At a glance
- The National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals aims to provide valuable information for scientists, physicians, and health officials in preventing exposure to environmental chemicals.
- It helps determine the types and concentrations of chemicals present in the US population, identify individuals at risk of toxicity, establish reference ranges for assessing exposure levels, evaluate the effectiveness of public health efforts, track exposure trends, and prioritize research on human health effects.
What to know
The overall purpose of the Report is to provide specific information to scientists, physicians, and health officials to help prevent exposure to environmental chemicals. Some public health uses of the exposure information in the Report include the following:
- To determine which chemicals are getting into U.S. residents and at what concentrations.
- To determine the prevalence of people with levels of chemicals above known toxicity levels (e.g., blood lead level greater than or equal to a specific concentration).
- To determine the prevalence of people with levels of chemicals that put them at increased risk for toxicity.
- To establish reference ranges that physicians and scientists can use to determine whether a person or group has an unusually high exposure. (This information is especially helpful to identify population groups that merit further assessment of exposure sources or health effects.)
- To assess the effectiveness of public health efforts to reduce exposure of U.S. residents to specific chemicals.
- To determine whether exposure levels are higher among potentially vulnerable groups, such as minorities and children.
- To track trends in levels of exposure of the population.
- To set priorities for research on human health effects.