Public health implications of hazardous waste sites: findings, assessment and research

In this paper we present an overview of the chemicals released from hazardous waste sites (HWS) and some of the mixtures of substances that have been released into environmental media. We describe how this information can be used to assess the public health hazard of releases of chemical mixtures from waste sites. Wherever possible, research on chemical mixtures should use chemical mixtures actually identified in, or representative of, mixtures in environmental media. A narrative, weight-of-evidence approach to characterize the toxicity of mixtures that incorporates mechanistic insights on chemical interactions is described. The utility of this information in the context of risk analysis and public health practice is discussed.