, birth defect, etc.) or whether exposure to nonhumans, such as fish, birds, and other forms of wildlife, could cause adverse effects. Hazard identification characterizes the hazard in tenus of the agent and dose of the agent. Since there are few hazardous chemicals or hazardous agents for which definitive exposure data in humans exists, the identification of health hazards is often characterized by the effects of health hazards on laboratory test animals or other test systems 1•
There are numerous methods available to identify the potential for chemicals to cause both health conditions and adverse effects on the environnlent. These can include, but are not limited to, toxicology, epidellliology, 1110lecular and atolnic structural analysis, MSDS sheets, engineering approaches to problenl solving, fate of chelllicals, and carcinogenic versus non-carcinogenic healtll hazards.
