Health Assessment and Contaminants: Workshop on pathways of human exposure
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Health Assessment and Contaminants: Workshop on pathways of human exposure Juliana Grant, MD MPH Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Regional Representative - Alaska
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Health Assessment and Contaminants: Workshop on pathways of human exposure. Juliana Grant, MD MPH Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Regional Representative - Alaska. Outline. Introduction to health assessment and pathways of human exposure Case study - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Transcript of Health Assessment and Contaminants: Workshop on pathways of human exposure
Health Assessment and Contaminants:
Workshop on pathways of human exposure
Juliana Grant, MD MPH
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
RegistryRegional Representative - Alaska
Outline
• Introduction to health assessment and pathways of human exposure
• Case study• Applying exposure pathways• Additional resources
Public Health Assessment
• ATSDR term for process of evaluating environmental contaminants and determining whether they are impacting human health
• Multi-step process• Includes evaluating pathways of
human exposure
Are humans exposed?
• Gold ore smelter•Mercury released
in smoke•Acidic
wastewater released into river
Pathway of Human Exposure
• Describes how people come into contact with contaminants from a specific source
• Useful for•Understanding exposures•Doing environmental sampling•Developing interventions
Example pathways
Smoke Nearby residen
ts
Breathing
Waste water
No one expose
d
No one drinks
from it or swims in
it
Air
River
Parts of pathways
Source
Media
Point of exposur
e
Route of
exposure
Exposed populatio
n
Parts of pathways
Source
Media
Point of exposur
e
Route of
exposure
Exposed populatio
n
What How Who
Example parts of pathways
SourceMedi
a
Point of exposur
e
Route of
exposure
Exposed populatio
n
Drums
Old building
s
Oil spill
Lead paint
Air
Soil
Water
Food
At home
Schools
At mine or dump
site
Breathing
Eating
Contact with skin
School children
Workers
Subsistence users
Everyone
Case study: Open dump site
• What exposures from the Toksook Bay dump site are you most concerned about?
Applying exposure pathways
• Clear description of potential exposures
• Which contaminants are most concerning
• Examine how contaminants change as they move through environment
• Environmental sampling•Where, When and What to sample
Applying exposure pathways
• Interventions•Remove any part of pathway and
exposure stops
• Information gaps•What do we not know?
• Analyzing environmental data• If exposure pathway is complete, is
the exposure dangerous?
More information
• ATSDR website (www.atsdr.cdc.gov)•Public Health Assessment Guidance
Manual • ToxProfile• ToxFAQs
Dump site example
Source MediaPoint of exposur
e
Route of exposur
e
Exposed populatio
n
Trash at
dump site
Smoke from
burning
Nearby school
Breathing
School children
Complete pathway
Dump site example
Source MediaPoint of exposur
e
Route of exposur
e
Exposed populatio
n
Dump site
Smoke from
burning
Incomplete pathway
Only burn when wind blowing
away from school
