ABSTRACT
It is increasingly recognized that immunotoxicology — the investigation of chemical-induced alterations on the structure and function of the immune system — should be an inherent component in any multidisciplinary toxicology research endeavor. This type of investigation is a necessary component of the risk assessment process, which seeks to determine whether exposure to a chemical will result in an adverse health effect. While a few databases exist regarding the direct exposure of humans to potentially harmful chemicals, the majority of data supporting human health risk evaluations are currently generated by extrapolation of data from experimental animal models such as rodents and canines. However, it is known that considerable differences exist in the metabolism of chemicals and the function of the immune system between humans and experimental animal models. For this reason, evaluators have implemented the use of uncertainty factors when using experimental animal data to determine human health risks.
