ABSTRACT
Every day we are exposed to low levels of thousands of toxic chemicals in the air we breathe, the food we consume, the water and beverages we drink, the products we use, and the surfaces we touch. Each individual’s personalized risk of developing an environmentally-related disease results from each person’s unique combination of exposure level, genetic susceptibility, age, sex, nutritional status, and lifestyle. Biomarker analysis for exposure assessment purposes generally involves measurement of the concentration of the toxicant, its primary metabolite(s), or its reaction products in a biological specimen, such as blood or urine. For risk assessment purposes, the most important attributes of exposure are magnitude, duration, frequency, and timing. Biomarkers of exposure include the products of attack of a reactive parent compound or metabolite with biological macromolecules such as DNA and protein. The inventory of exposure biomarkers continues to expand as analytical techniques keep improving.
