A risk assessment for acrylonitrile in consumer products

A carcinogenic risk assessment for acrylonitrile in consumer products was prepared as part of the Second Workshop on Pragmatics of Risk Assessment, Bethesda, MD. Data from one inhalation and two oral rat bioassays served as input into several high-to-low-dose mathematical risk extrapolation models. The final unit risk estimates for humans were based on maximum likelihood estimates from the Global83 implementation of the multistage model after adjustments for surface area differences, continuous versus intermittent exposures, and the proportion of lifetime exposed. The unit risk estimates for lifetime exposure to 1 mg kg-1 day-1 by inhalation and ingestion were 0.0531 and 0.2385, respectively. These risks are equivalent to risks of 3.3 x 10(-8) for inhalation of 1 ppt in air and 3.4 x 10(-9) for ingestion of 1 ng day.-1