Critical considerations in the assessment of health and environmental risks - what we have learned from the nuclear...

The radiological experience has produced some sophisticated approaches to estimating the environmental risks of anthropogenic chemicals, based on well-validated models for both health effects and exposure assessment. As to exposure assessment, site- and situation-specific data must be acquired for quantitative predictions. However, the requirements for quantitative estimation are often overlooked, even with the radiological models. Metabolism or other chemical processes, also, may more profoundly alter a chemical contaminant than they would a radioelement. Suitably developed models provide useful guidance in deciding what kinds of data to get and how extensive particular data bases need to be.