The food chain as a source of human exposure to organic chemicals

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:5548421

Hattemer-Frey, H A; Travis, C C

Although human exposure to environmentally released pollutants can occur via several pathways including, inhalation, ingestion of contaminated food items, infant consumption of mother's milk, and dermal absorption, of particular concern are potential exposures from ingesting contaminated food items, since the food chain has been shown to be a primary source of human exposure to a large class of organics, including DDT, TCDD, pentachlorophenol, benzo(a)pyrene, and most pesticides. For risk assessment purposes, an important objective in evaluating the environmental behavior and fate of various pollutants is predicting the major pathways and extent of human exposure. Many chemicals cycle in the environment with cross-media transfers occurring between air, water, soil, and biota. As a result of this cycling behavior and a chemical's presence in various environmental media, human exposure often results from multiple sources. We found that 50--80% of all chemicals released into the environment result in human exposure through multiple media. The purpose of this presentation is to provide a perspective on the food chain as a source of human exposure to organic chemicals chronically released into the environment. 121 refs., 3 figs., 9 tabs.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: EPA
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 5548421
• Report Number(s): CONF-8909214-1; ON: DE90001074
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

510200* -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AROMATICS
DDT
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE PATHWAY
FOOD
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
HUMAN POPULATIONS
INGESTION
INHALATION
INSECTICIDES
INTAKE
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
PESTICIDES
POPULATIONS
RISK ASSESSMENT