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Drinking Water and Health, Volume 9 Selected Issues in Risk Assessment (1989) / Chapter Skim
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6 Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): Risk Assessment of Mixtures of Potentially Carcinogenic Chemicals
Pages 162-167

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From page 162...
... assumes that the upper-bound risk estimates for each of the carcinogenic chemicals can be added. This chapter addresses risk assessment methods for mixtures of low concentrations of carcinogens and draws heavily on a National Research Council (NRC, 1988)
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From page 163...
... RISK ASSESSMENT METHODS Risk assessment is a means to estimate the probability and possible magnitude of a health response associated with a given exposure. For carcinogens, methods of using available data to estimate risk have been relatively well delineated (EPA, 1984, 1986a,b; OSTP, 1984)
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From page 164...
... also described risk assessment methods for using data from epidemiologic studies, but noted that the problems presented by human heterogeneity, the potential for bias, the lack of a uniform study design, and the variability in data quality lead to a flood of risk assessment methods, as well as uncertainty about results. Studies based on occupational exposures, which are rarely of known magnitude but can be significantly higher than those of the general population, also present some extrapolation problems.
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From page 165...
... , any potential for more than additivity is ignored in risk assessments of carcinogens present at low doses. Additional research should be conducted to provide a firmer empirical base for those models, so that the techniques for the risk
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From page 166...
... For carcinogens, the most important research needs are those associated with the development of better estimates of dose-response relationships and risks for individual carcinogens in drinking water. Additional research also needs to be directed toward a better understanding of the mechanisms of carcinogenesis and the development of improved risk assessment models that better reflect the underlying biology.
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From page 167...
... 1987. The application of pharmacokinetic data in carcinogenic risk assessment.
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Key Terms

  • low doses
  • volatile organic
  • assessment methods
  • vinyl chloride
  • low dose

  • excess risk
  • response additivity
  • organic chemicals
  • health risk
  • excess risks

  • estimate cancer
  • carcinogen risk
  • multistage model
  • proposed guidelines
  • liver cancers

  • cancer risks
  • epidemiologic studies
  • contaminant levels
  • individual carcinogens
  • carbon tetrachloride

  • maximum contaminant
  • total liver
  • relative risk
  • chemical mixtures
  • environmental exposures

  • lower doses
  • animal cancer
  • risk associated
  • doses increases
  • upper bounds


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