ABSTRACT
Risk assessment is a complex process aimed at calculating, evaluating, and predicting the potential for harm to a defined community from exposure to chemicals and their by-products. The tolerance of chemicals in the public domain is initially determined by the need for such chemicals, by the availability of alternative methods for obtaining the desired qualities of the chemicals, and by the economic impact of the presence or absence of chemical agents on the economic status of the region. An important component of the risk assessment process is exposure assessment, which measures the intensity, frequency, duration, route, and site distribution of a chemical agent to an exposed population. The populations that lie in the conduit of potential risk for exposure include not only human and other domestic mammalian targets but also environmental entities, such as fish, plants, and wildlife colonies.
