Application of geostatistical methods for estimation of the dispersion variance of occupational exposures

Exposures to potentially hazardous agents are, like ore grades, regionalized variables. They present an autocorrelation structure and this should to be taken into account in estimating time-averaged exposures. Originally developed in France, geostatistics--which include autocorrelation modelling--have provided a coherent, complete and efficient approach for the estimation of exposures. The power and advantage of the simplest geostatistical approach are demonstrated by an example. Although initially developed to solve problems within the mining industry, geostatistics have found applications in domains as varied as hydrogeology, meteorology, forestry, cartography, geophysics, oil reservoir characterization, etc. The object of this paper, therefore, is to review this approach and to promote the extension of geostatistical methods into the fields of environmental and occupational hygiene.