ABSTRACT
The term hazard identification is widely used in risk assessment. The framework for hazard identification was provided by the National Research Council in their seminal 1983 risk assessment guidelines, in which hazard identification was defined as “the process of determining whether exposure to an agent causes an increase in the incidence of a health condition. A wide variety of health effects have been attributed to exposure to indoor air pollutants. The primary potential health effects include acute and chronic respiratory effects, neurological toxicity, lung cancer, eye and throat irritation, reproductive effects, and developmental toxicity. Fatigue, headaches, dizziness, nausea, lethargy, and depression are classic neurological symptoms that have been associated with indoor air pollutants. The Environmental Protection Agency risk assessment guidelines for neurotoxicity address hazard identification as it pertains to the neurotoxicity of chemicals in general. Several indoor air pollutants have been implicated in the risk of cancer, in particular, lung cancer.
